6-21-09 - Alpine Valley Music Theater, East Troy, WI

please review the show, not the other reviews....

from	mgagss
date	Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 2:41 PM
subject	Alpine Valley 6-21-09

Opened with Brother squared with their kids in the bathtub which was cool. 
Brother was short and to the point. Wolfman's Brother was also well played 
with about a 4-5min jam that was also to the point. Funky Bitch was by 
request and then as can be expected in the middle of any outdoor 1st set 
show - Divided Sky. Trey nailed the main solo as the clouds were hovering 
overhead. Joy, a new song, was next and I'll have to hear it more before I 
form an opinion. Back on the Train was the funkiest version I've ever 
heard and had Page melting my face with his Moog & clavinet. Taste was 
also well played, but the jam kept relatively tame. Poor Heart thru TMWSIY 
was somewhat uneventful for me although my Jewish friends really dug 
Malkanu. They closed the 1st set with Time Turns Elastic which I have a 
feeling will grow on me kind of like Fluffhead did some 25 years ago. 
Check with me next tour!

2nd set was the goods as far as jams are concerned. Crosseyed and the 
ensuing jam was monstrous as Page again was working the Moog. Disease was 
it's usual killer jam and clocked in at about 14min. I never liked Bug and 
this version seemed a little rushed. Piper was more like the '99 versions 
where they sing only a couple verses and then they launch. It got real 
thick around the 10min mark and a serious meltdown followed. Wading is a 
good song when they don't overplay it and I liked it tonight. Boogie on 
like Train was extremely funky but kind of short. Slave is always a great 
closer and tonight was no exception. Encores Grind and Frankenstein were a 
great way to end the tour. Especially like the 5 or 6 neck guitar and I 
LOVE the Keytar. I'd give the show an 8 out of 10. 


from	Bryan Pohl
date	Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 2:44 AM
subject	6-21-09 Alpine Valley review.

Let me open this by saying that this was my first show since New Year’s 
’99 at Big Cypress. 

-Set 1-
Brother
Wolfman's Brother
Funky Bitch
Divided Sky
Joy
Back On the Train
Taste
Poor Heart
The Horse>
Silent in the Morning
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday>
Avenu Malkenu>
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday
Time Turns Elastic

-Set 2-
Crosseyed and Painless>
Down With Disease
Bug>
Piper
Wading in the Velvet Sea
Boogie On Reggae Woman>
Slave To The Traffic Light

Encore:
Grime (a cappela)
Frankenstein

I was a little shocked when I arrived at how much the lot scene had 
changed since I was a 19-year old dreadlocked hippy kid selling veggie 
burritos. Actually, before my wife and I and our friends left the 
campground, wifey offered to make me a sandwich. I refused, saying that I 
would “just grab something on the lot.” Although I wish she had, she 
didn’t protest too much and just let me “do my Phish thing.” We got to the 
show and I immediately realized that the crowd was much older and much 
mellower. I guess everyone else had put on ten years, gotten involved in 
careers, and had kids, too. 

While my wife and friends sat down and started drinking beers (I was the 
designated driver), I began my quest for a veggie burrito. Now, back on 
summer tour ’98, this would have been about a thirty second quest to the 
end of our parking aisle. However, this was to be a quest that would test 
my mettle and my ability to deal with hunger. In all, I walked the hill 
from the green lot to the blue lot and saw lots of tents, and what LOOKED 
like a Shakedown area, but never found any vending. Resigned to the fact 
that I was going to have to pay venue prices for food, I walked back to 
the car, watched my wife and friends finish their beers, and began the 
walk back up the hill to the venue. As we entered the place, I saw the 
food prices and refused to pay them. $8.50 for two rubbery chicken fingers 
and some fries? Seriously?! So, I decided that I would just suck it up and 
hope that the show would be so good that I didn’t even notice how hungry I 
was. We sat down in our pavilion seats, which were 25 rows back, directly 
in front of Page, and began the wait for the show to begin (it is very 
nice to be married to someone with connections). I can’t even explain the 
anticipation I felt while waiting. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just 
wanted the boys to come on stage. 

When they finally did enter the stage, I lost it… began screaming at the 
top of my lungs, and was dying to find out what they’d play for my first 
show in ten years. Brother! Pretty cool, even though I specifically named 
it as a song that I didn’t want to hear before the show. It was still fun 
to see all of their kids coming out and hopping into the tub, one by one. 
Wolfman’s was as great as it’s ever been for a first-set fun dance song. 
Divided Sky sent me soaring. Couldn’t believe they played it. I was 
convinced they wouldn’t. And what a great version… not necessarily as 
great as some I’ve heard, but it didn’t have to be. Joy, Train, Taste, 
Poor Heart were fun, but nothing I was necessarily too excited to hear, 
until the first few strums of Horse made me jump up and start yelling 
because I knew Silent was coming. And they definitely nailed both. Just 
when I was a little sad to hear Silent being finished up, I heard another 
song. The sad thing is that it had been so long that I couldn’t even 
remember the name of it at first. Of course, it was TMWSIY>Aevnue>TMWSIY. 
I’ve seen a LOT of shows in my life and have never been lucky enough to 
hear this live. I was absolutely on cloud 9. Time Turns Elastic closer was 
okay, but I’m honestly not very crazy about this song. The end of it is 
great, and I understand why they’d use it for a closer, but the first ten 
minutes are just not at all what I was hoping to hear. Kind of a let-down 
in my book, but I’m sure others will disagree vehemently. All in all, 
great first set, though. 

As the lights went up for set-break, despite that Phish-induced buzz, my 
attention turned directly back to my stomach. I also felt extremely 
dehydrated from dancing so hard. I went on a food and water quest that 
took the entire set-break and only resulted in my paying $8 for two waters 
and still being about as hungry as I had ever been. Grrrrrr

I don’t even think I can describe the second set. Crosseyed>DWD… I called 
Crosseyed>Mike’s to open the second set, but I was fairly happy to be at 
least partially wrong. My wife went absolutely nuts when they struck up 
Crosseyed, and almost knocked me over from jumping up and down. I was 
surprised at how well they played it. It really was spot on. DWD was as 
great as ever and included a great spacey jam from which the first strums 
of Bug emerged. I’ve always loved Bug in a special way that I can’t 
describe, but had never heard it with the new lyrics until very recently 
(thoughts faded, overrated, etc). the song is just very introspective, and 
I’ve found it to be an appropriate soundtrack for my feelings about the 
transition of the last ten years from dreadlocked tour head to husband, 
father, home-owner, bread-winner, etc. Ten years go by and to take a 
snapshot of the two times in my life and put them side-by-side would seem 
such juxtaposition, but both brought me joy beyond my comprehension. I can 
always think back on my tour days and thank god for allowing me to have 
such amazing experiences with such incredible people and such a great 
band. All of these feelings kind of hit me at once during Bug, and I think 
I cried the whole way through that song, especially at “Nothing I see can 
be taken from me.” Piper and Velvet Sea were more than I could ever ask 
for. They nailed them both, and I thought about how it’s been really 
interesting to see the evolution of both of those songs since their 
inception. Velvet Sea was, again, a very emotional song, but didn’t get my 
crying like Bug did. Boogie On was a fun way to send things back into more 
fun mode, and it was very good, albeit a little shorter version of the 
song than I was used to. At the first sounds of Slave to the Traffic 
Light, I went absolutely nuts, screaming, yelling, and waving my arms in 
the air. GOD, that was the one song I had wanted to hear more than 
anything else in the world. I would have paid $50 and driven from 
Indianapolis to Alpine Valley just to hear them walk on stage, play only 
Slave, then walk back off. Slave was wonderful, Slave was perfect, Slave 
was everything I remembered. There was a point where my eyes were closed, 
Slave was about half-way done, there was a huge smile on my face, and I 
just could have died right there, dancing in the twenty-fifth row of the 
pavilion. 

The Grind / Frankenstein encore was fun, and it’s already been described 
in other posts, so I won’t try to add anything else. It was just plain and 
simple fun that reminded me of why I began seeing these guys in the first 
place. 

As we walked out of the venue, Slave still ringing in my head, I heard my 
friends talking about what a bad show it was and how Page had to save them 
a few times and how this or that didn’t work, but I honestly didn’t even 
want to hear it. I was floating, and I just wanted to be alone with my 
thoughts for a little while. I told everyone I had to go find a veggie 
burrito and just kind of went wandering around, thinking about the show 
and leaving the others behind. Phish had only ever made me cry once 
before, and it was when they played Terrapin Station at VA Beach. I don’t 
know if this show was technically great or if the song choice worked or 
not, and I didn’t care at all. I loved every second of it. These guys have 
given me more than they’ll ever know. I’ve traveled the entire country 
seeing them, meeting people, and just having a blast, and they had just 
blown my mind again. I had to get away from everyone and just soak it all 
in. Of course, I was still STARVING, when I was just looking up at the sky 
and heard, “Veggie burritos!” A younger girl with dreadlocks was standing 
by her cooler. Ostensibly, that cooler was once full of burritos. I bought 
her last two burritos and remarked in my head that she was probably only 
about 18 or 19 and maybe doing her first tour. As I chowed down on my 
first burrito, I began to miss my little boy, who was staying with his 
grandma, and my wife caught up to me and gave me a hug and asked for one 
of my burritos. As hungry as I was, there was only one person in the world 
who could have had one of my burritos, and she was that person. I gladly 
handed it over, rubbed her back, smiled at her, and told her I loved her. 

Ten years doesn’t feel like a very long time when you look back on how 
quickly time has passed. Yet, I think of all the things that have happened 
since I was that 19-year old with dreadlocks in a parking lot somewhere, 
thousands of miles from home, trying to sell my own veggie burritos, and 
ten years seems like forever. I’m thankful for all of the experiences I’ve 
had in that time and I know that things will only get better from here. 
While I know that I’ll never do another Phish tour again, or end up 2,500 
miles from home while my mom thinks I’m just a couple hours away, I know 
that I’ll always have those memories, and I’ll know that those memories 
have added more to my life than I ever could have expected. And I’ll tell 
my son all about it, and I’ll encourage him to do something that he loves, 
even when others think he’s crazy. And he’ll do things that I don’t know 
about. And he’ll live through them and he’ll tell me all about them years 
after the fact. And hopefully, like his father, he’ll have no regrets. 




from	Brendan Fitzgerald
date	Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 10:13 AM
subject	phish show review 6/21/09

Oh man! This show blew the the night before out of the water! They were 
really on and had lots of super high energy jams that really smoked!  
The setlist:
-Set 1-
Brother
Wolfman's Brother
Funky Bitch
Divided Sky
Joy
Back On the Train
Taste
Poor Heart
The Horse>
Silent in the Morning
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday>
Avenu Malkenu>
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday
Time Turns Elastic

-Set 2-
Crosseyed and Painless>
Down With Disease
Bug>
Piper
Wading in the Velvet Sea
Boogie On Reggae Woman>
Slave To The Traffic Light

Encore:
Grime (a cappela)
Frankenstein

Brother: Really great opening song. The guys brought out each of their 
kids one by one and sat them in a big tub on stage! Good fun, a solid high 
energy opener. And to go along with the "brother" theme...

Wolfman's Brother: Great wolfman's jamming in this one. It's a solid song 
for them to loosen up with and just get comfortable groovin and feeling 
out the jams. Very solid.

Funky Bitch: Taken by request. This song never disappoints, and trey was 
really on tonight

Divided Sky: Hell yeah. Just what everyone needed. From what I could tell, 
they played the technical parts flawlessly, and trey really blew up at the 
end, lots of energy in this one.

Joy: New song. I liked it, as far as new songs go. It had a easy going 
feel to it, as the title would tell you. Fun song to ease everyone down 
after the monster divided sky.

Back on the Train: If not for anything else, check this set out for this 
song! The boys were on fire with it. Its naturally a really grooving, 
funky sorta tune, but the jamming they did with this one was really 
spectacular. Not in a shredding, or experimental way, in a really tight, 
super funky, synchronized way. Everyone was meshing really well, I 
personally think this is by far the highlight of the first set. They went 
off into the depths of funkytown with this one. Hot Dang!

Taste: A great song live. As with everything so far, they're really crisp 
and tight, no sloppiness, no flubs; clean as a whistle. This one was 
especially cool because they extended it with a really cool jam. I'm not 
sure if they usually do that or not, but I think they were feelin so good 
comin off that super hot Back on the Train that they just wanted to go off 
some more. Best version of taste I've ever heard live considering the jam 
segment. 

Poor Heart: Perfect placement for this. Gets the energy back up again. 
Solid and lots of fun, as usual.

The Horse >Silent in the Morning: Cool, all in all standard. It's good to 
hear this tune, the spaciness and syncopation of it was nice after the 
poor heart. Again, the guys sound really tight, really crisp tonight and 
it comes through in a song like this.

TMWSIY >Avenu Malkenu >TMWSIY: Alright some gamehenge! Good placement for 
this, it kept the same sort of flow coming after silent in the morning. 
Great old school phish right here... into Avenu Malkenu! yeah! Some great 
jewish fun right here, heavy and epic sounding... and bring it back down 
ever so beautifully again with TMWSIY.

Time Turns Elastic: This was another new one, my first time hearing it. 
It's quite the epic piece of song writing. It's got a bit of a progressive 
feel to it. Its like a new, heavier, bit darker sounding trey super song. 
The structure of the song seemed a bit erratic, or scattered, until the 
end which builds into an intense bombardment of sound. It's definetely 
worth making it through the long technical parts, which are cool, but 
different, to get to the ending. A truly epic way to end the set.

-Set 2-

Crosseyed and Painless>: Oh Yeah! What a great way to start the set! Super 
energetic, the boys are so on! Just tearing this one to pieces. It's so 
funky I feel like dancing out of my skin. It's the talking heads times 
100, and that's really saying something. I don't know what else to say, 
it's reminiscent of the best shows from late 96 and 97. Super funky and 
energetic going all over the place here. And it's even hotter because trey 
is so on tonight. He's being real fluent and has no inhibitions it seems. 
LOTS of fun. They bring the energy down ever so gently, its almost 
unnoticeable...getting spacey... leads into

Down With Disease: A monster crowd pleaser here. I totally called this one 
too during the spaciness beforehand. It just felt like the perfect place 
for it. Man, so much good jamming happening and its just the first 2 
songs. DWD gets really high, I mean, sometimes DWDs can have good jamming 
but the energy doesn't quite go off too much. But THIS one really has it. 

Bug: This came out of nowhere. I personally think it was a little early in 
the set to bring the energy down again, and I mean, it's bug, eh. They do 
get some pretty sweet rocking in though. As my buddy said to me at the 
show, only Phish could make Bug a great song. That's how on they were, 
they made Bug sound great! haha

Piper: GET THIS PIPER! It seemed a bit fast in the beginning, but it was 
still crisp as could be. The vocals were on too. This to me was the 
highlight of the whole show because of the insane jamming that came out of 
this one. Once they start jamming on this one, the energy just shoots this 
one off into outerspace. I mean, they really blow up on this tune. The 
tempo slowly accelerates, and everyone is on fire. After some really hot 
jamming which completely leaves any trace of piper behind, they really go 
off into risky experimental land. This jam is a perfect piece of 
everything I love about phish. It embodies the amazing skill and 
togetherness with which they can go off from a song and play around with 
sheer sounds. Really far out there, creative jamming. 

Wading: The placement of this one also caught me off guard after such a 
long crazy piper jam. But I guess it did the job of toning everything down 
again, bringing everyone back to earth so to speak. A pretty standard, 
powerful and velvety Wading.

Boogie On Reggae Woman: Shoulda saw this one coming since they were 
playing so much Stevie Wonder on the PA before the show. The perfect way 
to bring the upbeat energy back. Good Lord they are sounding so funky, and 
so tight. Mike is SUPER hot in this one, laying down some of the funkiest 
bass you'll ever hear. They have lots of fun boogying down in this super 
funky tight jam.

Slave: A great slave. Everyone needed another epic Phish tune here in this 
second set, Slave definetely does the job. They really take their time 
building the jam, its all very fluid and full sounding. A climactic way to 
end the set for sure. 

E: Grime. It's great hearing some good ol acappella from them. A very 
cooky version of grime where they sing the number of days they've been 
alive, not sure if that's what they usually do with it, i've never heard 
this one before.

Frankenstein: YEEEAAAA! Perfect show stopping encore. Trey busts out a 5 
neck guitar! Page has a killer solo on the keytar and mike's rocking this 
crazy bass that's in the shape of a giant flame. Oh yea this Frankenstein 
was really rockin hard. And brought the whole venue down with it. A great 
way to end a really amazing show.

Overall, this is the best phish show I've ever seen in person. It blew the 
night before at alpine out of the water. From what other people were 
telling about the other shows on this tour, this show has been the best 
one so far. I can completely see how it would be one of the best. The jams 
in here are a perfect 10. I mean, they're not the same jams from 20 or 15 
years ago, but obviously they shouldnt be. As far as what Phish sounds 
like in 2009, this show should be the model. Yeah, their sound will always 
be changing, but the way they jam, groove, rock out, and experiment with 
each other is still as tight as ever. This show is the perfect example of 
that. I think I had goosebumps for like 80% of the show. 
Check it out.
Peace phellow phans.

-Brendan


From	arz703
date	Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
subject	Phish Show Review- 6.21.09 Alpine Valley

this my 3rd show of the weekend, such a rager! the first set was so much 
phun, TMWSIY > anvenu malkanu > TMWSIY, seriouslly??? what a breakout. 
during setbreak couldn't even imagine what they'd do for the second set. 
when i heard the opener, i knew it was on! crosseyed > alpine jam was 
amazing and the piper jam was definitely the highlight of the night, you 
simply MUST hear it. boogie on was so much fun to dance to and slave to 
close the set was incredible. the a capella grind was cool and then when 
they brought out the new guitars, i literally could not stop laughing and 
dancing. bottom line: 09 (sober) PHISH is simply incredible 

peace 
adam 

....reviews of the download or tapes of the show....

from	Lane H. Jost
date	Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 7:29 AM
subject	6/21/09 Download Review

Thanks, Dan for giving this page a Renaissance!

6/21/09 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

I: Brother, Wolfman's Brother, Funky Bitch > The Divided Sky, Joy, Back On 
The Train, Taste, Poor Heart, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, The Man 
Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkanu > The Man Who Stepped Into 
Yesterday, Time Turns Elastic

II: Crosseyed and Painless > Down With Disease > Bug > Piper > Wading In 
The Velvet Sea, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Slave to the Traffic Light

E: Grind, Frankenstein


Hi Folks,

The following is a review of the final show of the early summer tour with 
hearty compliments to the "No Spoilers" crew, who have given those of us 
unable to go AWOL on the road, due to unfortunate obligations of life, 
quite a gift. I was not in the fields of dairy country last weekend, so 
this will be a sober critique of the music. I looked at no setlist prior 
to listening. Again, my gratitude to the "NS" folks, This is a hell of a 
good time,

Reviewer's bio as per the great Charlie Dirksen's request (btw, anyone 
heard from this guy?; haven't seen one of his estimable reviews since 2000 
Shoreline): I've seen over 60 + shows dating back to 1992. Though saddened 
by the breakup, I was actually happy for the band and have felt a little 
ambivalent about Phish 3.0. Nonetheless, the next time I see the lights 
drop and watch Big Red saunter out with the shit-eating grin (at 
Merriweather), you can better believe I'll be bouncin'.

I've listened to a few sets of this tour and all of Hampton. My last show 
was the underrated first night in Brooklyn on 6/17/04. Overall impressions 
have been tha the band is better than the 2004 version, though all 
proclamations that they're back to 1993-1997 seem premature.

There's no question that the "Brother" bustout was a nod to all things 
quintessentially Phish. These sorts of antics have been few and far 
between during the first 20 or so shows of the comeback, so I was happy to 
hear the tub routine with all the band kids. This is indeed a different 
era, and juxtaposition of the weirdly proggy "Brother" with children 
sitting in a bathtub on stage was well, Phish humor 3.0. I was pumped to 
hear this, and hope the band works it back into the rotation for late 
summer. This version basically has no improvisation at all, which doesn't 
bother me, considering how tight it is. This song works well as a opener 
and the performance is impressive given the long hiatus. Nice way to start 
a father's day show, and certainly sets an old-school mood in the shed.

The "Wolfman's Brother" that follows is good, with a concise jam ("type 
I")  that seems somewhat emblematic of this tour. I know folks seem to pan 
these coherent jams, preferring longer, more wildly exploratory passages. 
I personally think this is an excellent trend for a band that has always 
sought to evolve. Trey's acknowledgment of a fan holding the "Funky Bitch" 
sign was nice to hear, and the subsequent performance was hot. Not the 
tightest or most groovy Bitch, but had I been in the house, I would have 
been beaming, as I expect all the lucky ones in attendance were. Again, 
the Bitch coupled with "Brother" certainly signaled a fan-friendly show.

"The Divided Sky" has been played admirably throughout 2009 and this 
version is no exception. I love this song, and while the jam section 
seemed to peak in 1994, I think they can keep playing this way forever if 
they like. Now "Joy" is honestly one of my favorite ballads off the 
forthcoming record (assuming this cut makes said record). Many folks will 
fold their arms in disgust, but let's face it, Trey LOVES writing these 
introspective songs, going back to 1993 (FEFY), so accept it. The lyrics 
in this one work well with family theme of this show, and I think this 
will sounds great on the record. One thing that's markedly better about 
Phish 3.0 are the vocals: harmonies and singing quality is basically 
on-point has it always was pre-2000. Phish will never be remembered for 
its lush singing, but they were always tight pre-hiatus, and I'm glad 
they've recommitted to this.

"Back on the Train" is an excellent late era groove and was again played 
admirably with Fish leading the shuffle forward. And yeah, this song is 
particularly poignant on this tour.  The "Taste" through "Horse/Silent" 
run was solid, if unspectacular. I like the return of "Poor Heart" though 
still wish "Uncle Pen" would be bustout. And Trey it seems, just can't 
play that hot opening lick to "Poor Heat" anymore. Oh well, evolution is 
cool too. "Taste" was OK, though I think it still finds both Page and Trey 
to be tentative with their solo sections. This is both harmonically and 
tempo-wise a very difficult piece, so it will come with time.

TMWSIY > Avenu > TMWSIY! Yes!! Well-played. Mike was using this cosmic, 
drippy bass effect he has been tinkering with all tour. To be honest, 
while it may work for "Ghost" or "DWD," keep it clean for this one! A bit 
out of place. Still, nice bustout.

Now, I am NOT a "Time Turns Elastic" hater. Yes, some of the lyrics need 
to be exhumed ("These silver sounds are reigning down on me..."), but boy 
is this an interesting composed suite! How many bands in 2009 could pull 
off a live version of something like this? I hear those of you who say it 
would probably work better in a jazz club or concert hall rather than a 
rock concert, but it just kick back and listen to the melodies. I think 
the band may have found that it works best as a first set closer. Tighter 
versions have been played on this tour, but I think the outro was more 
explosive here at Alpine. A good way to punctuate a generous, old-school 
set. No one performance stands out, but a fun set with interesting 
bustouts and band-audience interaction.

The "Crosseyed and Painless" that opened set 2 was not a total shock given 
set 1's mischief, but was nonetheless exhilarating. To this point, the 
band had already dusted of a handful of tunes shelved for too long. I 
think the jam here which segued into "DWD" was the best of the night. Trey 
plays authoritatively, with excellent support from Fish. Not a TRUE segue 
into "DWD" but you can hear Mike teasing it for several minutes ahead of 
time, if only through his toying with fuzzy bass effects. Nonetheless, 
this must have been amazing to hear live, as "DWD" has become quite a 
crowd pleaser and seems to be a band staple for 3.0. The "Piper" that 
follows is good, fast and exploratory, but I found it sloppy and the 
vocals a bit off. I still prefer the summer 1997 versions that built more 
slowly and then reached a crescendo. Now, the band rushes through the 
composed section and jumps into the jam. This jam is very interesting and 
even screams a bit, but I guess I find it a bit amateurish. "Piper" on 
paper is a simple piece, but Phish's dynamics make it epic. "Wading" was 
good, though I am not the biggest fan of this song. I can't ever forget 
Page falling apart during the disastrous version of this song at Coventry.

To me, the "Boogie On" was oddly placed and featured absolutely no funky 
jam. Maybe they were playing it for a friend backstage? Weird. "Slave" is 
universally welcome and was a great choice in a night of excellent 
choices. The soaring jam ala "Reba," "Hood" and "Theme" was good per 
usual. I hate to be a downer, but  don't think "Slave" is fully back yet. 
They create a nice canvas, but the momentum never really tips for me. This 
version was a lot better than the one played at the Fox in St. Louis, but 
pretty tame nonetheless. Trey is not yet fully on his game on these 
minor-key, soaring music pieces. I think the "Hoods" from this tour are 
examples of this as well -- relative to 1993-1994, pretty darn aimless.

"Grind" was excellent and seems to be the vogue acappella number of the 
day. I love the number of days aive gag. "Frankenstein" was about as 
sloppy as I've ever heard Phish perform it, but given the keytar, the 
flame bass and Trey's multi-neck axe, excused. The live experience must 
have been hilarious. Still, I think they preform this tune better with 
Page sitting in front of the organ and Trey concentrating on one neck.

All in all, I enjoyed listening to this gig, and definitely am excited for 
my first show in five years in August. As per normal, the band grew 
stronger each night in June and I expect August to be another step 
forward. Cheers.


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