Phish Winter Tour
 

Here's the setlists for anyone who hasn't seen...

The shows were amazing. Phish is back with so much more energy than they had in 2000. I was so impressed by how much fun they seemed to be having. Anyone catching shows later in the tour is definitely in for a treat.

I don't want to do a song by song, so here's some highlights:

Many, many good songs played. The first night's highlight for me was definitely the Bug -> Ghost -> Free sandwich. I've never heard a more raging Bug, Free smoked, and Ghost was absoutely incredible. There was a banner hung along the back of the T&M stating "871 Days Since Last Ghost." Phish had to play this one, and they did not disappoint with it. Hood was also a blast. They had a lot of fun with the intro jam.

As good as night one was, Sunday night was absolutely mindblowing. DWD -> 7 Below was one of the most perfectly executed jams I've ever heard and way better than anything I saw em do in 99 or 2000. Piper -> DWD is an absolute must hear. The Piper jam took on a new wavey feel for a long while. Brilliant stuff. I highly recommend seeking out this show.

This band is tight right now. No flubs or half assed playing like 2000. They seem reenergized. The setlists might not be blow-your-doors-off crazy, but the songs are played so well that it doesn't matter. Give me a well-played Antelope over a sloppily played rarity any day.

One thing...what is up with their encores. Sample in a Jar on Saturday was disappointing...standard and ho hum. I like the song, but it's a poor choice for a grand finale. Friday is also a good song, but really bad timing on this one. After an incredibly energetic show, send us out raging. Don't calm us down.

A final note... I didn't catch any after parties. moe. was incredibly sold out, but I did hear good things about Saturday's show. I talked to a buddy that saw 'em on Suday, and he said that that show was just alright. He left before it was completely over. I sold my Particle tickets. Phish wiped me out like they haven't done in a long long time. I didn't need any more music after I walked out of the T&M on Saturday or Sunday. After seeing these shows, the hiatus definitely did them some good...this band is making me feel like I did when I first got into them...

Re: Phish 2/15 and 16
 

;)

*cough*livephish.com*cough*

Re: Re: Phish 2/15 and 16
 

Oh, don't worry. It was pre-ordered before the show was even played...

Life on Mars... Good tune, good cover... Last saw it at Deer Creek... Jeeeze... Maybe 6 or 7 years ago?

Agreed about the encores. Lame. At least they didn't play Character Zero... Oh... Wait... ;)

Actually, I was disappointed when they started up Character Zero, but as the song got going, that disappointment faded. It is overplayed, and it's definitely a cop-out way for Phish to end a show (guaranteed high energy set closer). However, I hadn't seen it live in over two years, and I do like the song. The encores on the other hand, well, there's no justifying them (particularly Sample).

Any one going to be in the lots tonight in Rosemont?

See you there.

Did you get tickets, Grunter, or just going to the lot? If you don't have tickets, I did hear that in L.A. there were tons of extras floating about, and people were actually giving tickets away right before the show started. The situation in Vegas was way different...couldn't buy a ticket in the lot for under $100 from what I'd seen.

Yes, I did finally find some tickets.

They're marked as "behind the stage" - but with Phish, that isn't usually a detriment. They don't normally use a backdrop and seeing the band isn't always as fun as seeing the crowd.

I'm in the building though - and I guess that's what counts.

One of my best Phish experiences was behind stage, Page side. Kuroda usually gives the behind stage folk a pretty good show that only they can appreciate.

In Vegas, there was a curtain behind the stage before they came out, which I found odd because they don't usually use one. I don't remember it being there after the show began though. Then again, it really wasn't the first thing on my mind either.

I'm sure most of you have seen the Denver setlist already, but finally a decent encore (at least for me, but I've also got a weakness for Mexican Cousin for some reason)...

NICU is fine for me, Mexican Cousin is a good bonus.



Three of my best friends are going to the show tonight. Can't wait until Monday!! Then Friday, then Saturday!!! WooHOO!! I'm going to be all Phished out!!

4 hours till showtime!! Still got an extra if anyone wants it!!

So, Bust, how was BB King? From the setlists, it's looking like DWD is the song of the tour...they've been playing it constantly.

I really appreciate the significance of seeing B.B. with the boys, and there were some amazing moments between him and Trey, but I thought Page's solos during the blues numbers were the highlights. That being said, they went on way too long, but it made for good conversation music and I would never ever complain. I just hope I see as good of a show on Friday.

Btw...The Farmhouse Encore was awesome. Really well played.

Yeah, the guests can kill the energy sometimes. In fact, when it all comes down, I'd almost always just rather see Phish. When Kid Rock came out in Vegas in 2000, it was fun for two songs. Then, they had to do two more and end the show with him...by that time, I just wanted another Phish song though. 45 minutes of BB King probably would be a little much, particularly when you think about what they could have done with that 45 minutes if he wasn't there...

That being said, I've seen some good guests as well...particularly Bob Weir and Del McCoury.

B.B. had a blast. That fat bastard was really getting into the crowd participation. Encouraging us, prompting us to repeat was he was saying...it was cool.

There was a guy sitting directly behind us that must have absolutely hated B.B. King, because he was screaming and yelling how he paid to see Phish songs and wouldn't freaking shut up. That was during the jam of the first B.B. song. You should have seen him by the third. :)

The bad part was, no one said anything to him, probably because he looked like he could have been a professional wrestler (ripped) and I guess no one wanted to take a chance. He looked pretty irate. I was just happy that ******* had his night ruined.

bust, are you talking about the guy in the black tank top, about 5 rows back on the floor on mike's side? just wondering... saw that guy from where i was...

anyways, i just typed up a review and posted to another board, so i figured i'd post it here.. i'm not gonna edit anything out - there's a couple 'inside' jokes in there that won't apply to this board, so... here ya go:

first, from phish.net:

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

02/24/03 Meadowlands - NJ

1 (86 min): Down with Disease (14 min), Corinne Corrina* (7 min), Wolfman's Brother (10 min) > Limb by Limb (11 min), Everyday I Have the Blues (23 min)**, The Thrill is Gone (12 min) **, Rock Me Baby (12 min) **
2 (81 min): Halley's Comet (13), Harry Hood^ (14), Heavy Things (8), Twist Around -> Jam -> Twist (18), All of These Dreams (5), Waves (9), Sample In A Jar (5), Chalkdust Torture (9)
E: Farmhouse (7)

Notes: * - third time played since 1989; ** - first time played, and WITH B.B. KING!!; ^ - w/ glow skirmishes (not quite wars, and end dragged out as Trey sets up delay loop for Heavy Things.

Stats: Only three 2/24 shows in Phishtory ('88, '89, and '90), never before on a Monday.

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

i was psyched for this show, as i got rid of my cincy tix, so this was my first of the tour.. seeing the setlists and reading some reviews, it seemed like they finally got their act together and they're back in business.. plus the fact that trey's hometown shows usually have a little something special, i was really looking forward to this...

turned out to be one of the most lopsided shows i've ever seen.

had a fantastic seat for this - right next to the stage, mike's side, 5 rows up.. hadn't been this close to the band since being front & center on 6/30/00.

dwd opener was really good. not too long, not too short... JUST right. :) corrine was a nice surprise; hadn't seen it since big cypress..

which makes me have to agree with wolfman - these phish.net setlists are just ASSENINE <sp?>... '3rd time played since...' when do you stop denoting that? 4th time? 5th time?? come on.. and the header - "Meadowlands - NJ" ??? are you kidding? where'd they play, in the parking lot?? christ... only 3 shows on 2/24 in 'phishtory'!!! OOH! REAL important!

anyways, back to work, and speaking of wolfman, this one was groovin - almost as hard as i was when i went to bed the next morning after pb's 12/31/01 show... into a nice limb by limb, and i couldn't take my eyes off fishman... he was working some SER mojo in this one... very nice...

so then trey says they're gonna call up a 'friend', and a guy on the floor right in front of me brought a chair up on stage and set it up... COULD IT BE?!?? IS OUR SHINGLED WONDER SITTING IN WITH PHISH!?!?!? HOLY ****!!!

alas, it was only bb king. :) but seriously, when i saw bb start walking up the stairs, i was flipping! this legend was about to play with one of my favorite bands on earth, and i felt honored to be there.

well, in all honesty, it ended up being pretty painful to watch.

'everyday' kicked off, and it was sweet! bb belting out the verses and playing the blues with phish.. nice bb solo, nice trey solo! SWEET! unfortunately, the next 20 minutes was a go-nowhere blues jam, which trey spent TRYING to get bb to trade licks with him, but bb wanted NOTHING to do with it... kinda sucks.. trey was just trying and trying and trying, but bb just sat and watched him..

ok, so it didn't turn out according to plan, but it was cool to see bb up there with phish.. back to the phish... but NO - we got not one, but 2 more songs with bb, that suffered the same fate. the songs were really good, and they should have just played the songs, each taken a solo, and that would have been that.. but really, it was PAINFUL to watch what was going on on stage... really.

by the middle of the 3rd bb tune, i was asking myself if it was halloween. i really missed phish at this point, and this whole thing just went on for WAY too long.. finally it ended, as did phish's first set. bb got a HUGE ovation, from me as well, and looked very happy about it.

the set seemed to go really late (hell, the whole bb thing was about 50 minutes itself), and i thought we'd be getting a short set 2 and out by 11-11:15...

the boys came back out around 10:30. while discussing the first tune, trey played the first couple notes (that mike sings) of halley's comet on the guitar (which sounds a LOT like the first 2 notes of reba), and we ALL thought we were getting a reba... alas, mike started halley's, and i wasn't disappointed in the least. it was a nice surprise, since i was expecting reba, and it was funky as hell with some good jamming...

despite what phish.net says, it was actually halley's comet > harry hood... hood was great as well, and i was *seriously* thinking they would end the set after it! i know 2-song second sets don't happen, but it was 11pm by the time hood was over.. plus, the energy level being where it was at, i would not have complained if they ended on a good note...

and then there was heavy things... heavy things piled on top of the energy that WAS thru the roof, and weighed it all the way down to the floor. :( very sloppy also, as trey was fumbling the lyrics, and mixed up the 1st and 2nd chorus.

phish.net strikes again: twist > jam > twist??! shut up. it was an 18 minute twist... damn that's annoying.. anyways, it was ok, but a bit sloppy also... and 2 farmhouse tunes in a row... at THIS point, i was asking myself what year it was, as it felt like summer '99...

all of these dreams isn't a bad tune, but it's a sleeper.. and twist isn't the most energetic song in the world, so the mood was extremely mellow at this point... waves didn't do anything for me either, as it pretty much kept that energy level down..

in comes sample, and i figured it'd be the set closer.. i'll take this time to point out this REALLY annoying thing that trey is doing now.. not just in sample, but also twist, heavy things - he's doing it a LOT - singing 'behind the beat' slightly... hard to describe, but not singing the notes as they're written, but kind of slurring and draging them out a half note or so... it sounds ok in some spots, but for the most part, it really hurts a lot of the songs he does it in, and i hope he doesn't continue to do it..

after sample, trey started chalkdust, and i was shocked, and happy... would definitely rather go out on that than sample.. pretty rockin' version too..

then a farmhouse encore, and the mellow encores continue...

overall, not a bad show, but like i said: REALLY lopsided.. definitely had its moments, but also had its moments i could have done without...

woosta wednesday. boo yeah.

dp

mkdevo - Good review. You can't judge the quality of a show by simply looking at the setlist, but your review echoes exactly what I thought the show would've been like after looking at the set last night. A bit disappointing to see Heavy Things, Sample and All of These Dreams in the second set together (particularly when they encore with Farmhouse). I like all these songs, but short tunes are better in the first set rather than the heart of the second. Phish is playing wonderfully right now, but some of their song choices have been questionable this tour.

A shame about BB's performance. At first, I was very excited to see he played with the boys last night. I guess they shouldn't have tried to jam as hard with him. A lot of musicians (no matter how talented) just aren't capable of doing exploratory jams.

Nope.

http://www.theforumisdown.com/upload...03/concert.jpg

You have to look at it from the bands's point of view though. These are their songs. I'm sure they have their favorites, but they must love them all, or they would never play them. Every Phish song is somebody's favorite, for whatever reason.

I get the feeling that these guys don't care what we think of the setlist. They're just going up there and rocking out (mostly) their tunes. Not every show will have your dream setlist.

Just got this email from one of my best friends...

rotfl

exactly.. which is why afterwards, i can see how GREAT it would have been if they just played those 3 songs without jamming. it was almost like bb was really shy about trading licks with trey.. he just wasn't biting at all..

i hope philly sucks.

(i had tickets but i'm not gonna be able to go.) :)

I don't expect every show to be my dream setlist, and Phish has the right to play whatever the hell they feel like playing (with the exception of Prince Caspian :) ). Their song choices have been questionable to me occasionally, but I realize this is just one guy's opinion. Also, like I said, I think their playing has been much better than in 99 or 00, and I'm more than satisfied with what I've heard from the tour. Hell, a year ago, I'd have been thrilled to see a set of Phish that included Sample, Bouncing, Heavy Things, Farmhouse and (shudder) Caspian. It's much easier to be critical now that they're back together. Sample and Friday weren't my top two encore choices in Vegas, but I still left the shows grinning from ear to ear.

I guess that sounded a bit defensive. Just don't want anyone to think I'm one of those hypercritical fans that will never be happy no matter what the band is doing. Then again, I've spent enough time and money on this band that I feel like I've got a right to be at least a little critical.

amen.

we have much more of a right than an actual 'critic', who goes to see the band one time and bases an opinion just on that..

According to a friend who called me a few times throughout the night (teasing me with snippets of Slave, Cities and Pebbles), Philly did not suck. Sorry. ;)

yeah.. i was checking the setlist a few times throughout the night... kicking myself quite a few times...

oh well.. worcester ROCKED! review coming up...

Yeah, the Worcester setlist looks great...Clone is such a good song...how'd they do with it?

Phish - Worcester 02/26/03 Review
 

mixed mood going into this show.. i was really excited to be taking a good friend to his first phish show, but getting to and getting into the show put me in a bit of a sour mood... took nearly FOUR HOURS to do a 1.5 hour door-to-door trip.. worcester was a complete unorganized mess, as was the entrance to the centrum. no line. just an enormous crowd of people, waiting to get frisked one by one in freezing cold weather...

we finally got in about 10 minutes before the band went on. my seats were similar to my NJ seats, only this time behind the stage, 5 rows up. i've only been behind the stage once, and i really enjoyed it... i love watching fishman..

i don't know if it's because this is the first tour where i haven't been taping, or if it's being so close to the band, or a combination of the 2, but i'm finding myseld REALLY focused on what they're doing... showtime...

YEM opener. thank you. talk about setting the tone! can you really go wrong with a YEM opener? i think not.. great version - got everybody going, and the band was ON...

i didn't get into any of the side projects during hiatus, so when Clone started, i had no idea what it was... at the end of the song i could finally make out the word 'Clone', and remembered seeing it when looking at some Mike/Leo stuff... good tune.

Roggae brought things down a bit, as it usualy does... some good jamming, but overall pretty standard.

Drifting was another tune i didn't recognize at first, but then heard the word 'Drifting' and put 2 and 2 together.. at this point i said to myself 'ok, a mike/leo song and a TAB song... will we see a pork tornado and a vida blue song too??'...

sure enough, the next tune, Blue Skies (which i completely didn't recognize), turns out to be a PT song.. nicely done..

MOMA. now we're talking! feels like i haven't heard this in forever... great to hear it again, though a little sloppy... funked it right up...

the VB tune came next... pretty mellow, but i thought it was a really good song. it's nice to see the band playing songs that everyone has written, and not just trey songs (ala 1999-2000)...

Maze closer ripped! i'm admittedly not a huge Maze fan - never have been for some reason.. but this one rocked, and was a great closer, leaving set 1 at about 90 minutes.

good set.. last few shows i've seen had slow 1st sets, and strong 2nd sets... was hoping that this one would keep it going, and not have a weak 2nd set..

nothing to worry about with a Stash opener! 2 monster set openers - VERY nice... great, loooong jam, that kept me interested the whole way....

GHOST!!! ghost + moma in the same show = great funk. :) the only thing i don't understand is why no more trey space loop in ghost?? i mean, that's pretty much what the song is based on, and how it gets going... instead, they got going without it, which was a little sloppy... completely forgiveable with the jam that was to follow..

the Ghost jam didn't stay funky for long... fishman broke out of the funk beat and started laying some different stuff down, and this jam went MANY places... there was DEFINITELY a Lady Madonna tease/jam played by Page & Mike during this jam.. pretty cool...

then all of a sudden, phish remembers how to do one of the things that they do best - segue!! and this set was full of great ones...

Ghost broke down and brought in makisupa.. sure trey mentioned a fire just a few miles from providence, so it may have been a little touchy... but their hotel really did catch on fire in cincy.. pretty standard MP with another sweet segue into...

Ya Mar.. i was grooving heavily at this point - totally loving what they were doing with the segues... good ya mar, pretty standard... would have liked to seen an extended version with the fishman/mike breakdown, but it was a shortened one instead..

that ugly pig Guyute came next, and i was THRILLED! grinning from ear to ear the entire time, this set was telling me all over again why i started listening to phish in the first place.. great to be so close to fishman during this one too.. standard, and well played...

so then they break into Waves, and it pretty much brought the set down for me (energy level wise)... i took a seat and looked on... for some reason, this song just does nothing for me... oh well..

if i'm not mistaken, Waves actually segued into Prince Caspian.. keeping it mellow, and PC is not one of my favorites to begin with.. the segue was pretty sloppy too.. instead of everyone breaking down and then trey coming in strong with the opening riff, he just kind of started playing it with everyone else, and he was kind of all over the place... standard PC, without the ending...

instead, trey started teasing the end of Frankenstein, which was completely unexpected, then they busted into it full force, bringing back that hard energy they had going earlier in the set.. now we're talkin'!

thought that would be it, but at the end, trey turned to fishman and started counting off... just by watching him count, i knew Golgi was next, and was ready for the first note. good job of going out strong. nice Frankenstein tease during 'they call him lysosome cause he runs so fast...' teases and segues were definitely reminding me of older phish...

Loving Cup encore was nice.. let me again point out pointless notes by phish.net: ending dragged out to finish the show. yeah, thanks for being on top of that, guys. (sorry... pet peeve..) the end of loving cup makes it a great closer, and definitely fit the night well..

i left the worcester centrum last night with a feeling that i haven't had in quite a while after leaving a phish show. as great as NYE was, and as happy as i was afterwards, last night topped that feeling.. it was just like, 'wow... that was a REALLY REALLY good show!'..

my buddy mike had a great time, and it was great to be able to share the experience with him.. though i had to explain to him that he will not fully understand how good that show was for about another year or 2, after he gets more phish exposure and can go back and listen with a different ear.. same thing happened to me with my first show - 11/26/97.. 84 shows later, i go back and listen to that, and i'm like, 'holy ****! THAT was my first show?! NICE!'

:D

Re: Phish - Worcester 02/26/03 Review
 

minus the "getting to" part, it couldn't have been worse than getting through the chain link fence at Continental. I can't belive how sloppy and unorganized they security was at Continental. Made us miss the first 5 min of DWD. :mad:


As a side note, maybe we should change the name of the thread to Phish: Winter Tour or something. Or just leave it, I don't really care.

See you all at Nassau tomorrow night!! :D

Thomas & Mack is actually a pretty good venue as far as getting in and out goes. The line moved quickly and pretty easily, especially considering it was a GA show. Plus, the T&M lot is great. There's no parking fee, and they let fans set up tents for vending, giving the lot more of a carnival atmosphere than it even usually has.

In fact, T&M is one of my favorite places to see Phish...virtually no security check before going in. Every time I've gone, the most they do is "mime" a pat down. Meaning some guy runs his arms close to your body, but no one actually touches you. Hell, they don't even really check backpacks. Security in the venue is pretty much nonexistent unless a fight breaks out. Plus, once inside, you have more beer options than Coors or Budweiser. There's a Gordon Biersch brewery in the venue, and other stands sell Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam. Even mixed drinks are tasty and reasonably priced (prior to one of the Trey shows in May 2002, a tequila drink was so strong, it nearly passed me out before the show began).

The only downside to the T&M is the bathrooms. There's just not enough. 45 minutes prior to showtime, and the bathroom line was already about 30 minutes long. If you go during setbreak, expect to do nothing else during setbreak. Overall, though, one of the more laid back venues in the country for Phish - seems like the venue respects the fans, knows they won't cause much trouble and leaves them the hell alone.

By the way, I tried to change the thread title and couldn't...guess you need a mod for that.

Re: Re: Phish - Worcester 02/26/03 Review
 

yeah, that line was pretty dumb too.. long ass line wrapped around the venue, and letting people in one at a time.. ugh...

Damn.

Worcester sounds like one I might actually purchase from Live Downloads and wait for . . . on DIAL-UP!

ouch.

grunter, i would highly recommend it.. it's available now.. and if you start now, you may have it by summer tour! :)

Besides the two Vegas shows, I told myself I would only purchase one other show from Downloads...looking like it'll be Worcester but still waiting to see what tonight's and tomorrow's shows look like...

If anyone cares here is my wish list of songs for tonight:

Brian and Robert
Rift
My Friend, My Friend
Cavern
The Mango Song
Bowie
Contact
Lizards
Harpua
Crosseyed and Painless
Bouncing (never seen a bouncing, would like to get a short one out of the way)
Bittersweet Motel
If I could

Hopeless new cover request: Penny Lane

Inevitable 'Round Room' song: Mexican Cousin (could be fun)

What do you think my chances are?

How hard is it for you guys to not trade the SBDs? I'll admit I've already got 4 I haven't paid for, and I'm burning some copies for friends of the show I bought.

I haven't traded any yet or received any through trades. I have made copies of a few of the Live Phish cds for friends though (not traded, just as a favor).

By the way, I hope you get a Crosseyed and Painless as well. I'd be happy to know that they're still playing the tune...one of my favorite covers.

Four right? Not bad if you ask me. I'm sorry I can't go more into this show. I will definitely add thoughts and memories here and there when I'm not busy, but this night might have been one of the highlights of my life. I urge anyone and everyone to read about it wherever you can, because there are many people who can review a show that I can't compete with.

I know the significance of them playing Destiny Unbound even though I had never heard it. I enjoyed the song and I can't wait to get the discs. There is really no way I can put my feelings about this show into words.