Subject: Michigan Reviews (Part 1 of 2)
From: "J.R. Trimpe" 

HEY! Here is the promised review of the two shows I saw of the tour. A 
short reminder, the application for the OE tree is now available on the 
web page as well as on this newsgroup.

For reference, I've seen about 11 or so shows now but have around 350 
hours on tape. This is not going to be a "Everything Phish does is 
wonderful!!!" review.

11/9/96 Auburn Hills, MI

OUTSIDE: Security was rediculous. I couldn't figure out why everybody was 
being herded through this little gate allowing 2 at a time before they 
went to get searched and ticket taken at ANOTHER gate. It was ass cold 
and I didn't want to be out there any longer than necessary. This was, 
unfortunately, a sign of things to come. I didn't get in until 10 minutes 
after the printed ticket time. I was sweatin' it for a few there.

INSIDE: The "scene" (if there is such a thing anymore) was slightly 
agitated, and I really have no idea why. It was almost like there were 
too many people way too stoned or doesed out to realize that they were 
making NO SENSE what soever, basicly wasting oxygen. I took my seat and 
waited for...

BURIED ALIVE: Cool! Good opener, get me dancing. The only problem I have 
with it is that it is usually followed up as an opener with...

POOR HEART: I could have lived without it. I seem to get it all the time. 
I'm sorry, but I'm not a big bluegrass fan. It was a nice solid version 
though.

SLOTH: COOL! Never saw this live before! It was almost funny to watch the 
entire crowd just kind of stand there not knowing what they were getting. 
It was great for me, but I could almost feel the energy in the room go 
down. Way down. Solid version of Sloth.

DIVIDED SKY: Hmm... This got the recognition crowd response and was 
pretty good. My only thing was that it really didn't grow or build the 
way that I was hoping it would. Maybe it was where I was at, but this as 
well as many other tunes this night were lacking the energy that I was 
hoping for. More on that later.

HORN: More mellow stuff. A nice version though, I have always liked this 
song. It did get the crowd going a little more. I had no idea that I was 
soon in for...

TUBE: YES! Years ago when I first started collecting tapes, I fell in 
love with this song. My second live tape was 11/4/90 and I loved this. To 
get it live was a total treat. The solos, especially Page were very nice 
to hear. The crowd again had no clue what a special treat they were 
receiving. By the time it was done, the crowd was moning again. To bad 
that evergy would get sucked away by...

TALK: Just like the album. I;m glad I got to hear it live and all, but... 
Well... It's just like the album and way more mellow than this first set 
needed.

SPLIT OPEN AND MELT: This was the onlt SOAMelt that I have seen live that 
didn't suck. I grooved. Hard. Almost as good as my favourite from 
12/31/93. Really brought the energy back. I was really pumped for what 
might come after this well needed boost.

LIZARDS: Damn. Brought it right back down. Good version and all, but not 
what I thought should have gone there.

CHARACTER ZERO: First time seeing it, and it's really fun. Great set 
closer. Wonderful tune.

At this point, I was really hoping the the second set would explode like 
it normally does. The first set really lacked the energy. The few gems in 
it made up for some of it, but it wasn't quite the groove I was hoping to 
get. Almost as if some of the stuff was misplaced in the set. 35 minutes 
the lights went down again.

DAVID BOWIE: Short version, only about 13 minutes. Mostly mellow. Damn, I 
was hoping that it was going to go higher, faster, louder! Oh well, it 
was nice to hear.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: Aside from the vocal flub by Trey, standard but very 
solid. Really was exciting to see live. It's one hell of an experience! I 
was pumped after this, the energy was sure to be there...

YEM: They played this last year here. A nice version, but there wasn't 
too much of a standout of anything in it. I've heard some of the solos 
and jams be stronger in the past. Secretly I was hoping for an epic YEM 
like last Halloween in Chicago. 25 minutes.

TASTE: Good to hear this in it's final form, but secretly, I liked the 
way they had it at the end of last fall's tour. Both tunes stacked. 
Trey's additional solo stuff is cool, but I think it drags out a little 
bit too much.

SWEPT AWAY > STEEP: Very solid, tight harmonies. Interesting to see live. 
I'm glad I caught it. The scream is... Startling. I'm glad I knew about 
it. This segued right into...

HARRY HODD: Still had SWEPT/STEEP teases in the begining too. A nice 
Hood, but it didn't really climax as high as I might have liked it to. 
You guessed, I thought it lacked energy.

JULIUS: This was the encore. The best part of the second set I think. 
Julius is almost always really good. This was no exception.

The show in general had very little energy and had more mellow stuff than 
I would have liked to have. There were some really nice gems in there 
like the Tube, SOAMelt, and some of the second set, but it just seems 
like the Palace of Auburn Hills does that to performers. I walked away 
thinking to myself, on a scale against other performers, this was a great 
show. But on a Phish scale, it was really flat.

I was hoping that they would take this and use it to their advantage at 
the next show in Grand Rapids.

To be continued...

J.R.    -trimpeja@acm.msu.edu
        -trimpeja@pilot.msu.edu                   United States
        -jr@netspace.org                        Ambassador of the 
        -jtrimpe@edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu              Ministry of 
        -http://www.msu.edu/user/trimpeja          Crap Design
        -Phish.net Lyrics File Administrator

                           The 'R' stands for QUALITY!
---------------------------------------------
Subject: 11/9 Palace Review (long) !!!
From: Corey Lennon Fields 

Hey everyone, here is a little review of my experiences 
tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  This was my 12th
show, first after Buffalo.  hot hot hot is all I have to 
say!  This show rocked way harder than Buffalo, and the in-
tensity was 100 times higher.  To be honest, I didn't expect
this show to be great, as last year's Palace show was sorta
lame, and this was the end of a four show string.  Goddamn
was I wrong.

LOT SCENE:  Very very mellow.  I think all the heads were
concious of the huge amount of Nazi-like policemen scattered
throughout the lot.  Nowhere near the craziness of Buffalo, 
where it seemed like everyone was running around screaming
"DOSES! SHROOMS! NUGS! DANK!"  Tonight was void of these common
hippie war cries.  

PRESHOW MUSIC:  Haven't a clue.  Anyone?

Note -- My mother came along to this show.  She digs the 
phishies.  This was her first show, and she was hoping for
crazy versions of Sample, Fee, Bouncin', and Fluffhead.  Not
neccesarily what I wanted, but hey, that's cool.

The crowd fucking sucked for this show.  But more about
that later.

The set opened with BURIED ALIVE.  Excellent.  This was my
first since 6.23.94, but at that time I was unfamiliar with 
it. I was really happy to hear this start off, rather than
AC/DC or something else I've heard a million times.

POOR HEART:  Poor Heart.  yeeeehaaaa!  At this point in the
show, this annoying high school girl taps me on the shoulder
and promptly asks "Hey man, you got any pot?"  I say, "do you
want a hit off this joint?"  
Her:  "A hit off of what?"
Me:   "This joint"
Her:  "What's that?"
Me:   "It's a joint"
Her:  "No it's not!"  then she giggled and finally took it.
I have no idea why I'm typing this, but I thought this was
Ultra Weird.

SLOTH was a nice surprise.  I don't think the crowd was too 
into it, but I was, as it was a first for me.  

DIVIDED SKY was something I knew they would play, and I was 
happy.  THE PAUSE was way too long, but the crowd seemed into 
it.  I really like this tune live.  It's one of those classics
that never gets old.

HORN followed.  I'm sorry anti-cheese phreaks, I like this 
song for some reason.  I think Trey's solo is simple yet
beautiful.  My friend Mike was groaning during this.

TUBE!!!  My second Tube ever (DC being the first).  I love 
love this song...  It is really Page's chance to take over 
and funk the house down.  Get funked up Page!

TALK:  Cheesy.  sorry, like most of BB, it is good and well-
written, but is sorely uninteresting live.

SPLIT OPEN AND MELT:  whew!  Here is where shit started getting
crazy.  This jam, like many other SOAM's, developed into 
intense psycho crazy strobish psychedelic CHAOS!  I felt
weird during this.  This is one of 'em that fries your brain.
I never got into this song until I saw my first at DC night 1
last summer.  Very psychedelic yet groovy.

LIZARDS:  My mom's highlight of the night.  She dug "that
lizards song".  This got the crowd going.

CHARACTER ZERO:  I thought it was good, but not as crazy as
everyone's been hyping it up on the 'net...  There was no
vocal jam at the end.  At least I didn't hear one, unless you
count the added "aaah aah" 's at the end.


First set rocked.  WAY WAY harder than I thought.  Oh yeah, the
only BAD thing about this set:  During SOAM, I'm in this sick
revolving, groovy state of mind, when this dumb chick in front
of me starts talking really loud about something really stupid.
Something about how fucked up she was.   aarrgh...

I have no complaints about this set.  I'd say it was a above 
average set, IMO.  Probably a 6.5 on the SJ Review scale.

I called AC/DC Bag to open the second... nope.

DAVID BOWIE:  Strange as an opener, but good nonetheless.  This 
had a very psychedelic feel to it also.  I was happy the intensity
had kept up from the first...

ADITL:  blah.  And the crowd goes wild!!!  Trey sang
"Made the bus, in seconds flat, 
 Made the bus, in seconds flat"  A little flub, but it was 
funny.  Even he thought so.  I was looking forward
to a fat (phat) Tweezer to follow, but instead we got..

YOU ENJOY MYSELF:  Excellent excellent version.  They really love
to play this, and it shows.  No dark spacy moments, just solid
Funkin' throughout.  Mike really shone during this, and I even 
think he had a smile on his face during  ;)  The best YEM I've seen
live by far.

TASTE:  Wow.  they've really got this one down pat.  this is THE 
live song of BB no doubt.  They lyrics are cheese, but the music
is beautiful...

SWEPT AWAY -> STEEP:  blah blah.  Boring.  Another song like Talk
that doesn't translate live at all.  I sat down for the first time.

HARRY HOOD:  Yes!  This was only my second HH, the Ball being the
first.  This version blew the Ball away by far (cept for the fireworks
at the end of the BAll version.)  This song just builds builds
and builds until it explodes into a melodious wonder.

Woah.  It's over?  Short set it seemed.  But the first seemed quite
long, so it's all good.

Encore was JULIUS.  Shitty shitty encore.  This is good, rockin', but
IT IS NOT A GOOD ENCORE!!!  I think I'm alone in this view, since the
crowd dug the fuck out of it.

Overall an excellent show.  Far succeeded the Palace show from
last year.  I had a great time.  And to all of you:  stop freakin!!
They are not selling out...nor do they need "a good long break" like 
Darius said.  they are on, and it is good.  

I'd probably give this show a 6.8 on the SJ scale.

I'll see you all in Grand Rapids, which will be my last show for a
while.  I think GR is gonna be nuts...

Corey
fieldsco@cps.msu.edu
http://www.cps.msu.edu/~fieldsco/tapes.html

PS -- If anyone has this on tape, I have a couple fall tour tapes
for trade.  Drop me a line if you're interested.

Oh yeah, Trey was KICKASS on his drum kit tonight.  He adds so
much with this setup... let's hope it continues.
----------------------------------------------------
Subject: Phish-again! (11/9 review)


This was my first show since Clifford Ball (mmmm...Clifford Ball), so
it's probably gonna sound a little biased since nothing could ever beat
the Clifford experience. This was also my first show in the mid-west.
Y'all are nice people :).

Getting to the show wasn't too difficult. The Palace was a bit hard to
find, but we somehow ran into it. Nothing at all was doin in the lot (at
least where we were parked) and it was cold (really cold), so we decided
to head in kinda early. 

The Palace is a pretty funky place. It's big (around 15,000, right?),
and fairly new. Lot's of plastic. Weird. Anyway, we got metal detected
on the way in! Kinda felt like being back in High School :). Once
inside, I settled into my 10th row center seats (thanks you mail
order!), and I was ready to go!

Show started at 7:55
I was expecting My Friend, but instead we got Buried Alive (no, not
literally), which was cool but nothing spectacular. Upbeat, but it kinda
plodded along like most Buried Alives do. Pretty bopping opener, though.

Next came Poor Heart. Short, Sweet, Rockin. Cool.

The Sloth was next. What a rocking, crazy, upbeat way to open a show.
The first three songs were all short and fast paced. The Sloth was it's
usual nasty self. Everybody loved it.

Next came Divided Sky, which is always nice to hear but lately (at least
for me), has gotten a bit stale. The closing jam was good, but, as
usual, didn't really go anywhere. Still good to hear.

Next came Horn, which finally gave us a cooldown. Horn is just a
beautiful song. As far as cooldowns go, it doesn't get much better then
this. I was looking foward to hearing Billy Breathes, though.

After Horn, I saw Trey look at the Tube sign some guy had up front. I
was thinking "no way", but alas we were Tubed! This was a great version.
Page really went off, as did Trey in his little solo part. And
surprisingly they nailed all of the lyrics. Highlight of the set so
far.  
Next was an acoustic Talk, another beauty. This song sounds so much like
Blackbird it's scary. Another cooldown, not really necessary. They
totally brought the energy down from Tube. 

Mmmm...Split Open and Melt. That's just what we needed to get rockin
again. The was definitly an above average version, though not near as
good as the Clifford Ball version. Trey, as usual, got really into the
jam and had the place soaring. Nothing TOO crazy and weird, though.

Next was Lizards. I'm not a big fan of this one. It's cool, but..eeh.

They cloed the set with Character 0, which I was psyched to hear because
I heard it rocked. I most certainly did. Much more fun then Sample or
even Julius or Possum. The jam was cool, but pretty short. I like what
they did with the ending. Yee-haw.

Pretty short set, but SOLID. SOLID songs, nothin too crazy. I'd give it
a SOLID 4-5 on that silly scale.

The Intra-set scene was pretty chill. Those huge collector cup sodas are
great!

The second set start with Bowie. Weird indeed. I couldn't figure out if
that was bad or good. I usually need something to kinda lead me into
Bowie - to cushion the fall. I think the band does, too, since this
version was really nothing spectacular. It did build quite nicely, but
there was nothing really crazy that made me go "aahhh". It was actually
more like an Antelope then a Bowie. Trey was really ragin at the end,
though. Fun fun. This was relativly short, by the way, around 13-15
minutes.

Next came Day in the Life. A great post jamming song. Very well placed
in the set, and very fun.

YEM followed. Oohh yeaaahh. Nothing special in the opening section. The
jam was pretty crazy, though. VERY F-U-N-K-Y. Trey was messing around
with that Synthesizer-bell thing, at it was really cool. Then he totaly
started funking it up with the wah. Reminded me of the Albany YEM last
year, but not as intense. The Bass and Drums was incredible. Have they
been doing this all tour? I can't remember ever seeing Mike go off like
that. Trey added some nice beats with the now infamous drum kit.
Yee-haw! Vocal jam had the usual entrancing lights. Funk you very much!

Taste was next, and I was excited to hear the "new arrangement". This
song was amazing! The highlight of the show for me. The opening section
was stantard (loove those "oo"s!), but the jam just kicked my ass. Page
was pounding it out at first. Then the jam shifted to Trey and he just
went off. Straight into the zone. He was doing some serious Norweigen
Wood-like stuff (do they always do this jam in Taste now?). Sounded a
lot like the Clifford Ball Bathtub Gin or DwD - entrancing, weird,
flowing solo. I love it when he does that! Then they all came in
perfectly for the ending chord progression. What a great fuckin song!

Next we were treated to Swept Away > Steep. Nice. Very Floyd like.
Trippy. Made me feel at one with the Palace. 

The predictable Hood came next. This was an above average version. Trey
teased "steep" in the opening. The jam was nice and drawn out. Got
REALLY good. Yeah, this was definitly and above average version, though
I can't think of anything to say about it. Great way to end a show.

The Julius encore was rocking and a gave us a little something to take
home with us. I would have reather heard GTBT, though.

Overall, the secnod set, like the first, was very SOLID. Highlights were
YEM, Taste and a really nice Hood. Probably a 6 on the scaly scale. The
whole show would probably get a 5-6. Actually, made that a 6. It was
definitly above average. 

Fun show! I can't believe I wrote this much. I'm so wired. I have a
headache, but it's a good headache. Ouch. That was't good. What the hell
am I typing this for?!

Anyway, see you at Grand Rapids!

~~josh
-----------------------------------------
Subject: Palace of Auburn Hills Review 11/9
From: Kevin_Kaufmann@hmco.com

Whew!  back to work in Evanston after a whirlwind weekend.  I'm still on
the tired side of things but the task master doesn't care.  Anyway the
trip, the show...

I got up at 5:00am to catch the train to Ann Arbor(on of the few places in 
Michigan worth visiting) and because of a delay we didn't arrive until
1:00pm, local time.  I met my friend, Erin, at the station and we went
back to her place hung out, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and began the trip
up to Auburn hills.

Before the show we ate at Muskies, not bad and a great logo for all us 
phishheads, but man, the choices for food are really slim around the
Palace.  
We got to the lots right before the show, so I can't make a good comment
about the scene outside.  Secuity was a little tight, though and it slowed
things up.

Inside:  WhoA!!! what great seats!!! We were on the first level off the
floor, to the left of Page, absolutely fantastic view.  After an 8:01, 7:30
start...

Buried Alive, yes, great opener!  I haven't seen this since my first show.
It really got us rocking.  Of course it is a short song which always seems to
lead to...

Poor Heart:  I wouldn't cross the continental divide to see this song, but
hey, live it's fun and keeps them butts movin'!

It was after Poor Heart that I knew this was going to be a good show,
because as Trey was counting out the next song, he and Mike were laughing like
hell.  Trey messed up the count, had to recount and finally, with grins all
around came 

The Sloth:  "Wahooo!" I believe were my exact words.  I was secretly
pining for this song before the show, and seeing how it has appeared much more
frequently this tour, I thought I'd get lucky, I did

Divivided Sky:  No vocal comment before this song, just an incredibly
pleased smile came across my face.  It wasn't as intense as the DS at The Ball,
but even Chris can't rival a sunset.  Just a beautiful song.

Horn:  Not bad.  If I'm not mistaken the first of the tour, so a nice
little treat.

TUBE:  Another secret desire fullfilled.  Again appearing much more this
tour, so I was really hoping, my first ever(along with Horn.)

Talk:  Time to sit down.  Which is nice after getting down so much.  I
just 
don't like this song very much either.  The guitar and music is wonderful,
but 
the lyrics are not so hot, imo.  It starts out with a slang phrase "Talk
my 
talk" and then proceeds into "the filter that surrounds..." sorry, make a 
choice either speak to me in slang/street/idiomatic language, or go with 
intriquete. It would be like Sprinteen singning "Baby we were born to 
accelerate to really high speeds."  just doesn't work.

SO+M:  Extremely good version.  Very crazy jam.  At first(meaning when I 
started going to shows) I didn't like this song, but lately it has just
been a 
great tune.  Will there be a Dirksen file?:-)

Lizards:  Not bad.  A fun tune.  I've seen it quite a bit though and it
doesn't 
make or break a set for me.  Good little dance number.

Character Zero:  I enjoy this tune a lot.  I have a feeling that in a
couple of 
years it will become a jam, much the same as DwD has matured.

Low Point of the set:  At some point during SO+M, a group of four,
annoying, 
pretensious people came in and sat in the row in front of us.  So lame.
The 
guy dressed in all black, including the angst ridden black beret, never
stopped 
getting up and getting drinks for his three extremely bored guest.  As
soon as 
the set ended the blonde with the frosted hair and perfect nails began
whining 
"Let's goLet's goLet'sgo" Thank god they were gone before the second set 
started.
--------------------------------------
ubject: 11-9 Auburn Hills review (long)
From: Uncle Pen<34R6WUX@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>

Just for reference: This was my 23rd show. 4th this tour after Charlotte,
'Ween and Champaign. I have about 400 hours on tape. I am a musician so I
like to think I know what I'm talking about. I wasn't looking forward to
going to the Palace. The place is huge (the night before was relatively
intimate), the crowds usually suck, and the security is usually more
oppressive than anywhere else. For a wonder security was very relaxed. It
definitely made for a more enjoyable show that last years Palace show. I
was expecting a high energy show because of the size of the place and
because it was Saturday night. My show went as well as possible; I saw
everybody that I knew would be there, my sixth row ticket( I never even
sat there, it was way in the corner and most of my phriends were around
the 24th row in the center) allowed me access just about everywhere but
backstage, and I didn't have some security dork sticking a flashlight
in my face every five minutes like usually happens at the Palace. I was
about halfway down the floor when the lights went down and Phish started
with...

I
Buried Alive: very appropriate after sleeping in the car in the middle of
a blizzard. Good solid opener that set the mood for the set.

Poor Heart: After seeing this at my first six( count 'em, six) shows I
really could care less whenever I heard it. However, I only heard it once
since last phall (Hershey this summer) and was overjoyed to see it. Fish's
yelling was,of course , the highlight of the song.

The Sloth: Probably inspired by the extremely large security goons in
front
of the stage. So far the show was even higher energy than I expected.
Unfortunately, most of the crowd wasn't familiar with the song and became
kinda disinterested. Screw 'em, the real phans knew what was going on,
even
if the energy surprisingly dropped. Not the best version of Sloth I've
heard, but it was still a great surprise anyway.

Divided Sky: I dream that someday I'm gonna be there when the crowd shuts
up during the pause. Yeah, right. It wasn't a mindblowing rendition, but
it
sure felt good. I was more impressed with the composed section than the
jam to be honest.

Horn: Possibly the only Phish song that has no improvisation at all, but
there doesn't need to be. Trey's solo is so delicately, exquisitely
beautiful, carefully crafted solo was perfect. Needless to say, the
effect was lost on a large part of the crowd. Like before, screw 'em.

Tube: Just keeps getting better and better. Even those who weren't
familiar
with it were getting down. The groove layed down by Mike was flawless,
Page's
solo was excellent, Trey was all over it. Standard great Tube.

Talk: I wonder how much of the crowd understood that Trey was trying to
tell
them something. Up to this point the crowd was unnecessarily noisy which
is
par for the course at The Palace.(Egads, I hate midwest audiences.) I
think
Trey got through to some of them, they were a lot more well behaved during
the second set.

Split: I was really anxious to see this after seeing what had been done
with
Maze and Antelope this phall. I wasn't disappointed. Way way way more
intense
than the Split's in recent years. The lighting effects produced by Chris
(thaks chris) must be seen to be believed. He was projecting segmented
slowmotion lights on the triangular screen above the stage that was
creating some really amazing abstract images. The combination of the music
and lights during this song was overwhelming. I don't have any idea how to
rate this rendition as I haven't heard any other Split's this tour. I was
pretty impressed, though.

Lizards: Perfect.

Character 0: Pretty good, but it's more effective with the a capella part
at the end. They wanted to end the set, though, and that would be an
awkward
way to do it.

Setbreak: Running around trying to make contact with everyone I knew
there.
I didn't have nearly enough time. For the second set I was sitting amongst
a group of 12 phriends so I was lucky enough to be within one of the few
pockets of quiet, attentive, respectful people there. Except for the guy
next to me, but he quieted down when I asked him to. He asked, "Why?",
though. Why do I want you to be quiet during a mucical performance? I
don't
thik he was kidding, either. Ugh, I hate the Palace.

II
Bowie: The set, like last night, started with some spacey sound effects
before
Fish's high hat kicked in. Bowie was a surprise as far as being an opener.
I heard Maze the night before so the suspense wasn't there. It was a good,
solid, spacey Bowie that turned into an intense, confusing jam at the end.
I was hoping they would play around with it a bit and experiment, but I
was
happy.

ADitL: Looks like a bad place to put it, huh? Wrong! It worked great. The
intense parts keep getting longer and longer. Even the clueless were into
this one.

YEM: Joy! I can never get enough of this song. I stunned after hearing
Bowie two songs ago. The composed sections were, for the most part, right
on. I did hear Trey screw up in one place, though. I think it was at the
beginning, before the spacey part. After the new part at the beginning of
the jam, the part with the goofy sound effects, the crowd started clapping
in time to the beat. Now, usually  I detest this. That night, however, the
audience was right on. I couldn't believe it, expecially after the obtuse
clapping idiots the night before. For once the clapping actually enhanced
the experiene. I do not, however, in any way endorse this behavior. The
jam was transcendent as usual. Where the bass solo usually was Page and
Trey (on percussion) kept playing along; this part was really weird, even
for Phish. I can't put it into words. The vocal jam was a lot of fun, not
as intense as the vocal jam at last year's Palace show. At this point they
could have played Cracklin' Rosie for the rest of the set and I would have
been happy. (I don't like Rosie much. Fish comes out from behind the drums
and the possibilities include Bike, Whipping Post, Purple Rain, Great Gig
in the Sky, Love You, If I Only Had a Brain and numerous others. And then
you see those damn cymbals. Now, Rosie is fun, but compared to most of the
other possibilities I have to say "Thppppppppppbt!")

Taste: Wow! Looks like bad placement, doesn't it? Wrong again! It worked.

Swept Away->Steep: The second set was, generally speaking, very hypnotic.
This helped. I've read some reviews of this that people were bored with
it.
They obviously weren't paying attention. This piece takes me, although
briefly, to a place nothing else can. And then that scream at the end
phreaks everybody out. I love it. According to Mike's setlist this segues
into...

Hood: Yet another song that has been reworked this phall (I think, it was
pretty late into the night and my perceptions were a bit out of whack)
that
I can't believe has gotten better. With the possible exception of last
phall's Dayton encore Hood this was the best one I have witnessed. It was
the perfect cap to the evening.

Julius: I figured the encore wouldn't be anything special with the next
show
being in MI and I was right. It was a lot of fun though. I wasn't anywhere
near ready to be done grooving so I was really happy to see this. I
thought
it was a fitting end to the show.

Feedback is always welcome. If you made it all the way, thanks. See yall
in GR. Peace,
             Pen.
---------------------------------------------------
Subject: 11/9 palace review (long)
From: mep139@psu.edu (Matthew Peters)


hi all.  just got back from michigan where phish was ragin' (at least in
the
second set..)  here's the list.  time are _not_ to be considered exact,
and the time listed in the total time for the set, when that song ended..

11/9/96 the palace, auburn hills, mi

1: buried alive        2:20
   poor heart          4:43
   sloth               8:39
   divided sky        23:02
   horn               26:56
   tube               31:00
   talk               35:13
   split open         46:20
   lizards            56:37
   character zero     62:22

2: bowie              14:21
   day in the life    19:00
   yem                42:47
   taste              50:10
   sweep away ->
   steep              53:10
   harry hood         66:54

e: julius              7:25

where to start??  i guess the venue is a good place.  the palace is your
typical, large city, multi-purpose, cookie-cutter venue, located off by
itself (ie, not in downtown like say, the knick) complete with
nazi-security.
well, to be fair the security and police presence in the lots was quite
noticeable, and drove around on golf carts just to make sure no one was
having a good time (at one point several people gathered for a drum circle
and within 5 minutes the police drove their car by to break it up)
getting
in metal detectors were employed (which sort of freaked me out..metal
detectors
at a phish show??) but they only made me open my backpack and didn't do
pat down searches.  inside there wasn't an usher within two sections of us
(on the upper deck)

buried alive was a niiiice opener..i was very psyched to hear this one,
and
an instrumental opener is always the way to go, imho.  poor heart was the
predictable follow (i was hoping for a possum)  sloth was great to hear,
and well played, but it didn't have the usual energy.  this seemed to 
be the theme all night - well played songs, but it seemed like they were
very laid back, and loose (at times), not high energy.  the divided sky
was decent, not real raging, but well played.  horn was alright, not one
of my favorites.  tube was a surprise; i have seen the last three tubes
played
(i never would have thought that i would be able to say that i have seen
the last 3 tubes played) and while this one had the least energy of the
three,
it was more jammed then the others.  page had a longer section in this one
then i remembered.  talk, whatever..

the set then picked up with split.  this wasn't your typical split at all.
instead of the typical plodding split, like a vw bus driving to the next
show, it was up and down, and just crazy.  it almost sounded like a
typical yem jam at one point.  much better then the version played in
buffalo, and the highlight of this first set for sure.  lizards and zero
closed the set.  zero is a nice addition to the rotation, and serves
its purpose well.  a nice rocker to close a set, to help take some of
the pressure off of sample, and frankly i would take a character zero
over sample anyway.


the second set opened up with a monster of a bowie!!!  wow!!  they started
up the spacy intro and we were thinking 2001, but then fish kicked in
the high hat and soon we were in the middle of bowie.  intro was standard,
but the jam was anything but.  this was not the typical atonal and
dissonant build, rather the jamming was much more harmonic and
pleasing, to my ears, then normal.  it slowly morphed into the insane
ending jamming, which was super intense.  i enjoyed this bowie more then
the huge red rocks bowie from the summer, which i also had the pleasure
of witnessing live (but still haven't heard the tapes)

day in the life followed which was fine because it got the crowd back into
it (the crowd sucked at this show - they were loud, talkative and
generally
inattentive, much more so then normal)  out of the end of the loud
"everyone bang on your instruments and make as much noise as possible"
ending
to aditl, floated the intro to yem.  the intro as first seemed sloppy, but
then i realized that they were just loose, which served notice that this
was not going to be a normal yem.  tramps segment was fine, and after trey
and mike finished their routine (side note..sound was good where i was
sitting - upper deck - and mike could be heard clearly) page finished
up his solo segment, but instead of then passing the torch to trey to
lead,
they sort of fell into a nice groove, which slowly melted in a spooky
tease/jam.  did anyone hear this?  i read one or two other reviews,
and neither mentioned this, but i could have sworn that i heard an
obvious spooky tease/jam.  can someone with tapes confirm/deny this?
anyway,
the jam soon turned into the typical raging yem jam.  when it peaked (and
boy did it peak) instead of stopping and allowing mike to take over,
it kind of faded out and trey went to the kit.  what took place next
was surely a pleasure to hear.  it was essentially a mike led jam, with
page occasionally taking the forefront and trey using different effects.
and it was long taboot.  after this funky jam raged for a while, mike
started to solo more in the typical b&d manner and the final vocal jam
kicked in.

taste followed which was decent.  trey's jam is back, but this taste
wasn't
as good at pittsburgh's version, imho.  sweep away -> steep was decent,
again ending with the crazy scream which lead directly into the intro of
harry hood.  the intro was very lively with everyone filling in
beautifully,
much more so than normal.  the jam segment was very, very nice.  trey
started
out soloing very high up on the 'doc, which was neat because instead of
finding a theme and getting everyone involved for the build, he was way up
there and everyone sort of built up to him (i'm not doing a real good job
of explaining this, and i'm sorry 'bout that)  they then fell into a
niice groove, with trey playing underneath the rest of the band, when
all of a sudden he cranked up the 'doc and came in screaming over top
of everyone else.  this was grrrrrrreeaat!!  it came me goose bumps up
and down my body like never before.  this jam just wailed with trey hosing
everyone down, until he started sustaining and page started playing i feel
good, but trey wasn't done yet and we were treated to another climax.
whoa,
yea!!  this hood was huge, comparable to hampton's hood (which i also
enjoyed immensely)  definitely seek out this second set..

if you got this far, thanks for reading this absurdly long review, and if
you are a kind dat taper and want to spin me some d > a dubs of this show,
i'm sure i can give the tapes a good home :-)  (end requisite grovel)

matt
mep139@psu.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Can't forget the Motor City-Palace review
From: Ivan Troy 

Well well well
This was my 22 show, 4th of this tour, 1st since Buffalo.

Mikey sent out the setlist, so I'll just get to the review:
set 1:
Buried Alive-what a fantastic opener this is.  It totally gets you into
the
show from the opening notes.  I thought to myself that shows with this
opener tend to be quite good...
Poor Heart-what else after Buried Alive (Possum...)?  This was standard
but
fun
The Sloth-all right!  My initial feelings about the show are proving to be
right on.  2 treats out of the first 3 songs.  "Ocho nueve diez!" 
vDivided Sky-I'm a little sick of hearing this live, but I was really
happy
to hear it tonight.  By the end I was already sweating from dancing so
hard.
Horn!!-1st of the tour!  Another treat!  What a beautiful song.  By now I
was very happy that we made the trip from Rochester.
Tube--!!!!----Trey starts up the little intro, and I'm thinking, "PYITE? 
Wait, maybe it's T..." and before I got a chance to finish my thought, "An
asteriod crashed and nothing burned..."   I really lost it when this
started.  I couldn't believe it.  I _never_ thought I'd get a Tube.  After
it was over Trey dedicated it to a guy in the front row who had a sign,
"So
that he won't have to hold it up all night."  If you're reading this, I
LOVE
YOU!!!!
Talk-Trey grabbed the acoustic.  This was my first one, so I was happy to
hear it.  It was a good way to calm down after Tube.
SOAMelt-raged!  It never broke down, just kept on building.  I think I
almost fell over a couple of times from dancing so hard
Lizards-when Page did his 1st little solo/fill, he used a groovy new clav
sound.  A little reminiscant of a Jerry guitar effect.  It was very cool,
and Lizards was great as always.
Zero-So this is being played a _LOT_, but I love it.  They started to do
the
vocal jam at the end but stopped it quickly.  I think this is a great set
closer
1st set SJ rating: 7-8, easy.  Flowed really well, had lotsa treats, and
high on the dancibility scale

set 2:
Bowie-what an awesome opener!  Pretty standard though, at one point, Trey
kicked in my beloved Leslie effect and noodled on a really beautiful
theme.
In the Life-I'm glad that this song is being played less, cuz it deserved
to
be a treat and not overplayed.  Trey flubbed a line, but otherwise solid
YEM-woo-hoo!  The jam started with Trey hitting the kit for one hit at a
time, using some cool MIDI or something effect.  It's hard to describe but
he would hit the kit once and the note would slide down-Like the mellotron
intro of Strawberry Fields.  He did this a few times, then went back into
the normal Yem jam, which was solid and high tempo.  When the BassDrums
part
started, trey went back to the kit (incidentally, this was the only song
he
used it on).  This segment was loooooooong and funky!  Very cool, and well
worth hearing.  
Taste-same ole Taste.  Nice placement, but Fast would've been better :-)
Swept Away>Steep-Steep is such a great song, but I've heard it at 3 of the
4
shows I've seen this tour.  After the scream Fish segued right into > 
Harry Hood-somebody had a sign for this too.  In the reggae intro, they
teased Steep for a minute, which was cool.  The jam was typically
beautful,
and a great set closer (I got one at Pitt too).
E:  Julius.  groan.  This was the encore at Pitt as well.  I Like the
song,
but not as an encore.  This show _shoulda_ had Bold as Love or Slave as
the
encore, something like that.  I've been unlucky with encores this tour: 
Waste, Fee, and 2 Juliuses.  Oh well
Set 2 SJ rating-6.
Overall show-7 or so.  All the treats in the 1st set and the great YEM,
even
though the second set was a little uneven. and the encore was so so  

So there ya go.  My last show till the Holiday tour (Hopefully!!!)
Gracias a Lenny, Mitch, and Jacob for getting me there, y supergracias a
the
guy with the TUBE sign!
ivan
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: The Palace review (short)
From: gophish8@aol.com

Set I:
Buried Alive- nice Trey solo, he got really into it.
Poor Heart- very unexpected, the usual Poor Heart
Sloth- another very unexpected, the first of this tour (I think), really
nice bass jam
Divided Sky- to me, it sounded slowed down, but it was a very dope middle
section, the crowd went nuts when they froze
Horn- the usual
Tube- a shaky jam, I thought, it was pretty cool cause they dedicated it
to the people right by us who held up a sign saying Tube
Talk- the usual Billy Breathes live song, no different than the album
version, just louder
Split Open and Melt- Beginning was normal, I was taking a piss during the
jam though, sorry
Lizards- Page got really goin during his jam, really nice
Character Zero- I think we've heard it enough this tour

Set II:
David Bowie- Really good jam by all four, one of the best Bowie's
A Day in the Life- I love this cover
You Enjoy Myself- One of the best YEM's in a while, the trampoline bit was
phat, ended with a really cool vocal jam. I started doing something for
whatever reason, when Trey was screwing around on his percussion set, it
was kind of like a screech type noise, did I hear this from the crowd, or
was it just some other chemical substance talking?
Taste- enough said, went into:
Swept Away- did a shaky job going into:
Steep- Mike was a second too late on his first note, went into:
Harry Hood- was I mistaken, or did I hear the "Hood" chant? Anyways, a
really really good Trey solo near the end

E:
Julius- shorter than normal, but still phresh
------------------------------------------------
Subject: 11/9/96 Auburn Hills review (long, detailed, etc.)
From: darius.zelkha@OBERLIN.EDU (Darius Zelkha)

Just got back from the show this morning.  My thoughts:

My seats were decent -- I was 1st level (above the floor), Fishman side,
DIRECTLY in line with the band (in other words, side stage).  I wasn't
sure
how I'd like this, but I ended up really enjoying the show from over
there.
I had never seen a show from that perspective, and enjoyed it.  Sound was
great.

Anyway, on to the review:

11/9/96 @ The Palace, Auburn Hills, MI

I: Buried Alive -> Poor Heart, The Sloth, Divided Sky, Horn, Tube, Talk,
SOAMelt, Lizards, Character Zero

(around 62 min.)

II: David Bowie, A Day in the Life, YEM, Taste, Swept Away -> Steep ->
Hood*

E: Julius

(around 74 min.)

* - Swept Away/Steep tease


While the first set wasn't anything TOO out there, I enjoyed it.  BURIED
ALIVE is a great opener.  I had my doubts -- on tape, this song is pretty
forgettable to me -- but live, it really fills the opening position well.
Typically dark BURIED jamming all around.

The last note of BURIED was the first note of POOR HEART (obviously
planned).  Standard HEART.

SLOTH was good; not many noticable mistakes by Trey.  DIVIDED was
excellent
-- clean, clear, and patiently jammed.  That, to me, seemed to be the
theme
for the night: PATIENT jamming (esp. on Trey's part).  Trey was together,
hitting the notes, working within the jam, leading well -- good DIVIDED.

HORN was standard.  As I was telling pHiL (who I chilled with the whole
time), I always think it's ironic that they've never played this tune with
horns  ;-)

Trey began his choppy guitar lead-in, and pHiL and I were taking a stab at
calling the next tune -- we both were thinking FREE, maybe PYITE.  In the
split-second before it began, pHiL turns to me wild-eyed and says "TUBE!"
He was right, and we were *psyched.*  Besides simply being TUBE (which is
cool enough), this was a fairly extended, jammed version (from the others
I've heard, anyway).  Page took some of his solo on the organ (as opposed
to the piano), and it built and built and built in a very SUZIE-esque
fashion.  EXCELLENT.

Afterward, Trey says "Hello Detroit!  That last one is for this guy
upfront, with the sign, so he wouldn't have to hold it all night."

TALK was TALK, with trey on acoustic.  As I noted in my 10/18 -> 10/22
post, while I like this song, I'm not crazy about seeing it live.

SOAMelt followed, and was a mixed bag.  Overall, good Melt, but nothing
too
crazy.  Very rhythmic jamming to begin -- Trey was playing a theme very
close to MIND LEFT BODY jam -- I don't think it was ACTUALLY MLB, but it
was close.  Expanded in typical Melt fashion.

LIZARDS was standard, except for the fact that Page played his Moog for
one
of his between-verse solos.  It sounded really cool -- I had my eyes
closed
at the time and when I first heard it, it sounded like a trumpet.  Cool
sound.  Other than that, standard.

CHARACTER ZERO followed, which we knew would close the set.  This was
jammed out even longer than it was when I saw it a few WEEKS ago.  This is
slowly developing into another full-throttle rockin' jam tune.  Mike and
Fish were doing some really cool grooving/sycopation on the bridge section
(very Zeppelin-esque), and the solo took off from there.  There was no
vocal "jam" to close this time.

Overall, set one was a good, pretty average set of Phish.  The inclusion
of
TUBE and the BURIED ALIVE opener, as well as the good jamming in DIVIDED,
push it a bit above average, making it, imo, around a 6.0 on the Scott
Jordan scale.  Still, excellent set.

SET II:
-------

The BOWIE that opened the set was HUGE.  The hi-hat intro was fairly short
and spacey, with lots of echo effects from Trey etc.  The head was fairly
tightly played.  The jam began in fairly typical fashion, with Fish, Mike
and Page keeping a subtle, mellow groove in the background.  After quietly
soloing for a few bars, Trey seemed to toss the "solo" aside and begin to
blend with Page and Mike and Fish to create a GROOVE.  It was very
textural, but, from my ears, NO EFFECTS were being used.  It was NOT
spacey.  It was NOT atonal.  It was BEAUTIFUL, majestic, awe-inspiring,
tear-jerking jamming and BLENDING.  EVERYONE was listening SO WELL to
eachother.  It didn't sound, at this point, very much like BOWIE to me --
more like a HOOD jam or something -- very blended.  At any rate, it
sounded
different and really, really cool.  Talk about teary-eyed jams -- this was
pretty fucking awesome.

This continued for a while, and then Trey took the lead back, and the band
brought it back down.  Very patiently, Trey led the jam back up, back up,
up, up, in fairly typical BOWIE fashion.  The jamming in here was fierce,
inspired, and really, really intense.  This, again, wasn't anything that
far from previous Bowies, but it was GOOD, and went through many
transitions.  I can't really remember them off hand, but when I get the
tapes I'll review this in more depth.  Excellent closing section.  Suffice
to say that, with the inclusion of that first TEARY-EYED jam, and the
great
jam that followed it, and the inspired ending, this was, to me, a very
fine
BOWIE.  A great way to start the set, that's for sure.

A DAY IN THE LIFE followed.  Not that well-played.  Fish screwed up
(slightly, nothing major) Trey's vocal entrance, and Trey fucked up the
words as well.  Oh well, who cares, next...

I was thinking TWEEZER, but the band was thinking YEM.  And I'm so glad
they were.  This YEM (are you listening charlie???? ;-) was VERY different
from many others I've heard.  DEFINITELY atypical.  I'll explain as best I
can:

First off, composed section was a bit sloppy, nothing too bad though.
They
really jammed the pre-nirvana section; I don't mean the spacey part, I
mean
the section that leads OUT of the spacey part.  I don't really know how to
describe it.  On A LIVE ONE, listen to the YEM -- the part I'm talking
about happens around 2:30 - 2:40.  Anyway, that went on FOREVER -- much
longer than in most YEMs I've heard.  They kept bringing it up, then
lowering it slowly down, etc.

Lots of pre-Note wah wah stuff from Trey (nothing that out of the
ordinary).  Notes played well -- sustain acting up (lots of distortion),
but still well-played.

WUDMTF section REALLY tight and funky, from the get-go.  They were really
grooving right from the start.  Standard funky fills from Trey, Mike, and
Page.

OK, here's when it got atypical -- Page played his MOOG for the tramps
jam,
which sounded AWESOME!  Then, after the tramps jam, they kept the groove
going (didn't get really quiet, like most), and they got this start-stop
thing happening.  They would groove along for a few bars (trey on funky
guitar, page on organ [i think]), then, on the 4th bar, stop, and trey
would step over and hit some weird noise on his percussion set-up (which
now includes MIDI) which sounded, honestly, like a FROG croaking.  Really
weird, but really cool, and really good listening and jamming from the
boys
to pick up on this theme so quickly.  Similar, in feel, to some of the
Albany YEM.

After this (not over yet, folks) phrase was repeated a few times, Page was
still on the organ (which is rare -- he usually hits the piano for Trey's
solo jam), and Trey didn't start quietly noodling, but instead built this
groove, blending in, jamming, soloing, and just creating this really
funky,
cool groove. Fish should be commended here as well -- he was essential in
shaping this.

They grooved/jammed on this for a while (no one really leading, I didn't
think), then took it back to the typical YEM jam, which was good.  Typical
build.  Trey sustained his last note, which "fell" into the Bass and Drums
section, which was probably the highlight of the show.

This jam was, by far, the most intense bass and drums JAM that I've ever
heard.  Makes MSG II look like JUNTA, for crying out loud.  They just
WOULDN'T STOP JAMMING.  Trey was on percussion, fucking with his pedals
for
awhile (while I normally have mixed feelings about this,  it sounded great
here).  Mike was thumping away, soloing and grooving WONDERFULLY, with
great backing from Page.  This was very DWD-jam-esque, only slower,
groovier, and more rock-out.  It was so cool.  Then, after a while, they
began what I can only call a PAPER-RIP jam -- they did this stop-start
thing in which it sounded like they were ripping paper (i think this sound
came from Trey's pedals, but I'm not sure) -- really hard to describe.
Fish was rolling with this on the snare and the band was grooving to this
stop-start paper thing.

This led into ANOTHER phase of the jam, with Page on Clavinet (that funky
one above the piano), Trey on MIDI percussion sounds (lots of weird
tinkles
and stuff from his kit), Mike STILL jamming hard, and Fish grooving along.
After a few more minutes of this JAM, Mike gave the signal and the Vocal
jam began.

WHAT A YEM.  HEAR THIS AT ALL COSTS.  The Bass and Drums segment JAM was
possibly longer than the entire JAM of the YEM on A LIVE ONE.  Just HUGE.

TASTE followed, and was flawless.  Just really well played; good, fierce
jamming from Trey.

The intro of SWEPT AWAY -> STEEP was botched by Trey slightly.  The yell
at
the end of this brought the drum fill that signals the beginning of HOOD.

The HOOD was interesting.  The intro section was marked by a BLATANT tease
of the groove in between SWEPT AWAY and STEEP -- it was so obvious.  They
just went back into it.  After this was a typical HOOD intro.  The
composed
section was fudged by Trey a bit.  The jam was nice.  It seemed to travel
to many different sections, but I can't really describe the difference
between them.  Overall, I thought it was a fairly GREAT, average HOOD
build, but I have to hear the tapes.  Really great way to end the show,
though -- thank god they didn't play something like SAMPLE or CAVERN after
a glorious HOOD.

The JULIUS encore was fun.  A bit sloppy (Trey), but other than that, lots
of energy.

Overall, I liked this show a good deal.  The 2nd set, with the great
BOWIE,
and the weird, really cool, atypical YEM, was nice.  The TUBE in the 1st
set was nice, as was the BURIED opener.  I'll give this a 6.5 or a 7 on
the
concert Review poll.

Thanks for reading,

Darius

darius.zelkha@oberlin.edu
http://www.oberlin.edu/~dzelkha/
------------------------------------------------------
Subject: 11-9 Palace Review.....
From: szeidelm@cps.msu.edu (Michael J Szeidel)

Ok, normally I don't review shows, but this one was too good
not to.... so here goes....

Before anything else, I have to say how shitty the lot scene was.
Too many 13 year old kids from the surrounding suburbs plus cold weather
did not make for a very fun time... it just didn't feel like I was at a
Phish
show at all... until....

BURIED ALIVE!!! I kind of called this before the show actually... but I
didn't
think it would seriously happen... I'm so glad it did! My first one in a
few
years... too bad the crowd didn't know what was up! Most people were
pretty
lame in the show and didn't dance a whole lot... at least around me... the 
floor looked pretty active throughout though.... then after this, we got a

POOR HEART... well, I like this song, I've just seen it waaay too many
times.
At least they got it over with quick and at least its short... if you've
read
Corey's review, that chick behind us was STUUUUUU-PID! Asking for a joint,
then
after she's handed one doens't even know what it is! Grr... At least the
girls
sitting next to him were pretty cool... and brought lots to share
themselves!
I'll give a thumbs up to them if they're reading this!

THE SLOTH... well, not many people were into this. I was thinking right
before
the show that this would be a cool song to see again (haven't seen it
since 93)
and this was a great suprise... followed up nicely by

THE DIVIDED SKY... this is a song that I like, but have seen it a lot in
the
last year so I kind of am getting sick of seeing it.. I love the beginning
of 
the song, but the huge pause in the middle kills all the momentum of the
song 
for me... I was hoping to hear something really kick ass after this song,
but
instead we got 

HORN... the only Phish song I can say I really hate. I don't know why. It 
basically makes me want to throw up. I've hated it since I heard it, but
they 
redeemed themselves with a 

TUBE!!!! One of my highlights of the show... I like this song so much
cause its
so FUNKY! Again, the crowd was cheesy and not into it... but I sure was!
Page
is a monster on the keys for this song... unfortunately it was sandwiched
in 
between Horn (my least favorite) and another so so song

TALK. I heard this live at the Ball this summer and was bored then, and
guess
what? I was bored last night with it also... at least its short... but
after
this a fantastic

SPLIT OPEN AND MELT!!!!!!!! Yeah... I guess if there was one song they
started
playing every night, this would be the one I'd want them to play... mind
numbing guitar by Trey as always... this is the first song where the light
show
actually started to match the music... and the jam was incredible!! Far
better
than the Ball or Buffalo SOAMs... :)

LIZARDS followed.. and I know some people bitch about this song but I love
it.
I noticed they've only played it a couple times on the tour so far, but
I'm
really glad they brought it out last night... the first song I really
liked
that seemed to please the whole crowd... as it usually does....

CHARACTER ZERO followed... and also got the crowd pumped. I liked this
tune,
although they seem to play it too much... I could easily start to get sick
of
it if the trend continues... not as good as I thought it would be (my 1st
one
live) but it was a good way to end the set.

Now on to the second set...

DAVID BOWIE! I love this at the beginning of the second set... one of the
more
psychedelic Phish songs for sure! I never complain about hearing this
song...
it always blows my mind and this was no exception! The song brought out a 
trend that would continue throughout the second set.... most of the people
in 
my section sitting down! I can't understand that...

A DAY IN THE LIFE was to follow... to me this is a complete buzz kill. I
like
it better than Life on Mars, but they ruin what is one of the Beatles best
songs... maybe its just me, but I don't think anyone should touch Beatles
songs... but I was one of the few people that had that opinion cause most
of
the teenyboppers at the show loved it.

YEM was the most incredible I've ever seen, with the exception of
Halloween 95.
My favorite Phish songs are the ones where Mike gets into a
totalfunkadelic
groove... and he went crazier than I've ever seen him on this jam!! I was
a
little disappointed I didn't hear this song at all over the summer (along
with
Stash... fingers crossed for GR) but Mike's bass combined with Trey and
Fish's
drums sounded unbelieveable!! Anyone who bitches about the drum kit should
see
them do YEM this way and I don't think they will bitch anymore! Again...
most
people around me were sitting for this song... which I can't really
understand.

TASTE is by far my fave from Billy Breathes... nice tight jamming
throughout.
Granted... the lyrics are a bit cheesy... but the music is beautiful. I've
seen
this song a lot already... and hope to see it many times in the future!

SWEPT AWAY->STEEP was next... I think I could like these if I saw them
placed
right... like in the middle of a Mike's Groove.. but it was a little
misplaced
here... but following this was a

HARRY HOOD!! I was kind of hoping to see this last night, because the
first
time I saw it (at the Ball) it didn't impress me all that much... last
night
was a different story and I gained a new appreciation!! Great way to end
the
set! Had everyone (except for the teenyboppers in my section) on thier
feet!!

JULIUS. Well, after Hood I expected the encore to really suck... I guess
anything after a Hood is kind of anti-climactic. I heard the opening riff,
and
kind of shook my head at first. Though to tell you the truth, I haven't
heard
this since 94 and its gotten MUCH better... it actually turned out to be
an ok
encore.. I've seen much better, but I've seen much worse!!! Another song
that
was a huge crowd pleaser! 

Anyways... that's about it. After last year's shitty Palace performance...
I
expected more of the same this year... but I was sure wrong! I guess the
only 
thing I can really complain about was the crowd... I'll still never
understand
how you can sit down during a Bowie, YEM or Hood yet freak out when they
play
A Day In The Life or Julius... but I guess that just comes with a
suburbanite
crowd... I wish the crowd would have been more like Buffalo (though the
actual
show was 100 times better... so who am I to really complain??). The other
gripe
is that there were too many f**king cops around. I wish for the day when
the
government stops bothering people that just smoke pot... and put my tax
dollars
after real criminals like rapists, murderers, etc... scenes like this and
the 
checkpoints after Deer Creek are total BULLSHIT and it needs to go away...
anyways... anyone going to GR or the holiday shows I'll see you there and
have
a great time at any shows you go to! If they were half as good as last
night
you'll have a blast!!!


Mikey S
---------------------------------------------
Subject: 
            Auburn Hills Review...my $0.02
       Date: 
            13 Nov 1996 03:11:22 -0600
       From: 
            ande2116@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tyler T Anderson)
Organization: 
            University of Minnesota
 Newsgroups: 
            rec.music.phish


***Disclaimer*** This is going to be long, but I feel the need to test my 
reviewing skills. 
I know that this is belated and all, but I just have the need to tell 
everyone what a killer show this was. 
Set I:
Buried Alive: This was very cool. I have always wanted to see this one 
live. I also like this as a show/set opener. Really gets the crowd into 
it. This set the mood for the entire show: intense. 
Poor Heart: They segued from Buried into this. I was really expecting a 
Tweezer or a Bowie, but this was a nice suprise. 
Sloth: Very unexpected, but nice just the same. I should have figured on 
this somewhere in the show, being as they are playing it a bit more. 
Divided Sky: 2 Gamehenge songs in a row: I like it. Overall, this is just 
an incredible song which is impossible to fuck up. Standard (but intense) 
jam in the middle, as usual. 
Horn: Another unexpected tune. Mellows the crowd out a bit after Sky. 
Tube!!!!!!!!!!!!: This one I called. I have been wanting to hear this one 
forever, and they granted my request. Just a totally intense and 
rockin/jazzy/bluesy song. I could have walked out there and been totally 
happy.
Talk: After Tube, Trey walks behind the speakers and straps on his 
acoustic guitar. I was expecting Talk. Absolutely beautiful. Trey's 
voice is so personal and delicate, it almost brought me to tears. 
Split Open & Melt: I used to not like this song, but after the show, it 
is now impossible for me not to like it. Standard opening, but the jam in 
the middle dam near dropped me to my knees. They just kept building and 
building (a'la Hood) and then brought it back down to just Mike and his 
bass. The jam just knocked me on my ass. 
Lizards: A 3rd Gamehenge song in the same set. Great, upbeat tune, but 
standard, nonetheless. 
Character Zero: I called this one to close. Very cool set closer, but I 
tend to like Cavern a bit better. But no complaints. 
Set One Overview: Other than Tube and the SOAM jam, a standard set but 
nothing to complain about.
Set Two:
David Bowie: The second the highhat began going I knew it was Bowie. I 
couldnt have been more pleased. An odd set opener, but I still loved it. 
Standard, intense jam with incredible lights. 
Day in the Life: Very standard. This one I am liking less and less as 
time goes by. 
YEM: Just what I needed to hear. Trey on his trap for 4-5 minutes, some 
trampolines, Page kicking some ass, and a sweet vocal jam. Nothing too 
exceptional, except for Trey's trapset. That made the jam IMHO. I still 
loved it even though it was relitavely (sp?) standard. 
Taste: Another very cool tune with an intense jam in the middle. That 
really suprised me. I thought that it was going to be standard, but the 
jam was very very cool. 
Swept Away-->Steep: Just the thing after the Taste jam needed to bring 
the crowd down again. Another beautiful and delicate set of songs. 
Harry Hood: Segued from Steep. Just the perfect thing to end a damn near 
flawless show. Standard opening-->beautiful page/trey space-->intense 
buildup. Not an exceptional Hood, but 10x better than the one I caught at 
Alpine. 
Second Set Overview: Bowie Hood and YEM in the same set: enough said. 
If you made it this far, thanks for your time. I'd really appreciate some 
comments/criticisms. Thanks. 
Tyler Anderson
ande2116@maroon.tc.umn.edu 
--------------------------------------------
Subject: 
            Thoughts on Auburn Hills (11/9) & ecstatic states through
music
       Date: 
            13 Nov 1996 17:44:53 GMT
       From: 
            santeraj@flyernet.udayton.edu
Organization: 
            Berkeley phish.net to USENET Gateway
 Newsgroups: 
            rec.music.phish


I: Buried Alive, Poor Heart, Sloth, Divided Sky, Horn, Tube, Talk, 
   SOAM, Lizards, Char 0
II: Bowie, ADitL, YEM, Taste, Swept>Steep, Hood
E: Julius

First time I've ever heard Tube... Paige (wow).
Remember a couple years ago when people were talking about paige as 
the "weak link"?      He shreds!

One word to describe this show.... Funk keh!!!!
BTW, the crowd was lame and I feel sorry for them because there was 
some beautiful jamming going on that they missed completely.

I figured we were either going to get a bowie or a tweezer (although 
not to open the set).  The high hat kicked in and me and my 
friendgirl grinned with exitcitement and anticipation.  The 
anticipation was almost too much; my body kept wanting to burst ito 
motion but I had to wait a whole freakin 15 seconds! ; )
David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie. It jammed (of 
course) 

I've heard A Day in the Life 3 times live, and this was probably the 
best version I've  heard anyone do, ever.  I'm not a big fan of this 
tune but it fit into the set wonderfully and they played the shit out 
of it (especially the intense climactic parts, Wow!)

YEM!!! I was really surprised to hear this after Bowie and the fact 
that they played it two nights before.  This was an incredibly funky 
version, with Trey on the wah-wah a lot making ridiculous 
funkadeliscious sounds.  I was laughing out loud.... a lot.  They did 
the rhythm-go-round-sound-effect thing with Trey hitting the 
whrooooeew noise twice and Mike stepping on a pedal which stikes a 
bell/chime thingey.  If I remember correctly, they played with this 
for a while longer than they had in Lexington.  It was so fuckin 
silly and paradoxically beautiful at the same time.  The band was 
getting a kick out of it and I was once again laughing hysterically.
I love to see the boys get off on what each other is doing and what 
they are collectively creating.... its just a wonderful thing.
They layed down a jam over mike's solo part with Trey on wah-wah.  
Unfortunately Mike did not get step up or stand out like he has been 
(a la Pittsburgh...Wow) instead the band sort of layered over top of 
him for a different and interesting effect.

To add my two bits to the Trey Percussion debate, often he doesn't 
really do much.  He can do some sweet things on the drums but he 
rarely seems to step it up.  Tonight was the best I've ever seen him 
on the perc set. Which leads me to....

Taste! The rhythmic interplay between Trey and Jon was awesome.  The 
drum jam they did was truly rippin and trey was wailing on the 
timbales.  He actually *jammed* on the percussion set. It was great 
and very Latin sounding.  I'm usually not super thrilled to hear this 
tune but It fit into the set perfectly and was a really good jam.  
The way Paige's keys seem to continually ascend, and then Treys 
chords ascend during Paige's solo and then everyone ascends and Trey 
solos and then that crazy intense part near the end with Fishman 
going nuts on the set...keep building....oh shit....keep
building!....BANG BANG BANG (open high hat 1, 2, 3, 4) BANG BANG      
BANG (1, 2, 3, 4) bloot dat dat doot doot doo doo!!

What a fantastic ending. It's as if they are at the very bottom 
surrounded by thick fog, striving and aspiring to make it through the 
top and at the end they finally burst through in a climactic 
explosion (love those lights synchronized with the BANG BANG BANG)
This tune made me move my ass in ways I never have before.

Swept Away>Steep
I was actually excited to hear this one. Swept is very pretty and sad 
and they did some neat textural stuff to segue between the two 
(mmmmmmm... neat textural stuff). I hope/can't wait till they begin 
to stretch this part out.  It's a very different mode of jam and I 
think could be very, very cool.  BTW the one beat that Fish hits at 
an odd time as an afterthought after each of Trey's lyrical phrases 
is killer.  So simplistic yet so effective.

Hood.... Sweet Jesus sakes alive!!!  This was so beautiful (as hood 
often is) I was almost in pain and almost brought to tears.  They 
milked the jam and slowly built up, pulling the very fabric of my 
being with them... to soaring heights. I felt both sorrow and 
tremendous joy and then.... "You can feel good about HOOD" The 
fellings of sadness and longing melted away and all that remained was 
unfettered jubilance and joy. Wow.

I used to not like julius that much but they Rock this tune out.  
Mikes bass in this song is so killer.  They jammed this tune and it 
certainly wasn't a throwawy encore.
The set was short but very, very, sweet

This show got me so-o-o-o high.  I was buzzing for hours afterward 
just from the music.  I was really able to focus in on the music, and 
the more completely I listened, the more I was drawn into the music, 
the more I was able to listen, the more I was drawn into the music....
Talk about a synnergy!
I was  *really* surprised to find a lot of people not nearly as 
excited about this set as I was.  I guess it just points to the 
subjective nature of music, but I am at a loss.  Was I moved so much 
 because I was in tune and receptive to the music to a greater degree 
than normal? Probably.  What did other people think of this set? I 
thought it was one of the best I've seen ( I've been to 25+ shows)
I was really confused to hear people saying it wasn't that great.

Part of my joy came from looking around at others who were 
experiencing similar soul-propulsion from the music.  I'd dance 
around and look up at a particulary fantastic moment to see someone 
bust into a fat grin at the same moment that I felt joy well up 
inside.  It's great to see others moved by the music, especially 
moved by particular musical moments which you yourself are 
siumultaneously being moved by.  It's like you're connecting through 
the beauty of rhythm and sound. 
  
I am still amazed at how unbelievably high I was after the show.  It 
was an incredible natural buzz.  The music was the vessel by which I 
reached other (ectstatic) states of consciousness. 

The degree to which one is  aware/ observant/ in touch with the music 
(subjective level), is directly proportional to the extent to 
which the objective qualities of the music are able to effect us 
spiritually.

All comments/ replies are welcome

(This Phish fix should last until New Years)

Le Drew