Date: Sat, 04 Jan 1997 13:37:57 -0800 From: Martin Goldstein Subject: 12/30 review 12/30/96 Fleetcenter, Boston, MA I think this review page is extremely handy, and I didn't see a full-blown review of the 30th, so I decided to give it a shot... Preshow scene sucked liked the 31th. Too cold, too dangerous, too cramped etc., but again, getting inside was no big deal (when compared to entrance at New Haven last year, we could enter the venue blindfolded and it wouldn't be a big deal..). Overall, a slightly above average show, nothing mindblowing and weak compared to NYE, but still pretty decent... Set I: YaMar, Sloth, Llama, Gumbo, Reba, Talk, Funky Bitch, Theme From..., GTBT pre show tunes: Some wierd, jig-like stuff with what seemed like guitar and soprano sax. They supposedly played it at the Ball. YaMar: Called it, shocked my friends. Not my favorite choice of opener, a little too laid back to kick things off. Also, pretty textbook YaMar, weak by comparison to the Bob Gulloti YaMar on 10/23 in Hartford. They hadn't got "it" just yet.. Sloth: Now this is more like it. Doesn't really change, but who cares? Great fun to shout along to and great lights. Tough to dance to, due to some odd time sigs...but a good choice. Llama: I've seen this one at my last three shows, but don't really mind. The set placement was good, and really got the crowd dancing. Page was all over the organs on this one. Gumbo: Loses something without the horns, but still fun. Love it when Page rocks the ending. So far, a relatively standard, but grooving set. Reba: Hmmmm...mixed thoughts about this one. Listening to Reba is like digging for buried treasure, there's bound to be something good in hiding, but you have to dig through tons of sand to get there...or in this case listen to that boring, overlong, composed part to get to the jam. The jam was actually pretty decent. Flowing, melodious, slowly building etc. The jam quality is becoming standard for summer and fall '96 shows. This was good, but check out Hershey '96 for AWESOME Reba. Talk: Reba was unfinished and I thought they were going to do the whistles, but Trey got his acoustic for Talk instead. No Thanks Of all of the tiny acoustic ditties on BB, I like Talk the least. Oh well, should've played Waste instead. Funky Bitch: Aaaaww Right! Very rocking, very tight..funky as hell, but then oh no! The sound goes out (what's with the sound on Holiday run? (12/28/95)). For about a minute or so, the boyz are rocking hard through the stage monitors, but when the realize the sound went kaput, we were treated to a hysterical, very Spinal Tap-esque "air jam". Page playing the keys with his ass, Trey doing windmills and rubbing his strings against Mike's bass, Fish taking a virtuoso's drum solo. Won't translate to tape....but very funny. Then the sound comes back on. Theme From the Bottom: A beautiful song that I like to hear, but for some reason, most '96 versions I've heard, including this one, simply aren't as adventerous as their '95 counterparts. This was good enough, but lame compared to the huge one from 12/28 last year... Good Times Bad Times: Easily the highlight of the set. Rarely do I see Phish rock this incredibly hard. They always do their covers justice, but this was one of the best versions of this song I had heard, and it salvaged an otherwise mediocre set. Jammed this one for about 7 minutes or so. Awesome. Overall, a somewhat off 1st set that suffered from some less than engaging versions of songs, in addition to the fact that as far as song selection goes, it was clearly evident that they were saving the big guns for tomorrow night. BTW: setbreak kicked ass! Me and my friends had this "prefered seating" from mailorder, and we got luxuries like clean bathrooms, leather couches and fresh fruit frozen yogurt with no waiting in line! Kind of sacriligious at a Phish show, but cool nonetheless...;) setII: Timber Ho!, Uncle Pen, ACDC Bag, Guyute, Tweezer>Lifeboy, SOAmule, Slave E:Possum set break tunes: Dizzy Gillespie stuff Timber Ho!: Yuck. Never really cared for this one. It's too basic and the jam is aimless. Just mindless Trey noodling during the breaks. A shame considering they never played Tube the whole run.......... Uncle Pen: The second song in set II? Interesting placement that works. Phish bluegrass is always fun and everyone gets to take some solos in this one. Good stuff ACDC Bag: Another oddly placed song that worked in context. The beginning seemed to be a little slower than usual, but the build up jam was one of the best I had ever heard. Towards the middle, the jam gets very staccato, very quiet, and then Trey uses feedback to build the climax. Double time ending was insane, even more so than usual. Nice. Thought Tweezer was next, but... Guyute: Justice. Such a great song, really shows off Trey's fingerpicking talents. Nothing to say here except the build up jam was incredible as usual with plenty of dark swirling lights. "I hope this happens once again!" Tweezer: Seriously, who didn't see this coming? Heaven forbid they play Fluffhead or something. I've seen 8 shows with 6 Tweezers and not one Mike's Groove...poor me. Actually, the Tweezer was pretty decent. The composed part was solid, and about 5 minutes into the jam or so, Trey picks up on this repeating theme that I can't really describe, but liked a lot. Pretty short, maybe about 15 min., and it dissolved into something quiet, mellow, could've swore Page was teasing Keyboard Army, maybe a Talking Heads song...but Lifeboy: Ok! A first for me, and was pleasantly surprised. Just a great song to kick back to, smile and sway back and forth. God never listens. Scent of a Mule: Very cool stuff happening during the duel. Page's solo was long, ranging from virtuoso to being subtle, but always good. Fishman was having some fun with woodblocks. Then Mike came out with a Middle-Eastern type bass jam with him making some interesting noises. Finally, Steven Wright (K-Billy's supersounds of the 70's for those Reservoir DOgs fans..) lent his humorous bell-ringing skills to the duel's end. A fine version. Slave: Pretty standard stuff here. The jam seemed to end abruptly. During the build up, it seemed like they had yet to climax, maybe Trey was about 2 whole steps away or so, and then they just play the ending F,G,A sequence. Anybody else pick up on this? Premature ejaculation kinda botched it for me. Overall, An above average set II that had some interesting set placements that worked. Guyute, ACDC Bag and the Scent were definite highlights. For the encore, Possum was an extremely generous choice, and one that rocked hard. They brought the jam around several times before calling it quits, and the effect was good. No signals, just solid ROCK. A decent show with a disposable first set and a nice second set. Nothing out of this world, but still worth getting on tape for GTBT and most of set II. Peace. -DAVID GOLDSTEIN "I come from downtown, born ready for you, armed with will and determination, and grace too." -The Tragically Hip ------------------------------------------ From: "James C. Raras Jr." Subject: NYE run in review pt 3 Date: 3 Jan 1997 00:38:32 GMT Without further adieu part 3... 12/30/96 Ahhhh... back in my home town, I love Boston eventhough it makes no sense, just try to give someone directions (right Mark, Jamie :) This was actually a landmark show for my family as I got my 14 yr old sister to come as well as my parents, maybe you saw them in the fifth row :) They all enjoyed themselves very much, my parents liked Page the best and my sister loved Tweezer, way to go sis :) The security (who were also nice enough to give my parents ear plugs) was a 180 from the Spectrum but it didn't bother me except for the fact that they opened the doors a 1/2 hour late and people were getting *very* restless which made me nervous whereas I was up toward the front of the mob, but luckily everything worked out allright. The sound was much better than the Spectrum, and the Schoeps copies came out really well (way to go CHill :) The Ya Mar opener was standard, but served it's purpose in getting everyone dancing, batting second was The Sloth, who's always a power hitter, as usual a strong version, Llama kept the energy up but there till wasn't much out of the ordinary. I always like Gumbo quite a bit, but this one was somewhat sloppy (Trey on first verse flub etc...) Page had some nice input though. Reba was next, and to tell you the truth I wasn't surprised at all, somewhat quiet intro, pretty standard begining no flubs to speak of thru the first bag it tag it, jam section was nice but nothing jaw dropping, standard ending with no whistling. Next Trey picked up the acoustic for Talk, standard version no jam to speak of. Funky Bitch was next and that's where the fun started for me, a little ways into FB Fish hit the bass drum and the PA went out, they could still hear themselves because the monitors were still on so it took a few sec for them to notice what had happened but when they did they began to ham it up ala 12/9/95 it was really hilarious, the sound caame back toward the end of FB and they ended it and began Theme. Pretty nice version of Theme but this is a perfect example of a song I wish they'd vary a little more in the Jam section, I think it's a great song but with a more adventurous Jam I think it would be much better. Good X, Bad X ended the set which was fun, overall a pretty average set. Timber Ho! opened the second set which didn't surprise me at all, but was nice imo, I love it as a set-2 opener. Uncle Pen came next which is my least favorite bluegrass song so I wasn't all that impressed, standard imo. The Bag which followed had it's moments but I didn't like it nearly as much as the one exactly a year earlier, which smoked! I was really happy to hear Guyute but Trey had major problems/flubs just as he did the last time I saw it (8/4/96), I wonder how Rupp's version was, anyone?? The Tweezer that followed blew my friend Jed's ALS>Tweezer to bring in the new year call, but I enjoyed it, I really liked the groove in the Jam section and it was great how Trey hung back at first and let MIke and Page jam away, then he came back strong and they were wailing away at a really nice groove for a while, this was probably my favotite part of the show. Then it got really mellow after that, which was kinda the theme of the Jams on this run, they'd get crazy but then they'd just kinda mellow/fizzle out (see MikeS>Design 12/28) not that mellow is bad, I love the Fleeeeezer as well as many other long, mellow at times, Jams but I don't want to hear a Page piano solo at the end of every Jam if you know what I mean. At least they segued into a slow song that I like which was Lifeboy, standard version. Next was Mule which I'm really not usually that happy with but I really enjoyed this version not to mention that Steven Wright came out to play a bell "solo", great stuff from a home town boy :) I enjoyed both Page and Mike in Mule which wasn't so much a duel, thank GOD I was really getting sick of that duel thing, infact I think I liked this one so much because there was no duel, but Mike's bass work was really nice too along with some eerie bellowing (for lack of a better word :) Slave was nice to hear as a set closer (again) but really I like it there, the intro was a little weird but overall I thought it was a standard (great) version, but as Dan Seidman noted Bob Gullotti's fills were missing (see 10/23/96) :) The Possum Encore surprised the hell outta me, I was hoping for a "We're an American Band" enc. but Possum allowed me to leave with a smile on my face, and for the second year in a row Paul had "Rocket Man" playing on the PA after the show on 12/30, for those of you who care... :) part four to come... later, jim --------------------------------------------- Subject: 12/30 Boston Recap From: lerdawg@aol.com (Lerdawg) First the Setlist: Set I: Ya Mar, The Sloth, Llama, Gumbo, Reba, Talk, Funky Bitch*, Theme From The Bottom, Good Times Bad Times Set II: Timber Ho!, Uncle Penn, AC/DC Bag, Guyute, Tweezer > Lifeboy, Scent of A Mule **, Slave to The Traffic Light Encore: Possum * With a silent jam by all four band members, Fishman added numerous silent drum fills!!! ** Featuring Comedian Steven Wright on a bell!! Quick Recap, Set I: Ya Mar opener was energetic, Page was all over Gumbo, the Reba Jam saw Mike getting waaaay funky, they started getting down to what reminded me of a Stevie Wonder tune, some 70's soul jam definitely, then the sound went out during Funky Bitch so Phish treated the crowd to some fine air jamming, with Fishman especially carrying on the silent drumming antic, looking robotic!! Set II: Once the Timber Ho started, the light show took off, with a great view of the patterns from up High (Upper Balcony Seats), after a frantic AC/DC Bag ending, Guyute was picture-perfect, Serious bombs by Mike in Tweezer led into a sweet Lifeboy, and the Scent of A Mule surprised everyone, as comedian Steven Wright (you know this guy, "So I got a tatoo of myself, only four inches taller") appeared on stage to tap a bell during the Mule Duel! Possum closed the night with some great work by Trey, who seems really fired up for New Year's Eve!! I expect a 2001, Antelope, Disease and amazing Divided Sky, hope for some Remain in Light Tunes (Crosseyed!), and wouldn't rule out a seldom played old tune... Happy New Year's Brothers and Sisters :) ----------------------------------------------- From: Icculus3@aol.com Subject: Holiday Tour in Review - Part II - 12/30/96 Date: 5 Jan 1997 12:30:23 GMT Well, now that a few days have past and I have gotten sufficient rest for the first time in a while, I will try to review the two Fleet Center Shows, to the best of my ability. I know I wont be able to recount all the specifics, but I'll try. Again, I would like to express my gratitide to Shelly, Phish, M.O personel and everyone else who made this great run as enjoyable as it was. Onto the review...... The 8:00 am train ride from Philly to Boston was very long and boring. I regret not taking a plane, as it was only $35 more, but I am a little strapped for cash. There were plenty of 'heads on the train, but conversation was bleek as we were all exhausted after the pandemonium that transpired at the Spectrum over the past two nights. I slept most of the ride and we arrived in Beantown at about 3:00 pm. Fully rested, I stopped for two slices of pizza and clam chowder at Fannuel (sp?) Hall where I met my friends and we were off to the show soon after. By the time we got the Fleet Center at a little before 5:00, phans had already taken over the streets in front and adjacent to the Fleet Center. North Station was packed and everything was really crazy! The Scene: Way more ticketless in Boston than there were in Philly. Some of them were pretty creative; I saw a guy with a chalkboard strapped to his back and some other creative people. However, there were also the obnoxious fans yelling "Who's got MY ticket" and "C'mon you know you want to give me your extra, I got nugs." If I hear the word nugs ever again, I'm going to vomit. I know what it feels like to get shut out of a show. I had to forfeit my Hershey and Cliff Ball tickets this summer because I was stuck working in Maine. That was the worst feeling in the world, but I wasn't obnoxious about it. I hate how some ticketless are so bitter. It is not my fault that I was lucky enough to get a ticket and they weren't. Anyway, the excessive masses of bitter ticketless made for a less cheerful scene at times. There were literally hundreds or even thousands of people begging for tickets. I'm sorry for the digression. Anyway, There were some very cool drum circles, lots of beer and some delicious grilled cheese. My compliments to the chef ;-) The Hare Krishnas (sp?) started parading up down the streets chanting. Some people were dancing along, most people found the sight comical. I really did not know what to make of it. Right before heading in to the show I found my friends who I came up sperately from. What are the chances?!? We chatted for a while and then I went inside and I had floor seats that my friend got with a bracelet, but I had no idea what awaited me until a security guard said, "Right this way I'll show you to your seat." He lead me to FRONT ROW, CENTER!!!!!! I was hyper-ventilating and in disbelief. I did not let this oppurtunity pass me by and I made a Guyute sign out my 4 X 8 peice of paper I was going to write the set list on. Anyway, there were so many cool people seated around us in Section FloorB. We talked about lots of stuff before the show, but mostly we talked about how incredibly lucky we were to have obtained these primo-seats. When the lights went down I held out my make-shift Guyute sign and Page read it first. He looked at me, smiled and gave me a nod as if to say "We'll get to it." Trey then squinted and read it. He glanced over at Page and they both gave a nod. How cool is that!! I was in disbelief that Phish was acknowledging me and I was also phsyched to know that we'd be hearing a Guyute!!! The Show: Yamar: Standard Yamar, with the normal extended outra jam segment. The crown erupted with aplause when Mike sung "By By Bd a By By" part. Trey glanced down at me during this song, it was definite eye-contact. So when I saw this I gave him a huge smile and the thumbs up sign. He smiled back, nodded his head a couple times and then jammed away. Very cool... Sloth: Perfectly placed, I love this tune.... Llama: jammin', this was surely not standard. They took it places. It wasn't long, but it was fiery. I was glad to hear it. Gumbo: Page owned this Gumbo and we knew it. Therefore, right before the end solo, the guy next to me and I, simultaneously yelled "Take it away Leo!" Page laughed and jammed the ending out. This was great..great...great Reba: This was a very majestic Reba, a flub here of there, but we'll let it slide. This Reba was far from mind-numbing, but it was still above-average. I closed my eyes from start to finish and let the beautiful music filter through me. No whistling at the end which was kind of a bummer. I have yet to hear live whistling. Talk: was enjoyable. I'm not a very big BB fan, but I like the Talk, Trainsong, Waste medley. Trey picked up his acoustic for the one. That was good since I think that Waste, Transong, Talk tandem work better acoustically (i.e. 8/16/96). Fucky Bitch: Here is where the mayhem insues. The boys take off on a jammin' Funky Bitch. Mike looked down at us in the first row for a while. I got so excited everytime I made eye-contact with the band. It may not sound cool, but it was way cool, when they looked down at our expressions. It seemed like they were looking at us, sort of for approval. I hoped they realized that I not only approved, but I loved every minute of 12/30/96. Anyway, as I digress, Funky Bitch was really jammin and fiery. Trey commanded, but Mike was so Funky. As, I mentioned in my Philly reviews the bass was so audible, especially in front row. Anyway, soon after we heard a big speaker pop. We could still hear Trey, but Mike's mic and amps went out. He continued to sing anyway and we could hear in Row One, but I'm sure everyone else could not. Soon after I stopped hearing the piano and then virtually the whole PA system went out. Trey then walked over to the piano and spoke to Page and then he told Mike something and relayed the info to Fish. Soon after the "Silent Jam" was raging. Page was pretty un-enthusiactic, but Trey was doing wind-mills, head banging, playing behind his back and with his tongue. After a little while he went over to Mike for a guitar rubbing session. I could see Mike had a pretty embarrassed look on his face. Probably, because he was guitar-humping Trey and also because he was just singing without realizing no one could hear him. After this madness, Fish takes over with a very spirited, enthusiastic drum solo. The boys got a cue that the PA was back up and they began to REALLY jam out the end of Funky Bitch. ThemeFTB- very cool. I watched Page's fingers the whole time. As a piano player I wanted to see what he did. I'm going to figure this song out, now. Anyway a cool jam led into... | --> Good Times Bad Times.. Page's vocal exclamations in this one are so energetic: "I know what it means to be alone...." Trey jammed it nicely. This works well as a closer and many people in the audience seemed to be familiar with the Zepelin tune. Set II: Timber Ho!: This was an excellent jammin' version. This was my first, so I jumped up and down when they began this one. Page laughed at me when he saw me jumping up and down. I was so siked. Excellent jamming, I paid extra close attention to the lyrics that I have trouble understanding on tape, but I heard them loud and clear here. Jerry is a pretty cruel mule, indeed.. Excellent version of Timber flowed choppily into... | --> Uncle Pen: They pay their respects to the late Bill Monroe in this standard version. Mike had gotten his share of Blue Grass over the run and that is not a complaint... AC/DC Bag: I was beggining to get worried that they had forgotten about my Guyute, so I held up the sign again. But, they went into AC/DC instead. I was very pleased with this jam. This is up there with the most jammin' Bags every. It was pretty long and very enjoyable. Machine Gun Trey treated us to some fast paced action, but it was a joint effort. They collaborated well together. Mike added some spice and Page was on, as always. This was a very impressive effort. Guyute: I held my sign up again and they granted my wish. The second they played the first note, I started screaming thank you! Thank you!. I was jumping up and down like a madman. I was so excited. Page looked right at as they began the song and I was still going crazy. He laughed at me, of course and I yelled thank you and he gave me a "glad to do it" facial expression. There seems to be some discrepency on the .net as to the quality of this Guyute. I agree with Ellis and Mark and some others who said this was not a extraordinary Guyute. It was a little rusty and Trey flubbed the big note and did it again. It is true that Trey forgot to whistle, then he looked over at Page and said "Oh yeah" and whistled. They don't play this song enough and that is why it was a little weak. However, this is a very complexly written song (if you don't believe me, just try to play it) and it is such an amazing song that it is easy to look over a few minor flubs and call this a great version. In reality, all Guyutes are great. This was an energetic, collaborative jam. It sounded incredible and was a huge highlight for me. So, if you enjoyed this Guyute, I don't know if I was responsible for getting them to play it or not, but nevertheless, if I was responsible for the Guyute | -- I was glad to do it ;-) Tweezer: This was most definately a highlight for me. This was not a long epic Tweezer nor did it draw any similarities to any of the monumental Tweezer or Fleezers, for that matter. I would say the boys went out on a limb here and do any experimentation or take any risks. This was just a solid 15 minute or longer Tweezer. The first 9/10 of this jam was extraordinary. Very solid, fluent, firey, energetic jamming. Again Trey took the lead, but it was really a good night for Mike, as he contributed wisely and funkily. This was hands down Page's tour. He ruled the Weekapaug, salvaged the horrendous Coil and owned the Mule Duel. His contributions this tour were incredible. Oh, yeah and there was Ebeneezer screaming in this version. Topher's lights were splendid during the screaming and the whole Tweezer, for that matter. However, the last 1/10 of this jam really fizzed out and died. I knew they were going to go into a slow tune after a while, so that made up for the lackluster effort towards the end. I had an intuition that they would segue into FEFY. But they went slowly into.... | --> Lifeboy: This Lifeboy really was much needed. I was exsasperated after the mayhem of Guyute, Tweezer, Timber and AC/DC. This Lifeboy dragged on for a while or so it seemed, but it wasn't bad at all. It was perfectly placed. If they had placed this Lifeboy in set I, I would have despised it, but after the jams of epic proportions that preceeded this Lifeboy, it served as a great cool down song. Very beautiful..... | --> Scent: I'm pretty sure there was segue here. I might be wrong. Nevertheless, this Scent featured an incredible Page solo that was long and perfect. Page tapped the ivories for a while and then stopped on the first note of the Eastern European/ Fiddler on the Roof jam. At this point I was expecting Trey to step up, but Mike took command. Bonus!! We are rarely treated to a Bass solo. Mike played a cool little bass segment accompianed by some Middle-Eastern type chanting. it was very cool. If Mike was substituted into the duel instead of Trey, I would say Page beat Mike, but who cares? Anyway from here they go into... | --> Jam: This was a short little jam, that is typically unheard in Scent. That is why I labeled it seperately from Scent. Anyway in this short jam, Steven Wright, the comedian who is all over Comedy Central, is the voice of the radio station in Resovoir Dogs and is in other things, came out to wow us with his amazing bell ringing abilities. He came out to a huge aplause. He does happen to be a Bostonian. The music stopped three times and he tapped the bell on those three different occassions and then he left. At this point the boys segued back into... | --> Scent: The klezmer jam and then back into the ending of Scent. Quite a good performance. Knocked the socks off of most Scents that I know of. Slave: Ended the set. I don't think I can ever be impressed by a Slave again after hearing the Nashville 95' Slave with Bela Fleck. That is the most amazing, incredible, tear jerking Slave ever. If you don't have it I will gladly spin you a copy. It is a must have, just for the slave. Anyway, as I digress, this slave was as average as it gets. Good to hear, very peaceful, although they never hit the really high note at the end, which was a little bit of a bummer. Good way to close the set, though. No complaints here. E: Possum: Great.. Great...Great version. This was as firey as it comes ladies and gentelmen. I thought Trey set off the secret language note in the intro, but I guess I was hearing things. They jammed this song until there was no tommorrow. Extremely energetic and our Security Guard buddy (more on him later) seemed to really like this one. Trust me this Possum did not dissapoint. This night was just incredible, partly because of the atmosphere in the front row and because although, there are those out there who disagree, I thought this was an extremely well played show. I want to say Hi to John (the guy who looked like Shaggy from Scooby Doo plus a long beard and 10 inch frames) and friend. I'm sorry we did not cross pathes after the show ;-(. I also want to say hi to all the other cool people in FloorB (the guy with the wool hat, the big guy with the earings and everyone else). We had a hell of great time! I also want to enlighten all of you guys who give security a hard time. In FloorB, we had the nicest, most honest and hard working Security Guard. He was doing his job; kicking people out, telling people to put out cigarettes, etc., but he was so cool. On the exterior he looked like a smug guy, but after the show when we were exchanging setlists, high fiving and glowing after the awesome show, he came over and slapped us all five. He began joking that we were all big one happy Phish family, him included. I guess he was a little shocked at how friendly all of us strangers were to each other. Anyway, we talked to him for a little while, told him we'd see him tommorrow and we got him to admit that to his dismay he did in fact, enjoy the music. Nonetheless, I saw him the following night and talked to him for about 20 minutes, a couple guys from the previous nights section came by for the chit-chat, too. He was stern, but very friendly and I wish people would see security guards as they see everyone else and not act like such jerks to them when they are only doing their jobs and ensuring our safety. *Preachy Mode Off* Well the show had to be a 7.5 or 8.0 on the Scott Jordan Review Poll. The T was a mob-scene getting home, but I enjoyed this show tremendously, so nothing could bring me down. Thanks again for reading this review, I know it was long-winded, but there is so much to say. I'd love to trade anyone who has the Holiday Run shows. Also, if you've read this far, I can offer you some Fall 96's off my list for trade or Blanks. NYE review is still to come and check out my Philly review, if you want, too. Thanks and Happy New Year! Jesse Icculus3@aol.com jhalder@newtech.net --------------------------------------------------- Subject: Setlist and Notes from 12/30/96 FleetCenter From: gt5685d@prism.gatech.edu (Shaggy) Well, it's late, and I'm sure some net.folk have already given the list, but humor me. Got a few quick notes then off to rest up for tomorrow night's pure bliss. The FleetCenter 12/30/96 Boston, Mass. Set I: Yamar, The Sloth, Llama, Gumbo, Reba, Talk, Funky Bitch, Theme from the Bottom, Good Times Bad Times Set II: Timber Ho, Uncle Pen, AC/DC Bag, Guyute, Tweezer, Lifeboy, Scent of a Mule, Slave to the Traffic Light E: Possum A few quickie-notes: Pre-show house music: What was this? Altan? Yamar - Odd time signature.. excellent Sloth - sick Llama - fast and tight Gumbo - We're in for a _really_ phun show; Page - excellent solo to finish Reba - pretty standard.. until -- a really impeccable jam; song unfinished (hmm..) Talk - At the end (which was sweet) Page bears a reeeealy big smile FBitch - Um... Adam? Very, ah, funky. However, they lost house sound near the end, and the band either didn't realize or were just too into it. Could hear stage monitors and actual drums, though. So band breaks it down into a funky "air jam" to cover. Finally Mike (I think) strikes a note, realizes house is back up, quick to finish. GTBT - Kinda short, but a real fun time. Setbreak music: none for ~10min, then real jazzy music, with trumpets, a swing-feel. Who was this? AC/DC - tick-tock ending with Trey, Page follows Guyute - Page - very fine keys indeed Tweezer - Didn't carry a timepiece, but long, furious, energy-pushing, well.. siiiiick jam! (segue into Lifeboy, not really continuous) SOAMule - fairly quick into piano with a bit of a holdback, Page - long build to finish his part, Mike - weird Middle-Eastern bass jam with vocal - way beautiful. All joined, including comedian *Steven Wright* on "service bell." Slave - Nothing short of gorgeous magick; Trey lent a lot of sweetness to the "soft parts" Possum - Incredibly energetic Some notes from the show --- see you net.folks tomorrow afternoon at the Commonwealth Brewery! Love to hear from ya! Happy New Year! Pax et lux, :: Shaggy :: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful | gt5685d@prism.gatech.edu committed citizens can change the world; | http://www.prism.gatech.edu/ indeed it is the only thing that ever has." | ~gt5685d/shaggy.html -- Margaret Mead ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: "Steven Wright Solo's" In Review, Part 1 Date: 2 Jan 1997 02:00:02 GMT From: chucktea@aol.com (ChuckTea) My mind is still reeling from the amazingly perfect solo by the genius, Steven Wright. How can anyone top his brilliance deep inside of Scent of a Mule. The craftmanship of his musical work I don't think can ever be topped by any person. Atleast not in my lifetime. The only thing that can top his solo would definately be a repeat of his stellar performance. Even then I don't think He could recapture the sweetness and the perfect sound emitted from his instrument. He has given me the drive to actually try to learn a musical instrument. And like my mentor i shall perfect the "Ring for Service" Bell. I can only wish to be as good as he is. -Jim Holdin my breath until i get 12-30-96 so i can hear Steven Wright over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. If anyone has it please drop me a line. I don't think i can hold my breath forever. ------------------------------------------------- Subject: 12\30 Highlights(and crowd comments) Date: 3 Jan 1997 03:11:05 GMT From: runawyjimm@aol.com (Runawyjimm) 12-30-96 Highlights 1st set, 1.Sloth is always a treat 2.Funky Bitch, okay this could have sucked, but it was covered sooo amazingly by the band, after they lost their sound you could still hear them through their stage speaker, and then after repeating the funky bitch chords a few times trey starts his best Jimmy Hendrix impression, as Mike jumps into the fucked up act trey starts the windmills, then fishman stands up and starts gettin in the act. after a few minutes of this the band got a cue the sound was back on and jammed right back into funky bitch!!! This was way better then avante garde rift 12\28\95.. 2nd set 1)Timber Ho! nough said 2)GUYUTE only my second live but it was played to perfection...my favorite song of the night 3)SOAMULE-Best Dule EVER with Steven reight and his magical bell it was awesome then mikes hebrew jam 4)Tweezer-my eighth one live IMHO not one of the best doesnt even come close to 12\2\95 or even a nice 10\23\96 but its still tweezer 5)Possum-Raging encore , thought they might give a few signals but it was not to be Overall an excellent second set and a good first set. @nd set definitely a keeper. ***This was hands down the best crowd of the holiday tour*** When the power went out it was silent, also everyone picked up the bell trick really quickly!!! Too bad the crowd on NYE was not as cool as this one :>( Ohh well overall 12\30\96 was a show to remember Later on, Kevin ---------------------------------------------------- From: icculus@pop.netaxis.com (David Siegel) Subject: Re: 12/30/96 Gyute Date: 3 Jan 1997 12:18:05 GMT |The guyute they played last night (12/30) was the most incredible |version I've heard. I thought trey's plucking was on all night and it really |showed on the second set, third song(?) guyute. Get the tapes even if only to |hear just this song. | Right on. This Guyute completely made both the set and the show for me. It is was completely unreal, and has become my second favorite song, only behind that masterpiece Harry Hood (which, btw, was equally as moving). The Guyute/Tweezer definitely combo made this show a keeper. Not only that, but Trey whistled after the first verse, something I don't think he does terribly often. I'm not sure if there was Guyute whistling at Red Rocks (and I'm far too lazy/tired to check), but this was, imho, the second best musical highlight of the entire run, losing to the *entire* second set of the now-legendary 12-29 show. ...I going to have to agree with all of this. Gyute has become one of my fvorite songs by listening to tapes (i.e. Providence '94, joy!) and 12/30/96 was the firs opportunity I had to be at a show where they played it. I must say that it was by far better than any other Gyute I have ever heard (which has something to do with the fact that I was there, and not just listening to a tape) and was one of the highest point of my first time touring with Phish. My friend and I were practically crying it was so beautiful. Gyute ranks up there with my other greatest moments of this tour, which include hearing Antelope for the first time at a show (I GOT DOWN!) and, of course, 12\29 set II (Oom pah pah!) Dave Siegel icculus@netaxis.com URL: http://www.netaxis.com/~icculus/index.htm