7-22-03 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN

review submisions to me at dws@netspace.org, dws@gadiel.com, reviews@walfredo.com

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

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 17:19:20 -0700 From: eric tipton Subject: Re: Phish 7/22/03 review from Phish.net: 7/22/03 - Verizon Wireless Music Center - Noblesville, Indiana Set 1: Punch You in the Eye, Beauty of my Dreams, Gumbo, Divided Sky, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Carini > Magilla*, Possum Set 2: Split Open & Melt > Free > Friday, The Lizards, Walls of the Cave Encore: Bouncing Around the Room > Frankenstein * last played 7.4.00" The amount of money spent in Noblesville by Phish fans really is amazing. I wish I could see a stat somewhere of how much money is brought into the local economy during a Phish 3 night stand. I know I spent my fair share. On this day, I bought 4 new tires for my car, ate at Bob Evans and spent some coin at Wal-Mart as well. It's like the whole town is taken over by the fans - funny stuff. Pre-show was all about drinking, partying and hanging out w/ friends. Who can forget Junkyard Dog or his crazy wife that Z posed w/. You only get this kind of experience at Deer Creek where all the serious freaks come out to play. Thanks to runawayjesse for the killer microbrew in the lot (I still have your cup man, hope you don't mind!). First set: Big huge props to Z and JBK for stubbing me down tonight - it was great hanging out w/ you guys. PYITE: Well of course we had been waiting and calling for a Punch all tour. The crowd about went into a feeding frenzy as this opened first set. Unfortunately Trey really struggles w/ this one. The Landlady segment from 5:10 -> 5:40 and is pretty embarassing. This is the worst PYITE I've seen or heard on disc, seriously. After 5:40 it's all gravy though and they finish up pretty strong. Beauty: Again a couple of very minor Trey flubs, nothing as bad as what just happened in PYITE, but it's there. Gumbo: Now we are talking! Again, another song we had been calling/waiting on all tour. I had no idea what we were in for! This Gumbo is just insane. I think I have listened to it 4 times now and it really does g et better w/ every listen. At 9.5 minutes we have lift off folks - the band just locks up w/ each other and they groove into a very uplifting jam. At 14:15 there is a brief DWD tease by Trey, real quick but it's there. Much of the 12 minute thru 17 minute mark is pure 97 nastiness. In listening to this Gumbo a few times now, it has alot of similarity to that sick 12-6-97 Tweezer. I bet this blew some minds, I know mine was; awesome Gumbo. I believe I saw the last Gumbo 9/27/00 (which is almost as good as this Creek version, it does not get the props it deserves nor does that second set but I'll save that for another day) and was jamming it out at Alpine for Woolfall and his crew; sorry you guys didn't get this one Jeff! Divided Sky: My favorite song. Not just my favorite Phish song but of all the music I listen to. Surrounded by friends w/ a crowd that is going freakin' bonkers, I don't know that it gets much better than this. This Sky is right on the money. A ripping version that has no let up for close to 18 minutes. Thank you Phish! Quick note: So why do you guys think Phish has decided to bring Div Sky back in such a huge way? It's obviously once again entrenched in the rotation much like any pre 97 shows. I for one am a happy camper but would like to hear some thoughts. Personally I think coming off of hiatus they realized how much of joy it was to be back together w/ each other again and to be able to play a song w/ as much feeling as Sky has, well that is what the band was and is all about. My .02 cents. Boogie On: Nice! What a way to follow up 18 minutes of bliss. Mike's bass is so chunky on this tune, I love it! Nice Boogie but much like the Shoreline second set opener, relatively short (6:29) and not jammed much at all. Not complaining just stating a fact. Carini: Great way to follow all the happy happy stuff of Div Sky and Boogie. Plain nasty, tear your head from your body stuff right here. So intense. Magilla: Never could have seen this coming. The band as a whole is kind of rusty on this but that's to be expected really - last time played 7/4/00. I'll have to go back and check my stats but this might be a first timer for me. Enjoyable and a nice breather after the Carini that scared the daylights out of me! Possum: Excellent way to close out a really hot set. Again like Runaway Jim, this is a song that to me just screams Deer Creek. I saw it at my first two shows at the Crick: 6/19/95 and 8/12/96, both those versions closed out the second sets. This song is just too fun to dance to, looking around the venue seeing thousands of people w/ smiles just like mine makes it a real treat. This Possum flat smokes into setbreak and I pretty much collapse into my seat with a big, 'ol shit eating grin on my mug! Setbreak, First set highlights - Gumbo, Divided, Possum. Very strong first set once Trey warms up w/ that sick Gumbo. The playing, selection and placement are all sweet. Second Set: SOAMELT: Finally! I had this pegged as the opener for Phoenix what w/ the heat and all. But it figures that they save this for this slot here at Phish Mecca. This Melt really was torqueing hard core on my reality helmet for sure - man! I love that Phish can still take me into space, scare me, thrill me, awe me - all in the same song! This one is hard driving up until the 11:20 mark or so and then backs off the frenzied fever pitch that had preceded it. Page is running things around 13 minutes and I'm thinking in the back of my mind, Jesus Left Chicago? Nope - continuing w/ Melt, Trey and Page lock up around 14 minutes w/ Mike providing a really nice sonic backround. During a jam that is SO FAR out there as this one was, much respect goes out to CK5. He knows the band so well that even this far into space he is still able to follow what is going on and direct the mothership accordingly. Fantastic. 18 minutes Fish and Trey decide to bring things back up to speed a bit. At almost 24 minutes segue into > Free: This seque was so farking good that it honestly abou t brought me to my knees. This kind of stuff is why I love this band so much. I am no spring chicken to be sure, but while I have the opportunity to still do so, I will travel far and wide for these guys because they still "take me there." Yep. Free, my God this song is so appropriate in this spot. Anytime i see this song I think how truly lucky I am to be able to do go out and see Phish as often as I do. Mike just floors me w/ his bass solo after the lyric outro - Bombs people! This Free does in fact smoke although Trey's vocals are real flat for the ending section. Phish.net says there is a segue into > Friday. Seriously listen to this people and tell me if there is a segue here?? They (Phish.net) are hitting the crack. There is a little jam that I have not heard before a Friday before, but it definitely is not a continuation of Free! C'mon! Anyway... Friday, huh? I was bummed w/ the placement here, but not for long. Trey's solo "Lifts me up and spins me around", gorgeous. When it was over I didn't mind one bit. Lizards: I called this after Friday was over. Chris gave me a funny look that I think I won't ever forget. Makes me laugh everytime I think about it! Big time goosebumps throughout - first Lizards since hiatus. Once again this is a song we'd been waiting for all tour. Surrender to the Phlow line gets a big reaction from everyone of course, me included! Apparently the band must have been practicing this - it sounds like it could have come straight out of 95! Both the Page and Trey solo's are simply beautiful. Trey's solo pretty much put me on a different planet. Walls: I was a little indifferent at the outset. That was not the case when it was over though, good not great set closer I thought. This is15-16 minutes of rock and roll pretty much, machine gun Trey at his best. Really ripping it hard. Good stuff. Encore: Bouncin: Please don't be the only encore is what I'm thinking. Frankenstein: Hell yeah! As always, a VERY visual Frankenstein thanks to MR. C K5. I love the fact that they play a raging tune to end up a raging evening. I mean you just cannot encore w/ Bouncin and let it stand alone after such a great show so it was very cool to hear Frankenstein after it. Second set highlights: Monster SOAMELT > Free, Lizards. Just a flat out rocking show with only one tune that really got spacy (Melt). I am going out on a limb here and putting the Melt in my top five ever. Just pure Phish sickness, this version puddled me. Great show and the best of the Crick run for sure. Tipton-o-meter: 8.5 peace, et
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 10:30:54 -0700 From: Michelle Bradley Subject: 7/22/03 Hey All... hope that you were able to make it to THA CRICK, but if not here's the night you should be jealous of. Every night was raging, but the other two didn't come near the setlist for this one and the result is probably the best show of the tour so far. Opening with PYITE was nice to get things going, they were very tight and the energy seemed higher than normal (Foreshadowing) This was my first BOMD in 30+ shows and I really enjoyed it after this the nrg never died. GUMBO-got my fuckin wish for this summer, they nailed it, better than any version I've ever had. From this point on Mike Gordon was the thing I was listening to most. The Divided Sky- Believe it or not this was my first sky in all my shows I was going bonkers, unfortuanately I have nothing to compare it to. Boogie-my other wish, I was calling this one all day and they took it and had sooo much fun w it Carini-another of 4 songs that I called. I love this song when it's done well and Trey is laughing thru the lyrics it was deep, dark and jammy. Magilla- b-room break Possum- maybe it was the break, but this was kind of a weak version to end such an amazing set. Break--DRANK THE TEA I MADE SOAM- Appropriate considering how I was starting to feel. I was peaking by the end of this long dark SOAM, great opener energy returns, nice glowar. Free- the best FREE I've ever heard live or on any album. No valleys just peaks, once again MIKE GORDON Friday-didn's recognize it at first, but a really nice addition w a pretty solo LIZARDS- Called it, wanted it, got more than I asked for. This was better than the version in POLARIS in the storm of 2000 Walls of the Cave- Called it wanted it more than any new song, couldn't believe how much this song rocks as a closer. Like the energy of an antelope. What a way to close the best 2 sets of music I've heard in three years. Bouncing-liked this version. Funny thing is I kinda missed this old simple song. Not that I'll ever say that about Caspian! FRANKENSTEIN-Wanted it soooo bad but didn't think they would bust it out. I was so busy watching Gordo all night I forgot about Fishman. This reminded me. Hey CK5 will you come do the lights for my band when I get one? Dude I'll buy beer! What a lot, what a show, what a week. Thanx boys, you made my summer!!
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:30:42 -0500 From: Brandon Kropp Subject: 7-22-03 I just can't stop thinking about this show, so I figure if I let some steam out then maybe I can go home and take a nap.   First of all I never knew being completely sober for a show would be such a positive/unique/not too painless experience. I urge people to try it out.   Anyways   PYITE was a good one to get the blood pumping, because this was a blood pumping, hard rock extravaganza. Gumbo was out of this world and if I was writing a setlist I would put Gumbo>Jam. Gordon was using his bass as a weapon to do what he does best. VIBRATE. Divided sky was sheer bliss because the sky was divided between being dark and being light. Trey at his best. Boogie On was very cool because it was the only real fun danceable song of the show really. A great follow-up to DS. Carini got us back to the theme of the show. Dark rock and roll madness. Magilla was oddly placed, the end was butchered. But I really did not care because they have not played it in such a long time. Good soloing from Mike and Fish though. Possum was a little monotonous to me. The jam was like crescendo after crescendo. Page was pounding on those keys in a Lovelightesqe fashion which made the experience cool enough.   Break-The sobriety got to me here.   SOAM-Dark rock and roll madness with some break beats in there. Free Oh my goodness Friday What he said Lizards I was turned off because trey was too busy getting off on page's solo to pay attention to when they were supposed to start singing again. Mike was standing there at the mike a good 2-3 seconds before Trey started walking towards it. Then some annoying guy annoyed me. Walls-The bomb. And what I mean is that there is not much to say about this set in words. Thanks for reading. I'll shut up now.
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 13:14:45 -0500 From: Thomas Laxson Subject: review of 7-22-03 I'll just mention the exceptional (good and bad) to keep it short. Gumbo had great placement (it always seems to be the third song of the first set) and the jam was frickin' amazing. Definitely the best Gumbo to date, and I'm not the only one to think that. It wasn't extremely long, but it was fierce. It just never slowed down. Page had me jizzin' my drawers in the last minute of Divided Sky. He was really quiet (may just be my positioning) and fairly sparse, but he was gorgeous. Carini was also the best version ever. Like Gumbo, it never slowed down, it never got quiet, it just tore the place apart. Chris also did some really nice work during this. Magilla was completely unexpected. It was jammed for the first time that I know of. It didn't go off and explore type II territory or anything, but they improvised within the jazz structure of the song, and it went on probably twice as long as usual. Possum was a bit of disappointment. It just didn't have the energy. SOAM, once again, was the best version to date. There was a glowring war in the lawn during the beginning of the jam, but they should have saved it, cause the boys really got going about halfway through. Again, Chris did some amazing work here, and actually throughout the rest of the show. This was at least twenty minutes and only mellowed out for the last minute or so. About halfway through, they returned to the Split theme, and it seemed like it was over, but Trey insisted that they tear shit up before going on to another song. I can't describe what was so great about it, but trust me that you have to get a copy of this! Friday had a really passionate solo that almost had me in tears. Luckily the band doesn't care that most of their fans don't like this song. It had perfect placement. Walls, continuing on the theme for the night, never mellowed out. It was just pure raging rock and roll for about 16 minutes. It seemed like a short set, so I was hoping for a Slave or a Golgi after this, but I was pleased anyway. I hoped for a longer encore -- something like Guyute or Slave -- but they must be holding out for the third night, because it's going to be tough to top these first two. Overall, the band avoided much of the spacy and mellow jamming that they have loved so much in recent years, opting instead for hard core, unceasing, fiery rock and roll. I can't complain. This show was much more solid than the night before, with a more fluid setlist, especially the second set. It's definitely one of the best all around shows I've heard.
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 00:11:37 -0700 (PDT) From: d l Subject: Review of Deer Creek, second night, 7-22. in body, and attachment Email me after you read this review if you disagree or even agree with what I am about to discribe about the 2nd night at Deer Creek!  Let^Òs discuss!     siketcd@yahoo.com Let me start by talking about the ticket situation.  I^Òve been mail ordering since 95, and I got hooked up through mail order with lawn tickets for this show.  So I bought an ebay ticket for pretty cheap, upper pavilion.  I thought I stop by the will call house just to check it out, and sure enough, they had released what they call ^Óband tickets,^Ô and I found myself purchasing a 2nd row ticket.  That^Òs right, 5:00 pm, day of the show, 2nd row tickets on sale. I won^Òt ever understand why this band won^Òt hook up ^Ófrequent flyers^Ô of mail order with these types of tickets.  It just plain frustrating. I luckily sold the ebay ticket I had for $35 as tickets were ALL OVER THE LOT.  As it got closer to showtime, it was a chore just to GIVE a ticket away.  It^Òs interesting to see this scene so much different than before the hiatus where everywhere you walked it was: ^Ówho^Òs got my extra?^Ô  The phish ticket situation has transformed (in a wonderful way) into an easy ticket.  Is it because the dead is on tour?  The economy?  The unfriendless of round room to the casual listener?  Anyone^Òs sociological guess will explain it, but the fact is, tickets are everywhere!  IT tickets are being sold for fewer than fifty bucks. Set One: Punch You in the Eye:  What more can you want from an opener.  Reminded me of New Years 95 at MSG.  Trey^Òs guitar work on some of the structured chord sections seemed a bit rusty, but my attitude about these types of things is this:  These guys are only human.  Mistakes will happen, and what is the point of over analyzing the flaws when you should really just be focused on having fun, despite the mistakes.  If you^Òre the type of fan who nit-picks these things, like the lyrical mistakes during cavern everytime, you need to have a beer and lighten up.  They aren^Òt robots. Beauty of My Dreams:  Cool. Gumbo:  holy shit!!  I mean really.  Good choice.  I need to look up the last time they played this.  You know what I^Òm talking about.  Oh yea, the jam was spectacular. The Divided Sky:  Just heard it at the KC show, but hey, this is one of the first songs that got me into this band.  Oh yea, the jam was impressive. Boogie On Reggae Woman:  My god.  When you^Òre lucky enough to be this close you really get to see how much fun these guys have.  Smiles all around. Carini:  Standard Carini: jamming.  Did I mention how loud it is up close?  I saw one guy actually covering his ears!  I couldn^Òt believe it. Magilla:  Cool.  Flawfull, but who cares!  They struggled through it anyway, and had a good time doing it.  You can^Òt help but to giggle with them at their own flaws.  I^Òm sure there will be other reviews that rip into this part of the show because of the flaws, but who cares?  Just have fun.  Seriously. Possum:  This was the make up for magilla.  They seemed to chat for a while before it starting, trying to come up with something to make up the previous song.  They delivered.  Oh yea, the jam was striking. Set 2: Split Open and Melt > OK.  Great set opener.  This is why we see this band.  The jam.  Wow.  You can^Òt describe it in one of these silly reviews!  Read the book! Free:  Do you ever get the feeling that the band makes eye contact with you?  Well I must say that I looked at mike, and I knew they were thinking ^Ówhere should we take that amazing SOAM?^Ô  Well I mouthed the word FREE, and mike then did the same to trey, and kabloom.  This is at least one of my top 3 favorite tunes.  Check out the first version of this from Lowell, MA in 1995. Friday:  I admit it, I went to the bathroom.  Cool song though.  It really transforms into a great jam. The Lizards:  OK, it seems to me they haven^Òt played this in a while.  Page^Òs piano work, oh baby.  And Trey nailed the awesome awesome guitar solo that is this song. Walls of the Cave:  Kablamo.  MY dear God.  Just like possum to end the 1st set, this was just what the doctor ordered.  It^Òs got it all.  Piano solo to start, great vocals, and even a wonderful drum solo.  Did I mention the jam?  It was remarkable.  Seriously.  Dude. Encore Bouncing Around the Room: Hmmmm.  Well, you know, bouncing.  It^Òs cool to watch Trey^Òs fingers for the guitar work at the end of the song.  Page was all smiles as well. Frankenstein:  You know what I mean!  This is how you end a show.  Trey^Òs wah-wah, the lights, the loudness, the in-your-face awesomeness of Edgar C Winter^Òs classic.  Great end. The lot was raging as usual afterwords.  It sprinkled a little, and the food was great.  Time to prepare for tomorrow. Well, that went entirely way too long.  Sorry!  Email me to tell me I don^Òt know what I^Òm talking about, or if you have some further thoughts or questions or anything!
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