Subject: a different take on 11/8 (longish)
From: Steven P Nilsen  (Steven Nilsen)

...I've read the reviews, and I don't what the people writing them were=
 listening to.  Maybe, it's because I was too sobre, but here are my
thought=
s:
Set list reminder:
I. Jim, Axilla > All Things Reconsidered, Mound, DwD, Prince Caspian,
Reba,
Golgi, Antelope
II. 2001 > Maze, Bouncin, Simple, Lovin' Cup, Mikes, Star Spangled Banner,
Weekapaug
E: Theme

It was definately a high energy show, but then which aren't?  The band=
 seemed to be enjoying themselves, but they always seem to enjoy
themselves,=
 becaues they do enjoy themselves, and we enjoy them enjoying themselves.
=
 Don't you enjoy enjoying that they enjoy themselves and we enjoy
ourseflves=
 too?

%%$%#$%$%@  SE1 @!#!$##^#%^&
Jim: fun, a basic jim-jam, what you'ld typically expect, and put a smile
on=
 my face.  Good opener, always a good opener.
Axilla: hmm, nice song, but again nothing special, except Trey kicking
his=
 effect rack when his guitar died...
...the real treat:
All Things Reconsidered: consider this, how often have you ever heard
play=
 this in a show that didn't kick some major ass?  Never, it's their
anthem=
 to great things on the horizon, it sets the stage for something=
 unexpected... now the question became, "what?"
Mound wasn't played very well, they messed up the jam, mistakes were
made,=
 and it worried me.  All Things Reconsidered can hide mistakes, like who
can=
 tell when notes go by in such a flurry, you cut some slack, but the=
 mistakes in Mound worried me.
Well, without recapitulating what's been said already, I was waiting for=
 that "what?" to happen in set2, not in set1, as it normally happens to=
 happen that way.
Whomever said Golgi needs to be put away is out of their mind!  Golgi=
 placement, on the other hand, should vary, as it seemingly has began to
do.=
  I sincerely believe that song placement can mean more than the quality
of=
 it's jam, but that's a different discussion.
A great Antelope, better than many I've heard recently, up there with the=
 Antelopes of Fall 94, a great breed, lots of tension.  Trey was angry at=
 his effects, I think, so he did some stuff approaching what is
classically=
 recognized as "shreading" and avoided the many effects he uses so much
now.
Good vibes, a great first set.

@!$^%#@^%^$  SET2  @#%!@%^%$^&%&^
ASZ opener started in space, nice, and was pretty jam laden, and better
than=
 most of the older straight-laced versions by including a fair amount of=
 jamming.  Not too unlike Clifford Ball.
Maze: I rember thinking, "nice to hear Maze", but not "WOW what a great
way=
 to open!"  That is, Maze lowered my expectations for the whole set...
Bouncing: ouch, even lower yet.
Simple: started with a double ouch.  Actually Simple itself was a double=
 ouch which really did kill every ounce of hope I had for something
amazing,=
 the jam after Simple, which is now a part of the song, made up for thing=
 somewhat, but the permagrin was wearing off a little.
The Simple jam: nice, I really liked what Page was doign when Trey went
to=
 his kit.  This was the highlight for me, well this and...
...Loving Cup!!!
Okay, I take away a lot of the lost hope, Loving Cup kicks up awesome=
 emotion and really made my heart stir.  Here is why you can say the band=
 can play the crowd.  We _needed_ this revival, it put the 2001 glory
back=
 into the set and made me wonder if Phish would still come through for me.
=
 Alas no jam, and this was perhaps the way I felt about the whole
eavening. =
 Loving Cup ended with Loving Cup.  If they had only jammed into the next=
 tune, or something special please!
Mike's Song did not sweep me off my feet, neither did the Star Spangled=
 Banner, nor Weekapaug.  They were pretty dry.  That's really too bad,=
 Weekapaug has been so great lately, and has such a way of rising to the=
 ocassion with long sweeping jams that just groove us into the ground.
Not=
 tonight though.  I liked all the lighters during the Star Spangled
Banner=
 BTW.  The stars were really nice that night.

I hope your still with me, because now I have my important synopsis of
the=
 show.  Phish felt the energy in the crowd, and put together a great set
of=
 songs.  I think they wanted to do something great that night, so they
gave=
 themselves great platforms for experimentation with their choice of
songs. =
 Unfortuantely I didn't feel they pulled it off.  Maybe it was Trey's
rack=
 giving him problems, or that the band could only play to 11:00 in the
Hall=
 and started late (it was a short second set BTW, 1:08 I heard).  Me, I=
 think they just couldn't click right that night; they couldn't find the=
 magic they wanted to create for us.  So much potential for greatness,
even=
 with the preminission of greatness (All Things R.), yet they only found=
 mediocrity.  Better luck next show I say, because not every show can be
a=
 10, or a 9, or an 8,7, or even a 6.  In fact most shows need to be a 5
if=
 your counting it right.  I say, 1st set 6.5, 2nd set 4.  Don't let the
set=
 list deceive you, it was a pretty average show, and the crowd carried the
b=
and.
Just so you get an idea of where I'm coming from, I miss the sound they
had=
 in 1994, and only wish I was listening more actively back when.  Now is
now=
 though, and I'll take every little bit I can get.  Even if I don't think=
 they're as good as they used to be, they still kick my groove.  You just=
 can't help loving these guys.  So I'm looking forward to three more this=
 tour, and I hope to relay my impressions of those shows to yall as well.
Lastly, the lights are always getting better.  Someday I'll feel that I'm=
 just going for the lights... like when I'm deaf.

Your ethereal goldfish,
Steven

PS. I would still love to see a list of which shows have been just plain=
 wierd.  I don't mean sick, I mean just plain wierd, or strange, or
bizarre.=
  Like when It's Ice jams like nothing you've ever heard, and you just=
 wonder how. Non-groove jams especially.  I think we focus too much on=
 giving credit for good groove, I'ld like to see more credit given to no
gro=
ove.
My dream show: Phish becomes undancable.  Not like STTA undancable, just
too=
 slow or strange to want to dance, just stare and gape in awe.
So I'm still wondering if I'm alone feeling this way, somebody drop me a=
 note of agreement, I'm feeling a need for validation here.
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: News Gazette review of 11/8 (Champaign)
From: hartman@zosma.math.uiuc.edu (Christopher Hartman)

The News Gazette, Tuesday, November 12, 1996

"Crowd make Assembly Hall a giant bowl of Phish phans"

By Chad Beckett
For The News Gazette

(reprinted without permission, typed by Chris Hartman)

[A decent picture of Page, Trey, and Mike, and lights in the background
Fishman isn't visible, off to the right somewhere]

[caption:] The Vermont-based rock band Phish plays to a sold-out crowd
at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall. A crowd of some 16,500
attended Friday night's concert which is believed to be the first
sold-out show at the Assembly Hall since Garth Brooks packed the arena
in September 1992.

  CHAMPAIGN -- Anyone wanting to get a line on what Phish is about need
only look to the parking lot outside the venue in the hours before the
gig.  It's like Woodstock on Asphalt.

  Legions of sleepy, happy people, sporting dreadlocks, tie-dyes and
baggy overalls, wandering aimlessly around Volkswagens.  People who
meander around the main entrance, apparently short of money, short of
food, short of sleep, short of hygiene, not likely to actually see the
show unless some good Samaritan comes up with a spare ticket for five
dollars or less.  And yet, there they are.

  These zealous phans may not get to see this night's performance but
they are part of it.  They are part of the atmosphere that has come to
symbolize Phish itself: people who are just looking to have a good time.

  So it was Friday night as the quartet from Vermont returned to the
University of Illinois Assembly Hall for their second appearance there
in 13 months.  The band members clearly enjoyed themselves as they
played through two sets over 2 1/2 hours.  And, as always, the phans who
managed to get inside cheered, writhed, pulsated and gyrated 'round
every aisle and stairway.

  The stage was simple: just guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike
Gorden, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jim Fishman [sic] under
elaborate light fixtures.  Letting their instruments and the audience
channel the night's energy, the musicians seemed pleased but placid
throughout the performance.

  Phish stayed true to form by playing formlessly, jumping from temp to
temp, through perplexing melodies and chord progressions.  Audience
members, thinking they had a handle on the beat, often attempted to clap
along to the rhythm, only to be thrown off a few seconds later.
Significantly, Phish did not reproduce one song that it played at its
October 1995 concert.  In an age of greatest hits-type concerts, it is
refreshing to find a band willing to play new and different material in
such quantity.

  The band's play list for the most part suggested more of a focus on
funk-influenced rock music rather than the genre jumping that occurred
at the concert last October.  Not only did the band play favorites such
as "Run Like An Antelope," "Simple" and "Down With Disease," they also
played two great covers.  One was Richard Strauss' "2001: A Space
Odyssey" theme, which the rocked-up impressively and incorporated into a
light show that was reminiscent of the alien spacecrafts in the movie
"Independence Day."  The band also played the Rolling Stones' tune,
"Loving Cup."

  Phish continues to make liberal use of extended solos.  "Run Like An
Antelope," for example, ran at just under 21 minutes.  Several other
songs had the potential to last that long, only to be cut short by
problems with Anastasio's amplifier.  When the time came to do an a
cappella arrangement, the foursome came forward and breathlessly
harmonized "The Star-Spangled Banner." (Apparently the group will be
singing the national anthem at a Minnesota Timberwolves game tonight).
Audience members everywhere lit cigarette lighters as they sang; it was
a moving sight, particularly when viewed through a cloud of hashish.

  While drug use remained as noticeable as it ever is at Phish concerts,
the Assembly Hall security team was much better prepared to deal with
the problem than they were the last time the band came to town.
Generally the security team was more visible and vigilant of illegal
conduct, maintaining order and making several arrests throughout the
show.  With a capacity crowd of some 16,500 (according to Assembly Hall
assistant director Gary O'Brien), however, there was no way to stop the
drug use altogether.

  With or without stimulants, Phish remains the premier feelgood rock
band of the 1990s.  These talented players continue to break new ground,
enlivening audiences with their unique melodies and upbeat manner.

Typist's comments.  I was there, it was my first Phish show, I had
a great time.  I've been a fan (guess that should be phan) for about
three or four years, but just from released CD's, I've only recently
found out about live Phish.  Not a bad review, I'd say.  This guy
actually has some idea of what he's talking about, and manages not to
mention the Greatful Dead in an almost half page review.  (Oops, there,
now _I've_ gone and done it.)  One comment, "pulsating" phans?  I didn't
see any.  Literary license, I guess.  Oh, and he's not kidding about
the "cloud of hashish" (or about the fact that the lighters were a
"moving sight.")  Well, who knows what kind of smoke it was, but you
could hardly see across Assembly Hall (a "smoke-free" building.) 
        -Chris
-- 
Chris Hartman    hartman@math.uiuc.edu
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~hartman/
------------------------------------
Subt:Champaign 11-8-96 Setlist and review
From:rlpnic@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Rosemary Powers)

Hey all--

I'm beat, so the review is gonna be short.

I
Jim, Axilla, All Things Reconsidered, Mound, Dwd, Prince Caspian, Reba,
Golgi, Antelope

II
2001-->Maze, Bouncin, Simple-->Jam, Lovin' Cup, Mikes, Star Spangled
Banner,
Weekapaug

E: Theme

This was a very solid rockin show with a few jamming highlights.  This
show
was incredibly high energy, only slowing for a brief moment during
bouncin.
Jim had a nice exit solo by Trey.  Good to hear Axilla again, after a
while
-- the first treat of the night.  Dwd had some nice jamming, but I've
heard
better.  Reba was a first set highlight.  The jam started nice and quiet
and
built up very coherently--very little dissonance, and at times, very
pretty.
I thought Golgi was the end of the set, but Antelope smoked it to a close.
2001-->Maze really took off.  Trey took a bow after Maze had finished.
This
one was a good jam.  But the jam out of Simple was even better.  Really
long
jam with Trey switching between the percussion kit and guitar and Page
using
many of his keyboards.  This jam approached some of the jams in Bathtub
Gin
from Kentucky.  Lovin' Cup was fun, and nicely jammed.  Mikes was a
suprise,
and was jammed quite nicely, with the alternating funk and rock segments. 
Star Spangled Banner was completely drowned out by the crowd (a
super-pumped
college crowd on a Friday night--go figure).  Weekapaug was rather short,
but funky.  Trey thanked the crowd before SSB and during the middle of the
Weekapaug.  You could tell that they were into the super high-energy crowd
in the relatively intimate Assembly Hall.  Theme was, IMHO, the perfect
encore.  As I said, not as experimental as Kentucky, but a lot of nice,
rockin' solos from Trey and Page.  Different, but still great.  Thats one
of
the things that makes them so great, eh?  I've slept 2.5 hours in the last
2
days--I gotta go to sleep.  

Later,

Mike Powers
------------------------------------------
Subject: 11/8 Champaign Thoughts..
From: "Peter A. Herr" 

        I: Runaway Jim, Axilla, All Things Reconsidered, Mound, Down with
        Disease, Prince Caspian, Reba, Golgi Apparatus, Antelope
       
        II: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, Bouncing Around the Room,
        Simple, Loving Cup, Mike's Song, Star Spangled Banner, Weekapaug
Groove
       
        E: Theme from the Bottom

This show just happened to fall on my birthday, and for the most part was
a great show.  The crowd itself seemed very YOUNG to me, but I guess
that's what happens when you turn 23 and are attending your 16th or 17th
show to celebrate... (I don't remember exact numbers right now)

        The first set seemed a bit uninspired....Trey was having some
major problems with his amp, almost kicking it over a few times
throughout the show.  I thought it was pretty funny to watch, and a
interesting method of amp "repair" taboot!  It did seem to work for a 
bit...I really wonder what was up with it...it just seemed to completely 
cut out at times...

        Pre-show music included Mingus "Ah-Um" and Sausage....thanks 
Paul, I loved it!

        Highlights of the first set for me included a great Mound (I love 
that composed section in the middle) and a really hot Antelope.  I think 
Trey really wanted to end the first set with a bang, and he did a good 
job of it, cranking things into high gear towards the end.  For the last 
minute or so of the jam section, I seriously didn't know where the beat 
went, but they all cut things off perfectly for the "Rye Rye Rocco" 
section.  It was pretty wild...
        I totally forgot what was played for set break music...I was 
concentrating too hard on breathing...Assembly Hall was pretty damn smoky 
for a smoke free building....it was hilarious....
        The second set was much better than the first...the band seemed 
alot more on, from what I could tell.  Maze kicked things into high gear, 
especially after a hot organ solo by Page...Trey took it to the next 
level and the lights were dead on as well.  Bouncing got all the kiddies 
singing.  When Simple's first notes were played, I knew we were in for 
something special...I have heard how this song has been expanded on 
recently, and this jam was no exeception.  They jammed for close to what 
seemed like 30 minutes on this....taking it down to a soft back beat and 
then turning it on again for the outro.  Loving Cup came next, and for 
me, was the highlight of the show...Fishman seemed to be having a BLAST 
jamming out the end of this one, and Pae and Trey were dead on with all 
the vocals...it sounded great guys!  Not too many people around me knew 
the tune either, from what I noticed.  Mike's was a nice surprise...but I 
miss the tramps.  Trey did some cool percussion work towards the end, 
which led into the Star Spangled banner. I didn't hear much of this, just 
because the crowd was fucking out of control at this point.  Weekapaug 
was jammed well, Trey kicked his amp a few more times, and I knew that 
this would be the last tune...he seemed pretty frustrtated.  

        Theme was a great encore....it's my favorite BB tune as of now.  

All in all, it was a great time....the setlist wasn't quite as 
adventurous as their last time in Champaign, but the show still made for 
a great birthday present...

See you in Ames!

-Pete
paherr@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
-----------------------------------------
Subject: 11/8 review (long)
From: belenke 

        Seeing as this would be my only show of the tour, I was hoping 
for some good stuff last night, and thankfully I got it.  

_The pre-show stuff_
        
        My friends and I spent all afternoon praying for it to clear 
and warm up, but unfortunately that never happened.  I got to the lots at 
about 5:30 only to see vendors being ticketed and most people looking for 
shelter.  It was raining and only about 40 degrees.  I met up with some 
traders and got some nice stuff, but I had to head inside early because I 
couldn't feel my feet anymore.  I was meeting friends there, but they 
weren't at the seats yet, so I just talked with all the people around 
me.  Everyone was so happy and so glad to be there, it really added 
to the mood of the evening.  My friends showed up and we sat in 
anticipation as the boys finally walked on stage (20 minutes late)

_Set I_

Runaway Jim- I wasn't thrilled to hear this one.  They played it in 
Champaign last year, and although it was well done, it didn't really 
send me anywhere

Axilla I- Now this was exciting.  I only have Axilla on one tape and never 
imagined I would get to hear it concert.  The jam was really going places 
when Trey started having problems with his equiptment.  People said that 
they ended it early, but I couldn't tell.

All Thing Reconsidered- This was cool.  Again, I didn't expect it at 
all.  As it ended I thought it would be cool if it went straight into...

Mound- The clapping was just hillarious.  No one could keep the beat, but 
it seemed to pump up both the boys and the crowd.  They had a lot of fun 
with this one.  Trey's head was just flying all over the place while he 
played.  

Down With Disease- I was really excited to hear this one.  The jam wasn't 
very imaginative, but it was tight and happy and had me dancing all over 
the place.

Prince Caspian- I got weird vibes from this one.  It feels like it could 
become an anthem or something.

Reba- They went all over in the jam section of this one.  It was so 
intense I really had no idea where they were going to take it.  Bringing 
back the whistling is a great idea

Golgi- I've seen it at every show and it's getting old.  It needs to be 
shelved for a while, because it is a good song, it's just become very 
ordinary in light of everything else they can do.

Antelope- Yea!  I was hoping for this one!  It had so much energy and was 
the perfect set closer.

_Set II_

2001- Great lights.  The jam was standard, but the lights (which I'd 
never seen) made it worthwhile

Maze- It started with just Fishman on the high-hat and I was hoping just 
maybe it would be Bowie, but oh well.  I don't like this one for some 
reason, but by the middle I found myself dancing anyway.

Bouncin'- These girls behind us were screaming the words, which really 
pissed me off, because the song does have nice harmonies.  I noticed that 
Fishman looked really bored.

Simple- In light of all the reviews about the jammed out Simple, I was 
curious about hearing this one.  The beginning was standard enough, but 
the jam was very extended.  I don't remember where it went, but I sure 
liked going there.  The ended that early due to technical problems.  Trey 
seemed very apologetic.

Lovin' Cup- This was my highlight!  A friend and I had been discussing 
what cover we really wanted to hear in class, and this was it.  It had a 
lot of soul, both in the instruments and the vocals.  If the Stones were 
to hear this, they'd be proud.

Mike's Song- Never expected this one!  Unfortunately my excitement of 
hearing the opening bass line dwindled, when it didn't really go 
anywhere.  Trey was playing with his kit and that got a little boring.  I 
was so shocked when the mics were brought out, and everyone put down 
their instruments.  It didn't seem right just to stop Mike's Song

Star Spangled Banner- The boys sounded great, but the over-hyped crowd 
made it very hard to hear.  

Weekapaug- It was short but pumped and served as a good set closer

        Right before the show started, my friend said she predicted to 
hear Theme.  We were having a good laugh over that when the encore
started...

Theme- It was everything I could have hoped for in an encore.  It sounded 
beautiful, the lights were perfect, and none of the amps were giving any 
trouble.  When in ended I felt completely fulfilled.

_Afterthoughts_

        At the time of the show I was in absolute heaven.  The boys could 
do no wrong.  Now, a day later, I can reflect on the show and see flaws, 
but at the time it didn't matter at all.  I think that's what counts over 
all.  I hope they come back next year!

-rachel

-http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~belenke/tapes.html

ps I'm still looking for Harpua summaries!
-----------------------------------------
Subject: Thoughts on 11/8 Champaign and Fishman's mom
From: daniel brian shupack 


Just wanted to post a few brief thoughts on last night's show, which was 
to be my only show of the fall tour.  First off, I ended up getting front 
row seats in Wednesday's ticket release, which I didn't expected to be 
actually front row since these were extras that were released after the 
show was sold out, so I thought I'd be on a set of bleachers off to the 
side of the floor...but no!  I ended up right front of Fishman's kit w/ 
an incredible view of the boys. Now to the show:
   First off, let me just tell you that the band is having a great time 
on this tour, lots of smiles throughout both sets from the band, and it 
showed in their high energy, though sometimes flawed, but spirited  
performance.  Runaway Jim was a good opener, got everybody up and 
dancin' - pretty standard though.  Next was Axilla pt. 1, which I've 
never actually heard but rocked anyway despite Trey kicking the shit out 
his stack when his guitar cut out in the second verse.  All Things 
Considered was a nice surprise, followed by Mound.  Wow, three songs in a 
row I've never seen live! (this was my 7th show) The Mound really sounds 
cool live, especially the middle part before "ice was all..."  DWD was 
very solid with nice soloing from Trey, though the jam segment was 
considerably shorter than the Clifford Ball version (my last show).  
Caspian was nice to finally hear live after all the good posts its been 
getting recently...it really has a nice full sound perfect for a large 
arena, and I love how it builds gently at the beginning then decreases in 
similar fashion at the end.  Reba had a magnificent solo in the middle by 
Trey...he was really the man tonite dominating most of the jams, very 
beautiful.  I liked the little percussion part in the middle w/ Trey on 
his kit and Mike with some pedal that made a bell/triangle type noise and 
they exchanged a few notes... very funny sounding, I was laughin' along 
w/ the band.  Golgi was golgi... got the whole place going nuts, which led 
into a rockin' Antelope which had more stellar soloing than Trey... very 
nice ending to a great overall 1st set.

        I went up to hang w/ my friends for the setbreak and the beginnig 
of Set II... it was nice seeing the band from up close and then from 
afar...you get the great sound and can see the communication and 
expressions on the guy's faces up close  while you get the full effects 
of sound + lights from afar.  Definitely the best way to see the show.  I 
told my friends during setbreak about how I had heard that Fishman's mom 
was at the show and hanging out on the floor, thought that was pretty 
cool.  Stayed up in B section for the 2001 opener, which I was glad to 
see from afar due to the great lighting job during this song.  Thumbs up 
to Chris!  A pretty standard 2001, I like how they have extended this 
song recently to include some cool funky jamming by Page.  Went into 
Maze, which had some weird wicked funk soloing from Page followed by a 
ripping Trey solo.  The opening beats of Bouncin' came on, I used this as 
a perfect opportunity to make my way back down to the floor.  This is 
where things got really interesting for me.  Standing in the front row 
again and a little more to the side of the stage, I was being bedazzled by 
this incredible Simple jam, and mean while these two women are standing 
next me talking rather loudly.  I look over and there's this tiny little
lady
with big glasses sporting a phish shirt and hat as well as all-access 
passes.  I knew this could only be one person, so I left my deep groove 
mode for second to ask her if she was Fish's mom, and she was!  It was 
really cool talking to her for like three minutes or so, though things 
were so loud it was difficult to hear everything she told me.  She was 
just talking about being on tour with the band, and showing some genuine 
concern for her son.  She said it must be sheer torture on his back how he 
sits up there for 2 hours every night sitting straight up the whole 
time.  She said he has a massage therapist that tours w/ the band and 
gives him daily rubdowns after the show.  I made some sort of comment 
about how great the band played together (not wanting to sound like a 
news reporter) and she told me about how much they practice all the time 
constantly, and look how it's paid off.  Seemed very proud.  I asked 
about the vacuum solo and how I was hoping to see one later in the set, 
and she said he did one last night (which I knew of course from reading 
r.m.p.)  I then asked her if they'd ever let her go up there w/ the band, 
and she said they used to let her go up in stage back in the club days.  
She said she played the vacuum cleaner on stage a few years ago (which I 
also knew about but didn't want to sound like a know-it-all).  If you're 
at one of the upcoming shows and on the floor, look for her, she's a very 
nice lady indeed.  I told her it was nice talking to her, and went back 
to jamming to Simple.  Mrs. Fishman just sat down in one of the empty 
seats behind us and continued watching her son.  I was in 7th heaven now 
- the Simple jam was out of this world and it sounded like it segued into 
another song - an instrumental perhaps, since it completed changed into a 
cool beat and an all around different sound from the Simple theme.  If 
anyone know if this was a jam or another song please let me know. The jam 
ended with some cool percussion jamming w/ Trey on his mini-kit (or was 
this in Mike's?).  I don't 
know why so many people complain about this - I think it sounds great, 
and adds a cool texture to the beat.  Very nice ending to an incredible
jam. 
After talking to Mimi Fishman I thought the show couln't get any better, 
but then came the opening chords to Loving Cup.  I heard this at my first 
show (Deer Creek 95), and was totally not expecting this, but it was 
phenomenal and lifted my spirits sky high.  "Oh, what a beautiful buzz!" 
pretty much summed up my feelings at the time.  Mike's was great to hear 
as always, stopped in the middle to do the Star Spangled Banner.  Trey 
announced that they were doing this song at the T'wolves/Lakers game on 
Tuesday, and this was their practice for it.  Very nice sounding, to 
which they went back to their insruments and Fishman started up the beat 
for Weekapaug.  Very nice ending to an above average show IMO.  The Theme 
ending was a perfect selection for an encore, with some nice jamming in 
the middle by Trey and Page.  I was estactic to say the less.  Definitely 
a night to remember.  See you all in Philly! 

Peace,
Shoop
-----------------------------------------
Subject: 11/8/96 --setlist & review
From: jeffrey shawn gomberg 

SET 1:
Runaway Jim
Axilla (pt. 1)
All things reconsidered
Mound
Down w/ Disease
Prince Caspian
Reba (whistle)
Golgi
Antelope

Set II:
2001...
Maze
Bouncin'
Simple (fucking awsome)
Loving Cup
Mike's...
Star Spangled Banner (quartet)
Weekapaug
E: Theme from the Bottom

Review...
Other than Trey having problems with his guitar cutting out (he kicked 
the shit out of his speakers about 3 times... pretty cool), the show 
kicked ass.  Chris was really on tonight with the lights.
DWD had a phat bass intro.  Axilla pt.1 was a nice surprise, considering 
they hadn't played it for a while.  Reba with the whistling was really 
cool, and the jam kicked.  The Antelope at the end had a very cool jam 
and a good climax.  The set rocked.
Set II:  2001 (lights cool) was very nice to hear.  Maze isn't my 
favorite song, but the jam was very well played out.  Bouncin' 
...whatever.  Simple was simply the best version i've ever heard.  Loving 
cup was a nice surprise.  Wasn't expecting a Mike's song, was pretty 
average, but then lead into star spangled banner which trey said they 
would be singing on tues. at the Timberwolves game.  THeme from the 
bottom was a great encore to cap off a phat show.  Every time i see them, 
they get better...
Later,
Jeff
-----------------------------------------
Subject: Champaign 11/8/96 Review (long)
From: posterkid@aol.com

well, there haven't been too many in-depth reviews of shows this tour, so
i'm going to do my best to illustrate the champaign show for you all. 
this was only my second show (alpine was my first), but i crossed the 100
tape barrier last night, and consider myself fairly knowledgable about the
band.  without further ado, here's the review:

11/8/96 Champaign, IL Assembly Hall

let me start by saying that i had the highest expectations possible for
the alpine show this summer, and i was blown away.  this show was that
feeling, times a hundred.  maybe its just the morning after talking, but i
don't think i'll ever see a show that amazing again (knock on wood).  

THE SCENE:  the cops sucked ass.  vending was not only stopped, but
ticketed. this coupled with the fact that we were having a typical
midwestern late fall evening (20 degrees and freezing rain) pretty much
eliminated any lot scene whatsoever.  i did meet up with some traders and
came home with seven new tapes though, so i'm not too broken up.  on to
the show....

FIRST SET

RUNAWAY JIM:  they come on about 8:00, place goes nuts.  a nice choice of
opener, got everyone involved quickly, but a standard version of the song.

AXILLA I:  by no means am i a hoist-head, but i really wanted to hear an
axilla live someday.  i just pictured as this total fist-pumping,
balls-out anthem live.  that pretty much described it.  a couple lines
into it, i noticed that trey wasn't singing the part two lyrics, they were
the strange old original words.  first one since '93, i think.  anyway,
trey's guitar just completely went out in the second verse, he must've
been pretty pissed 'cause he just went over and karate kicked his setup
thingy.  it still wouldn't work, so he kicked it again, and the guitar
tech came out and fixed it.  meanwhile, the song pretty much died, which
was kind of sad since it was its triumphant return and all.  anyway, for
the rest of the set, trey's guitar sounded especially crunchy and evil,
IMO.  one of the night's few segues into...

ALL THINGS RECONSIDERED:  i was darn suprised to hear this, it even took
me a couple minutes to name it, since i wasn't expecting it at all. 
pretty much the same as the album version, no drastic differences.

MOUND:  definitely my favorite mike song of all time, i was so into this. 
it was hilarious to see the crowd try and do the clapping thing, even with
the band helping us, noone could keep the beat.  again, a standard
version, but a great song to see.

DOWN WITH DISEASE:  so, the band gets real spacy now, and i'm thinking it
can't be bowie 'cause they played it two nights ago, and there won't be a
2001 in the middle of a set, so it has to be dwd.  so no suprise when mike
laid down his line.  i have to say i was disappointed in this version.  it
was more similar to older dwds than the more recent jammed-out ones
because the band never signifigantly got away from the original theme. 
for example, there was no percussion from trey, something that's become
pretty common.  it wasn't bad, just a disappointment from 8/10 and 8/5
versions.

PRINCE CASPIAN:  i really don't like this song that much, old version or
new, but it was enjoyable.  i guess i needed a dancing break anyway.  when
they kick into that part at the end of the song and the lights go up and
the crowd roars, its very neat.

REBA:  got through the orchestrated part with few flubs, always fun to try
and dance to.  before the jam got started, trey went over to his kit, and
did a few weird electronic noise things.  mike also had this little foot
pedal thing that made a noise like a cymbal (has this ever been seen
before?).  they fooled around with their toys for a little bit, then went
into the jam.  now the 8/10 reba was great, but this version was just so
amazing.  it built up beautifully, then hit this repetitive crunchy noise
from trey for a couple measures, which was released to a beautiful wailing
solo that almost brought tears to my eye, it was so touching.  btw, the
whistling ending was done.

GOLGI APPARATUS:  well, golgi's another song that is good for a big arena
full of people, all screaming "I SAW YOU" at the top of their lungs.  fun
stuff.

RUN LIKE AN ANTELOPE:  oh god, i didn't think i would survive this
antelope.  the middle part just built, and built, and built; climax after
climax after climax.  i didn't think i could dance any faster, and that
they would go into the final part, but they just kept pushing it higher
and higher and i kept dancing harder and harder, until my heart felt it
would burst.  a perfect set ending.

SECOND SET

2001:  i really wanted to see this, 'cause i've heard the lights are
amazing.  they were so incredible, when they hit that climax and the white
lights shine straight out onto the audience, its indescribable.  they must
have some huge fog machines back there.  segue into...

MAZE:  my friend that couldn't go is going to kill me when i tell him he
missed this.  absolutely perfectly played.  page's solo was a little
strange at the start, with some stacatto organ stuff, but he ripped out
the end.  trey wailed like no other guitarist on earth.

BOUNCIN':  THE MOST AMAZING BOUNCIN EVER!!!! JAMMED OUT FOR AT LEAST 30
MINUTES!!!!  actually, no.  it kept the kids happy, and wasn't bad to
dance and sing along with.

SIMPLE:  this was the highlight of the show for me.  hands down, the
greatest simple i've ever heard, and i'm tempted to say it was the
greatest ever.  the jam seemed like it would never end.  trey went to his
kit in the middle of it, and stayed on for the longest i've ever seen or
heard.  page was amazing on the grand, he really kept it going.  trey then
went back to his guitar, and the jam almost sounded like it was going back
into dwd for a while.  then, trey's guitar went out again.  he promptly
delivered another karate kick to the setup, knocking the amp mike into the
amp and causing all sorts of feedback, but fixing the guitar.  he then
ripped out this riff that was so great, it may have been a tease of
something, but i couldn't place it.  a great performance.

LOVING CUP:  after simple, trey apologizes to the crowd for his guitar
troubles, while the tech tries to fix things.  without missing a beat,
page starts loving cup, a song which i never figured to hear.  one of the
tapers i was hanging out with before the show was talking about how cool
it would be to hear it, and it sure was. i didn't get the joke until they
sang "and i know i play a bad guitar".  only phish could turn technical
problems into pure ecstasy.

MIKE'S SONG:  wooohoo!  i never thought i'd hear this since they played it
two nights ago, i was screaming my head off.  a really good version too,
as all mike's are.  trey was on the kit some more, in fact they ended it
with trey on the kit.  he motioned to fish to come down front, and i
thought we'd get a fishman tune, but then the tech brought out the
acapella microphone.  i screamed for freebird, but they must have not
heard me...

STAR SPANGLED BANNER:  trey explained that they'll be singing at the
trailblazers-timberwolves game, not the lakers as was previously reported.
 the crowd was pretty bad, but not too bad considering we were in chicago
blackhawks territory, were the national anthem singer is never heard
because of the crowd.

WEEKAPAUG:  the technical problem fairy returned, unplugging mike's bass
right before his big solo.  that probably hurt the most, not being able to
hear some good old slap bass from mike.  but, it was a pretty kickin'
version anyway.

ENCORE

THEME:  i checked my watch before the encore and noticed they had a lot of
time before 11, so i was expecting something long.  theme was played, and
it was a great close to the night. 

overall, an absolutely amazing show, one of the greatest experiences of my
life.  to all who have been saying that phish is selling out, fuck you. 
last night was pure musical genius, and proof that there is no better band
on earth than phish.  sorry if that sounds corny, but there's no other way
to describe it.  anyway, thanks for reading my review.  if you have any
comments, feel free to e-mail me, i'd love to discuss the show with you. 
see you in spring!

-rob
---------------------------------------------------
Subject: CHAMPAIGN SET LIST AND REVEIW (long)
From: lawnboy878@aol.com

11/8: Assembly Hall, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

       I: Runway Jim, Axilla*, All Things Reconsidered, Mound, Down with
Disease, Prince
       Caspian, Reba, Golgi Apparatus, Antelope 
       II: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, Bouncing Around the Room,
Simple, Loving Cup,
       Mike's Song, Star Spangled Banner, Weekapaug Groove 
       E: Theme from the Bottom 

*The original Axilla not new one.  

Well I got to the theatre which looked like a rather large clam.   And
found my seats, which weren't great but good enough.  The boys came on
stage, and started up a jamming Runaway Jim.   IT was grooving, and good
everybody off to a good start.   Trey's solo's was nice and intense.  
Axilla was a suprise to hear.  Especially with the old lyrcs.  I was happy
to see that they brought Axilla 1 back.   During the middle of it though
trey's amp stoped producing noise,  he went over a kicked a few times,
then kept singing, he stopped again I hear a "Fuck!" comign threw the loud
speaker.  Trey went over kicked a few more times,  Page tryed to pick up
the lyrcs, and they just went threw the form with out guitar.   All things
Reconsidered was the low part of the set.     It kinda of brought the
audience down, from the bouncin Axilla.  MOund started the climb back up. 
 It was you traditional mound no new stuff.   Then the band started making
all of this weird noise,  I knew it had to be Down With Disease.   IT
started of nice, when the jam part came they really picked up.   IT was
grooving all over the place.     Trey cut it short, but I don't think it
was going anywhere so it was a good call.   So by now the room a energetic
again.  Prince Caspian kept the energy flowing, it was pretty traditional
except with a nice Jam at the end of it.   I was suprised to hear Reba, 
but also extatic.   The were really playing well on this tune.   On the
mark.   When the jam part came,  they started nice and slow.  And really
brought it up well.     Great Reba. I thought reba was the end,   But then
they kicked out on of the funkiest Golgi Appratuses I've ever heard.   
This had such a tight groove it wasn't even funny.   For people who don't
like Golgi normally listen to this version. It will change your mind.   So
I was convinced that this was the ending.  But they did an antelope.   At
this point a stripped off the long sleeved shirt cause I knew I was in for
a bumpy ride.  IT started off nice,  well the trey solo came, it started
off slow.  But by the end before the "Marco esquandoles" Part, it was
crazy,   Trey was Jamming like a bat out of All, and the rest of the band
was right with him.   It was the most intesnse thing I've expeirenced at a
phish show.    INcredible Antelope.  It kept up the intesity threw the
"Run lik an antelope out of control" Part,  On a scale of 1 to 10 I give
this Antelope a 20.     So that was the end of part one.

By set 2 I was really tired, I don't know what happned.   The started it
of with a nice 2001.  Page was jamming it out on his Rhodes, great way to
begin a set.   Got my bones moving again.   I heard Fish's highhat, and I
could have sworn it was david Bowie, alas I was wrong.  BUt I was even
more happy to hear Maze.  Again the energy from teh antelope carried over
into this set.   The Boys were hot last night.  They could build it up so
good it was amazing.    So the Maze was definitly a highligt of the second
set.  Bouncing was a nice little breather after a killer maze.   A
standerd version of bouncing.   They Simple kicked, I had mixed feeling's
about it.  But it was grooving so hard I could not love it.   Then the Jam
session came,  Trey took a nice solo and they did this little jam.  By the
way through out this concert their were no really spacey jams all with
chords and melodys.  Then trey hit his drum kit,  and started doing some
nice stuff while page took a killer solo.  IT went on for a while but
never lost it's intensity.  Great Simple.   Trey's amp started fucking up
again.  IT was fun to watch him kick it though.  They ended simple really
nicely out from the amazing jam.  I saw a nod from trey to page.  And I
could beleive my ears.  A Loving Cup.  I love this tune.   And I never
expected them to play it.   They were rockign on this tune.  Recently I
saw the Who play Quadrophenia, NOw their's a band who can rock and roll.  
PHish reached that level when the played Loving Cup, it was an incredible
version.     Then they kicked up Mike's Song.   Mike's was good.   Good
little middle jam,  wasn't spectacular, but definatly good.   They started
to Jam a little bit, trey hit his drum kit while everybody else got ready
for teh starspangled banner.     It was cool,   Couldn't hear much.   
Then fish hit his drum set again and started up weekapaug.      Mike's amp
Wasn't workign this time, so their was no bass intro.  Then trey startedt
he chords and he had left some pedal on so there was this drone over the
chords, so it didn't sound very good.  Then they got theyre shit together
and started up Weekapaug.  IT was good,   Trey kinda interuppted the flow
of his solo to say goodbye to us, But he picked it up again after words.  
     I always love watching the arena fill up with lighters, it's so cool.
  Theme was a very nice encoure.  Very very intense, played really well.  
  Again Trey having amp problems, and he kicked a few more times.     
Over all a great show,  Not the best i've been to.  But definetly Up
their.    They boys really made up for the technical problems with their
playing.   It was great,  Get a hold of this bootleg,  it's worth it.   
Great jams.  Great great jams.  Nice Loving Cup.   
Mike  
-------------------------------------------
Subject: 11-8 Champaign review
From: Uncle Pen <34R6WUX@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>


Just for reference: My 22nd show, 3rd this tour after Charlotte and 'Ween.
                    I myself am a musician fwiw.

The parking lot, for those who care, was mighty oppressive. Canine patrol,
the whole bit. No big deal, I come for the show above all else. I lucked
out and got a floor ticket from a friend who couldn't make it. My ticket
was in the 15th row which is the last row on the floor; I felt privileged
just to be on the floor. I was somewhere between rows 10 and 14 for the
show. Before the show I heard the head of security talking to one of his
minions about smoking. He said, "If they're not blowing it in your face,
don't worry about it." They weren't quite that lenient, but they let us
have fun; no ejections, no confiscations. I thanked them after the show
and I urge everyone to do the same in such cases. Word gets around about
that kind of stuff.

I
Jim: Pretty standard as far as opening Jim's go, except for Trey kicking
the shit out of his amp. I guess he's been doing this a lot. It must be
some kind of theatrics, he can afford new equipment. He truly looked
pissed, though.

Axilla I: I couldn't believe it. I realized what was going on during the
2nd verse and at first I thought it was in my head. Nope. Does anybody
know the last time it was played? I was completely overjoyed. It has a
different feel than part II, eerier (if that's a word). They tacked on the
weird "get that thing out of my face" part at the end like part II. At
this point they could have played a half hour Acoustic Army and I would
have been happy.

All Things Reconsidered: another rare treat. Not much that can be said
about
it.

Mound: Not exactly rare, but uncommon. The crowd full of white people
couldn't clap in time. What's new?

Dw/D: My fifth one in my last six shows. That's really bucking the odds.
Not that I minded, the jam is always fun. Not very exploratory, but hey,
it's the first set. I was just happy to get a song that jams like this in
the first set.

Caspian: Wow! My 2nd this phall and I still couldn't believe how intense
this song has become after the verses. Nothing out of the ordinary, but
the band was incredibly tight as usual.

Reba: This seems to be following PC a lot. No complaint here. The composed
section was flubbed a bit, maybe because Trey was worrying about his
equipment. This could have been a lot better, but the clapping idiots in
the crowd ruined it. Twice. Once during the verse and then again at the
beginning of the jam. It was easy to tell that it was bothering the band,
too. Instead of letting the jam build slowly as usual Trey increased the
intensity so he could change the rhythms and shake the idiots clapping.
This, imnsho, is the worst thing about Phish's new popularity. Otherwise
the jam was beautiful, but nothing groundbreaking. Unfortunately, the
clapping idiots would return.

Golgi: I never used to be a big phan of this song until the Ball. Maybe
they're playing it tighter, maybe I just pulled my head out of my ass and
started paying attention. I think the former. (Duh!) The energy was great.
I was happy to hear Trey screw up the closing lick at the end 'cause that
means one more song.

Antelope: I called it, but that's really not a great accomplishment
calling Antelope to close the first set. After the truly great Antelope
that was played in Champaign last year I was expecting some serious shit.
Yup. I love what they have done to this song. I used to be able to tell
when the jam  would end, but not any more. For those of you that haven't
heard Antelope yet this phall, I'm sorry. It is so much more intense than
in recent years. They took the jam higher 4 or 5 more times that I thought
was possible. A great closer to an above average first set.

II
ASZ: The set actually started with some spacey sound effects. I think this
was just the introduction to the piece, though. The lights provided by
Chris were just incredible. I enjoyed the lights during this at 'Ween, but
being inside of the light show was an amazing experience.(My only run in
with security was during this; he just told me to put it out. I thought
that
was reasonable enough.) It was really jammed out with a lot of spacey
sound effects from Trey in between his lead parts. It segued into...

Maze: Another combination that I saw before this tour. Didn't bother me
one bit. It wasn't as good as 'Ween's, but it was pretty phreakin'
intense.
This is another reworked song that has completely blown me away. I truly
pity anybody that might be having a bad trip during this song. It's not
gonna help. I was in ecstasy (but not _on_ it:). Trey's playing was
beyond frightening. I play guitar and I don't have the faintest clue how
he made some of those noises.

Bouncin': Very appropriate considering the venue. (For those who haven't
been there, it's perfectly circular.) Once again the clapping idiots
reared their ugly heads.

Simple: 3 shows this tour, 3 Simples. Once again, no complaint. This was
by far the best Simple I have ever heard, live or on tape. (I'm not
counting
11-16-94's Mike's->Simple->Jam. That was jam, this was Simple.) The jam
section went from happy to weird to spacey to orgasmic. A golden hose
moment if there ever was one. (Just for reference, I have never used that
term in a review before.) Afterwards the band had to take a short break
and collect themselves. I think they were more impressed than I was.

Loving Cup: I missed out on a great opportunity. The girl next to me that
I
was sharing a smoke with asked me towards the end of Simple if she could
have some of my beverage which I had unfortunately finished right after
Maze. Doh! Oh well, life goes on. Trey was really into this, he was just
about screaming the lyrics, but his singing was still very controlled. The
jam at the end was excellent if a little short. (I would find a 30 minute
Tweezer short, though.) I couldn't imagine how they could top it this
late in the set.

Mike's: You gotta be phuckin' kidding! Mike's Song 50 minutes into the
set? (That's a guesstimation.) Luckily I figured that it would be a pretty
short Mike's. It was. The first jam was really different from other Mikes'
I have heard. It had a funky, almost discoey (I don't think that word
exists
either) feel to it. Not that funky is all that different for Mike's, but
the disco feel was a little strange. It was a lot of fun. The second jam
got spacey really quick. Trey was beating out a repetitive groove on his
percussion kit when he motioned to somebody off stage to bring out the a
cappela microphone and he kept the beat up until everybody else was out
front. They had a short conference and then Trey said that they were
singing
before the Timberwolve's game on Tuesday and they had to practice.

SSB: This was just weird placement. It was refreshing to see something
completely unexpected in the middle of Mike's Groove, though.

Weekapaug: Much like the Mike's, it was cut short due to time
restrictions.
It was good while it lasted, though. Towards the end trey thanked the
audience
like he did at the Clifford Ball. After the short MG I was expecting a
phat encore.

Theme: I was hoping for a Monkey, but this was even better as there is
more
jamming. The clapping idiots made one last appearance too. I felt that we
would have gotten one more song if not for the idiots, but I could be
wrong.

All in all a pretty good show. I was expecting them to hold back a little
 because of the proximity of the two shows coming after so I was
pleasantly
surprised. Leaving the perfectly circular arena was a little tricky. No
matter where one left the building it looked exactly like the place one
entered. Luckily I found the car, though, and we were on our way to the
Palace (boo, hiss). If you have read this far, thanks. Peace yall,
                                                                  Pen.
---------------------------------------------------
Subject: 11/8/96 Champaign, IL Review
From: Mark Hutchison 


All right, here's my first attempt at a review, so please bear with some 
slight rambling I'm sure I'll do.

Set I:  Runaway Jim, Axilla (Part ONE!), All Things Reconsidered-->Mound, 
Down With Disease, Prince Caspian, Reba, Golgi Apparatus, Run Like an 
Antelope

Set II:  Also Sprach Zarathustra-->Maze, Bouncing Around the Room, 
Simple-->Sparks, Mike's Song-->Star Spangled Banner-->Weekapaug Groove

Encore:  Theme from the Bottom 


We got into Chambana (Champaign-Urbana) early, and I quickly met up with 
some of my old friends from high school.  We grabbed some dinner at 
Chili's (Mmmm...) and were off to the show.  I had gotten a ride with 
some guys from Ann Arbor (Thanks to Zack, Andy, Willy, Dan, and Matt!!!) 
and end up trading my two 10th row seats to them so that I could sit with 
my budddies from U of I.  (Hope you enjoyed those seats, guys!)  So I 
ended up behind Fishman, way at the top of the stadium.  The sound there 
was quite poor.  Muddled bass and virtually no piano.

RUNAWAY JIM:  Ok, this is a decent opener.  People immediately started 
clapping along, and I wasn't too annoyed by it.  For now anyway.  I think 
everyone could've used a volume boost here, too.  Average Jim.

AXILLA I:  With that riff that opens the song, I thought we'd all be 
rocking pretty hard, but I guess I was wrong.  Then the different lyrics 
came in.  Interesting.  I had never heard this before, and the song was 
fairly hard to get into.  Trey started having those infamous amp 
problems, kicking his rig and what not.  He dropped out for a verse.  
Very distracting, but hey.  No one was really pumped like a song like this 
should make you. 

ALL THINGS RECONSIDERED:  I understand whoever said that they aren't
playing their composed pieces as well.  My friendgirl commented that they
sounded seperate.  Right on, Kelly.  We still weren't pumped.  Trey's rig
was sucking pretty badly, you couldn't even hear him on the lower lines. 
Page had risen in volume, though. 

MOUND:  More clapping, but here it's called for.  Trey was still quiet on 
the low stuff.  Again, this song was just lacking anything interesting.  
I was worried that it might never pick up, but then the lights went off, 
the spot hit Mike and he slapped out that familiar intro to...

DOWN WITH DISEASE:  Oh, yeah!  I was very psyched to hear this song after 
all the hype it's been getting, and the jam surely did not dissapoint.  I 
can't compare it to others; this was my first.  It did get us all into 
the familiar feel of a show, though.  Then came the two chord wonder...

PRINCE CASPIAN:  Decent song.  I think the funnest part of the show was 
trying to mimic Page's high note on the "OHHHHHH!"  I have a complaint, 
though, about the song's ending.  I don't like how it starts back up.  
Kinda throws the groove off, in my opinion. I thought we might be going 
back down in the energy and as soon as they started...

REBA:  I knew I was right, but I was happy again.  If they're going to 
take a mellow approach, there is no better way to do it.  They must have 
felt that the crowd was not not reaching energy peaks tonight, because 
they really took this to a new level of calm.  Chris helped with lots of 
blues and greens with cool patterns tracing across Assembly Hall's 
strange roof.  And then, right in the middle of the mellow jam, THE DAMN 
CLAPPING WAS BACK!!!!  I wanted a sniper rifle.  This was seriously not 
fair.  The clapping pulled my out of the groove so fast, all I could do 
was fume until Fish's solo section.  DAMN THOSE CLAPPERS!!!

GOLGI APPARATUS:  was next.  This is one of those songs that can 
seriously help or hurt a show, depending on the energy level and it's 
placement in the set.  Tonight it was well placed.  Took the energy up a 
few notches, and than Trey couldn't remember how the ending lick went!  
Pretty funny, if you ask me.

RUN LIKE AN ANTELOPE:  Now you see what I mean about Golgi being the 
perfect stepping stone to a song like this.  The DAMN CLAPPERS were in 
effect again, but after I strangled a few in my imagination, I felt much 
better.  They quit before I got to violent.  The jam in (3rd? gear) right 
before the Pre-Marco groove was just killer.  I was looking intently for 
some kind of hand signal or what not to go into the Pre-Marco groove, but 
I didn't see anything.  They just all of a sudden stopped.  Wow - it was 
pretty amazing.  Good first set closer.  I had to have a smoke in the set 
break just to chill out.


Set break was a good mellow out, I was trying not to hype myself up for 
fear that Phish might go with the mellow vehicle some more.  I met up 
with some old familiar faces (Hi to Matt L, Nick D, Terry M, and 
Maryanne!) And settled back into my seat just in time for...

2001:  Well, maybe the mellow night won't continue after all.  Great 
lights by Chris.  Trey has some cooler effects on his drumkit, it makes 
things not as boring.  He still stays on it too long, IMHO.

MAZE:  I really like this song, unlike a lot of people, and I was happy to 
hear it.  For some reason, though, I couldn't get into it.

BOUNCING AROUND THE ROOM:  Time to sit down & smoke 'em if ya got 'em. 
Newbie paradise, I guess.  I really don't know where my intense hatred for
this song come about.  Maybe it was the Frat house that had a party with
this theme and made T-shirts with Beta Theta Pi inside the Phish logo. 
Then the girls in the sister Sorrority come running up to me "you like
Phish, right??  Isn't this cool??"  Maybe that has something to do with
it. 

SIMPLE:  Yes.  This song I DO like, despite its appearance on ALO.  I 
love the new extended version.  Page was doing some really neat work on 
the keyboards, which I guess is one good thing about Trey's drumkit...it 
gives Page full power to experiment.  Trey was hacking too long though.  
The intensity of the jam made up for it, though.  Where in the world did 
all this energy come from???  Then they kicked it into SPARKS, which just 
turned the intensity up another notch.  Where does it go next?  Oh, 
no...more technical difficulty.  This killed the jam before it should 
have been over.  They end the Sparks jam, and Trey says:  "You have to 
kick it sometimes.  Well I guess since I have a bad guitar, we'll play 
this one."

LOVING CUP:  Get it?  I chuckled.  It took the energy down, but I think 
that (and this is kind of a weird idea so please go with me...) the 
energy was really intrinsic to Simple-->Sparks, and it didn't permeate 
into the rest of the set or show.  Energy was back down to it's below 
average level for tonight.

MIKE'S SONG:  I knew that this was the start of the closer, and I wasn't 
upset that the end was in sight. Mike's was fairly short, standard but 
slightly below par.  I was psyhched for the Swept Away-->Steep interlude, 
but alas, Trey jumped onto his drumkit =| and shouted for the mic.  

STAR SPANGLED BANNER:  Trey thanked the crowd, and said that "If you have
a TV"  then you can see them on Tuesday during the Minnesota Timberwolves
game.  SSB was neat, and the crowd was not roaring as loudly as I imagined
they would.  I could hear a lot of the harmonies...good work guys. 
Everyone pulled out they're lighters and it was one of the coolest lighter
things I'd ever seen. 

WEEKAPAUG GROOVE:  They were all waiting for Mike to come in, but he 
wouldn't.  Then Trey cued the whole band to come in at once.  Interesting 
way to start it off.  Mike forgot to turn a delay pedal off or something, 
cuz the opening bass lick sounded like it was being trilled in a sort of 
tripilet-spanish bullfighter feel.  It was insane.  Fairly substandard 
Week, overall.  Although, Trey did hit this one note during the jam that 
stuck out in my mind.  He had a high, beautifully dissonant note and then 
he bent it up a quarter of a step to make it ring out even more harshly.  
The whole thing took about a second, but it was really...for lack of a 
better word, beautiful.  I know that sounds wacked out, but hey.  The 
energy was there in the end, but was, again, intrinsicly conjured up.  I 
was hoping for a killer jam t o end the night..."Come on, guys!  Show me 
you can still jam after a semi-poopy night!"  But, alas, they proved my 
intrinsic energy theory (I'm gonna copyright this...) and played

THEME FROM THE BOTTOM:  Bad song to encore with.  You leave feeling 
relatively down.  I guess this was the tone of the night, but I rather 
would have liked to see them crank it into something after Theme.  No 
luck...we went home thinking blue lights and "From the Fottom..."


Overall, a low night.  I had the first set rated at a 5.5 at the show, 
but that was all from Antelope.  It was a 5 at best, and all that saved it 
was the DwD jam, the insanity of 3rd Gear in Antelope, and the fact that 
they felt the mellowness and gave us a very appropriate Reba.  Set Two 
dissapointed, it was very much like a kiddie roller coaster:  small hills 
that come out of nowhere an drop down to the low (kinetic) energy level 
quickly.  I wrote a 3.8 at the show, but I think that's a bit harsh.  The 
encore hurt the mood and makes for a definite 4 for the overall show on
the 
Scott Jordan Scale.

Holy crap, this is long.  If you read this whole thing...WOW!  You are a 
bigger (wo)man than I.

Grand Rapids in 29 hours!

Take Care,

 - Mark H
--------------------------------------------------
Subject: Champaign Review (long)
From: Reese 


I found Champaign to be pretty entertaining. There were many reasons why, 
which I'll get to eventually, but something that stood out was the fact 
that Phish only played two songs from Billy Breathes (although they were 
two of my favorites). I don't think this is selling out. If they ever 
decided to, this would be a good place to do it. I actually thought the 
show would be BB overload because of the school and the crowd, but it 
wasn't. Trey did give them Bouncin', but there were a lot of kids that 
weren't digging it, which turned out to be the best thing. I wish they 
could have gotten into it, but the more people that sit down around me, 
the more room I have to dance.

We got to Champaign at about 5:15. It was awfully cold. I got in touch 
with my buddy who scored the tix, and we went to a small pre-show party. 
They had a keg, but it was too cold for that, so I made a cup of mushroom 
mint tea. Very refreshing, and no ill effects (or ill taste, try it). I 
don't recommend skyrocketing to the brink of insanity when attending a 
show, but a little something to get the juices flowing is all right. 
Moderation is the key, something a lot of people don't understand.

We left for Assembly Hall at 7:30, were inside before eight. The no 
smoking rule was abolished for the night, but I smoke so I didn't mind. 
It is a pain in the ass if you don't though, and I could hear people 
around me complaining. We found our seats (which were shitty, but we 
weren't _that_ far) and had just gotten comfortable when they opened with 
Runaway Jim. I love it when that happens. I don't know about this song as 
an opener though, however it did give me a chance to warm up. I like 
Jim's that are long and seem to slow to a crawl, which takes time. You 
just can't do that to start a show. Axilla (I?) was next, and was on its 
way to rocking until Trey started having problems. As he kicked his amp, 
everyone roared their approval, and the energy level went up a bit. He 
never got it in gear though, and this made ATR terrible. Page picked it 
up some, but the guitar wasn't a factor at all. Mound was nice. Page, 
Trey, and Mike led the clapping to Fish's beat, and the audience fell 
right in. The best part came next, when they started playing, and threw 
everbody off. People slowly stopped clapping, and the boys stepped it up. 
For me, this was when the show really began. After Mound, I began to 
detect a little mayhem, and I knew DWD was next. I was about two feet in 
the air when Mike hit the first notes. I had yet to hear the "new" DWD 
live, and all I could think about was the jam at the end. It turned about 
to be solid, no real madness, just a nice solid groove. I was fired up 
though, and got another burst of energy from Prince Caspian. Trey was 
back, and Page was doing beautiful work on keys. This song has changed a 
lot, imo for the better, and is one of the best songs on BB. Good 
placement too, setting up Reba, which brought more clapping. Here, it 
wasn't started by the band, and was very annoying. They settled nicely 
into their groove, with an above average solo from Trey. Nothing 
shocking. Whistling ending though. Next came Golgi, which I really got 
into. It was standard, but pretty tight, the boys were rolling. I thought 
it was good enough to end the set until Antelope began, which was 
outrageous. This more than made up for the beginning of the set, and was 
a great way to end it. Severe jamming here, which stopped on a dime, then 
took off again. Overall, a  pretty decent set. ATR could have been 
better, it's a good piece of music.

Set II got off to an amazing start. I was hoping they'd keep the 
intensity high after Antelope, and they did. ASZ, with its lights and 
effects, is an experience. The music......I'll just say the boys really 
let the funk flow. Page was everywhere. They went into a huge Maze, and 
this was the highlight of my night. It was incredible, and seemed to be 
reaching higher and higher. Both Page and Trey were on, but I missed most 
of the lights because I either had my head down or my eyes closed. When 
things get intense, I have the tendency to do that, and I end up missing 
a lot of the visuals. Sometimes you can groove so hard, you stop paying 
attention to anything but the music. Just listening to it was enough 
though. It was unreal. Bouncin' came next, and even though I'm not a 
Bouncin' basher (I dig the vocals), I really didn't want to hear this 
tune then. Not at all. I don't even want to talk about it. Simple lifted 
my spirits. I was looking forward to this just as I was looking forward 
to DWD. This jam is bigger, and better, although Trey was having more 
problems. On a whole, it was still pretty good as Page was outta sight! 
Loving Cup followed, and it rocked, hard. Trey came back to life (again) 
with strong playing and vocals. Mike's followed, and this could have been 
much, much phatter, but ended up being pretty average. In the beginning I 
said to myself, "Yeah, time to get down", but never really did. Maybe 
it's because I've been listening to some smokin' Mike's recently, but 
this didn't seem up there. Trey went to the drumkit, and stayed until 
everyone else was in place for the SSB. I really wanted to _hear_ this, 
but I think that was asking too much. I did notice Phishlike vocal 
variations. It was _very_ loud for some of it, and the flames from 
lighters sparkled in the grey haze, which was splendid. I believe they're 
performing the SSB Tuesday before the Minnesota Timberwolves game, but if 
you're not from Minnesota (or Portland), you probably won't get it. Both 
teams aren't that good and are rarely on national TV. Weekapaug followed 
the form of Mike's, beginning without Mike! It just kind of started all 
of a sudden without the bass intro and seemed a little short too. I guess 
an average Mike's gets an average Weekapaug. It was getting late though. 
Set II ended on a good note. Weekapaug was still pretty tight, just not 
as good as usual. Theme was the encore, and was almost ruined by 
clapping. I dig this song a lot, and as soon as I heard Page start it 
off, I was psyched. When it's mellow, it's sooooooooo smooth, and that's 
the part they were fucking up! When the clapping began, I had a feeling 
similar to the one I had during Bouncin'. I really couldn't believe it. 
I felt sick, but it eventually stopped. Theme is an exquisite song. Trey 
and Mike were alternating smoothly until the jam, and once it began, as 
the energy built up inside of it, it was quite transcendent. When that 
energy is released ("from the bottom...") the song seems to melt. I would 
have thrown something after it, but wouldn't we all? A solid encore 
nonetheless. The show, on a whole, was good. Kentucky stole our Tela and 
Guyute, but this show did have its moments. Drumkit good...clapping bad. 
Phish is still Phish, and for that I am grateful. 

For those of you who spent the show sitting down, complaining, waiting to 
leave to get to some lame tavern or stumbling around tripping, please 
stay home next time. You can do all that stuff there for free. Tripping 
is actually safer in your own home. You are taking valued space from 
fans, a few of which I know personally, and they are extremely pissed 
off:^) You know, I don't really mind these kids (and that's what most of 
them are), but when they ruin it for others, that's when it gets out of 
hand. Unfortunately, I see the problem getting worse before it gets 
better. I'd really like to see Phish's new fans as an extension of the 
old, and some of them are, but they get overshadowed by the commercial 
crowd. Their presence may have its benefits, but for now, it's a real 
problem for a lot of people. My solution? Only pay attention to the four 
guys from Vermont, the ones on the stage with the instruments and fancy 
clothes. They're rather interesting.


Ron


"The music is a journey, the journey is endless..."     -Sun Ra
----------------------------------------------
Subject: Champaign Review (long)
From: Jason Wiener 


I got a chance to check out Lexington and Champaign this past weekend 
and the reviews I have read so far have pretty much covered what I 
feel about Lexington: damn good show with a killer Bathtub and the 
BIKE - wow!  Good time and Good Crowd.

Champaign was another story.  This show may have been one of the best 
I have ever seen  if not for the horrible crowd.  More on that later. 
The scene in the lot was ok for how cold and shitty the weather was.  
While it was nothing insane my friend and I were able to locate what 
we were looking for and were very pleased.  We also enjoyed the drum 
circle which was going on in the SW lot before the show.

We had planned on trading down to the floor once we got inside the 
arena but our earlier success in the lot was already affecting us 
significantly enough that we simply retired to our seats in nosebleed 
country up behind Fishman.   Now for the show itself:

SET I

Runaway Jim:  Nice opener.  This was my first clue that the coolness 
level of the crowd was going to be seriously lacking.  I enjoyed the 
energy level and the jam was pleasing even though it was nothing 
extraordinary.

Axilla Pt. 1:  A little moment of trepidation when I thought this 
might be that abomination which is Part II but I was pleasantly 
suprised and danced my ass of for this one.

All Things Reconsidered:  I don't remember much specific about this 
song except a general feeling of exhaustion from dancing like it was 
my j-o-b.

Mound:  Never heard this one live before so I didn't know what to 
expect.  Certainly nothing to complain about in the music.  However, 
this was when the crowd really started to bother me.  Obviously, the 
arena was chock full of stupid people waiting to hear a song they 
knew from the radio and they weren't getting it at all.  Rather they 
were getting terrific versions of songs they didn't know and so they 
sat down and pouted.  It was still pretty easy to ignore them at this 
point though.

DWD:  I am not a big fan of Hoist however I heard what the boys did  
with this song at Clifford Ball and so I was willing to give it a 
listen and was I ever glad I did.  This song has just exploded in the 
past months!  Of course all the dumb sorority girls got up and sang 
along with "the song I've heard before" but they promptly sat down 
just when it started to get good.  And did it ever get good.  The jam 
from this song was impressive in its energy and I loved every second 
of it.

Prince Caspian:  I enjoyed this song when I heard it at Deer Creek 
but I was a little worried that the band was getting frustrated with 
the crowd and was just deciding to play some song that the dumbasses 
would respond too.  Nonetheless, this song had a terrific spacey jam 
in the middle.  It seemed a bit out of place in the first set but was 
highly entertaining.

Reba:  Another one that a bunch of people would know the words too.  
But I also knew that all those people had never got past the first 
three minutes of the song without skipping the CD to Bouncing.  The 
jam in this song was HUGE.  I loved every second of it and it was 
perhaps the best version I have heard.

Golgi Apparatus:  Fun but nothing special to my memory.

Antelope:  I picked this one out from the very first time Trey 
plucked a string and went NUTS!  My friend was just as thrilled.  We 
expected this one and boy oh boy were we not disappointed.  Except 
for one little sound glitch, this version was immaculate.  This one 
kept building and building until I thought my head was going to 
explode!!!  This one closed the set and I collapsed in exhaustion.

Intermission:
The body buzz was subsuding so we lit up and kicked shit back into 
high gear.  We didn't have any trouble with security but we heard of 
some guys being harassed, even for smoking cigarettes.  I also got a 
chance to overhear some of the conversation the darlings in front of 
us were attempting.  These bitches were so clueless it made me angry. 
 They were actually sitting there making fun of people who were 
dancing!  We decided to punish them by excluding them from activities 
in which the rest of the section was participating.

Set II:
After the first set we were expecting an epic second set.  We were 
not disappointed.

ASZ:  This started very spacy and out there.  I didn't even recognize 
it until about two or three minutes in.  As a side note,  the visual 
spectacle of the show has improved a great deal since my first shows 
in 1992.  The smoke guns and lighting really added to my enjoyment of 
one of my favorite jams.

Maze:  The transistion from ASZ into Maze was awesome and I was SO 
ready for this song.  While not as good as the version from Deer 
Creek II 1996, I enjoyed this song immensely.  This jam was fat and 
there was some terrific soloing if I remember correctly.  This song 
seemed to set a darker tone for the second set which carried into...

Bouncing:  Allright.  I don't really care for this song and my 
trepidation was only increased when one girl in fornt of me turned to 
her friend and said, "Ohhhhh...I know this song!"  Well, the boys did 
a decent job on this song although it was certainly a darker version 
than I can ever remember seeing.  I got the sense that there was some 
irony involved in playing this song considering the quality of the 
crowd.

Simple:  Terrific version.  I've heard that they have been ramming out 
on this tune lately and I heard right.  I loved this song.  It seemed 
to be in a bit more of a minor key than other versions I heard which 
fit nicely with the theme of the second set.  Trey had some equipment 
problems which provided a bit of comic relief.

Loving Cup:  Oh yeah!!!!!!  How can you not be happy with this one?  
I was pumped up and so were all the other true fans in the arena.  
There was nothing special about the way they played this song but it 
was very special just to hear it live.  Definitely a high point of 
the show.

Mike's Song:  I was not expecting this so soon after Knoxville but I 
was happy with it.  Firm and tight but well-jammed.

Star-Spangled Banner:  I'm always happy to hear something new so I 
enjoyed this even though many people felt it necessary to scream 
during the song.

Weekapaug:  Another personal favorite to which the band rocked out 
and I danced danced danced.  By this time most of the jerk-offs in my 
section had left so it was a bit of a better atmosphere.  I couldn't 
believe the second set was over with this one; the set seemed short.

Theme:  Best jam on BB and this version was acceptable.  I was 
desperately hoping for Hood but you can't have it all.

Overall, I think the tapes of this show will bear out its great 
musical content.  The boys jammed hard and tight; they were together 
and nearly every song was sparkling.  The sound in the venue was good 
and the crowd was the only really bad thing about this show.  I have 
NEVER had a crowd affect my enjoyment of a concert as negatively as 
happened on Friday night.  I am all for Phish writing the type of 
songs it wants for albums - it's their band not mine but I wish they 
wouldn't book venues like the University of Illinois which attract so 
many stupid people to the show.  I'm sure there was some cool poeple 
at U of I but they were not in my section and it looked from my point 
of view the floor seemed pretty dead too.  Musically, this show was a 
8.0 but with the corwd it drops to a 7.0.

If this review doesn't already strike you as a  grovel for tapes of 
the show, then let this paragraph do it.  I really enjoyed the music 
of this show and I think the tapes will isolate me from the stupid 
people in the crowd.

Thanks for letting me rant,
Jason...


"Who can unlearn all the facts that I've learned?
I sat in their chairs and my synapses burned
The torture of chalkdust collects on my tongue
Thoughts follow my vision and dance in the sun
All my vasoconstrictors, they come slowly undone
Can't this wait 'til I'm old?
Can I live while I'm young?"
                      -Phish
                       Chalkdust Torture
---------------------------------------------------------
Subject: 
Champaign 11/8
From: mlerch@pobox.com (Michael Lerch)


This was my first Phish arena show.  Sorry, guys, but this was the
worst sounding show I've ever been to.  Even worse than the Van Halen
concert I saw in high school.  I know my seats were bad, but I'm
serious, I don't think the sound guy ever went back behind the stage
to hear what those 1,000 people were hearing...it was BAD.  I
literally could not here one bass note.   There seemed to be NO direct
guitar sound going to the back; I only heard washy echos bouncing back
from the other side of the hall.

The drums and keys came through okay back there.  In fact, the drums
in particular were crystal clear.  But why do you go to a Phish show
but to hear the fantastic interplay and jamming between these great
musicians?  It was extremely difficult to enjoy when you couldn't hear
two of the four instruments with any sort of clarity.  The vocal
harmonies were good, but the individual words were complete mush.

Did anyone else seated behind the stage have this feeling?  What was
the sound out front?  I tell you, after seeing them at the Murat, this
really REALLY sours me to Phish in arenas.

If someone has a good tape copy of the show that sounds better than
what I heard, I've got some hours of FZ (mostly '88 band) I can trade.
I hope that this is the exception and not the rule to the Phish arena
sound.

I will say this:  I enjoyed the light show better than any non-laser
show I've seen.  And one thing I was looking forward to the whole time
sitting behind the stage was watching Fishman, and he did not fail me!
What a great drummer to watch!
-------------------------------------------------------
From: Dennis Creighton 
Subject: Champaign Review 11/8/96

Ok, Folks I thought I would review the champaign show.  After last
year's champaign show I was kind of hoping for better.  Last years
setlist was great, but the show energy wasn't present.  That is because
the boys were saving it for this year.

Lot Scene: Who care's about reviewing a lot scene.  To me it has nothing
to do with the show.

Opener:  Runaway Jim:  The only song i called all night. great opener. 
always gets you in the dancin mood.  Trey had some beautiful guitar
work.  I great melodic ending.

Axilla:  Totally unexpected.  Even part II is becoming less likely. 
The  version was pretty standard.  But a nice change.  trey had some
problems with his rack but took care of it with a few swift kicks.

ATR:  Beuatiful.  diging in the archives again.  I have never heard a
ATR in all my years.  Now I have.  It has great.  Nice lead to next
song.

Mound: No one likes mound live.  The album version is great.  I haven't
heard a good mound live, except this one.  I enjoyed my first mound. 
everything clicked together right. 

DwD:  All the U of I Frat Bro's were happy.  Finally a song they knew. 
It was a solid version.  High intensity jam at the end.

Prince Caspian:  I love the new arrangement of this one.  A great song. 
gets you going, brings you camly down then kicks you in the ass one more
time.

Reba: Reba Reba Reba,  I cannot say enough about this version. 
Beuatiful composition.  However the last three Reba's I've Heard.  I
can't stop listening to fishman.  Now I am a gutiarist and focus mainly
on trey,  But Fishman's drum's have blown me away recently.  

Golgi: I thought this was the end for sure.  They really jammed golgi. 
I have to be honest I wasn't to excited at first.  But i was quickly
reinterested.

Antelope:  What an end to a great set.  trey kept teasing us with these
monster scales that never quite climaxed and as soon as they did.  Marco
was in town.  and Marco was feeling really funky tonight.

First set:  This was a great set.  Well structured.  I couldn't believe
there was one more to go.

2001: My brother called this:  It was a smoothed out cool version. 
awesome opener.

Maze: Yes!  what a smokin version.  So much energy tonight.  I was
happy.  Not to spacey of a jam.  Just hard core rockin solo's by trey
and page.

Bouncin: Yippy! At least it wasn't a day in the life.  I could do
without either of those though.

Simple: I was going to say that this was my second set highlight.  Yeah
it was.  What a diverse jam at the end.  It didn't segue into anything
it just bowed out gracefully so that the crowd had time to push their
brain back inside their heads.

Loving Cup:  I last hear this at Deer creek 95'.  Man I love this tune. 
the really hit this song right.  Nice placement in the set too.  

Mike's:  after lovin cup I was thinking,  please one more jam song.  And
we got the grandad of them all.  This was a old school mike's.  Not the
spaced out summer versions.  Don't get me wrong Mike's from Deer Creek
was my favorite song all tour.  But this was just solid riff rockin
Mike's good to hear.

Anthem:  I wanted to hear them sing this.  I didn't think it would be in
the groove but it was cool.  the do a nice job.  although I couldn't
hear most of it as uknowing bastards couldn't possibly shut up fo a
song.

Weekapaug:  ahort and sweet.  I  was drained at this point.  Very nice
but standrad version.

E: Theme:  A peaceful toping of to a wonderful show. This is a
beautifully orchestrated jam.

Overall:  I think this show was phenominal.  Excuse the poor ph pun. 
they really exploded.  I haven't seen such a high energy show in a
while.  They just didn't let up with the jams.   Well I got two more
shoes to go.  Grand Rapids, Iowa State,.  And then of course good old
NYE rolls around. 

Have fun at the shows kids.  Remember to keep our scene celan. Let's try
not to piss of the band.  They are afrerall blessing us.

Eric Creighton

creighton@mindsping.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 21:37:05 -0500
From: Valerie McCaffrey 
Subject: 11/8/96 review

  well i got some time til THE SIMPSONS is on... Mmmmmmmmmmmm...season
finale...wait a minute no new shows for 4 months, DOH... ok sorry.

i have listened 2 dead and PHISH 4 a year now, so i guess im a newbie, but i
could fool u, well actually i wont, and i at 1st liked dead better, but now
PHISH is far and away my fav band and the deads like 5th.

my 1st show, 11/8/96!!!!!  reviews only a few months late

well i was so hyped at school, so me and my best friend get outta the car at
CHAMPAIGN, he doesnt like em as much as me, but hey i think 1/2 the people
there liked em, it was a college!!!!!!!!!!  alright welook around the lot,
and i was expecting more, but it was soooooooooo  goddam cold so we went
inside after we saw a few people we knew.

inside, yes i did get a shirt since it was my 1st show, but i wont this
summer at the 2 im cin.

so we were behind the stage in a deadhead section, which was better than the
louddrunkmoronfratboys singin 600000000000 bottles a beer on the wall, so
anyway i meet alll the kids from school at the seats cuz me and another kid
got all the tix that went around, he scalped what a fag, i buy 4 people at
face value, he and a kid i bought 4 snuck down 2 the floor which sounds cool
but i h8 that crap.  alright so at out perfect view, we could see all of
TREY(GOD)'S guitar we werent that far back like 15 rows, and this place is
circular, and it goes up and way back, but there are no decks like an arena,
and the lighting was blue on the stage, and some funky music music but i
think i heard some Medeski Martin and wood, did any one else hear that?

im not gonna make it b4 the simpsons(now so ill b back)argggggghhhhhh.. hour
long....

well during the SIMPSONS we had a tornado scare but im back and fine back 2
the review:

  alrighty so im talkin 2 this kid from school and i ask:

                 "do you think theyll turn off  the lights?"

 He says "no", and at that exact second the lights go off and the Assembly
Hall goes nuts.

  alright, 2 the songs i forget em all, duh its been a few mobths and i only
got 1 of the tapes but here i go

 runaway: well this was pretty cool, at that time i liked this song, now i
think its ok cuz ive heard so many, yeah and ive been to 1 show, next was
AXILLA 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!  even i knew that this was a treat, but like the first
song his gi-tar kept fuckin up i could c him hitin his WAH WAH peddle and
amp, i was thinkin that sux, but this could b cool cuz since i saw all the
acoustic guitars i thought they might break em out and do an acoustic set,
now i guess its good that didnt happen next i think was   ATR and if u dont
know thats All Things Reconsidered... wait... im the face if you want oh i
love this album, yes QUADROPHENIA, its the BEST album ever, no u cant argue
this its a literal fact, and NO i DONT think PHISH did a good job on it in
my home of CHI-CA-GO.  back 2 the review.  i didnt know ATR real well but i
thought it was pretty cool, mound had a few mess ups but oh well, but i
loved the rest and all i can remember is cin DOWN WITH DISEASE which i LOVE,
but my friend best that is, bob, thats well lets say he loves it too.  They
did a Prince that has a name CASPIAN, i love the
singalong(OOOOOOOOOOOhHHHHHHHHHH) but otherwise i absolutely h8 this song
then REBA, I LOVE THIS SONG, I LOVE THAT I SAW THE WHISTLIN, I LOVE THAT I
SAW GOLGI, but I LOVED THAT I SAW AN ANTELOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
   
  setbreak: y ud review this i cant guess but i stayed back and talked.  it
seemed long they had started late too very late

2001: wella spacey beginning and a great version i love the smoke and slow mo
very cool, i loved the slow mo, cant overemphasize it, well the 1st set may
not b in order but this is since i have the tape then came a cool MAZE, now
either im in the mood 4 this song or i aint and i was, it was cool.

BOUNCIN: now is it me, or is this the anthem of the newbies????????all the
kids i know like this 4 me on a scale of 1-10 definitely a 5, and if im in
the mood at most a 7, so i dont know.  ill defend any PHISH song.  but a
song i cant stand people rippin on is SPARKLE, comon! 

  listen 2 12/31/95 set I, is the SPARKLE/CHALKDUST NOT THE BEST PLACED
                2gether EVER???????????????  my fav 2 songs 2gether ever

but as 4 bouncin i mean HEY, it was... bouncin ya know

then came simple i was hopin 2 hear this, and i hear i got a monster
version, but i dont remember so i wont b disappointed with others, but i
dont like it that much on tape cuz his(GODS) equipment keeps messin up.
lovin cup had never heard it but it was great and in concert after he
apologized about his guitar i dint notice the change in the line:"and u know
i play a bad guitar"but i had never heard the song, but that was cool.
MIKES, i can never hear thsi enough, and thats all i have 2 say about that

star spangled: i loved it, when  they told us they were singin at the
timberwolves game and we were gonna b their practice, real neat.  but every1
was screamin wasnt hard 2 hear, but people say it was, no, just hard 2 hear
on tape

WEEKAPAUG: well i called it but HELLO its a MIKES GROOVE, not really but
thats what i call every MIKES, -----, WEEKAPAUG.  

ENCORE!!! ENCORE!!!

  SO MANY LIGHTERS UP, UNBELIEVABLE, NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT

they played THEME, which suprised me, but it was cool  

lets c only 2 Billy Breathes songs, and i think the albums good, well i like

A LIVE ONE and HOIST and BILLY in that order i think, and maybe JUNTA at the
top oh yeah.

well i had a great time and thought it 2 b an ok-good show and another said
a good and some1 else said whatever u thought, so i guess the others were
right, it wouldve been good but they started late and it was short, and the
crowd was 30-45%fratboys, and the rest deadheads and phishheads.

                    email me

 vmccaffrey@kiwi.dep.anl.gov

ps this sure is long thanx 4 readin

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