2-26-03 - Worcester Centrum Centre, Worcester, MA

please review the show, not other reviews

Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 09:14:59 -0400
From: R J Lipsky 
Subject: Show Review, 2-26-03

     Almost 6 months after I went to this show, I still have the urge to 
talk about it. It had been almost 4 years since my last show and on a whim 
I decided to make the half hour trip west to Worcester. Obviously there was 
traffic. This IS Massachusetts, right? From what I remember it was a 
bone-chillingly frigid night. That's being modest. It had to have been 15 
degrees tops. It took me no longer than an hour to find a ticket (the 1st 
time I didn't have a ticket going to a show) at face value no less. 
Apparently it's not illegal to sell nitrous anymore because there was this 
dude walking around the building continuously selling bundles of balloons 
right in front of the cops, literally 4 feet away from the cops. I don't 
think Worcester's finest knew what they were. That's funny. Before I get to 
the show, let me say a little something about the monstrosity that is the 
Worcester Centrum. I don't know who designed this place, but they should 
have their architectural degree taken away from them. Apparently there is 
only one entrance and it's a secret, so good luck finding it! This place 
sucks! I won't go into the fact that they stopped selling beer at 8:45pm, 
and since there is only one toilet in this dump, dudes were pissing 
EVERYWHERE! I even pissed on myself for fear of missing 2-3 tunes per piss 
break. Just kidding. The sound inside is great but I wish Phish would play 
the Fleetcenter sometimes. Its just more fan friendly, I guess.
  Anyway, enough bitching.....on to the show. I'll try and keep it to just 
the highlights. Bottom line: the show was fantastic. They didn't try to do 
too much and I think that strategy worked for them. YEM was the opener and 
it was by far the BEST version I've ever heard. It's worth getting the 
tapes just for YEM. Maybe it was just the acoustics of the centrum, but it 
was crisp, lean and made you want to dance.
  This is a side note.....I don't think it pays to be super-critical fan 
and get pissed off because a chord wasn't played correctly. All that 
matters is these guys were having fun doing what they love and being as 
close to the stage as I was, you could tell they were playing as best they 
could. It was definitely fun to be a part of it. So have fun and stop 
complaining, you're lucky these guys still feel like being in a band. Thank 
you.
  The first set was full of surprises as the guys each played a song from 
their side-projects (clone-M, drifting-T, blue skies-J, final flight-P) and 
you could see in their faces how much fun they were having. Sprinkled into 
set were an average roggae, a VERY FUNKY moma dance, and a maze that seemed 
to never end.
  Set break was long and boring. It's a good thing they stopped selling 
beer so early, we wouldn't want anyone to have any fun or anything.
  2nd set started out OK with a 20-minute stash. It was alright but very 
unassuming and didn't leave too much of an impression. Personally, I would 
have liked some good ol' fashion rock but that wasn't the mood or feeling 
of the show. The whole show was mellow and, dare I say, groovy. You know 
what I mean. The band then did a funktified ghost which had a smooth feel 
to it and many low rider teases throughout and sure enough they went into a 
short low rider jam that was cool as hell. Segue that into a mellow, 
rastafied makisupa and we had the makings of one fine set. They took m.p. 
into an upbeat, quicker version of ya mar (my first one in quite some time) 
that really woke everyone out of their weed induced coma (not too many 
people dancing; it may have had something to do with the dank-ass nuggets 
that were in circulation and the laidback vibe of the show, which is nice 
sometimes, damn that weed was good...). There was a dark and almost 
sinister guyute followed by a mellow, there's that word again, waves. Waves 
fit in perfectly here and I'm glad we got something from their new 
material, it's good stuff, give it a chance, these guys are constantly 
evolving. Prince caspian came out of nowhere and it left a smile on my
face, anything off billy breathes is good stuff (that album is entirely 
underrated). Caspian went into frankenstien smoothly, unobtrusively, and 
perfectly, these guys are also fantastic musicians. I think they were under 
pressure for curfew but they squeezed out an aggressive golgi apparatus 
with some raging guitar work and great frankenstein teases throughout. 
Loving cup was the encore and I'm convinced that is the best song for an 
encore ever, of all time, any band, anywhere! That song kicked ass and sent 
me home in a great mood.
  This show was more than satisfying. The lights were amazing, the vibe was 
chill and it was a chance to get reacquainted with the band. You may hear 
negative things about, as I did leaving the decrepit centrum, but you've 
got to have the right attitude. You can't go into something with 
unrealistic expectations because it never lives up to them. Don't we go to 
these things to have fun?! This band puts everything they've got into 
playing as best they can, night in and night out. Isn't that enough. Unless 
some one is paying you to be a critic, put on a smile, drink a couple beers 
and enjoy the moment with friends and family. It won't last forever so 
enjoy it dammit! Sure, the scene is changing, the crowd is younger, but it 
can't be 1994 forever. Adapt to change and enjoy the best live act on 
earth! And don't ever go to the Worcester Centrum.

Lipps

Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2003 15:11:06 -0500
From: Brian Kaplan kaplanbrian@hotmail.com
Subject: worcester


it was great to find someone willing to trade an extra worcester ticket for 
my extra nassau.  it was even greater to see his ear to ear grin, knowing 
that i was feeling the same way.  that's what its all about.  fans enjoying 
the shows!...it made the show that much better for me!

Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 14:19:23 -0600
From: fartonear@hotmail.com
Subject: wooster review

Well what is ther to say, I've been around, not to long that things aren't that
fresh but around long enough to really know when those donuts are cookin'.  Well
I've described this alot this whole tour after wooster'  mikes bass was like
adding cream to coffee,  I guess if you understand, you understand.

date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 12:26:05 -0500
From: raj mitra raj@thirteen.net
Subject: 2/26/03 Worcester REview

As luck would have it, I was blessed with a single ticket to Phish's sold-out
Worcester show. It was the first Phish show I would be seeing alone. I was a bit
nervous about the whole thing--who would I wander the parking lots with before
the show? Who would I be sitting next to? Who would I chat with during set break
to discuss the nuances of the music?

Through the wonders of the world wide web, I found someone who need a ride to
the show from Boston, and was willing to pitch in for gas, tolls, and parking.
This eased most of my worries. However, my new friend Trevor had his seat in
section 124, and mine was in 221, directly behind the stage. But by this point,
I was no longer worried about being next to someone I knew at the show. After
all, striking up a conversation at a Phish show isn't very difficult.

Having experienced the awful blob of people trying to get into the venue at
Hampton over a month ago, and again in New Jersey a couple days prior, I headed
in shortly after doors opened at 6:30pm. I went to my seat behind the stage and
proceeded to watch the Centrum fill up. 

I overheard one of the people next to me mention something about the
Philadelphia show. I was very curious about that show, since the setlist
contained many of my favorite songs, including "Slave to the Traffic Light" and
"Theme from the Bottom". We chatted for a bit about that show, and attempted to
predict what was in store for us tonight. Nothing we had hoped for actually got
played, but by the end of the night, that was irrelevant.

As the minutes ticked away, the anticipation built. Finally, around 8:30pm, the
band took the stage. They started the show with a "no-nonsense" attitude, and
ripped into a fantastic version of "You Enjoy Myself". The guitar solo from Trey
Anastasio was full of energy, yet it kept in line with the groove that bassist
Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman laid down. Towards the end of the song,
Gordon and Fishman took the spotlight for a "Bass & Drums" segment. I have seen
and heard Gordon play some amazing licks, but none like the solo he took here.
>From my vantage point behind the stage, I looked over at keyboardist Page
McConnell, who was grinning from ear to ear and shaking his head to the groove
as he looked on at Gordon. The song ended in a vocal jam, which is always a
crowd pleaser due to the fantastic lighting job by Chris Kuroda. 

After such a heavy song, I was sure the next tune would be a short one. "Clone",
which is a song Gordon penned with guitar legend Leo Kottke, was a first for
Phish to play. The song sounded right at home in the Phish catalogue, and I was
hoping they would have extended the song a bit. Instead, they opted for
"Roggae", which contains a melodic, slow jam. At first I was disappointed with
the choice, but the jam was delicate, textured, and smooth. Anastasio brings the
song back to its original structure by contrasting the smooth, pretty notes with
thick, grungy power chords. When the band started up "Drifting", an Anastasio
original that has been played by his solo band, but not yet by Phish, I knew the
band had some tricks up their sleeves. I suspected, and rightly so, that the
band was playing one tune from each member's solo outing. Fishman's bluegrass
tune "Blue Skies" was surprisingly good, as was McConnell's "Final Flight"
(which, interestingly enough, has never been performed live by his band Vida
Blue). All four solo tunes were well played (especially considering it was their
first time performed), but none of them contained any sort of jam, save
"Drifting", which was a little too similar to "Roggae".

In between "Blue Skies" and "Final Flight", the band fired up "The Moma Dance".
 The slow, funky groove of this song is irresistible. Most versions of this song
are straightforward, high-energy dance tunes. Tonight's version was the
exception. The band went on a 14 minute exploratory jam, which included a
keyboard breakdown and the sounds of a large bell, which Gordon stomped on
several times during the song. This is certainly one of the best versions of
"The Moma Dance" out there. I highly recommend seeking out a recording.
The set ended with "Maze", a crowd favorite. I normally don't enjoy this song,
but again, tonight was the exception. After an incredible solo from McConnell,
Anastasio shredded the place with his guitar, climaxing the song twice before
the set ended. This is by far the best "Maze" I have seen or heard. 

At set break, I conversed with the people around me. We all agreed that it was
hot set, and we tried to name our favorite moments. "The Maze, definitely....no,
wait, the Moma was awesome too....oh, yeah, the YEM! I forgot about that!". No
one could really decide what was the standout, since they were all such amazing
versions. We also all agreed on the incredible sound at the Centrum. Every
tinkle of the piano, every slap of the bass, every tap of the ride was perfectly
clear and crisp. This may have been because we were behind the stage, but I
suspect the sound was pretty good in most of the venue.

The lights went down again at 10:30pm, and the band again started another set
with a 20 minute version of "Stash". Aside from the powerful guitar solo which
the song is known for, this version also featured a groove. Gordon and Fishman
had some serious chemistry this night, and it was coming through in almost every
song. When the "Stash" finally ended, I did not expect another jam. Of course,
Phish proved me wrong again, by starting up "Ghost". The slow, minimalist intro
had me unsure of what song was being played, until the whole band launched into
it. This "Ghost" had the thick grooves of "The Moma Dance" and "You Enjoy
Myself". Many versions of "Ghost" get very dark and heavy, but this version got
thick and upbeat. McConnell's piano added a wonderful texture to the song, and
at points it sounded like 70's Motown. Anastasio continued the 70's theme by
launching into the melody from "Low Rider", which really got the crowd excited.
Soon after, he slowed things down by starting up "Makisupa Policeman". Although
this tune does not have a jam comparable to "Stash" or "Ghost", it is a crowd
pleaser. Towards the end of this tune, Anastasio again changed the tune by
playing the opening chords to "Ya Mar". Another crowd favorite, this version was
well-played and fun. The technically complex "Guyute" followed, which contains
no elements of a jam, but does have a lot of energy, thanks to the crowd.
"Prince Caspian" is a nice mellow tune, but, like "Roggae", it is a tune that
normally gets quieter and quieter until the whole band comes back very loudly at
the end of it. However, during his solo, Anastasio expertly began playing a riff
from the middle section of the Edgar Winter Band hit "Frankenstein". The whole
band took his cue and they jumped into the beginning of "Frankenstein". No one
saw this coming, myself included. The crowd was overjoyed, and rightly so. A
"Frankenstein" tease in the set closer "Golgi Apparatus" was a nice finishing 
touch.

As the sent ended, I looked at my watch. Midnight. I thought the venue curfew
would force a very short encore. Once again, I couldn't have been more wrong.
The band returned to the stage for a 10 minute version of the Rolling Stone's
"Loving Cup". This is always a fun song to hear, but in this version, Anastasio
took the guitar solo to incredible heights, charting new territory that is
normally not part of the song. 

When the lights went up, I took a minute to ponder what had just transpired. Of
the 17 Phish shows I have been fortunate enough to see, this was definitely in
the top five. Nights like these are the very reason I keep seeing Phish perform.
The exploratory jams don't always work out at Phish shows, but when they do, you
get an amazing night like this one.

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:57:17 -0500
From: Jeffrey P. Scogland scogland@hotmail.com
Subject: worcester thoughts

I just wanted to weigh in on a few things that have come up - or not - in the
other reviews. First off, I agree with the people who say that phish is too big
for the centrum. It is unfortunate, but 4 urinals doesn't cut it folks (even with
the use of sinks it still took almost the entire setbreak to leave a leak). 
Getting in the venue at 730 was pretty easy if you went to a rear entrance, there
were 4 people in line ahead of me - I heard it was a big wait out front. The
traffic was bad unless you got there real early. $20 was almost a standard for
parking. It would be nicer if people didn't walk in the middle of the 'streets' in
the parking garages - they might answer the question of why it took so long to get
to an open spot.
 
All of the above are not big-time complaints and were all completely overshadowed
by the music (and would have been on even a bad night of phish). Great music, but
my highlight was Ghost - easily the best version I've heard. One review said that
Guyute was flawless? - I will disagree with that, keeping in mind it is a
difficult song to play. Trey definitely messed up, but who cares? They moved on
and rocked the place - sick show. In Makisupa the 'word' was about burning
down the hotel....while at the show I thought it was inappropriate, but I didn't
know about the hotel fire in cini. Still, considering the magnitude of RI, I
was surprised he went their. No big deal, I just thought it was odd at the time. I
was so wiped out and couldn't believe how long the second set was - there's some
value! Golgi was such a surprise....I was beat!
 
At setbrerak I saw some kid passout by the stairs near section 201 I think.
Everybody can yell for a medic, but unless somebody gets one, they won't come.
Anyway, I hope he was OK - if anybody knew him or knows how he did let me
know. Worcester - I hope I don't have to go back, but if phish does - I will be
there.
 
Jeff

Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 20:45:06 -0500
From: Eric Hendriks Eric_Hendriks@umit.maine.edu
Subject: 02-26-03 centrum style

My review of the Phish show at the centrum. Well seeing as how it was my very first
show I have no other phish shows to compare it to but I will say it was one of the
best shows of my life. And I have seen alot of music. First set I was watching phish
play things they have never played before with the side project theme....and so was
everyone else! I fit right in. The YEM opener.....something that wasnt done since
1989........and Drifting is just such a joyful tune.....all smiles every time I hear
it......Unreal! The vocal jam with the lightwork.......definately bitchin. I didnt
stop moving the whole show.....heck im still movin. 19 minutes worth of stash....cmon!  
I wont even go into the second set. Show of all shows!

good ice breaker for me I think. Im stoked to be part of the vibe. 

~E

Date: 28 Feb 2003 20:24:42 EDT
From: BPeter4893@grolen.com
Subject: worchester review 2/26/03

let me start this off by saying i have never written a review to a phish
show before, and wednesday night in worchester was my 40th show.  i
hadn't seen a show since shoreline 2000 (which made it a special treat
for me to hear a yem opener, since it was the last song at shoreline.)
here's a side note you might want to skip if you don't want to hear
bitching about the scene:  why is it that so many people looked at me
like i'm a scumbag for not having a ticket and walking around with a
sign that says cash or trade for your extra?  all i can say is i'm a
bigger fan than a lot of the people walking around with tickets that
call themselves fans, so phuck you.
sorry about the rant but i had to get that off my chest.  i ended up
getting a ticket in the lot for $40.  thank you forever and ever to the
man who sold me that ticket.  you made my year.
the you enjoy myself opener was the shit.  when they started chanting
clone in the vocal jam i got kind of weirded out but in a good way.  i
don't remember much about the actual song clone perhaps since it was the
first time i'd heard it, but i'm a huge mike fan so i was into it at the
time.  moving on to roggae...this has been one of my favorite tunes
since it's debut.  the jam section is devine, the kind of reflective,
melodic improvisation that i love phish for.  i thought this version was
top notch, and i have seen this song a dozen or so times.
to hear the opening notes of driftin' was the biggest suprise so far to
me, i thought they sounded a little lost the first time they went to the
"storm is liftin" part but nonetheless the song sent me to a good place.
 i was lost during blue skies, no idea what it was and not a big
bluegrass fan, but a nice break before THE MOMA DANCE...in my opinion
this is the song that really made this set take off into hyperspace.
the jam was more spacey than funky which was okay with me since i was
pretty spun.  "the moment ends though i feel winds" line really captured
something to me about seeing phish again after such a long break.  final
flight was interesting since on the album there was no guitar and in the
phish version trey seemed to be dominating the song a little.  by the
time the opening music to maze started i was losing my shit and dancing
through the halls.  i loved the long dark, treacherous jam that seemed
never-ending.
setbreak was torture.  i remember talking to a guy named mike who was
really nice about the set and how it could be topped.  then
STASH.  this stash seemed in an old school fashion, trey softly speaking
the "dangled my stash part" ala a live one.  this song really made me
want to scream the words at the top of my lungs "cause if it is my life
i sought..." now ghost.  i had seen a sick ghost in worchester in 97 and
i'm not sure that this tops it but damn, it was nice to hear.  created
all the apropriate spooky feelings and made me wonder a little about
trey's sanity (strictly from the guitar playing).  i thought for some
reason this would turn into gumbo but makisupa showed up instead.  the
"policeman came to my hotel" i thought was more in reference to paul
languedoc getting arrested in worchester in 98, but i guess not.  this
also made me remember trey wearing a hat on letterman that said "bad
hotel."  significant?  perhaps only to my chemical soaked brain.
Ya Mar is one of those songs i'm always happy to hear.  the play it leo
part was truly the cat's meow.  go page go.  guyute is one of those
songs i've seen too many times, i suppose i would have liked to see
something else here, but i still enjoyed it, though not as much as
WAVES.  alot of fans are dissing the new cd, but i love all the songs
and think it is their most fresh studio work yet.  i was actually sad to
only get one song off the album, but glad it was this one.  the words to
this are it's best aspect.  "and slip into the dark of night/as i
attempt to stay upright" makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
 there was not much improv in this song but that's probably better off,
to fit more tunes in.  prince caspian was a great version, i thought it
was appropriate to play after waves and i say fooey to people who hate
this song.  now i think it's obvious that frankenstein was the big
suprise of the night, period.  i hadn't seen it since vegas 2000 and i
love the part with the strobes.  golgi was a perfect touch, especially
since i went to this show with my friends and i not expecting to get in
(only half of us did).  the loving cup encore seems standard if you're
just looking at the setlist, but you got to hear this version.  i don't
think i've ever heard such a jam come out of loving cup.  i was sent out
into the dark of night to find my friends and try to safely find our way
back home.  we partied all night and pushed on til' the day, late in the
afternoon as i thought about several parts of the show, for the first
time ever because of a phish concert, i cried.  you can laugh all you
want at this, but thinking about how great of a phish show that was...i
was literally sobbing into my hands.  my friends and girlfriend wondered
why and kind of teased me about it...but damn.  i was crying because i
was happy.  happy to see phish, happy to see the fans again, and most of
all, happy to be alive.  thank you phish for the best phish show i've
ever seen.  a 15 out of 10.  til next time, sideshow bob.  (sorry about
the length of this review.)

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:59:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Brendan Opiekun galact1c@yahoo.com
Subject: Worcester Centrum 2/26/03

Welcome home boys


I guess you could consider me a pretty critical Phish
fan.. Or at least an eccentric and astute Phish
connoisseur depending on how well you know me. I know
that a show is only half as good as it looks on paper,
and that I've had an itch for the past 2 1/2 years
that wouldn't be satisfied until I saw my band play
again.. I go to shows for one reason only, the music
and ensuing jam. Tonight's show was to be my 27'th
overall and the first post-hiatus. In the past I've
always tried to keep an open mind whenever going into
a show, but all the negative reviews for many of the
tour stops thus far had me feeling a little
uncertain..

..Once the lights went down and the band launched into
YEM, any uncertainty immediately evaporated from my
conscience. It was ear to ear smiles all around as the
boys opened their homecoming act. I mean, people were
literally throwing down as the place erupted. There
could not have been a more perfect opener.. I knew
right then why I had fallen in love with this band
eight years ago. Phish was back, and it was to be a
night remembered, continuing the tradition laid down
in 93 with amazing shows from start to finish at this
legendary venue. Oh yeah, did I mention that the YEM
was an absolutely insane opener? All the major
sections were nailed as was the perfected tramp act.
Trey led the developing jam which just built and built
into crescendo, getting heavier and building power. At
the point where it was about to explode, Mike busted
into the super-sticky-gooey bass jam that I had been
craving. His bass sounded so good, so space-funkish. 
And you have to love when a vocal jam segues into
another song as was the case here tonight with Mike
and Trey singing the lines to Mike and Leo Kotke's
CLONE before going into it.. It reminded me of my
first Worcester show, 11/28/97's YEM > I DIDN'T KNOW.
I have to comment that the ROGGAE was probably the
most delicate and flawless version I've ever seen
live. The band added their own fills, and kept it
light and peaceful. The quiet interlude of Page's
piano playing off of Trey's guitar, and Mike's bass
was all quite beautiful and intricately played.  The
jam was quite moving through the quiet part before the
flawlessly played power chords which signaled the end
of the song. MOMA DANCE was slow and real funky. They
jammed this in a manner I've never heard before. A
completely fresh style polished off with a real
techno-style Beck-like jam at around the 8 minute
mark. Mike was all over this one laying down a thick
and bouncy bass line while Trey coasted the surface.
Page added his own tinkerings while Fish kept the
tempo up. It was light, fun, and of a completely
original style. They brought the jam back around at
about 13 minutes and ended it. This set closing MAZE
was HOT!! In 99 and 00, I had begun to lose hope in
this song as it began sounding a little uninspired and
tired sounding. This MAZE tonight however, was
energetic and had a real dark jam. It briefly
travelled to a spooky place that I had not seen live
since maybe the 11/27/98's post WEEKAPAUG jam, or
maybe better yet, the 12/31/99's ROCK N' ROLL at the
17 minute point. It was layer upon layer of textural
theme with Trey's technical guitar riffs over a raging
back beat. Sweet bliss in a swelling cacophony of
sound and light. It offered relief as it peaked and
ended the set, restoring my faith in this classic.
Overall the first set was a great opener and prelude
to some really great jams in the second half. This
first set was a bit relaxed and laid back, but
complete with the solo project material, it made for
and interesting listen even though some fans were
griping with the song selections. Set two was pretty
solid, it was real fun and contained some real sweet
jamming which was very experimental and new sounding
to my ears. The STASH and GHOST that opened the set
were in a sense, completely inspired and
excited-to-be-back-sounding. The jam out of STASH was
light and playful. In contrast to jams of the past,
Trey laid back in the mix instead of trying to steer
the jam. He and the others patiently let the jam grow
and breath, taking on a life of it's own. Each member
contributed in subtle ways. Mike's brief bass pops,
Page's Medeski'ish noodlings.. The jam sounded like it
was ready for a segue as it continued to build in
intensity, before dropping off into a powerful almost
ambient sound. It finally wound back into its coda and
finished at about 19 minutes. STASH was an experiment
that for the most part, was pretty successful and
intense. I found the boys having plenty of space to
jam within the song, but different from the group
jamming which was the hallmark of 97 through 00. It
was more loose and less directed. This GHOST that
followed was probably the happiest and most upbeat
version of the song I've heard to date. It was also
very light and definitely not scary as versions from
previous tours. It still contained the funk at first,
but the funk quickly dissolved and wound it's way into
an uptempo beat that Mike started.. Almost BOOGIE ON
REGGAE WOMAN'ish. Trey again sat back in this jam and
only added guitar fills to plug the holes. Again, like
STASH, every band member patiently let the jam build
and breath on it's own. At one point I thought I heard
maybe a FIRST TUBE or SAND on its way in.. The
resulting sound brought a smile to my face. Phish was
doing the very thing which I love them most for. It's
what separates them from every other band on Earth.
Their ability to morph sound and rhythm while keeping
in tune with one another the whole time. The
improvisation of this tune was kept within the
confines of Mike's bass line, and allowed Page to
explore and create funky sounds and tone in tune with
Trey's guitar. Page jumped to the baby grand and Trey
took over. He let out some heavy riffs and steered the
jam into the LOW RIDER theme.. I thought they were
going to do a complete rendition with Mike singing, a
la 11/23/97 Winston-Salem. But Trey instead played the
vocal parts of the jam on guitar with a heavy feel.
This continued for about two minutes before smoothly
segueing into a very short MAKISUPA complete with 
hotel fire lyrics reffering to the Cinnci hotel fire.
YAMAR segued out of MAKISPUA and was another light and
playful version as always complete with Trey yelling
at Page," play it Leo Kotke!!" I have to say that by
the end of 00, GUYUTE was a song that I felt was
extremely overplayed. Tonight's was intense, sweet,
yet powerful. The crowd fed off the jam and Chris'
evil reds and bright whites. It was nearly flawless
and quite intricate. I mean, the song in itself is
truly great when it is less heavily rotated by the
band. Much like THEME FROM THE BOTTOM when it was
played constantly in 97. But when you hear it now,
like in the set closing Providence 12/13/99 version or
Philly's 2/25/03 sixteen minute masterpiece, it's
really quite beautiful As was the case with tonight's
GUYUTE, nice placement and energy. The LOVING CUP
encore was amazing as well. I've never heard a version
jam so hard. The band absolutely nailed the composed
section and an intense jam ensued. It contained some
sustained power chords from Trey and interesting
polyrhythms. I thought they would segue this song at
that point when the jam was at its peak. It certainly
went for extra measures and is maybe the longest on
record to date clocking in at about twelve minutes.
The ending had a feedback jam and again I thought we
were going to get one more. I seriously thought they
were going to bust into FUNKY BITCH for some reason.
But with it about 12:30 am I knew it was over.. Second
set was fun complete with great jams and song choices.
I was unfamiliar with a live version of WAVES but
think it has much potential to become a jam
masterpiece much like DOWN WITH DISEASE in 94.
FRANKENSTEIN and GOLGI were also high energy and
intense. Tonight's show was by far, way more than I
expected or hoped it would be. It was absolutely
amazing and fun. My faith in the bands playing has
been completely restored tenfold, and then some!! It's
great to see the band play with a renewed sense of
interest and enthusiasm in their own music. I have to
admit, I was maybe a bit jaded and spoiled from the 97
and 98 tours by 00.. But with the inspired playing
that I soberly witnessed tonight, I am completely
stoked for summer tour and like-wise for the near
future. The band was deadly on, even if some of the
composed parts of songs were still a bit rusty. It
will only improve and further develop for a long time
to come. The crowd from what I saw tonight was polite
and completely into the show. If you were not there
tonight, get the disks and listen for yourself! The
boys was so excited to play and it completely showed..
And I haven't seen that from all four of them at once
in a long, long time.. 


peace,
Brendan


Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 20:43:17 EST
From: Flufhed872@aol.com
Subject: worcester review

after jersey i thought phish had lost something important and was less 
excited about the worcester show, BUT.......worcester was a sick ass show 
beggining to end, people who say the first set wasnt that good , im sorry i 
just cant agree....i thought everything was tight and nothing dragged....it 
was great to hear new songs not on round room, i thought the side project 
theme added intimacy to the set too.  the second set was amazing...stash was 
superb and never got boring, i thought i heard a "manteca" coming in the 
middle, only in my dreams i guess.  ghost; what to say, best ghost ive heard 
in years, tight beggining into a sick ass jam, early on they were teasing 
away and changing up the jam constantly. me and my buddy think we heard "lady 
maddona" teases from page, "first tube" themes in there, trey definitely 
played the "eat the rich" lick by aerosmith...and "makisupa" teases were in 
effect long before even the "low rider' jam.  i wont go into every song but i 
will say that this entire show was amazing, no complaints at all....the 
frankenstien kicked my teeth in cause i hadnt seen them play it before and 
had wanted it for years...a great show on all parts.

Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 00:13:11 -0500
From: Kevin Broydrick laxrider@maine.rr.com
Subject: Phish Review 2-26-02

Two things, event parking was $20! Damn the man, and we were in the very back row
directly behind the stage, and man, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
 
Set I:
YEM- Oh man, we've known the phantastic four in past tours to nearly always do new
songs as openers, totally NOT the case on this tour and I was happy about it. The new
album is great but, come on, a freakin' YEM opener! VERY tight jamming and some very
cool lines in the super funky jam, actually sounded quite a bit like a Mike's jam
from summer 97' great opener.
Clone- Of course nobody in the audience, including myself I'm sorry to admit, new
what this was immediately until the word started circulating. Not really that
memorable but once again very tight. The fact that a Mike/Leo song can be translated
into a cool sounding Phish live tune says a lot about the diversity of Phish
Roggae- I've always dug live Ghost tunes more than the studio versions, and that's
especially true with Roggae. Great version, spacey solid jamming, eerily beautiful
Drifting- I saw Trey solo in November in Portland, Maine (where I live) and went nuts
when he played this, it's one of my favorite Trey solo tunes, I went even more nuts
when they played it here. As soon as they started into it I had no idea how they were
going to pull off the harmonies, but I was amazed, this was as good as any version
Trey played solo, and it also incorporated the signature jam style that sometimes
lacked when Trey was the frontman. Really outstanding.
Blue Skies- Another even more embarassing admission: I have barely listened to any
PT, much less seen them live, so this one also took me by surprise, I think at this
point everybody appreciated what the guys were doing, but we were all feeling eager
for a 'pick me up', a blue grass tune didn't feel right here, of course if it had
been 'Poor Heart' it probably would have felt right, because 'Poor Heart' never feels
wrong, but it wasn't, definately not intolerable, but not spectacular either, I was
still dancing away though, and I was only gonna dance more for
MOMA! - HOLY SHIT, well maybe not holy shit, the jam wasn't stellar, but this tune
was carrying on what I had noticed all night, how TIGHT the boys were, even though
this song had a bit of the usual first set energy deficiancy, I really believe it is
impossible for phish to play a bad moma, I was going nuts, my buddy was going nuts,
the girls in front of us smoking our cloves were going nuts, it was generally nuts
Final Flight - Oh man am I gonna get ripped for this, but I have to say it, Page, you
are an outstanding performer and I respect you as much as all other members of the
band, but Vida Blue was, well, less than good. How can you play a rockin moma and
then go into final flight? Bah!
Maze- Alright this one's gonna take a while. By this point some nausea had crept up
on me (no due to influence, but all I had eaten that day was pretzels and water, the
water was a good plan, the pretzels needed accompaniment, to make a long story short
I ended up having to go to the bathroom during maze to splash my face and then
suddenly and without warning throwing up the middle of the concourse on my way back
to my seat and in turn having to go BACK to the bathroom (anybody who saw that kid
throw up in the concourse in the "stage left behind the stage" area, yeah that was
me, what a loser. The moral of the story is that I DID get to watch the lights kick
in on "overhead view... in a maze DAAA DAAAA" something utterly beautiful to behold.
And what I heard of the song sounded really good, but unfortunately I can't tell you
much more than that. I was alright though for
 
SET II
Stash - This is, without a doubt, the best Stash I have ever heard, period. No
exaggeration. Worth the price of admission, worth way more than the price of
admission. Incendiary guitar soloing, epic buildups, 13,000 people screaming
"ohohohohohoh" louder than I had ever heard before. Thank GOD  that I was not sick
for this one, no let me correct that, I couldn't have been sick for this one. This
jam could have taken me from the brink of death to the prime of life. Sound extreme?
Get the fucking tape.
Ghost- Wow, just thinking about this second set is giving me good vibes right now.
Ghost, after some wicked experimentation (like wicked bad), particularly in 97'
(remember Lemonwheel, ugh), has come home to good old fashion jazzy funk.  I would
love to see John Medeski sit in with the guys on this one because it's a smooth
styled song that would be perfect for MMW to cover, you know, if they sang, aside
from the PERFECTLY inserted "Low rider" tease, pretty standard but the best thing was
the transition into...
Makisupa - Makisupa puts a smile on my face, it's just that kind of song.
Nothing extraordinary here, just lots of smiles. into... (these two songs were just
made to be segued)
Ya Mar - The guy sitting next to me leaned over in severely gone stupor and yelled,
"DUDE I JUST REALIZED, THIS SONG IS ABOUT HAVING A REALLY SHITTY FATHER! MAN I NEVER
GOT THE BEFORE!" Right on bro. Great audience participation in the chorus, everybody
was diggin' in, and an excellent, excellent "PLAY IT LEO!"
Guyute - Man what a fun set, this kept it going. Flawless guitar work that is of
course central to this song, no flubs that I heard at all. Trey was right on and
everybody was loving it. Lots of smiles from the band and even more from the crowd. I
love whistling along and this was an outstanding version of this sometimes
overzealous song
Waves- I don't like waves that much but I really liked this version. This song does
have a tendency to drag on (hint: listen to Round Room) but all in all it maintained
the high energy level, but that energy was about to get much higher
Prince Caspian - Oh man, this is without a doubt, the best two chord singalong chorus
EVER! So easy to play, so much fun to listen to, even more funnerer to sing. I was so
euphoric during this song, my buddy leaned over to me and said "This is SOOOOOO Trey"
I corrected him by saying "This is SOOOOOOO Phish man", "RIGHT ON!" he replied, good
times, most unexpected and brilliant segue I've ever heard. No exaggeration, one of
the best segues I've EVER heard into...
Frankenstein- Man, these guys could play this song at every show and nobody would
complain, more energy on this version than I've maybe heard on any other, so tight,
so long, such and amazing climax, I gizzed in my pants twice
Golgi Apparatus- It occured to me at this point that this whole set really was like a
big orgasm, starting out smooth with a few spikes of energy hear and there, then
getting just plain fun, and then, with caspian, turning from fun to intense and
building and building. AND YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD ALREADY BLOWN YOUR LOAD! HAH! NEWBIE!
I'm sounding like a broken record but man what a great Golgi, this is another song
that can almost never dissapoint, as long as the boys don't flub the climax, which
I've only heard happen twice, this song is automatically a crowd killer. Great way to
end the show.
 
ENCORE:
Loving Cup- What can I say about this loving cup, I'll just say about it what Hunter
S. Thompson said about Fear and Loathing is Las Vegas, it was as good as "The Great
Gatsby" and better than "The Sun Also Rises", man, poor Hemmingway, his greatest
novel can't even stand up to a "Loving Cup". Nowhere in "The Sun Also Rises" do you
find the line "and I know I play a bad guitar" followed by thousands of fans
screaming at the top of their lungs. The jam on this one was simply phenomenal, the
only one I've heard that comes to mind that I liked better was the Went. This one was
flawless, one of the best encores I've ever heard, certainly the best I've seen. The
ending jam was very Peter Frampton "Do You Feel Like We Do" esque. Simply amazing.
 
Well there you have it, a stellar show (Phish seems to be playing a lot of those
lately), and with that I'm off to bed. Peace, and remember, vote republican, it's
easier than thinking.
 
-Kevin Broydrick


Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:09:09 -0500
From: Joe Joyce JJoyce@necn.com

Let me start by saying I have been seeing Phish since 1991, have seen all their
festivals, Clifford,Went,Lemon,Oswego,Cypress, I have all their albums, including
solo projects,...its been real for sure...and I really love them alot. That said...I
was really looking forward to worcester after seeing them NYE in NY which totally
rocked. I scored lats minute 7th row seats, avoided traffic, got a great free parking
spot, and was drinking double vodkas on the rocks before showtime...life was grand
good karma...onto the show.
 
1st set
YEM: Amazing opener! Maybe the best ever. Totally sick! Worth the price of admission.
Clones- Holy hell! I heard this real quick. During the haitus I always wondered and
hoped they would incorporate their solo work into Phish. Here they were doing it.
Mike/Leo's Album is a work of art. Clones is a great song. Diggin it. Love looking
around at all so called "real" Phish fans with the puzzled looks on their faces while
mr. clean cut(me) is in the zone of clones. Get the album boys. What can I say.
Roggae- Always welcome. Always beautiful. Phish were in the groove
Drifting- Holy CRAP!!! Love this song...more solo work. Absolutely gorgeous...more
puzzled looks from newbies, wannabes, diehards, whatever you wanna call
yourselves...I was in Phish Bliss so excited they were doing this..
Blue Skies- AGAIN! Now Fishman's Pork Tornado...Bluegrass! Woo Hoo! Great upbeat
happy song.
For the lost souls waiting for a Phish song they knew to be played I hope you were
able to enjoy this because I thought it was just magical and very real. Very Phish.
MOMA DANCE- Crowd erupts...Finally something the masses know. Standard version.
Lots of Funk..jam get a bit lost...solid anyhow...groove is still on....VIDA BLUE up
next....
FINAL NIGHT- I was hoping for a spacey dance rave funkified beat like CK5 which
totally would have ripped in this spot...but instead I felt like this Ballad from
VIDA BLUE sucked the life from the set...at least for me. I did not like this song. I
sat for the first time.
MAZE- INTENSE! Great version. Great to see. Again I think Phish is still getting
their footing or something, or Trey trying to hard...but the jam was long, became
dark and lost me...by the time they came back...I had lost interest...and was ready
for set break. I felt a little disappointed in that this set had the potential to be
so beautiful...but the last two songs kind of put a bad taste in my mouth.....solid
8.5 for the set.
 
On NYE at the garden there was not a moment where I thought the jams were a bit
excessive. I did not hear any wasted notes being played.  I felt every note had a
purpose. On this night from MOMA on I felt Trey indulging quite a bit, which is
totally his right to do so, but I do prefer to remain in the framework of the song.
That is just me...I realize many of you crave the epic long jams...I would many times
like to hear another song instead...but I know that is how the ball bounces at the
Phish show. On to the second set which would prove to have MANY long epic jams at the
start...and then a full sprint to the finish
 
2nd set
Stash- Classic Phish. Great opener. Not the greatest but definitely solid. Again the
jam gets ugly, wasted notes, and I become less enthused as Trey Fucks himself again.
Whatever. Great Start.
Ghost- YES! nice second song...Funky & Spacey...nice drawn out version...these two
songs were like an hour combined. I was beginning to think we were going to get one
of those classic 4 song second sets...boy was I wrong....into LOW RIDER TEASE....I
thought they were going to go into WIPEOUT which would have been totally cool...this
was fun..I was hoping they would not go into the song..and waste more time...thank
god they did not...instead
Makisupa Police man- NICE! Fun for sure...but the burned down the hotel comment I did
not find very funny after the tragic events in Rhode Island and Connecticut in the
 past week. Chalk it up to Trey not thinking of a better joke at the top of his
head.>>>>Into
YA MAR!!! This is where the set just takes off...all is grand and people are just
going crazy. Standard version. Play it Leo was so great to hear again
GUYUTE- UGH. This song killed me. This is like my 9thtime hearing it seems. Like
every show I go to. I have had enough of this song to never hear it again....but
everyone in the crowd seemed excited. It always sound like half the crowd is like
YES!!! and the other half is like CRAP!!! Kinda funny how it always sounds mixed.
Anyway...perfectly executed, sounded great...and was enjoyable...AS ALWAYS....it
always wins me over in the end. I was nice and close just watching Trey & Mike just
shredding up the frets during this song. So Talented.
WAVES- Love this song. I like the psychadelic easy groove to this song...it turns the
hall into a rave. Not as good as NYE but still great to hear of the new ones.
Prince Caspian-floaing on the Waves...I liked the connection to the previous
song...but that was about it. This song in the past has moved me, But I think I may
be done with it.
FRANKENSTEIN- Ripping Standard version. Can't complain, but again would have liked
something else
Golgi Apparatus...Totally Ripping...crowd going nuts...but to me another throw away
song...as song when I see on a setlist and am glad they won't be playing it on my
night. Well here they were doing it again for the 20th time along with guyute. I
realize I may sound bitter...and you can't always get what you want. It's just you
get to see them so rarely you hope for a life changing moment...I'm sorry  but
Guyute,Caspian,Frankenstein,Golgi Apparatus are not life changing...and IMO are total
throw away songs. I realize it is important to just enjoy the moment and I did, just
sad thats all knowing that the end was near, and there so much I would rather be
experiencing then "I SAW YOU WITH A TICKET STUB IN YOU HAND!" I mean how many times
can they play that?
 
Encore:
I said to my friend they are either going to shit the bed here and play Friday or
anything but me...or they are going to save the day and play LOVING CUP. Well guess
what they did! Totally called it. Phish rocked it as always...and now that I look
back on that night. The show totally kicked ass...there were some drawn out jams that
went nowhere, and some stupid songs that I don't prefer, but besides that a solid
effort and a great time. Worth a listen.

ate: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 07:22:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Rosa rickvrosa@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: 2/26/03

Here it is...sorry about the mix up!
----------------------------------------------

This is the first review i have ever written.  Ive been to over 50 phish shows, and I
can honestly say that this is one of the best performances I've ever seen.  I went to
the jersey show, which was the first show that I had been to since the hiatus.  i
thoroughly enjoyed the Jerz show, but Worcester absoulutley BLEW IT AWAY.  Getting
into the venue was a little rough, but not as bad as jerz.  The vibe at the centrum
was WAY more laid back than in jerz.  there was barely a security presence all
night....there were barely any toilets in the bathrooms as well!

YEM: are you fucking kidding me??!!.. that was the general sentiment of the crowd when
they opend up with this gem.  I thought the DWD in jerz was tight as an opener, but
this was the SHIT!..it totally set the tone for what was to become an unforgettable
night...it was a great YEM overall, and for once, i didn't mind the mouth jam( as it
had been sooo long...)...you could feel that the funk was commin on..

Clone:  wasnt sure what song it was at first, but i knew it was a mike tune. i went to
see him and leo at the sanders theatre at harvard (great show) and recognized it as
soon as the verse started. I liked the song when mike and leo played it, but LOVED it
when phish played it...it had a really fresh, funky groove to it, and the harmonies on
the chorus were tight..i do wish that they jammed it out...

Rogae: perfect timing for this one...at this point I realized that the BAND was in top
form, and all of the members would be show-cased...jerz was "trey's night", with BB
coming out to trade licks...it really turned in to the Bb and trey show...the jam was
very "pleasant" ..melodic, and page was really "splashing the canvas" with some nice
riffs

Drifting:  Very nice! this was one of my favorites from the trey tour..and it sounded
great in the phish setting. ..it was great to see this song, and clone in the same
set, proving that tonight was going to be a group effort..the jam was very happy and
tight..trey was really starting to feel it at this point,..he started with the nice
dynamics and the guitar swells...

blue skies: never heard this one before..bluegrass tune with fishman on lead vocals..i
was really craving the funk, so i wasnt really into this one, but it was played well
and added to the "group effort" vibe of the night

Moma dance: Here's comes the funk! this is what i was waiting for! this was the
release of the tension that they created with the YEM jam...the verses and chorus were
tight as hell, and the jam was hypnotic....I compare most hypnotic jams to the ACDC
bag from MSG 12/97, and this moma came close! Im talking just tight, thick, creamy
grooves, accented by sonic treats by page. trey wasnt really utulizing the the whole
loops groove, but the jam was spacey, none the less...

Final Flight: first time on this one as well..didnt really do anythng for me, but i
was still freaking from the moma!!

Maze: Duuuuude!! best version Ive ever heard live! this is one of my favorite songs to
begin with, so I was phsyced from the start....they were still feeling the "funk
hangover" from the moma, and implemeted it beautifully..page's solo was funky, with
trey laying down a solid groove..then,..trey's solo was sick!..very rythmic and
minimal..building tension all the while...teasing the crowd by avoiding that peak
note...until...BANG!! blinding lights, trey's high notes, ripping up the
stage..unbeleiveable,..the crowd was blown away by this one 2nd set: Stash: one of my
favorites..wasnt expecting this one at all..it was a perfect 2nd set opener, very
dark...the place was really rockin'..security was nowhere to be seen, so by the 2nd
set people were really in mode! trey took this one to that dark place that he goes to
sometimes, that i love...but not right away,..the jam was engulfed in this 1-3-5
"major" jam for a while..it was quite positive for a stash, fishman also started
playing the the jam in 1/2 time, slowing it down..kind of like a dazed and confused
jam by zep..it materialized into a great peak and really fired everyone up for a sick
2nd set.

Ghost: perfect. that pretty much sums it up...this one continued the funk from the 1st
set...very tight jam, long, rythmic, chunky as hell..real thick..LOVED it. i knew i
was at a special show at this point, and was savoring it,...jus gnawing on this meaty,
juicy solid ghost...

Makisupa: this one seemed to come spontaneously..trey just kicked into it out of the
ghost jam..it was very nice, mellow and fit the vibe of the centrum perfectly. it
wasn't too long..but a nice jam, with page and mike just dropping bombs!

Ya mar: again,.this one didnt seemed planned..trey just kicked into it, and it was
great! mike got a lot of love from the crowd (as usuall), as this is really his
anthem. trey's solo in this one was a standout..it was really nice, old-school trey
just building a great solo,...wasnt very long, but that was OK with me..

Guyute: YES! this was perfect..love this tune! it holds a special place with me, as it
reminds me of the first time they played it at Lehigh in 94...this song is on the same
level as YEM (without the jam) in my mind... it was soo good to hear it, and the band
really seemed into it...the dark jam before the great triumphant peak was awesome..so
nice!!

Waves: a little surprised by this one, as they had just played it in Jerz, but i dig
this tune..especially the jam at then end, It reminds me of the Simple jam, but
faster...trey is obviously into this tune, so im willing to give it a chance..its a
nice jam which really showcases trey's soloing through simple chord changes.

P. Casp: only song that i would have been ok without, although the jam was tight as
hell...it still had that chunky feel (circa '97) which is rare for this tune...its a
crowd favorite, and puts smiles on a lot of faces...

Frankenstein:  Again,..this one didnt seemed planned,...trey just broke into it, while
coming out of the Prince jam....it was a solid version, and the crowd really got into
it...

Golgi: YES!!! so nice..just when i thought the set was over, they kick into this one,
(again, it didnt seemed planned) and really fire up the crowd, that is already blown
away....the lights were great all show, and so nice on this one (you know, the whole
"I SAW YOU!!", bright lights on the crowd) this is a sentimental tune for a lot of old
school phans, and this version didn't disappoint...

E:  Loving Cup: sickest version Ive ever heard...fit the vibe perfectly. everyone was
feeling the "buzz". the jam at the end was funky as hell, keeping with the theme of
the night...and trey really dragged the ending out, in a good way.. i didnt want it to
end, but i was thoroughly satisfied.  SICK show...sooo good to be back!! :)


Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:28:47 -0500
From: JamesG JamesG@AtlanticSemi.com
Subject: Review Worcester 2/26/2003

Here's my review.
Set I
YEM-Good journey through the modal and groove building openings. The crowd cheers
with each transition in the groove drowned out the low volume 1st song reality. 
Lot's of ear-cupping here and throughout the 1st set.  Trey hits great peaks during
the jam
CLONE-always great to experience a break-out.  Speedy airy groove that made sense of
the vocal jam as I was not familiar with this one.
ROGGAE-great tune with a comment on the scene...the Circus is the place for me! Final
power chord crash after jam hidden a little and brought in through the service
entrance.
DRIFTING-Pretty song with idealistic imagery. 
BLUE SKIES-Bluegrass is always good Trey and Fish share vocals.  No real heavy
chicken-pickin'.
Moma-1st set Moma with limited jamming on the guitar hook that drives most rocking
Momas.  Mild funk for those whose chemicals were kicking in.
FINAL FLIGHT-Nice chord progression.  Trey seemed to enjoy exploring the tonal
landscape of this song.  Page might have played his end jam out a little more.  The
crowd seemed to want to clap this one out like the Reba gone Carini at the Tweeter
Center years back or the Brian and Robert gone Frankenstein at PNC Bank Arts Center
MAZE-Full on full blown maze.  They really took the time as the set built to get the
gear to full volume and truly peak out the end of this Maze.  A+ and a harbinger of
the second set.
Overall the first set really built nicely.  I would like to note that at some point
every show the band will peak.  It takes time and effort for them to get there. 
Patient listening in the 1st set rather than expectation will bring out the true
beauty of a set such as this.
 
Set II
 
STASH-Great version with Trey slapping snarly full chord strums over Page in the
middle of the jam on they way through great 2nd set rendition
GHOST-Full volume dialed in funk that continued the energy from the MAZE and STASH
MAKISUPA-Hope you all enjoyed a few minutes of the rub-adub style....nicely placed
YAMAR-Big thumping version.  Trey shows off his modal freedom and staccato-calypso
jazz picking to enhance the subtlety of this great groove.
GUYUTE-Pretty tight with perhaps a moment of uncertainty from one band member during
the jam journey.  Trey climbed into the ending melody with some extra notes one
time.  Those little climbs are always the hallmark of the truly great GUYUTES that
may contain several.  But again the band was a full volume and really together.
WAVES-Trey in flight...band in tow...excellent
PRINCE-nice transition who would of thought the waves would wash the band up on the
shores of Narnia.  Tour heads may have been dismayed by another appearance...maybe
not.  On the way to the big crash the band stumbles upon FRANKENSTEIN groove and the
hits the song from the top
FRANKENSTEIN-What can you say nicely choreographed jam always true to the original.
GOLGI-Epic GOLGI...Tasty journey, big build up, big payoff...I SAW YOU.
LOVING CUP-Oh what a beautiful buzz.  This encore rounded off a second set that would
not let up.  Again I wish some would realize that to get to a set like this the band
need to dial in.  They always seem to get there when they try something new. The
noble vision of the first set definitely gave them a renewal of spirit that allowed
the to hit the heights they did from MAZE until the end of the night.  Be patient and
as the boys at the soundboard and the band themselves approach the peaks we all
desire you will see the beauty of getting there as well as being there.  Think...how
do peaks happen...how do they do a second set like this.  How can I be a part of
creating the energy the band needs from us to get there.  Can we affect the band's
ability and desire to peak the room out? I think we can.  Listen well and be aware.
It's not selling buritos or keeping stats.  It's about the band peaking out...that is
when it is the best.  We made it happen in Worcester together with the band.  Careful
with your driving and keep narcotics use in check if you must go down that road. 
Know as much as you can about your psychedelics with regard to quality and strength
and may all your nugs be Skunk 1xNL5(still the champ of all nuggets).  Peace Nugs and
Rock and Roll!
 
Best regards,
 
Jim Georges

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 03:19:47 +0000
From: Julie V juls549@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester review

Like everyone else on this review page, I agree that the show was completely 
kick-ass.   I'm from the Worcester area, so I took the back roads and got 
there in 15 min.  Sorry!!!  But, don't worry, I drove from Philly... and 
then back to New York... so I had my share of driving. I love Worcester 
shows... because I can rock it out, drive 5 min home, and have a free place 
to crash. Good times.

First of all- YEM-- hell yeah. The crowd was insane. This goes for the whole 
show-- people were nuts. One of my favorite things about Phish is that they 
are all about tension and release and that they know how to play with our 
minds.  There was so much climax building in this show... and the lights add 
soo much to that effect.  Trey played a few ascending scalar passages that 
had everyone in the crowd going nuts and then breaking into dance when he'd 
hit the tonic.  It was hot.  Fish is a major part of this tension release 
thing too--- he prepares every release so well. Rock on.

Great great great great great vocals tonight!  Did they take voice lessons 
while on break?  I think so.  I'm so happy to hear songs with lots of 
harmony- they blended so well tonight.  Also, great guitar playing on Trey's 
part- I heard lots of intricate lines and he executed lots of techniques 
very well. As someone else pointed out, Trey laid it back vocally in Stash 
and a few others.  Very cool.

Everyone got a song at this show. Mike was grooving for sure, especially in 
the second act.  And good singing! Page- you rock, -- you are so creative-- 
I always have admire such great playing.  I was also so happy to see Trey 
seeming to be having a blast.

As for jams... WOW... I don't think I can even explain how well they played. 
  Moma Dance was nuts, so was the whole sequence of events in the second 
act. WOW again.  BTW-- I really like Prince Caspian... I think it has 
potential... but I know there are mixed reviews on that song.

I won't comment on each song, but I felt so lucky to hear the songs they 
played. High points were YEM, Golgi, the WHOLE second act, especially the 
Frankenstein highlights, Stash, Guyute, and Loving Cup.  The crowd was 
NUTS-- and I fully participated in this insanity-- I didn't stop dancing-- 
even in the slow ones.

Compared to Philly last night, I would say that this show was cleaner 
musically and with much more energy coming from the band.  And, whoever 
mentioned in a review that it was weird that the band didn't talk to the 
audience, I noticed in Philly and they were quiet here, too. I wish they 
would talk to us, as well. Maybe some Gamehendge stories perhaps?  ;)

(P.S. The Wilson T-shirt with Trey is so awesome.)

Wish I could go to Nassau and NC...!  -Julie
Questions? Send an email my way.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:07:50 -0500
From: JonahBA@aol.com
Subject: 2/26/03 review

The excitement before this show was intense. Getting in took forever, but once inside,
the place was buzzing with energy. I didn't want to get my hopes too high, cause I
haven't heard most of the shows this tour and have not gotten much of a chance to
judge for myself how good they sound. Well, my hopes could have been through the roof
and it still would have surpassed my expectations. Totally independent of energy and
the thrill of seeing Phish again and all that, this was honestly a musical masterpiece
of a show. The song selection was perfect, and it's one of the best shows I've ever
heard them play.  Here's the play-by-play:

YEM: Wow. Definitely a surprise. Everyone went nuts when the opening arpeggios came
through the speakers. This was really a great version, with a super-funky jam that
featured some really standout work from Mike. It seemed like he was leading the jam.
The vocal jam was awesome and in perfect synch with Kuroda. Next we got...

Clone: I love Mike and Leo Kottke's album, and I always thought Phish should give this
a shot, so I was fired up when they started this. Nice harmonies, and they kept the
album feel while giving it a Phishy edge.

Roggae: Nice version, nothing too eventful. I'm not a huge Roggae fan, but this was 
fine.

Drifting: Sweetness. I love this Trey song, and Phish did a good job with it. Trey had
a really nice melodic solo.

Blue Skies: I love when Phish do bluegrass, and this would be a welcome addition to
their catalogue. I didn't realize it was a Pork Tornado tune until someone told me at
setbreak.

The Moma Dance: This took some time to really get started, and the vocals weren't
pristine, but once past that it was a fantastic version. Very clean and funky, but at
the same time a very exploratory and weird jam, with everyone adding some nice
accents, especially Page.

Final Flight: Like Blue Skies, didn't realize this was Vida Blue, but I liked it.  
Pretty song, and a chance to rest after dancing through Moma.

Maze: Totally nuts. This version was absolutely brain melting, and went to places I
never knew Maze could. It was spacey and crazy, and the energy was overwhelming. One
of the highlights of the show.

If the show ended right there, I would have been satisfied. A damn good first set, and
once I found out what was going on, the idea of each member playing a side project
song was very cool. However, nothing could prepare me for the monster set two to come.

Stash: Good god. This is maybe the best Stash I've ever heard. The band was totally
operating as one cohesive unit, a perfectly coordinated machine of sound. The jam, a
layered one full of subtlety, sounded almost techno at parts, and the peaks were
awe-inspiring.

Ghost: Aaaah, yes! I was really hoping for a Ghost, and this one was dope and a half.  
Very funkified and Mike-heavy, sounding like '97. Toward the end it got kind of
bluesy, and then modulated to a major key. Mike started teasing something familiar.
Everyone else picked up on it, and suddenly I realize what it was...

Low Rider Jam: Ha ha! So choice. The place erupted. Some really nice work by Trey
here, playing the melody line. Back into the Ghost jam for a bit, and then a velvet
smooth segue into...

Makisupa Policeman: Could this set possibly get any better? My friend was really
hoping for this. The hotel thing was funny, although mention of fire was unfortunately
kind of tasteless in light of recent events. Still, love the song, and another perfect
segue into...

Ya Mar: Ok, officially the best set ever. Ya Mar is never too crazy, but this version
was nice as always, with some good singing by Mike. PLAY IT LEO!!!

Guyute: Wasn't flawless, but good enough, with real energy. The soaring, anthemic
chords after the evil section blew the roof off.

Waves: Not a huge fan of this song, but it was alright. Kind of wish they'd be
emphasizing Pebbles and Marbles more, if I had to hear a Round Room song.

Prince Caspian: Never been too big on Prince Caspian, but what a version! They took
this out into some seriously exploratory space, even going into type II jamming at
parts.  On Prince Caspian! Wow. But then...

Frankenstein: Totally brought the house down. Absolutely rocking. I was sure the set
was done.

Golgi: Nope! Love this singalong tune, and somehow they managed to insert an extra
measure of Frankenstein right before "Runs like a junkyard dog with a brain of brass."
That was great. Perfect set closer too.

Encore, Loving Cup: I was praying we wouldn't get an dissapointing, energy killing
encore after that set, and my prayers were answered. This was great, and they jammed
it out at the end. The jam even got dark at some points, interestingly enough. Ended
the evening with a bang.

What a completely unbelievably show. I was at New Year's, and while that rocked and
the energy was off the charts, it wasn't musically as thrilling as it should have
been.  This was leaps and bounds beyond that performance. I listen to this band with a
pretty critical ear, and this truly is some of the best Phish I've ever heard.
Everyone should get their hands on this show, because Phish is completely on fire. The
drive home was a bitch, but it gave us plenty of time to discuss the spectacle we had
just witnessed.

Get this show!

Peace,
Jonah Abrams


ate: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 21:53:32 -0500
From: Alejandro Tamargo treebeard_tamargo@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester review

I left the Worcester feeling just a little bit dissapointed.  Not because it 
was a bad show, in fact it was an all around pretty solid show.  But I think 
I set my expecations too high. Based on previous Worcester runs, and some of 
the current setlists, I was expecting an outrageous blow your mind 
unbelievable show.  And when I heard the opening notes of YEM to start, I 
thought for sure that that was what we were going to get.  It turns out, it 
wasn't.  You should never go into a show expecting it to be spetacular, 
because you're setting yourself up for dissapointment.  What it was though, 
was a pretty good all around solid show.

FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS:  Definetely the YEM opener of course.  It was an 
unbelievable opener and the crowd energy was amazing.  The other highlight 
of the first set would have to be the Moma Dance. Not only was I really 
hoping to see a Moma Dance during my two show run, but this was possibly the 
best jam in a Moma Dance I've ever seen.  It was long and funky!  Very fun 
to dance too!  I LOVED this Moma Dance!

NEW SONGS:  Now that I realize that what Phish actually was doing was 
playing one song from each of the four band members' sideprojects, I think 
that that's pretty cool.  At the time however it was mass confusion, or at 
least in my section.  Aside from Drifting, nobody around me recognized any 
of the songs, which is an unusual thing to happen at a Phish show.  Even 
with brand spanking new songs, I can usually find someone somewhere who can 
identify it.  Not these however.
My favorite of the songs I'd never heard before was definetly Clone, the 
Mike Gordon tune.  It was kind an odd song, as Mike tunes tend to be, but it 
was a very groovy dancy kind of tune.  I hope they bring it back, only next 
time I'd really like to see them explore the groove into a long funked out 
groovy jam.  I think there's alot of potential in it, but this version they 
just played straight up, without jamming it at all.  Good song though.
The Pork Tornado song was kind of cool.  It was a very short but sweet 
bluegrass tune sung by Fishman.
I really didn't care for the Page tune however.  Out of all the good stuff 
that Vida Blue was putting out there, it seems like they could have picked 
something a little better than this to represent the band.
Drifting was a really pleasant surprise.  I've always enjoyed that song.  
That being said though, I do enjoy the Trey version better, just because I 
think Jennifer does a better job on the melody than Page and Mike did.  She 
can really nail those high notes that they couldn't.  They did a respectible 
job however, and I did enjoy it.

OVERALL FIRST SET IMPRESSIONS:  As I've said before, a bit of a let down 
after the high expectations set by the YEM, but overall not bad. The Maze, 
which I have not mentioned, was a very good version, very solid closer.

SECOND SET:  I'm not a fan of Stash, but once they got through the boring 
monotanous structured part of the song, the jam was a pretty incredible 
thing to behold.  They really took it far out there.  But the real highlight 
of the second set, and of the show, was that Ghost>Low Rider>Makisupa>Yamar 
segment.  The Ghost jam was as funky and spacy as I'd expect from a ghost 
and jammed perfectly into Low Rider, which really got the crowd going.  I 
thought that the set list should have read as I've listed it above, not as 
just a Low Rider jam in the midst of a Ghost.  Sure they didn't sing the 
songs very minimal lyrics.  But the jammed it out for a while, and the song 
is mostly intrumental anyway.  Anyway, the Low Rider segued beautifully into
the crowd pleasing high energy Maksipa which led into a very high energy 
Yamar.

Now, they were going to follow up Yamar with would determine, in my mind 
anyway, whether the show would be just "pretty good" or "spetacular".  And 
the Guyute>Waves>Caspian segment just didn't do it.  Those are all okay 
songs if they're placed properly.  Guyute is a nice beginning or middle of 
first set type song.  And Waves and Caspian are nice breather songs if 
they're in the midst of good high energy jamming songs.  But playing those 
three back to back to back was just too much time low energy non danceable 
songs.

The coolest thing about the Caspian, was that they did not finish it.  
During the jam, I noticed that Mike was kind of doing the baseline for the 
middle part of Frankenstein.  Trey soon joined him in the Frankenstein jam, 
and after that, they decided to start the song from the begginning.  It 
absolutely rocked, as did the Golgi following it. And the Lovin' Cup encore 
was by far one of the rockingest versions of that song I've ever seen.  
Great way to end any show.

So I enjoyed myself.  I'm not going to go into Nassau with such high 
expectations so if they match Worcester's performance, I'll be content.  But 
if they exceed Worcester, I'll be estatic.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:05:53 -0500
From: bag-o-donuts mr.charlie@mindspring.com
Subject: wissta/2-26-03

Since my first show '95 Fox theartre I can whole heartedly say Phish has never been
dissapointing to me in anyway way.Even on a night that they may not have been there
best they never leave me sour.(a bad day of phishing is better than a good day of
work)This show was 35 for me and my first show since the break,we landed front row
tickets and I could not have been any happier.Phish to me seemed as thought they had
not missed a beat since tweeter ctr '00 my last show.I was entranced and amazed at
this show .I dam near pissed myself when they opened with yem and never really lost
that WOW feeling....I loved the show!!!    Thanks
Phish

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 16:32:53 -0800 (PST)
From: Todd Kehoe mugglemagician@yahoo.com
Subject: review


2.28.03 Worcester: Felt like a Tweezer song outside, but everyone was
happy (and squeezed together) inside. Lucked into reediculous sweet
seats with some happy heads and was cranked up for the show. By the
way, if you came without a ticket, you're INSANE!! Being outside for
like 30 minutes was near unbearable. Fairly short review:

YEM openers - We called all sorts of wacky openers from a
soul-splintering Gamehendge to a sweet Harpua to even the ever-rare Dog
Log. Okay, so Phish throws a loop by playing... their most played song!
I assure you, there wasn't a complaint in the house, in fact, on the
first chords, the roof nearly blew off the roof. Energy was
incredible...  intro of the song was extended a bit, didn't seem like
Trey wanted to blow it open at first but once he did... unreal. Get
your hands on this YEM, once you can. 

The new songs - Fun. Not everyone knew them. I didn't really know any
of them right away, but I really liked Drifting. If they play it again,
it has a good chance to become the most hated song since Jennifer
Dances by the phans who don't like anything remotely poppy. Clone is
cool, Page's song was a bit short, and bluegrass is ALWAYS welcome
here.

Maze - A lot of people thought this Maze was unbelievable, I liked it,
thought it was above-average, but not stupendous. 

Set II:

Ghost > Low Rider > Makisupa > Ya Mar - OKAY! Don't let the setlist lie
to you, there wasn't no Low Rider tease, they played the whole theme of
it through twice... so I'm going with it as an actual song. Ghost was
BIZARRE! The usual dark rock jam was... light... happy... upbeat???
WHA?? It was a cool departure, anyway, great jam. Makisupa was funny.
As it began to end, a kid next to me looked at me, and we both screamed
"YA MAR" at the top of our lungs, and sure enough, bang. Great Ya Mar.

Waves > Caspian - PHATTY! Waves is fun. Caspian riding on the Waves,
well, good symmetry. Caspian was sloppy, and Trey didn't take it all
the way down, but it was fun...

Frankenstein, Golgi - Frank was tight as hell. (Guytue was as well)...
at the end, I saw Trey turn to Fish and said something... I thought he
yelled "Hold It" -- as in, hold the last note, the set is over.
Instead, Golgi. Rippin'. Standard version, but the song always kicks
ass.

Encore: Lovin' Cup - Hell yeah. Rock out. Go Home. Barbershop mike was
set up on the stage, but didn't get hit for the encore

2 final thoughts: Trey was working on vocal phrasing a lot tonight. In
a bunch of different songs, he changed what they usually sounded like.
Also, there were tons of teases. Seven Below was teased by Mike and
Trey, Simple was teased, Boogie On Reggae Woman... keepin' us guessing
all the way through. Great show, A- I'm going with...

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:18:59 -0500
From: Christian Ferrandino phish71@optonline.net
Subject: 2/26/2003 review

Fantastic 2nd Set!!!!!
I am surprised that nobody has talked about the "Midnight Hour"
tease/jam before the "Low Rider" jam.........
Overall wonderful concert experience!!!!

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:17:21 +0000
From: kevin.mcstravick@attbi.com
Subject: worcester review

This was my first show in 2 1/2 years (9/11/00), and it was unbelievable.  I'd 
been shut out 6 out of 6 shows so far this year, and figured I'd give it a 
chance and make the ride from Boston to Worcester and see if we could find any 
extras.  On the way in, the car in front of us had a few extras and dropped us 
two for just about face.  Whoever you are, thank you so much.  So we were 
really psyched just to be in there.  Sat Mike side about halfway the venue.  
Lots of energy and positive vibes in our section.  Blah blah, on to the show...

Set 1

YEM:  Goosebumps for a good ten minutes.  Extremely tight.  Best opener I have 
ever seen (20 some shows), energy was through the roof!  The jam segment was 
very funky and well executed.  From the shows I've been listening to from 2003, 
this came off as pretty surprising how well they nailed it.  The vocal jam had 
some Clone action, though I thought they were saying "cold, cold, cold" a la 
Tweezer.  A+  The vocal jam was a nice calming of energy to segue nicely into...

CLONE:  Took me a while to figure out what this was until around the second 
verse.  Confused looks turned quickly into grooving feet.  Mike's vocals on 
this are really clever.  Great surprise...made more sense as the set went on 
though.

ROGGAE:  Really nice.  This seemed pretty loose which was a good contrast to 
the YEM.  I thought the placement of this was perfect, as I needed some more 
chill time after the raging YEM.  I noticed some nice melodies coming from all 
four jam members.  Loose, and yet still so cohesive.

DRIFTING:  Very nice surprise.  I'm a fan of TAB and was very intrigued to hear 
this.  Little sloppy in the beginning, but the jam was pretty tight.  It was 
cool to hear Mike and Page do the harmonies that Jen did with TAB.  Crowd 
seemed to really enjoy this.  Everyone was in a very chill mood at this point, 
just grooving along.

BLUE SKIES:  I figured this was a Phish version of some traditional bluegrass 
tune I have yet to hear.  It was short and fairly tight for a first time 
played.  Pretty cool.  Just in awe at this point that 5 songs into the first 
set I've heard 3 new tunes to the Phish repetoire.

MOMA DANCE:  Amazing jam.  It was cool to groove to this song, but when it 
dropped into this funky yet spacey jam in the second half it really took off.  
Very well executed.  Best Moma I've heard.  Lots of Type II interplaying 
melodies.  Probably bout 15 min long.  I was blown away.  A+

FINAL FLIGHT:  I'm a big Page fan, but I wasn't moved to much by the tune.  
Pretty short, 1 or 2 verses and a quick little jam.  Sounded like part of a 
Clapton tune.

MAZE:  So, I'm not a huge Maze fan, but this was one of the best jams of the 
night.  I actually thought it was going to be a short Maze, but it stretched 
way out.  Perfectly executed jam, with a few peaks.  It seemed like they played 
around with what section was being played when.  The climax joyous-like segment 
must have come out 3 or 4 times before the tune ended.  A+

I really enjoyed this first set as you can probably tell.  Very clever and 
unpredictable, yet still executed quite well.  The vibe at setbreak was 
basically people sharing how nice that first set was.  Lots of "holy shit, YEM 
opener!" comments too of course!  Really didn't know what to expect of the 
second set.

Set 2

STASH:  Came out of left field.  I think I've caught more sloppy Stashes then 
the ones that blow your mind, so I was pretty psyched to see what they can add 
to this one with the way they were playing tonight.  Execution was good in the 
composed section, but the jam totally took off.  I was blown away.  At this 
point this was my favorite moment of the show, only to be topped by the...

GHOST:  Unbelievable.  I won't get over this jam for a while.  The lyric part 
was very tight and deep, intro came in very well, good change from the loops 
that I was used to from '00.  They were jamming in typical Ghost style for a 
couple of minutes, then out of nowhere comes this upbeat jam.  Sounded 
very "Boogie On" to me, even to the point where I thought they were going to 
break into that or another tune.  This was the start of what I felt like the 
rest of the second set encompassed.  Every jam seemed like it was going to take 
off into another song.  Lots of subtle key changes and melodies by all four 
band members.  Anyways, this jam went back into a funky Ghost mode, and built 
up into...

LOW RIDER JAM:  Place went off the wall.  The energy was out of control at this 
point.  Trey played the vocal melody lines on guitar.  The band was having a 
blast too.  This went back into Ghost for a while, then

MAKISUPA:  Segue was perfect.  Reference to Cincy hotel fire was clever.  
Pretty short version segued nicely again into:

YA MAR:  Nothing too out of the ordinary, though the jam was really nice.  More 
interplaying melodies that I enjoy so much.  Energy was still top shelf.

GUYUTE:  Having not seen a show in so long, I had no problem with them playing 
Guyute.  I was really pumped during the first section.  The middle part was 
actually pretty sloppy, but it picked up and well made up for it by the time 
the darker jam by the end started.  They finished Guyute very strong.

WAVES:  Slow at first, but really picked up into a nice jam.  The last 5 
minutes are so were really well played.  They seemed most comfortable in the 
most out there jams tonight, it was like they wanted to space and jam 
everything out, which I have no problem with.  This pseudo-segued into...

CASPIAN:  As with many people, I'm not crazy about this song, but along with 
the rest of the set, the jam was really great.  Surprisingly great.  I thought 
this was closing out the set, and I would have been very satisfied if it did, 
but...

FRANKENSTEIN:  AHHH!  Great bonus Phish!  Very well played...tons of energy in 
this place.  Huge eruption as they hit the first line of...

GOLGI:  Probably my favorite 2 seconds of the show was the Frankenstein tease 
Trey hit during the first verse.  It was really cool, the place went crazy.  
The jam was a little flubbed, but nothing major.  Great energy.

E:  LOVING CUP:  Longest jammed out Cup I've heard.  They were jamming 
everything tonight in different levels.  Very well done.

This show was excited, spacey, joyous, and dark all at the same time.  I'm not 
one to just get crazy about an average Phish show, but this was just out of 
control.  The jams were so unpredictable, as was the song selection.  11 out of 
10.  Thanks for listening.

kev

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:11:13 -0500
From: levon kinney cosmic_levon@msn.com

since i only saw Phish once in 2000 before their hiatus i have been waiting 
in anticipation for them to break their silence. at first i was not even 
going in the show but my cousin kicked me an extra and there was no going 
back. the YEM opening was so killer just what the place needed to get things 
started off right. i did not get a chance to hear mike and leo jam so i did 
not know the song, of course that did not stop me from dancing my ass of to 
the great tunes. i especially liked how some people were not quite sure what 
to think when the band didn't go into farmhouse or whatever song they 
thought they wanted to hear. i thought it was pretty fucking cool that they 
actually have the respect for eachother where they learned the songs that 
were from their side projects. the rest of the 1st set was mind blowing. the 
first 2 notes of stash soared through the air and i knew that this was going 
to be a set that would not be forgotten. then there was the ghost>low 
rider>makisupa>yamar>guyute, words cannot describe the magic that was 
filling the air. Frankenstein seemed to be the icing on the cake, but wait, 
golgi apparatus came out of nowhere and and that was it, i have seen a bunch 
of shows since that first phish show but this one had my head spinning. the 
only thing that really was a downer was the presence of the police, i have 
never seen so many people get busted for puffing in a show. what the fuck 
gives, there can be 10,000 drunken idiots wandering around downtown but 
someone lights a joint and they gotta call the fuckin national gaurd. other 
than that phish put on one hell of a shindig!

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:21:14 -0500
From: Adam Lawrence adaml84@nycap.rr.com
Subject: 2-26-03 review

First off, YES it is true, there were far too many people for this city (Worcester)
and this venue (Centrum) to handle, but this, my friends, was an amazing show.
 
Set I:
YEM - The guys were together, they were tight, they rocked this out. The vocal jam
was awesome, and Kuroda did a hell of a job with the lights on this one.
 
Clone - Title cut from Mike & Leo's album. The song is great, the vocals were tight,
and Mike was groovin.
 
Roggae - Smooth. Very, very smooth. A much-needed break after lots and lots of
dancing.
 
Drifting - Although I didn't happen to catch any of Trey's solo tour live, I had
heard this song a few times and liked it a lot. I liked it a lot more live, with the
rest of the guys putting in their part.
 
Blue Skies - Great choice. Pork Tornado tore it up at Northern Lights in Clifton Park
with this one, and Phish did the same.
 
The Moma Dance - Such a solid groove. Great jam, great chemistry, great lights, great
everything.
 
Final Flight - Unexpected but tight, entertaining, and the great light show
continues.
 
Maze - You could feel the energy building up the first second Jon started the intro
to this one. Intense, tight as hell, and made me thankful that Mike was plenty loud.
 
Set II:
Stash - Amazing set opener. The song is common enough, but with good reason. As soon
as Trey hit the first riff, the place went nuts.
 
Ghost > Low Rider > Makisupa Policeman > Ya Mar - WOW. We were all expecting an
extended jam, this being the Centrum and all, but this was unbelievable. The whole
thing was so smooth, words can't even describe. To anyone who missed out on this
show, find a taper who was there, find anyone who can get their hands on a recording.
Words do not do justice to this jam.
 
Guyute - This falls under the category of "songs I was dying to hear, and did not
expect to." They were practically flawless on this one, and this was one of the
highest points of energy of any live show that I have ever experienced.
 
Waves - OK, if I had to choose one song from this show to change, this would be it.
The performance was great, Trey was really going off and ripping up his solo, but I
heard it at East Rutherford and my friends heard it there AND at New Year's in the
city, so needless to say they were more disappointed than I was. But regardless, the
performance was great and the energy was all there.
 
Prince Caspian > Frankenstein - THIS I did not expect. Caspian was great. The lights,
the band, everything. But when they twisted it right into Frankenstein, I realized
all over again why these guys are so good. This was truly sick. One of the best
points of the night for me.
 
Golgi Apparatus > Frankenstein - Wow. After pulling off Golgi with not so much as a
memorable flub (which is a feat in itself), they brought it back around for one last
taste of Frankenstein, which left me (and those around me) drooling.
 
Encore:
Loving Cup - Another unexpected twist which rounded out the best concert experience
of my life. Every aspect of this song was the fulfillment of all that I hoped to get
from that night's show. The playing was tight. The vocals were tight. The song holds
a lot of meaning to me, and the guys wrapped up the night for 15,000 sweaty,
screaming, more-than-satisfied fans. Anyone who was at the Centrum on 2-26-03 and
walked away unhappy must have been listening to another show.
 
Adam Lawrence
"...Yes, I am stumbling, and I know I play a bad guitar..."

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 15:03:02 EST
From: JCFEMT@aol.com
Subject: 2-26.03 review

First off, the traffic did suck. I ended up parking on some side street at a meter,
which I guess had its ups and downs. No parking lot to rummage through a sea of
heads, selling, trading, etc., though I was able to get in and out pretty easily. The
traffic was on the way in to woostah, not on the way out. I will for sure say, that
woostah was not, and never is, prepared for shows like this. Since phish has been
playing the centrum there has always been trouble. I do feel kinda cheated, mainly
because I wasn't able to float through the parking lots, looking for balloons and
feeling the crowd. But then again, it was 20 degrees out.

The show was phenomenal in my mind. I liked the first set, sweet opener and I was
very thrilled by the break. This was my wife's second show, me..I think it was 106 or
107. I cant remember. Though most of them were during early 90's, I have a different
view on recent shows. The last few shows I saw, prior to the hiatus were just blahh
for  me. I didn't feel like they were tight anymore, and the break surely rejuvenated
them

I thought The  second set would never end...in a good way. I kept leaning over to my
wife, saying " this will probably be the last one, before the encore"..BUt i was
presently surprised as they kept going, jam after jam.

I love loving cup., phenomenal song, I love hearing more from phish than the stones.
My wife's favorite song, and as we were waiting for the boyz to return after the last
song, I said, man, I would love to hear a  "slave"..she said, nahh, I would love to
hear a loving cup.

she is happy.

I wont go song by song, as everyone has spoken similar words I would have. Though I
will say, I though Trey, Mike, Jon and Page were 100% refreshed, sounded tight and
put on a sweet show.

I just cant get over the second set, and what a joy to see them back. IM glad some of
the newer phans will get to hear them, as they were a long time ago

Josh Frances

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:02:10 -0800 (PST)
From: brandon gracey bgracey3@yahoo.com
Subject: worcester review

First off, I agree that there were to many people for
this venue, sorry but Phish has outgrown the Centrum. 
But I dont have any sympathy for those of you who had
trouble finding parking--you have to arrive early!  I
drove from Philly and parked on the street for free,
if we could make it by 3 (with a stop in Hartford)
everyoned could have got there.  We all know how many
people show up when the boys come to town.

Second, HOLY SHIT!  This show was incredible.  Maybe
one of the best I've ever seen, no definately one of
the best I've ever seen.  I'm not going to disect
every song, I hate that--a show is a show, not a loose
collection of songs.  From the first note we all knew
it would be sick.  I think the Stash started sloppy,
but they pulled it together nicely, and didn't slow
down once for me to catch my breath.

I wansn't going to go to Nassau, but after last night
I remember why Phish has a tendency to make me forget
about all the other shit I have to get done.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 18:55:49 -0500
From: andrew selchan yemslave@msn.com
Subject: phish review

2/26/03 Centrum, Ma
was lookin forward to this show for some time....colder night in New Englad 
this evening....yet everyone was out and lookin for a good time....always 
hit the same pub accross the Centrum for a bite to eat....never remember the 
name though>the food sucks....6:30 at the gates>6:45 we finally get in....i 
nearly got bowled over buy everyone running to get the show poster>, i got 
the same poster without running
(and giving the vendor part of the $40.00 in change>he wasn't happy!)
......went to our seats my girlfriend and i did....section 2 row D seat 
7&8(go to the centrum seating chart and you'll know what i mean....)now you 
have to understand i had a bunch of wants from the boys at the show>some 
joke telling(none), teases(some), and plain out chatter(none)and finally 
YEM....i stared and i looked at my girlfriend in disbelief as i heard them 
ring up the show with YEM and with eventually pulling out the 
trampolines.....it was the start of a mixed first set followed by a strong, 
yummy second set....
.....i wouldn't have expected this many band side-show songs in a set but we 
got it and it was fun all the way to the ending Maze....the second set was 
all favorites for myself and ever other phan....GHOST>MAKISUPA was really 
neat as well as CASPIAN>FRANKENSTEIN.....i love to hear the solo in 
GOLGI....just a pure attack since the opener of STASH!!!!
.....i drove away from the centrum sad; recalling the last time i left a 
show> thinking when will be the next time i get that high from watching them 
from 4 rows back....it amazes me everytime i saw the facial expressions of 
Page,Trey,Fish, and Mike.....they purely amused me for yet another 
performance...i just want to thank them for their love of the music....
andy>just a big SLAVE of YEM

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:02:30 -0500
From: Tyler George - Minetti tgm@bojam.net
Subject: worcester review 

This was my first show(what a way to start) but i've been listening 
for about 8-9 years. Also myopinion of the first set will be slightly 
biased because of this reason: me and a phriend purchased some mush 
prio to the show, and munched them down just before the start of 
the show. The lights went out and everything was fine until my friend 
could not stand up, see straight, and was sweating uncontrollably.
show. Things turned out alright but left a bad taste in mouth for 
a good part of the first set. Now onto the show...



YEM-well i couldn't tell you how the composed part was because of the above reason,
but the place went nuts when the first notes started and the jam was great. Nice
trampolines and just fun jamming. The vocal jam was interesting, and I recognized that
they were singing clone right away, but a lot of people didn't know what it was at
all. This was a nice precedent for...

CLONE!-now not a lot of people were excited for this just because they didn't know
what it was, but I was singing every word and loved it! I had been hoping they would
play songs from the side projects and could not believe it was actually happening. I
was hoping they would play Collin's Missile or Most Events Aren't Planned if they were
going to do something like this, but no complaints here! Cool song choice; nice and
simple and just plain awesome!

Roggae-I could tell this is not what a lot of people were looking for, but they played
it perfectly and the jam was beautiful. This set didn't have the most energy but for
me it wasn't a negative thing because the slow songs they were playing were still
great, just not the most danceable tunes at times. I really enjoyed Roggae, and was
interested to see what was up next!

Drifting-I knew that i knew what this was when they started playing it but it took me
a second to realize that it was drifting. At this point i was really psyched because I
could see a theme building and could not believe how ironic this was. My phriends and
I had been jokingly predicting they would play some sideproject songs but never
actually thought that it would happen at our show. This song was fun, not the most
energy, but again it was still cool, and it got people dancing. It reminded me of
Heavy Things in the little jam that ensued. Nice tight and relaxed playing from the
boys, nothing but smiles from my face.

Blue Skies-Now I was expecting another side project song by now and this was a fun
little number. I could tell a lot of people just weren't into the set so far just
because they were clueless as to what was being played, and there was a lack of
energy, but i still enjoyed this song as well and had a good time dancing. I knew that
the guys could tell the energy wasn't quite there and that something big had to be
coming.

Moma Dance-Alright! As soon as they started playing this the place went nuts. Everyone
was grooving so hard, and they nailed the whole song. The jam was decently long(i'm a
little hazy about the whole first set) and really fun. Everyone seemed to really enjoy
this and it brought the energy back. I must mention before I go any further that our
Dear Phriends Chris Kuroda and Paul Languedoc were both on tonight as well. From where
I was standing(15th row floor Mike side) the sound was pretty damn good, although I
had trouble hearing Page's piano, and the lights were so amazing, no word can really
do them justice. Any slow parts of the show were picked up by Kuroda's wizardry, and
people were really perplexed, myself included.

Final Flight- I was really happy to hear this song and it was a nice break from the
intense dancing during Moma, but again a lot of people didn't recognize it and I could
tell some people were a little dissapointed. Oh well can't please everyone, everyone
around me seemed to be enjoying themselves and I know I sure was.

Maze- Yes! I love Maze and this version was rockin. This got the place dancin again
and the boys were eating it up. Page threw in some nice playing but Trey absolutely
rocked the place. This Maze was a little different the most standard Maze's, a little
longer and the jamming was a little more "out there" as far as a maze goes. Fun stuff,
good energy, tight playing, end of set 1.

Setbreak-I didn't move from my seat. The set wasn't the most energetic, but definitely
a fun set with some really surprising song selections and good highlights with YEM
opener, the side project songs, and good version of Moma and Maze. I knew a lot of
people wanted a lot more from that set, and they would get what they wanted as soon as
the second set started. I would just like to say that no review can do this second set
justice. Now i know this being my first show that I don't a whole lot to compare it to
as far as seeing amazing second sets goes, but I am certain that this set will go down
in Phistory as one of the great second sets. Long setbreak, but when the lights came
down we were all ready to boogie...

Stash- The place went nuts! I was really glad to hear this, one of my favorite songs
of all time. Now this stash to me seemed HUGE.  The jamming was melodious and
mysterious taking us all over the place, streatching out for a while. So amazing, this
version just kept on getting better and better. Just when you think they're going to
peak it out and end it they go back into this really different jam. So cool to see
this kind of improv going on right infront of you. Needless to say this was a sick
version of stash, with really intense jamming.

Ghost- WOW! Stash, Ghost to open the second set, that's what i'm talkin about! The
crowd went nuts, and was grooving hard from the get go. The jam was fun, and the boys
just seemed to be groovin and letting the music flow. Very simple jamming, which to me
seemed like the right move. No one was stealing the spotlight, just complementing
eachother nicely. After a bit of this chill groove Mike started laying down some nice
bass lick, just changing a few notes here and there for effect. then Mike started
playing the low rider bass line and the band picked up on it, and did a low rider jam!
The crowd went nuts for this and really picked up the energy level. they kind of
grooved on this theme for a while before they made a sick segue into. .

Makisupa- Yes!!! The crowd loved this and everyone was really dancing now. Such a fun
song to hear, everyone was really happy and so excited. The lyric, was "woke up this
morning...and my hotel was burnin down"  I later found out it was in reference to a
hotel in Cinnci catching fire apparently. The jam was pretty simple but fun and
another sick segue into...

Ya Mar-HOLY SHIT!!!!! Now i knew this set was going to be awesome since they stash
they played, but Ghost>makisupa>Ya Mar is fucking nuts. I have never danced so hard in
my life, and the whole crowd was just blown away by what was happening. this was a
pretty standard Ya Mar but it was so much fun, I couldn't even comprehend what was
going on at this point. We danced our asses off until the song ended, and at this
point I didn't know what to expect.

Guyute- I almost lost my hearing when they started this one. The crowd was so pumped,
there is no way to portray the energy coming from everyone. This Guyute was flwaless,
amazing playing by all, but Trey was just on fire. The entire night he was so into the
crowd just feeding off the energy and man oh man was he ever pumped during this song,
as were we. When they came back from the jam segment the crowd lsot it. Trey was going
nuts with energy, a huge smile on his face, everyone was just in hysterics. Man the
guys were just ripping this song to parts, they nailed every part perfectly and we
were all just bewildered and overwhelmed.

Waves-I was happy to hear this as I need something to just sway to after the set so
far, especially from the outrageous Guyute. This was a standard version like most have
been this tour, but was till beautiful with a nice flow. Very simple, very pleasing.

Prince Caspian-I wasn't really expecting this, and i'm not crazy about this song, but
I LOVED the jam out of this. It is hard to explain, not too too long but very cool,
very different, people were digging it, and the boys were having a good time.
Somewhere near the end of the jam Mike teased Frankenstein, but not the beginning
riff, a riff further along in the song. Trey picked up on it, as did Page and Fish,
and they Segued nicely into the beginning of

Frankenstein- I was so pumped at this point i was jumping up and down and dancing
harder than i thought I ever could. This is one song I just love when they play and
the energy was sending Phish to new levels of playing. Trey was absolutely ripping
apart his guitar, just going nuts onstage, and you could feel the excitment and pure
madness that was flowing throughout the arena. Fish's solo was so so, no realy mess
up's but i've heard better. I figured this would end the show because of the enormous
amounts of energy but oh no, this is Phish...

Golgi Apparatus- YES! One of my all time favs, and perfect placement. The crowd was
beyond crazy, so nuts. The peaks during this whole set were amazing and i just could
not get over the energy in this place. What a first show.

Encore: now i had no idea what they were gonna be playing, but I was hoping something
high energy because of what had just happened. There was no way they were leaving us
with a Friday or Velvet Sea, this is Woosta! So they played a rocking version of
Loving Cup, one of my favorite covers they play and I was so glad they chose a song
with some more energy to leave us with. A nice extended version left me buzzing after
the show finished. As the lights went on I could see it in everyone's eyes. We were
all so overwhelmed but what had just happened, no one had to say anything. I heard
some people complaining about 1st set, but no one had any problems with the second set
as far as i could tell.

Just onequick word about the whole mushroom ordeal. Now i'm sorry but selling bogus
mushrooms at a concert is not only excessively stupid, but very dangerous and
inconsiderate. If you want to sell bogus drugs that are gonna ruin someone's time do
it somewhere else. I was scared to death, I thought my friend was going to die, and
although I did not feel sick, i felt no effects at all. It really disheartened me to
think that other people could have had similar experiences. Please no more of this
shit, I don't want anyone to go through what my friends and I did. Besides that I had
an amazing show, thanks to all the kind pholks who helped me out during my time of
distress and thankyou most of all to Phish for the most amazing experience of my life.
I'll see you all on the next tour and at Bonnaroo!


~Tyler G.M.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:13:02 -0500
From: Aaron Schultz droppin_da187@hotmail.com
Subject: worcester

    We, too made the mistake of going to exit 16 instead of getting off at 18.  This
was a mistake that cost me the pre-nirvana section of YEM.  The show was great though
so I'll try not to dwell on my early woes.This is not a review of the show but
rather, notes on my impression of it.
    For me, the funk seemed very deep and solid tonight.  They are obviously
conscious of tightening up the vocals too.  Witness Trey's changes in phrasing during
the lyric section of Stash.  There were no grooves that were annoying to me which is
not to say there was too much consonance and no dissonance.  Every jam they went for
just felt like a perfect fit for my mood.  Very much the reason that we love them. I
was surprised but not the least bit disappointed by the selection of hiatus-era solo
material in the first set.  These songs felt right at home in the Phish oevre and
will likely prove worthy of exploration in the future.  And did I mention the Stash?
Yes, I did.  Let me say again: very nice.
    It's clear to me that Phish is as potent a live unit today as they ever were and
they are not going to rule out any possible ways to blow our minds with their
brilliance.  And oh, how happy I am about that!! 
    So, I guess the parking thing was a bummer. But I found a garage at 8:15 that
turned out to be two blocks away and I only owed him a buck!!!  Beats the $20 it
would have cost one block closer.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 11:19:45 -0500
From: Alex Hochron anhochron@amherst.edu
Subject: Review of 2/26, Worcester Centrum, Worcester MA

Something like my 18th show, but my first review so bear with me.  Overall it was a
very good show, certainly not the best I’ve seen, but far better than some.  A
great musical vibe was carried throughout, though opening with YEM made us
late-comers miss out on a highlight.

2/26, Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA

I: YEM, Clone, Roggae, Drifting, Blue Skies, Moma > Final Flight > Maze
II: Stash, Ghost > Low-Rider Jam > Makisupa > Yamar, Guyute, Waves > Caspian >
Frankenstein, Golgi
E: Loving Cup

Traffic getting to the venue was pretty bad—it took us about 3 hours from
Amherst (compared to an hour and a half to get to Yonder last weekend), and parking
was terrible.  We actually got a sweet spot on the street right behind the venue, but
we missed the first 2 tunes:

1ST SET:

YEM and CLONE:  I’m bumming that we missed the YEM opener, though I heard it
was about 20 mins and had a sweet vocal jam at the end, with the word
“Clone” as being kicked around in there somewhere.  Note that Clone is a
new song, from Mike/Leo Kottke’s album.

ROGGAE: Glad they played this right as we got into the venue, cause man I really had
to pee.

DRIFTING: A new song from Trey-tour… my favorite of the 4 new ones: a poppy,
high-energy song with a nice jam at the end.

BLUE SKIES: A new song from Pork Tornado (Fish): notice a trend starting here!? 
Blue-grassy and quick, nothing all that special.

MOMA DANCE:  Here we go!  Moma was real funked out at the beginning and then jammed
into a hot techno/rock vibe that seems to be characterizing this tour.  I remember
some beautiful lights during Moma also.  The song jammed into another new one:

FINAL FLIGHT:  After new songs from the other 3, I’m glad Page got his, though
I remember more of Trey’s licks than Page during this song… it jammed
into:

MAZE!:  My girl Claire had been hoping for this, and it was a great set closer. 
Rather than the dark scary Mazes from back in 98/99, this again had the trippy
almost-techno vibe to it.

I’d give that first set a 7/10, though I’m guessing on how the YEM was. 
Really nice to hear some new material that’s NOT from Round Room!!!

SETBREAK: Wandered around with a big smile on my face and made some new friends, good
times.

2ND SET:

STASH: A great 2nd set opener, always nice to hear the crowd get into it, and Trey
was laying down some great licks.

GHOST: I’m not usually a big fan of Ghost but it sounds like they reworked it
some, and the jam into Low-Rider was SWEET!  No lyrics, but they had it down cold,
and the crowd got even more excited… gotta love it when they let the sets build
up!  This Ghost was much shorter than the 15-20 minute ones from back in 99, and
higher-energy: they really moved away from the spacey Ghosts, which is fine by me.

MAKISUPA: Also a short version; Trey’s keywords were something about their
hotel burning down, and then the rest of the song was “Policeman came to my
hotel”…  there was some kinda problem in Cincy with that.  Funky and good
to hear—I think they played Makisupa last time they were in Worcester
(’98).

YAMAR:  YES!  I totally dig Yamar, and always get a kick out of screaming “Play
It LEO!” with Trey.  Page’s solo started off really well but didn’t
carry through all the way and kinda died off at the end.  They kept it going with:

GUYUTE:  Another high-energy song that got the crowd bouncing around even more! 
Sounded pretty good, They’ve been practicing…

WAVES: Time for a cigarette, Waves segued into…

CASPIAN: Toward the end of Waves it sounded like they would continue that chill
under-water sound… I had called a Theme, but Caspian worked too; a nice chance
to relax before they picked it up again.

FRANKENSTEIN: Got the crowd riled up again, pretty standard version.  I thought they
were done, but they surprised me with:

GOLGI: Another standard, solid closer.  I might’ve just been worn out from a
long set.

ENCORE:

LOVING CUP: A pretty standard version, though they dragged out the end of the song
and Fish had a nice drum-solo at the end (that might’ve been during Golgi, the
world was pretty hazy by this point).

Set 2 and Encore: I’d give it an 8.5/10: strong setlist, I really dug the
Stash, Ghost and Yamar.  2nd set felt really long, maybe close to 90 mins, and I
think they went over the time that the Centrum allows, no complaints here!!!

As I said, a very good show, I dug the new songs in the first set and the 2nd set was
nice, solid old-school with some moments of greatness.  See you on Friday
(here’s hoping for a Fluffhead…)

Peace and Love,

  Alex

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 09:51:28 -0500
From: CDavid17@aol.com
Subject: Worcester Review

Couple thoughts on the Worcester showâ^À¦  

YEM opener obviously as unexpected as it was enjoyable, very solid in all parts, jam I
didnâ^À^Ùt think was quite as good as the Denver jam.  The vocal jam went towards the
Clone melody, which pleased me greatly.  I think one chorus was sung before Mike
steered away from it, and they voc-jammed the melody for a while before going into the
typical Nitrous-y, woing-woing where the lights swing around the arena.

Clone sounded great as a Phish tune; I liked this far better than either of the Mike
songs on Round Room, and the Phishified version has a very â^À^ÜGet Back on the
Trainâ^À^Ý feel to it, the Phish funk.  No real attempt at a jam, lots of returns to
the â^À^ÜClone, clone clone cloneâ^À^Ý, etc. as refrain.  Roggae standard, nowhere
near the Hampton version, but well-placed in the set, as Roggaes tend to be.  
â^À^ÜDriftingâ^À^Ý continued on a similar major-key melodic and mellow sense as
â^À^ÜRoggaeâ^À^Ý, though a really nice Trey-led jam which showed the capabilities the
guitar-based jams can still have , as his comfort level with the song heâ^À^Ùd played
often recently shone through.  One gripeâ^À¦ as the refrain, post-jam, Mike and Fish
come back in singing â^À^ÜLove, love, loveâ^À^Ý for a while during Trey solo, until he
eventually rescued the end with the much less offensively SCI-cheesy â^À^ÜThe stars
aboveâ^À^Ý.  Call me a cynic, but unless youâ^À^Ùre a Beatle, simply singing
â^À^ÜLoveâ^À^Ý as a chorus is weak.  Blue Skies was really short, three minutes maybe,
and seemingly played as a novelty hiatus relic, no solos of note or anything.  Moma
presented the first whiff of the nightâ^À^Ùs debatably aimless theme.  All standard
until the end-riff, which for the first time to my ears deviated from the usual build
on the main riff, breaking down into the Phish vamp-funk style.  They were breaking
new ground, which is always cool, but the Phish that really gets my goat is when the
breakdown/exploration leads back into the big finish, whereas last night, most jams
would start hot, miscommunication at the climax, and flay down into vamp-funk and a
half-hearted return to the end of the song once the aimlessness overwhelmed.  Final
Flight was really nice; I was unfamiliar with the tune, but it seemed pretty clear
that it had to be a Vida Blue tune based on the big piano chording, unfamiliar
lyrically approach (v. Marshall, Trey or Mike), another melodic jam Trey seemed to
enjoy.  Maze was a great version, and approached the level of epic.  Song part great,
Page solo great with the cool Whammy, dissonant rhythm Trey uses now as accompaniment.  
Similar to the Hampton Maze, the band took the dynamics way down to build the jam,
i.e. Bowie, Reba, etc.  Trey-led jam that reached some insane riffery, serious speed
while sounding fresh and with machine gun speed but different riffs than usually
employed on this â^À^Ùun.  They teased the climax, long sustained notes et cetera,
then right before the riff that usually finishes the jam, they came all the way back
down again.  I think Maze is starting to approach the Bowie circa-1995, peaks and
valleys with exploration and the fast-shred that eventually results; Iâ^À^Ùm glad to
see it leaving the form of the consistently building, rarely changing guitar solo.  
After taking the jam down and building it up again, I was primed for a massive second
climax to the jam, which would have solidified best-ever status for meâ^À¦ however
Trey began to build the atonal noise that he sometimes uses to build tension, and the
rest of the band followed suit, abandoning the rhythm.  The jam turned aimless, and
resulted in a forced return to the composed part at the end.  They salvaged the energy
for the second time on the Maze riff, but I couldnâ^À^Ùt help noticing this key change
in their group dynamic.  The jamming is great, but the communication on ending the
jams at the highest point seems to be missing.  Perhaps they are consciously avoiding
going for the â^À^ÜBig Bangâ^À^Ý ending every time to avoid predictability, but for
me, that is my favorite part of Phish.  Thatâ^À^Ùs where I differ with the more Ya
Mar/Makisupa/â^À^Ýbring on the funkâ^À^Ý fans.  Phish is different things to different
people.

Second set opened with a nice exploratory Stash that continued the above theme;
unwillingness or inability to finish at a common point.  Page jumped in real early
with â^À^ÜMaybe so, maybe notâ^À^Ý while Trey was just getting going on the solo.  
The pianist realized his folly, lowering his volume each time, but continuing for 4
measures to cover the mistake.  Jam peaked, then valleyed, then stabilized for a
mid-tempo final â^À^ÜMaybe soâ^À¦â^À^Ý Ghost was a great jam, if a little overboard on
the funk-vamping. They broke out of the Ghost structure, and into a really cool
Page-induced major key sounding section, before Trey started playing a pretty stale
riff that eventually led to â^À^ÜLow Riderâ^À^Ý melody coming out.  The rest of the
set was really pretty standard, and not made up of my big gun songs, so I guess I
didnâ^À^Ùt really have many highlights.  Waves is great new song, another pretty,
building major-key jam that has the potential to really soar in time.  Everything else
was played well, and more about song selection than variation on typical performances.

All in all, Iâ^À^Ùd put the show at the B+ level.  For fans of funk jamming, this is
your show.  â^À^ÜMomaâ^À^Ý, â^À^ÜGhostâ^À^Ý, â^À^ÜYa Marâ^À^Ý, â^À^ÜCloneâ^À^Ý all
fun, with the first two approaching different levels of exploratory funking than
weâ^À^Ùve heard from them before.  If youâ^À^Ùre the Phish fan (like me) who looks to
reel back and forth doing the hippie head-bang as peak after peak is reached until the
final composed end riff brings it home, you may be disappointed, especially with this
Mazeâ^À^Ùs potential for greatness.  I think the long drive from Philly and three days
in a row contributed to the more laid-back performance, though the band is tight and
sounding fresh.  I anticipate the last two shows to blaze. 
 Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003
10:02:16 -0500 From: Bill and Joanne Cartwright  To:
dws@netspace.org Subject: 2-26-03 Worcester Show

We actually didn't have a problem finding parking, we ended up in the
parking garage next to the Centrum.  But we knew how to get around
Worcester.

You're right that there were a lot of people there looking for tickets and
that bothered me.  Especially since it was f***ing cold and people had to
plow through them to get inside.

After looking at the set list, now I know why didn't recognize some of the
songs.  It did make the first set kind of slow.

Overall, good jamming - I did see the YEM opener and enjoy Mike and Trey's
trampoline act.  Golgi at the end was also cool.  Question - did anyone
thing Trey was fighting a cold or flu?  He didn't seem himself.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 11:29:02 EST
From: Cutie6C@aol.com
Subject: Holy fucking shit.

Holy shit---
How can they beat this show?  
Fucking shit... whew....Still Speechless..Astonished!
So solid, So tight they were---
Amazing...
Phish--thankyou.

ate: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:21:16 -0500
From: matt granger grangermatt@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester

Great show last night ! YEM opener and each member had a tune from thier side
projects. Not even the decrepit Centrum could curtail the energy. The
Ghost-Makisupa-Low Rider-Ya Mar was solid. Certainly more of a low rider jam than the
set list suggests. Do yourself a favor and grab this show !

ate: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 15:23:22 +0000
From: The Wolfman terrapinwolf@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester Review!

Review:  2/26/3 Worcester Centrum; Worcester, MA

Just as I was ready to stick a fork into them, Phish salvaged themselves 
with a very solid show last night in good old Worcester.  It^Òs nice to see 
them step up their game for the big venue.  After the usual hassle to get 
in, I decided that if the show itself were as bad as Hampton then it would 
be my 30th and final.  All I can say to that is see you on summer tour!  YEM 
opener was dope, I mean, how can you possibly go wrong with that?  Mike took 
a superb envelope filter solo right at the end.  Didn^Òt know Clone but 
thought it sounded like a cool tune.  In fact, I only knew the Page tune as 
far as all of the side-project stuff goes, so when I saw the setlist 
afterwards I was like ^Óoh, ok, that^Òs what was going on^Ô, as I^Òm sure many 
others were.  I think this is totally rad, playing one song from each 
member^Òs side projects, what other band would ever do that?  (Or even have 
the opportunity to do it?)  Rock on!  Moma Dance and Maze were both much 
better than average.  As far as first sets go, this one was way up there.

Stash > Ghost set II opener?!  Now THAT^ÒS the Phish we know and love!  Both 
had extended jams that really kept things flowin^Ò, the kind of jams that you 
listen to when you^Òre driving down a highway far from home and you^Òre 
noticing that the trees and scenery are much different than the ones you are 
used to.  Yeah^Å At this point things were really cookin^Ò and I told my 
friends, quite seriously, that if Phish went into First Tube (which sounded 
like it might happen) that it would be all over, I would drop everything and 
hit tour immediately.  Well, it didn^Òt happen, but these jams were money 
nonetheless.  Makisupa was Makisupa, although I thought it was TOTALLY 
INAPPROPRIATE to mention burning down buildings at a concert 30 miles from 
Providence.  I mean, when you hear Trey say ^Óblah blah hotel was burning 
down^Ô, what the hell are you going to think about except last weeks^Ò tragedy 
in Providence?  Anyways, Ya Mar was Ya Mar and Guyute was Guyute, both were 
very tight.  Waves was nice, Caspian was not necessary after it, 
Frankenstein really tore the roof off because it^Òs an unexpected segue from 
Caspian and any rockin^Ò tune seems to rock twice as hard if it follows 
Caspian.  (Could I have possibly just discovered the point of Caspian?!)  
Golgi is a great tune and they nailed it.  Money closer!  I was really 
hoping for Farmhouse or Fikus or Thunderhead for the encore, but had to 
settle for Loving Cup.  Haha.  It was good.  Right before the show my friend 
was trying to convince me how Loving Cup is all about cunnilingus, then they 
played it and it was all I could think about.  It seems somewhat possible.  
Listen to it and see what you think.

Overall the show was much tighter than Hampton.  No complaints about the 
band knowing the songs or not.  They nailed everything except Caspian, which 
they^Òve rarely gotten right anyhow.  Everything else was solid, some 
excellent jams, light crew has stepped up as well.  Overall I^Òd give the 
show a 7.5-8 of 10.  Beware of those who fly off the handle and say how 
absolutely sick it was.  It was probably the best show since the hiatus and 
really was very very good, but to say it was totally off the hook is to 
imply that you have drastically lowered your standards for the band.  
Looking forward to the next show!

Peace and vibes,
Wolfman

ate: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:24:32 -0500
From: jonathan baylor chives365@hotmail.com
Subject: worcester review

After a mediocre tour thus far, in my opinion, the show at the Centrum was truly
inspired. Keeping with the tradition of playing hot shows in Worcester, they were
really on top of their game by having an interesting, eclectic song selection, real
segues intertwining songs, and throwing teases here and there. It really showed that
they were the sophisticated risk takers they once were.
 
The first set was fun with the "hiatus showcase" of material, and concert staples
like YEM and Moma got the crowds energy going. Has anyone else felt that the crowds
are not feeling the vibe anymore? The highlight of the evening was the
stash-ghost-yamar. The jamming was captivating and in a constant state of flux. Mike
and Fishman put on a fuckin' clinic on how to lay down a real tight groove and I love
how they raised the levels on Mike's bass so the entire arena resonates with thick
heavy bass. The lowrider jam was a pleasant and fun surprise, as was Yamar, it's good
to see them being spontaneous. They also played past midnight so the Frankenstein -
Golgi was unexpected. Trey threw down a nice Frankenstein riff during Golgi that
signaled the rust has come off and they are shining again.
 
After Vegas I was a little disappointed. The shows didn't feel "vegasy" and wasn't
sure if the chemistry was there. The audience seemed flat and the band was playing
safely, not going into unchartered territory, and not taking risks, but my experience
at the Centrum was very "worcestery" and positive.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:32:28 -0500
From: Daniel Buckley daniel_buckley@hotmail.com
Subject: worcester review

Worcester = some of the best Phish shows.  Worcester also = pain the ass 
getting there.  not only traffic on the highway, but traffic getting to the 
lots (if you could find them) then waiting in 3 different lines to get into 
the venue!  just awful.
but I have never seen a more pumped crowd, and we were duly rewarded:  a 
SICK YEM opener.  of course, then they went and blew it by playing 4 or 5 
slow song which sucked the energy out of the room.  pork tornado's "blue 
skies" was somewhat of a redemption, but basically other than the YEM and a 
"very toight" (as Goldmember would say) Maze closer, the 1st set was WEAK.
of course, you knew they would come out and blow us away.  and they did.  
after a decent stash opener, a fun ghost (with low rider teases) wound its 
way into makisupa.  well-played songs all the way through, and the song of 
the night (IMO), Guyute, really got everyone moving (which is hard for a 
song in 3's).  i loved the frankenstein/golgi closer, and loving cup was 
just what we needed to take out minds off the traffic behind and ahead, and 
esp. the dr. jekyll/mr hyde 1st set.
song of the night: guyute
best song decision:  YEM opener
Worcester:  build a better highway, and hire less moronic cops.

dbb

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:40:48 -0500
From: Orlando Orlando@ne.tishman.com
Subject: 2/26/03 review

parking was a pain in the ass...  and too many people yelling Molly at me ..
... as i walk in YEM..  soo good... i was excited about the clone.. and then
the other "First time" tunes thrown at us were money...  this is what they
meant when they said this tour was gonna be a little bit of all of them..
great choices.. nice moma dance.. they seemed really relaxed..  great first
set..one of the best worcesters ever. 
The stash was great..  and ghost..  not much love for waves but it may grow
on me..nice reggae combo with makisupa and ya mar  and the golgi totally
ripped. Its my first show since the break and i was totally happy with last
night . see you all in Nassau.
peace

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 09:39:38 -0500
From: Jeffrey Strunin jstrunin@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester review

My first attempt at reviewing and my only show of the tour, I'm an 8 year 
Phishhead who was glad to be hopping back on the bus for one night.  The 
reviews of this tour were interesting, so I was psyched to see what the guys 
would pull out of their hats tonight.

Scene: it was cold as hell in Wocester last night. We beat the cold by 
camping out in the Irish Times for some beers. Many others had the same idea 
because the place was packed.  There wasn't too much lot scene going on, in 
my eyes. It was too cold. Plus, Centrum parking is spread out among numerous 
parking lots and garages. Outside the Centrum, people were walking, but 
everyone just wanted to get inside for the show...

Venue: The Centrum is just your average 70's style 15000 seater stadium. we 
were up in the nosebleeders, but we had a great side view of the band the 
entire night.  And OK, Centrum management, note to the chairman of the board 
that your bathroom situation sucks. SUCKS.

The Show:

(I called Moma Dance and Maze before the show.)

YEM Opener! Ok, what the F*** is going on here? YEM? FOR AN OPENER? Not only 
that, it was a great YEM. The vocal jam was pretty cool, a bit 
unintelligible on the chanting into

Clone. I was like, ok what's this? One of Mike's tunes. A good funk jam, but 
too short.

Roget: bathroom time.

Drifting: As I got back into the arena, it was like, hey, this is Trey's 
song. It was really solid, with a good ending.

Blue Skies: Cool. some bluegrass. Never heard this one either. A Pork 
Tornado song??? Wow.  Well, there has to be a vida Blue one in there coming 
up. This was bouncy and fun.

Moma Dance! Called it! This is example #1 of how this band has grown and 
matured. They broke the "traditional" structure of this song and just JAMMED 
on it! It was the best Moma I've ever seen.

Final Flight. Ah. The Vida Blue song. I really enjoyed this one a lot.  An 
intense ballad song that I wouldn't mind them incorprating into their shows 
more often, especially if they explored the ending a bit more. Kind of the 
new "Sample" IMO.

MAZE!!!!!! MAAAAAZE!!!!!! I was dying! Again, they just took the jam in this 
song and blew it apart! the Page solo was good, then the Trey solo, THEN 
they slowed it down just a bit and got into this dirty nasty electric 
teasing and it was just UNREAL.  A definite highlight of the show.

Setbreak. I tried to sit down and figure out what the hell just happened. I 
told my buddy that even if they played garbage for the rest of the night, 
I'd be happy after the first set.

Stash. In my mind there will never be a greater Stash than the one I saw in 
Vegas 97, but this one came damn close. The middle jam was intense and deep. 
  Another highlight of the show.

Ghost. This was ok, but they kind of lost me in the middle of the songbecause they 
started up this kind of bouncy jam that left me feeling *meh*, 
but they sped it up and all of a sudden they're jamming "Lowrider"??? OK, 
this is now by far the craziest show I've ever seen.

Makisupa. Funny line about the hotel burning down. Trey kept saying 
"Policeman came to my hotel". fun jam shifting into...

Ya Mar! Wow. This was very tight, even though the vocals were a tad off.

Guyute. Same as it ever was. It's a good song, they never vary it at all. so 
that's why it kind of stinks when you see it at 14 shows and it's the same 
every time.

Waves. Too fast and too short, but some decent jamming.

Prince Caspian. Good version, with some heavy guitar at the end, if you can 
believe it, into...

FRANKENSTEIN!!!!!!! What? You've got to be kiidding me! Prince Caspian into 
Frankenstein???? Awesome version of Frank too...Fish was right on the drums. 
  We were so blown away at this point; what could happen now?

Golgi! Hot dog! The place just erupted.  I saaaaaaaw yooooou....

Encore: We'd been speculating a chill encore, since that seens to be the 
norm of late, but they jumped right into a smoking Loving Cup, especially 
the guitar at the end. It was such an appropriate way to cap the energy of 
the show.

Overall:  On a 1-10, I give this an 8.99. There was just enough downtime in 
the first set to get me a bit antsy, but all in all, the show was "wicked 
good". They turned the setlist upside down on this one and it worked well.  
Highlights are YEM, Moma Dance, an amazing Maze, and the Stash 2nd set 
opener.

As a longtime fan, this show was great to see, because it really shows how 
Phish has grown as a band and is not afraid to screw around with the 
setlists and the song jams.  God bless 'em...they just keep us all coming 
back for more.

Props to MJ, KM, CY and greetings to L&L...I was dancing next to you guys in 
spirit, if not in reality.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 08:18:00 +0000
From: Joshua Weisstuch josh_robert@hotmail.com
Subject: Worcester 2-26-03 show reveiw

********

Just got back form the show^Åno really, we did but we got some things to say 
as the clouds are still settling in our heads.  The traffic was bad but 
nothing out of the ordinary for mass traffic; a lot of cars but ample garage 
space for all^Å2 garages at that!  We were sitting on the floor inside.

This was our first show since the comeback and based solely on comparison to 
other setlists alone it seemed this show was spectacular.  Indeed, we^Òve 
been following the tour and this show stands out.  It seemed to me that 
couldn^Òt have at a better time: the tour is winding down and Phish is 
beginning to sound good, or at least what it should sound like.  They are 
getting into a groove that may remain with them for a while, as the rust 
from the new years run wears away.  Onto the review:

Set I
The band takes the stage at about 8:20.  They set up, everyone is yelling, 
and begin
You Enjoy Myself: Unbelievable opener.  The crowd was instantly pumped, and 
it seemed like the boys on stage wanted to get into the groove right away.  
I particularly liked the spacey vocal ending, and CK was on his game.  This 
song lasted about 25 minutes, as usual.
Clone: They began this song right off of YEM, and everyone was pretty 
confused.  It was a nice tune that I wouldn^Òt mind hearing again ^Ö short, 
but mellow and a little funky. At that point in the show (once we figured 
out what song it was) everyone was happy to hear a first-timer, and a Mike 
song at that.
Roggae: We have both seen many a Roggae.  It isn^Òt a bad song, per se, but 
it is a good time to take a seat and relax a little.  That is what we did.
Drifting: The last time we heard this song was at Bonnaroo, and since then 
we^Òve really liked it.  This one was no different; I^Òve been hoping for a 
while that Phish will cover a Trey song.  This was a surprise, and you can 
totally hear the TAB horn section in the background.  It is a really sweet, 
beautiful song that lasted about 10 minutes.  The lights are lovely, and we 
knew that something special was up after a Mike tune and then Trey tune.
Blue Skies: really short, standard bluegrass tune.  When we realized it was 
a Tornado song that made it nice (and Phish hasn^Òt played that much 
bluegrass this tour), but it was nothing incredible.
Moma Dance: Yes!  We love funky Phish, and moma dance was discussed before 
the show.  This did not disappoint.  The jam went to some great funky 
places, and the end of the it (right before they went back to moma riff), 
Fish stopped drumming while Trey was noodling, and then Mike came in playing 
bass and hitting a cymbal-like pedal on the stage and they played a sweet 
duet.  Every time Mike hit his low note Fish would hit the bass drum pedal, 
and it was a terrific way to get back into the song.
Final Flight: This was another sit-down song.  Pretty, but slow and very 
Page-y.  It gave us a chance to rest our legs before
Maze:  Sweeet set closer.  The crowd was really into it, and Trey was 
feeding off some incredible energy.  We now all see what everyone^Òs been 
saying: Phish is back, and they can still play an unreal song to end a solid 
85 minute set.  This song was definitely the Set I highlight.
We were happy with the show thus far, but we were not prepared for the 
monster that was ahead of us.

Set II
They take the stage at 10:40, and play another old favorite,
Stash:  Pretty standard Stash (which means wonderful song), but such a 
surprising second set opener.  At this point it seemed like Trey was 
starting to hold the jams together, almost taking charge of the musical 
direction of Phish at times.  With him in the center it seemed to exacerbate 
it.
Ghost: Another funk monster.  Ghost was actually funkier, deeper than Moma 
and really easy and fun to dance to.  Towards the end Fish was holding a 
great, fast funk beat with Mike playing along, and Trey and Page were 
hitting some great notes high over them.  The segueway into the next song 
was superb
^×>Low Rider teast/jam: Continuing the funky goodness.  The crowd was pumped 
for this tune, very unexpected.  There was no jam after Low Rider, they went 
right into
^×> Makisupa Policeman: At this point we saw a great set unfolding.  This 
Makisupa was short but another good dancer, and before we knew it the band 
began
^×> Ya Mar: Another super-fun song.  It doesn^Òt rock out, its just really 
enjoyable.  Ya Mar kept the happy vibe going, and it shows us Phish^Òs good 
qualities.
Guyute: This is a song that is unbelievable live.  It is really a special 
tune and puts everyone in the crowd in a great place.  Guyute was one of the 
highlights of an already outstanding set.
Waves: Everyone kind of collapsed after Guyute^Òs energy.  It was a nice 
song, but I needed a chance to catch myself for a little bit and take some 
time for my dome.
Prince Caspian: this is a nice song, not one of my wishlist numbers but 
still a solid Phish song.  It was going along pretty normally it seemed, and 
the next segueway was completely unexpected and super-smooth-
^×> Frankenstein: This was the second highlight of the second set.  Tons of 
hands were in the air, and Phish really tore through a great Frankenstein 
(of course, is there any other kind?).  In between many other songs tonight, 
Phish took about 2 minutes to confer before playing the next song.  However, 
between Frankenstein and Golgi there was no pause ^Ö Trey played a note, 
looked and Mike, and they began the abrupt beginning of
Golgi Apparatus: When this song started everyone started screaming, probably 
because we were all so happy to get another song.  I couldn^Òt hear any music 
for the first few seconds.  Golgi was a perfect choice to end the set; its 
so recognizable and rocking.  Everyone loves the brief high energy of Golgi, 
and when it was over we all looked at one another, amazed at what a set we 
just saw.  Phish, better than in a long time.

Encore
Loving Cup: Really sweet jam.  They hit this encore dead on, much better 
than some in the past.  It seemed like the band was really happy and having 
a great time.  A great tune to end a great show with.

So what did we learn from all this?  In my opinion Phish is back.  They have 
taken the old and fused the gaps with new and improved sounds and rifts.  
They are at a place where they are big and everyone wants to see them but 
they cannot say that they are too big and have outdone themselves.  They 
should be comfortable and just have fun, which is what seemed to be the case 
tonight.  If you get a chance, find yourself a copy of this show and see for 
yourself.  If you find something bad let us know.

Fliece Out;
Ian Schneider and Josh Weisstuch

ate: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 07:15:06 -0500
From: Ian Conway ianconway450@hotmail.com
Subject: HOLY  SHITBALLS !!!!

Just got back from the Centrum show, and am happy to say that phish has 
restored my faith that they are every bit as amazing as they were and are 
getting even better.  Even a traffic jam and parking mess that cost me the 
first three songs (including YEM and clone) can't foul my mood about this 
gem of a show.  I had a feeling that being back in the northeast would bring 
out the best in the band, and I was not let down.  The bustouts of the four 
solo project songs really cast a great vibe of playful experimentation that 
would last throughout the show.  Playing the new material seemed to really 
energize the band, and the Moma Dance later in the set  was very hot, with a 
much looser and funkier feel than the previous version, at the Pepsi Center 
on 2/18.  The band seemed to be very relaxed and focused on eachother, and 
each song had a freshness that kept you listening intently because it felt 
like anything could happen.  The set-closing Maze traversed some intenseley 
dynamic terrain, fluidly weaving different themes together into a truly 
organic creation, it was phish at their absolute best.
      With a superb, flowing set already in the bag, that special energy 
that only eminates from 15,000 eagerly anticipating fans began to fill the 
room, and when the lights went down for set two the band seemed to feed off 
of this energy and wasted no time before they were treading new ground 
again.  The opening notes of stash got the room moving, and before long we 
were all knee deep in the stew of another beautiful jam.   This particular 
stash departed from the original theme and wound through intense, 
polyrythymic and harmonically shifting themes with a focused urgency, no 
notes going to waste.  As the song crept to a close the band slipped into 
something a little more funky, and the thick, psychadelic funk of ghost 
began to flow from the stage.  With all eight of their arms and legs seeming 
to share one mind, the band deftly maneuvered through an ever-changing 
groove, the band in complete control, and yet the music still seemingly 
choosing it's own course.   In the wake of those beasts the rest of set two 
seemed celebratory and joyous, invoking the feel of a Baptist revival.  
Songs like Ya Mar and Waves swept through the audience like a cool breeze at 
a summer barbecue.  Things finished up a bit gritter though, as Golgi 
Apparatus and Frankenstein crashed the party, riding Harley's and dishing 
out some vicious rock and roll, closing the set in a frenzy of distortion 
and feedback which laid waste to the arena in true, over the top phish 
style.

         The encore, the Stones'  'Loving Cup' , capped the night off with 
some no frills rock and roll, and even here the band managed to squeeze out 
a few more drops of improvisational inspiration to end a cathartic night 
which left the audience exhausted and silenced all doubters.

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 08:10:03 -0500
From: tetna@attbi.com
Subject: Worcester Review

I would give this show a high B on the satisphaction scale.  The YEM opener was
unexpected and completelly fulfilling.  It is too bad I missed the first few notes
trying to navigate my way out of the overcrowded and undersized bathroom.   The next
few songs, while nice to listen to, didn't give me that "I can't help myself from
dancing" feeling that I usually get and I found myself sitting for a little while. 
It worked out, however, because I needed all of my strenght to make it through what
was next to come.  Maze to close the first set was intense and and I really felt like
the band had total control of me the way that they played this song; I wanted
more... 
Set #2 started and I am still upset that it ended.  Once they got to Makisupa and
started really groovin', I turned to my friend and said, "Man, Ya Mar to follow would
really be nice"- honest to God, the boys felt it too obviously.  Phish proceded to
break out with some well timed "staple" tunes.  The boys were in sync
tonight. I would say Maze was the turning point of the night for me.  It got better
and better from here.  Sorry to anyone who missed it...  P.S. - Will someone get the
word to Phish to cover the Top Gun theme song...  
 
 
Todd R. Etna

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 03:17:44 -0500
From: Megs799@aol.com
Subject: PHISH!!!

This is the first Phish show I have ever been to and I have been wanting this day to
come for years now.  I was so excited and Phish certainly did not disappoint.  I have
never had so much fun at a concert, I only wish Trey had talked to the crowd a little
more.  (Maybe they just don't do that?  And, I guess I can't complain because I heard
that much more live Phish!)  They are amazing musicians, and I left the Centrum in
absolute awe.  I can't wait to see them again, hopefully there will be another tour
sometimes soon!  Until then, it's fabulous to be able to download all these new lives
shows!  =)  Yay for Phish!!!


Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 03:03:03 -0500
From: chuck Allardice irishterpfan@email.com
Subject: Worcester Review

tonight was my first show since 9/9/00 {Albany} I was expecting to be thrilled and was
I ever. We got into the parking lot and my buddys car died out.This dude evan helped
us out with jumper cables but still no battery working. We walk in the show and we
were 2nd lever section 223.This first song was YEM it was phat. During the voice jam
was phat. THen YEM went into a unexpected "Clone". Then a stellar Roagge. drifting was
something new but was a good pacemaker for me. Blue Skies was soo unexpected, i went
nuts because I am a huge vida fan. Moma was a huge speedmaker for me, i went nuts.Then
Final flight set up a much appreachiated maze. The 2nd set was where its at.The best
set I expierenced. Stash was simply awesome.Ghost had one of the funkiest jams i heard
with the low rider jam.  Makisupa Policeman was right after some guard stole my boys
pipe.It went into Yamar and it was the first time I saw it live and it was slammin.
Guyute reminded me of old tspian chilled mes at the pepsi and was i happy. Waves off
the new Album was a great break but yet a phat jam. Pronce Caspian chilled me out and
prepared me for Frankinstien into Golgi. The encore was loving cup, it was sweet and I
thought about a certain girl at home. After the show we to the garage and luckily the
car started. Shout outs to Evan and Vannessa from coonnicut for the offer


Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 02:21:04 -0500
From: Kevin Curley kevin.f.curley@verizon.net
Subject: Phish review 02/26/03

This was about my 75th show and first since New Years.... I just got back and my ears
are still ringing, the show was amazing. That second set was some of the best $hit i
have ever seen. I'm exausted and i hope phish is too...that show was just awesome.
 
Bill Bradski reporting in from Boston...Wooot!!!!

Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 01:38:11 -0500
From: ShawnLessig ShawnLessig@msn.com
Subject: 2.26.03 wosta

quick poucouooo?
 
yem-- can't hurt
clone- favorite of the evening
rogain- pleasant
drift- be good in 5 years
blue skies- next
monna dance- danced
final night- that's right
maze- lot's o- paths in the maze
 
ii.
 
stash- could've been in 1st set
ghost- absolute best jam of evening
lowbuzzkillrider- should have been antelope?
maxisupa- out of line comments
yamar- 1st set?
guyute- 1st set ??
waves- 2-3 ft???
prince- good 5 years ago
frankenstien- jumped out of seat
golgi- yea i do have a ticket stub
 
enc: loving cup- roses ARE NOT free
 
entering the facility was a nightmare, lots of fun on the inside....CARINI ????

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:12:37 +0000
From: crowpoint1@attbi.com
Subject: Phish Review

Shawn- First and foremost, I want you to know that I am not attacking you or 
anything, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your review which I 
saw posted on phish.net.
"rogain- pleasant" >> Why did you feel the need to call this song rogain?
"drift- be good in 5 years" >> the song is drifting, what do you mean that it 
will be good in five years?
"monna dance- danced" >> Its moma, why that name change?

"stash- could've been in 1st set
yamar- 1st set?
guyute- 1st set ??" I cant help but ask, why would these have been better in 
the first set? And also, why does it matter?



"lowbuzzkillrider- should have been antelope?" >>  Shawn, I believe that Phish 
knows how to structure a setlist, and I also know you have the right to your 
opinion, but your tone here seems as though you are saying you could do a 
better job.

"maxisupa- out of line comments" >> Its makisupa, why that name change? And 
also, no one was harmed in the fire in Ohio, and although the keywords used can 
be seen as out of line, Phish has always carried a sense of humor with them, 
perhaps this was merely a reference to something else.

"golgi- yea i do have a ticket stub" >> Was that comment necceseary? I just 
find it to be again, really condescending.
 
"enc: loving cup- roses ARE NOT free" >> What do you mean by this? Are you once 
again suggesting that this is not a PERFECT setlist? Because frankly, your 
dream setlist might involve songs that other people hate, which is why I wont 
mention your reference to Carini. Phish is not going to play according to what 
people want to hear, unless they want to play it.
 
Listen Shawn, maybe your review was written just to catch people being too 
analytical, which it may have done to me. Regardless, I just find that your 
entire review seems really Dis respectful towards the band. Sharing your views 
with the community and speaking your mind is okay. In the future however, it 
would be wise of you to do this in an effective as well as respectful manner. I 
could easily sat down and written hate mail about this to you. But that 
wouldn't have accomplished anything. I don't know you , the Internet is a 
strange medium in that regard...but in any event, I am going to respect what 
you said as your own opinion, I just would really appreciate it if you kept 
from putting Dis respectful and overall negatively toned material from 
surfacing. 

Be easy, and thank you for listening,
Matt Sloan

Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 22:07:15 EST
From: Beetsmcq@aol.com
Subject: worcester

i had a ticket, but couldn't find a parking spot.  f-ing rediculous.  i 
looked around for almost an hour, nothing.  that's not including the worst 
traffic i've seen for a phish show since leaving the great went.  it seems 
like everyone picked this show to show up early to and try to find a ticket.  
more power to them.  but when someone, like me, has a ticket and can't find a 
space to park something is wrong.  i missed a yem opener.  this might be one 
of the most disappointing nights of my life.  did this happen to anyone else?

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