Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 15:11:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Jonathan Epstein 
Subject: 7/1/95

Last one, Dan, I swear!!


Great Woods Amphitheatre, Mansfield MA

7/1/95

I:   Ya Mar, Llama, If I Could*, All Things Reconsidered, It's Ice**,
     Prince Caspian, Split Open and Melt, Bouncing Around the Room,
     Chalk Dust Torture

II:  Wilson, Maze, Theme from the Bottom, Uncle Pen, Stash, Strange
     Design, Acoustic Army, Harry Hood, Suzie Greenberg   

E:   Funky Bitch***

* new intro (trey solo)
** jam in middle featuring fish on vaccum and mike playing with electric
   drill
*** dedicated to the tourheads as an always requested but never played
    tune
------

July 1st..

SET ONE
-------
Yamar opener!! Again, how can anyone call this shit. Out of hand. The
Llama. Again, I would say, "you know what they do, well they did it in
Llama, too." If I could had nice long guitar intro from Trey. I wonder
if this was part of the calssical piece he had originally written for
If I Could but never made it to the album. Reconsidered was next. I
was kind of starting to lose it here, but then Ice. The jam cooked, I
saw Brad bring out Fish's vac and waited patiently and there it was in
middle of the jam. Very good Ice jam. Not the same funky stuff from
spring of 94, a little different, though Trey added some nice wah
tricks to Page's solo. And now to the only bummer of the weekend (not
including the scene of course) Prince Caspian. This tune has got to
go. How many time can you sing "O, To be PRince Caspian"? There are
like 2 other lines in the song. Mayeb I'm not getting it, but I really
think Phish is capable of writing something a little more interesting.
Split was hot though. Again, they did. In fact they did IT all night.
I really think that this night was perfect. I didnt hear anything wrong
and they  jammed really tightly and the intensity level was way up.
Cant wait to hear my tapes (I recorded it to HIFI VHS at my parents
house, but never picked up the tape. No grovels please, because I
don't have it yet. Maybe ask my folks. :)  Bouncing whatever. And
Chalkdust was rocking, really good and tight. Not too spacey, but very    
jamming.

SET TWO
-------
Called the Wilson. Very good version. Maze is fucking out of hand now.
It is definitely one of the most improved tunes (and Stash too!!) This
cooked. Then Feed from the Bottom. I agree with whoever said that this
is going the way of Harry and Slave. The ending jam is so sweet and
beautiful. This version puts Lowell to shame. This is going (as if it
isn't already) one to watch for. Uncle Penn was nice and then STASH!!
Again, Stash is out of hand these days ( for one think that the Live
CD is worth the 15 bucks I spent just for the Stash alone, and of
course the picture of the original Giant Country Horns in Townshend).
This was like 20 minutes of very solid jamming. Didnt really get
spacey at all. You really got watch out for that these days. It's not
I dont like the space, I love the space when they do it for a little
while and everything is falling apart and then instantly everyone is
back at the same spot... Stash did this many many times on Saturday.
Stash slipped right into Strange Design. Beautiful. I didnt care for
this at Lowell, but when I went back and listened to the tapes, I fell
in love with it. Really sweet chorus, very touching. Acoustic Army was
good, but a lot of people were screaming all thorugh it.
Harry came next. This was good. Very good, as Harry usually is, but
not the greatest. I guess itw wrong for me to expect the greatest
everytime, but hey, Harry is my favorite tune, so I do have a right to
expect greatness (and it was greta, just not the greatEST). Suzy was
predictable. Why can't they just end with a sweet Harry? I'd have been
just as happy without the Suzy, though it was very good.

Trey dedicated the encore to the folks who've been travelling around
to see the boys and said they were gonna play something they dont play
too often. I was screaming "BROTHER!!!" Funky Bitch, though. Didn't
play this in Boise?         

This show rocked all night (except for Prince Caspian) and it was
virtually perfect. If any band can hold my interest for 6 years, then
they truly are the best thing around right now. (But I guess I've been
saying that for years.)

---

THE SCENE
---------

The scene is absolutely ridiculous. I remember in 92 I was really
pissed about the scene and stopped touring for a year. If it had been
like this back in 92, I don't think I would be seeing Phish at all. I
know why I go, and thats for the music and the music alone (and the
energy that comes with it, of course) This is now exaggeration, but
EVERY OTHER person is selling something. It's just out of control and
I think it's gotta go. I'm past the point of being made about it (it      
has taken 3 years), I close my eyes a lot and make jokes about it. But
it does really suck. At one point in the lot after the show, I was
peddling "hand fulls of rocks". Some people will buy anything.

Jon.

-----------------------------------------
7/1/95  Great Woods Amphitheater, Mansfield MA (Ellis Goddard)

	Drank *plenty* of water for this show and had to *race* to the
bathroom during the first 120 seconds of If I Could, so I only heard the
new Trey intro behind me and echoing into the bathroom.  I liked it, but
I'm probably not the best reporter on it.  It's Ice got nuts; the vacuum
thing seemed to come out of nowhere and yet, like the Matthews Arena show
(which was also broadcast and during which there was also a sporadic
playing of the vacuum while seated at the drums), it somehow really fit,
like it *needed* to be there.  Prince Caspian didn't/doesn't do much for
me, but I think it could get longer and go some really groovy places.
Maybe; I guess we'll see.  Split through Chalkdust were solid. 
	Second set:  Wilson *really* showed where the crowd was, and set
the stage for more of same during the set!  I'd love to have a video of
the crowd during Maze, as the sun was really sinking and the lights were
really starting to roll, and the whole place was becoming this massive
glorious frenzy of simultaneous anticipation and release.  Then, boom!
Revelations! Theme: such a groovy, new tune in so many new, groovy ways.
It builds down, not up, with less and less action and lower notes and
registers, but still gains intensity until, whisp!  All of a sudden, it
seems, the song is only vocals, like this wonderful undertone of calm
somehow emerged out of the driving, deepening, sinking power of the front
of the song.  Then, boom! Revelation! As the song built back up from the
bottom, to the top, from the top to the bottom, I remembered this
interview where Trey (I think) was talking about seeing the energy flow
from the stage out into the audience and, gradually, up the audience.  I
remembered seeing that at MSG, where we were 8 or so rows from the *top*
and could really watch it climb from the bottom, to the top (esp during
Scent!).
	So, here, at Great Woods, I'm watching this calm that emerged from
intensity merge back with intensity, gradually, from the bottom to the
top, with the lights following, and the whole place growing, and the
frenzy spreading from the front sections to the top, and its not that it
got all that loud or crazy or ripped as hard as some other song or some
other show, it just grew, and ... Have I mentioned "Theme" yet?  I really
like that song!  Then, boom! A little deflation.  Trey started Uncle Pen
while Fishman (seemed to have) started Poor Heart (which explains the
one-measure stop-ish thing you'll hear on the tape).  Still, pulled off
well, a smooth Pen, building right up (from the bottom to the top) again
for Stash, and here you have to listen to tapes if you weren't there: the
clapping was on!  Lots of tapes, the four-beat clapping (that Fishman used
to play but which was at some point appropriated to/by the audience)
sounds like just 2 claps; maybe some math/physics Glide can help us figure
out why the reduction occurs like that.  Here, though,
clap-clap-clap-clap! Ding! What a crowd. .. Strange Design I like; I think
others are right that its Beatles-esque (I'm hearing a little Let It Be, a
lot of Sexy Sadie (but slower), maybe something else), but the words sound
Floydish to me, and the mix, especially with time shifts, comes off really
nicely, smoothly, uniquely, intriguingingly.  It may draw something from a
Beatles style, but its not a Beatles tune; far removed!  Acoustic Army is
fun. What are you gonna say about it?  Maybe eventually people will know
to be quiet and we'll get a *three*-part ending or two extended parts or
something?  Eh. I like it.  I'm really glad I saw it, and it'd be great to
see again, but nothing I'd whip cream for.  Harry does any show for me,
and this one was nice.  Suzy sure seems to follow Harry a lot to end
second sets for me; must've seen 4 or 5 pairs like that.  And, why the
*heck* is Funky Bitch the song tourheads request?  It's not even an
original, and not all that rare.  How about Alumni Blues?  That's what
came to *my* mind when Trey said it was most requested.
	Parking/Lot:  We came hours earlier, got into the lot earlier,
found some shade, found some tasty food (there *are* some benefits to
vendors, since Nissan Pavillion's the only venue that sells concessions in
the lot) and I drank a lot of water.  Nothing new here but the water and
food. ;) Most interesting thing about the lot: the full band that set up
and played from 4 until at least 730 in the blazing sun (and they,
themselves, were blazing, too, I might add; if I could remember their
name, I'd plug them.  They were good, anyway.)
 
---------------------------------------------------
 from: Zach (i need your last name, i lost it!!!)
subject: 7-1-95 review


It wasn't my birthday tonight, but it might as well have been :-) We
learned from Friday night and got to the lot without too much hassle
around 3:15. The parking lot scene was mellow, a lot of people looking for
stuff, kind, doses, tickets, nitrous, but not a lot of people helping them
out and selling the stuff. There was plenty of beer, soda, veggie
burritos, grilled cheeses, and hummus roll-ups to go around, but some
people just aren't satisfied on these tasty treats alone :-)

Ya Mar was an incredible opener. The band really came out with a lot of
energy which carried on all night, and this tune really served as a golden
hose by which they sprayed that energy all over the crowd. The difference
between Friday night's crowd and tonight's was phenomenal and I think the
band sensed that and took it to another level. Anyway, this was my first
live Ya Mar and I _really_ dig this tune. Great to dance to. Llama was a
good follow-up, it kept the crowd psyched, then they calmed us down a
little with If I Could. This has a surprisingly good jam at the end and
this was a nice, long version, but the lyrics don't do much for me. All
Things Reconsidered was good, another first for me live, but nothing
mind-blowing. It's Ice was crazy, with a definite space jam in the middle
in which Page and Trey were exchanging atonal riffs. There was no beat
from Fishman, so he decided to join in with a little psychedelic
background vacuum. It was a nice surprise, but I'm glad it didn't go on
too long. They played Prince Caspian next, the other new tune I hadn't
heard yet. Not a bad tune, but they could definitely add another verse or
two. The harmonizing is nice, but the repetitive lyrics get a tad
annoying. Split Open and Melt was fantastic, another example of their
ability to take a jam just to the edge of insanity and disintegration, and
then rescue it and revitalize it. Unfortunately, Bouncin' came next which
got everyone, well, bouncin'. Finally, they closed with a tune which I
have gained tons of respect for recently, Chalkdust Torture. I think that
Trey is doing a lot more with the jam in this song (as witnessed by the
DLCD version), then when it was written and released. It's still a catchy
song, but I enjoy much more now.

Set Two opened with a great Wilson, complete with audience chanting. I was
shouting (and hoping) for a segue into Peaches, one of my favorite Phish
combinations, but instead they segued into a great Maze. One of the better
Maze's I've ever heard; not dark like many of the Maze jams I've heard,
just very quick and tight. Definitely a version that I want to hear
several times again. Theme from the Bottom was good, although they've
taken the final jam in a different direction than what I heard at Lowell.
At Lowell, it sounded very pretty almost Harry-esque, but it's definitely
evolved into a little faster less melodic jam. Not a bad evolution, just
not one I expected after hearing the debut. Uncle Pen was nice, nothing
special, but I definitely like to get the bluegrass feel at every show. A
nine-minute Stash followed which was great, but it got a little strange
toward the end and I think the boys decided it had gone a bit too far to
bring back, so they segued (rather unsmoothly) to . . . Strange Design. I
definitely like this tune. It highlights Page's beautiful voice and
although it doesn't leave much room for jamming, is a welcome addition to
any Phish set in my eyes. Next was my first Acoustic Army, oops, I lied, I
said there were only two new songs I hadn't heard, sorry :-) I wasn't
incredibly impressed by this, although it was pretty. It probably had to
do with the people in the audience who just _wouldn't shut up_!! I guess
it wasn't too bad relative to some crowds I've seen, but the many whistles
and shrieks made it difficult to concentrate on the tune. I'd really like
to see this one again tommorrow or Monday. I went absolutely bonkers when
they played the first few notes to my _favorite_ tune next, Harry Hood!!
This was a pretty standard Harry, although the word standard could do no
version of this song justice. This tune blows my mind every time I hear
it. Each portion of the sond is well-composed and they all fit together
perfectly. If I heard this song at every Phish show I attend for the rest
of my life, I would never complain one word. I realized during Harry Hood
tonight that there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing at
almost every moment of my life than dancing at a Phish show to that song.
It is absolutely orgasmic. I thought they would end the set with this, but
no! They played a rocking Suzy Greenburg, complete with Sunshine of My
Love (Cream) tease by Trey. This really got the crowd psyched and the boys
knew it. Just a fucking unbelievable hour and 23 minute set. Get this set!

The band comes out for the encore and Trey says something to this effect,
(keep in mind I am absolutely paraphrasing from memory):  "Before we play
our last tune of the night, we'd just like to say that we're heading up to
Vermont tommorrow, our home, for two shows at Sugarbush, and this tour
we've been meeting a lot of different people on the road, especially a lot
of people who decide to do the whole tour. (Big applause) So, before we
head back home, we'd like to dedicate a song to all those people that
we've met who've been touring with us. (Another big applause) We're going
to play a song that they like to ask for a lot, but we don't play very
often. Well, tonight we're going to play it." My friends and I knew it
would be Funky Bitch, and sure enough, they bust out a smoking version. I
thought that this was the ultimate tribute, to us, the fans, who help the
band realize their dream of playing incredible music to thousand of people
every night that they're touring. Fellow netters, we've definitely got a
hold of something special in this band Phish, and I hope none of you are
willing to let go, 'cause I'm certainly not.

I'm putting an early grovel for this show, just because it was broadcast
on WBCN, so I know that there are a lot of sweet copies out there. I have
175+ hours of Phish, including Lowell and Deer Creek from '95, and 50+
hours of Jambay, ARU, WSP, Little Feat, Allmans, etc. _Please_ drop me a
line if you have a HQ FM recording and are interested in a trade.

Take care everyone and I'll see you at Sugarbush,

Zach

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mark Pollio 
Subject: Greatwoods, MA-1995

     I attended my first Phish show this past summer at Greatwoods,MA and
I have to say that it was the greatest experience of my life.  I liked
the band a lot before I went, but just being able to see the band in
person and see all of the excitement that they created was amazing.  If I
had that weekend to do all over again I would gladly pay twice the price
of the tickets to see it again.  The tailgating before, the atmosphere,
and the crowd just made this the greatest weekend of my life.  I thought
that the encore of Cracklin' Rosie-a Neil Diamond song-was truly
spectacular with fishman playing the symbols and singing the few words of
the song he did know, along with his own edited lines about a store
bought blow up doll!  For new Phish fans, I definetely suggest catching a
show as soon as possible.
                                     A loyal fan,
                                     Mark Pollio
                                     polliomr@academic.fpc.edu