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Date:    Wed, 10 Dec 1997 21:30:56 GMT
From:    Andy Adelewitz 
Subject: 12-9-97 Review

1: Mike's Song, My Soul, Stash > I Am Hydrogen, Weekapaug Groove, Dogs Stole
Things, Beauty Of My Dreams, Horn, Loving Cup

2: Julius, Simple > Timber Ho!, Contact, Axilla I, Harry Hood

E: Fire

        After the Disco Biscuits' 110-minute second set seguefest at Caf=E9 210=
 last
night, I wasn't ready for another mammoth jam-happy show - and Phish, as
always, delivered. Busting out with a fairly standard Mike's Song, they
proceeded to fly through a brilliant first set of their rock 'n' roll best.
        I went into the show hoping for Stash and Dogs Stole Things for some
reason, and I got my wish, along with some tastefully fast and furious
guitar work on My Soul and Chalkdust. The set order was flawless, with
Hydrogen working its way out of a sweet Stash jam, with Weekapaug following
as always. Dogs Stole Things (Trey can too play the blues!) was followed by
Beauty Of My Dreams, and the blues-funk -> bluegrass flow was perfect. Horn
has always been a favorite of mine - full of hooks, and not an
improvisational note to be heard, but fun, and with great soaring harmonies.
Loving Cup is always a great set closer; I remember thinking, as they were
playing it, that the Stones themselves probably couldn't do the song equal
justice to Phish; I'd like to see the Stones play it sometime, to see if I'm
right.
        The second set was dominated by an awesome, huge Simple jam, which comes in
a close second to Halloween '96's Simplethon on my list of favorites. It ran
away into hose-land rather quickly, and floated around until it descended
into an ominous, slow, quiet din. Then it started - the high-pitched,
descending delay loop. My first thought was 2001, but that would just have
been wrong for the moment. No, this was going to be something more. They
were lingering, waiting, slowly toying around. And then Fish started the
little high-hat rhythm. It was David Bowie.
        I was psyched, and everyone else seemed to be as well. The tension built,
and built... longest damn Bowie intro I ever heard, and I've heard some long
ones. And then, finally, out of nowhere, Trey launched into... Timber Ho!?
RANDOM. But it was pretty groovy nonetheless. I'd been humming it to myself
all morning, so it was pretty cool that it popped up. But I think Trey even
fooled Chris Kuroda, 'cuz the lights were starting to get nutty and restless
before Timber started - Bowie style.
        Contact is the penultimate crowd pleaser. Just a fun damn song. And then
came Axilla I. Wow! I never realized that I'd only heard II, so this was a
treat. And whichever Axilla it is, that song ROCKS! The place was really
shaking.=20
        Harry Hood closed the set. During the mellow intro, they suddenly bounced
into the Axilla riff again, and then, after a few seconds, popped seamlessly
back into Harry. Pretty standard Hood (which is good, even a standard Hood
is pretty special), and a scorching Fire encore to finish the show.

        Overall, aside from Simple, it was basically an evening of Phish Lite,
which was quite fine by me. The vocal harmonies were absolutely right on,
which always makes the show for me. Would have liked to have heard a little
more from Page, though; he was pretty low-key the whole show. I love seeing
him go off. But no complaints.
        And, Benjy, Gop and company - your ALUMNI sign was an inspiration to us
all, but really, they're not gonna play it.  :)

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Date:    Thu, 11 Dec 1997 04:19:29 GMT
From:    Untoot 
Subject: 12/9/97 Penn St. Review

I think you've all seen the setlist

Mike's:  Nice opener and a pleasant surprise.  I knew they were gonna play it
but I didn't expect it to be the opener.  This was not an intense Mike's like
earlier ones  circa '94.  It was very slow, funky, and pretty mellow.  They
were doing this stop and start thing and when they would stop Trey would play
this funk riff that sounded pretty cool.  They did this about three times and
then at the end of the fourth one Trey launched right into...

Chalkdust:  This was a good Chalkdust.  It was just good solid old-fashioned
jammin'.  Trey was wailin' as usual and this version got the crowd going.  I've
heard better ones but this was definetly up to par.  I liked how they placed
this.  It was definetly a nice complement to Mike's and a good mood and
intensity change to jumpstart the show.

My Soul:  I know, they play this tune all the time but I enjoy hearing it.  I
don't understand why everyone rags on this song.  This was just another good
version.  Not great but again well placed in context with the set.

Stash:  Now we're talking.  I love this song and I'm glad they played it.  This
was another solid version with some good climaxes and spacy parts.  Nothing
really out-of-the ordinary until the end.  The jam got real quiet and they sang
"maybe so, maybe not" just once or twice.  Then the jam segued beautifully
into...

Hydrogen:  No flubs by Trey or Page in this version.  At the end there was a
bit longer of a pause before they finally went into

Weekapaug:  I thought that this was an excellent version and that Mike was
kickin' ass on the bass solo.  A very nice Weekapaug with some nice work by
Page in the middle.  I enjoyed this version a lot.

Dogs Stole Things:  I like this song and it served nice as a little mid-set
ditty

Beauty of My Dreams:  I could've done without this but who cares.  It's still
fun to dance to.

Horn:  I think that this song is beautiful and they nailed the lyrics.  This
was played to perfection.

Loving Cup:  I am in love with this song!  I was so psyched when I heard Page
play the opening notes.  Trey was really gettin' down during his solo and he
looked like he was having a good time which is always nice to see.  This was a
great set closer and they jammed it out nicely.

I thought that set I was a decent set.  It was very tight and there weren't a
lot of mistakes.  It did lack a lot of jamming which they made up for in the
following set. Overall I think it was a solid set with the highlights being
Chalkdust, Stash>Hydrogen>Weekapaug, and Loving Cup.

Julius:  Another nice opener.  This was a decent Julius and Fish let out some
random hollers throughout the song.  A good way to start off a great set.

Simple:  I hope that some of the people who were dissapointed with the
Worcester Simple had the privelage to see this one.  This was easily the best
version I've heard and I loved every minute of it.  This jam definetly broke
the 20 min. barrier.  The lights were excellent.  The jam had a little taste of
the funk at times.  Other times a relaxed latin feel.  Then it got very quiet
and Fish started playing the Bowie beat on the hi-hat.  I was almost positive
it was Bowie.  They sure fooled me!  After about a good 2 minutes of space,
effects, and anticipation from the crowd, Trey led the band into Timber Ho!

Timber Ho!:  I love the lyrics to this tune and that's about all I love about
it.  I'm not  really to fond of the jam but this version was not bad.  It was
very Stash-esque.

Contact:  Nice!  I was stoked when I heard the intro to this one.  The crowd
definetly appreciated this rare song.  This tune is so much fun to hear live.
I love it when they do that wave thing.  It's so cool to see them lead the
whole arena like that.  Great placement, great song.

Axilla:  Another well placed song.  This is so much fun to dance to.  It
sounded like they botched the beginning a bit but it rocked anyway.  Is this
the first one of the tour?  When they held out the last chord, Fish led them
right into...

Hood:  About 15 seconds into this, Trey played a couple notes of the Axilla
riff and then the rest of the band joined in.  They teased this for about ten
seconds and then without losing a beat, just went right back into Hood.  This
was a nice Hood. I can't really say too much about this, being that I saw the
ultimate Hood on 12/30/95.  This was a nice way to end a great set though.

Fire:  I've been waiting to hear this for quite a while.  Fish got a little
drum solo in the beginning because Trey played that riff in unison with Mike
about ten times before he started singing the lyrics.  It was pretty cool.
This was a real rockin' version with a HIGH energy level.  Trey was wailing on
this tune and was doing a little windmill thing at the end like Pete Townsend.
A very fun encore.

I thought this show was very good and the 2nd set made up for the lack of
jamming in the 1st set.  I can't wait for MSG!