10-6-00 -- Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California

Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2000 15:15:18 PDT
From: Marc Carver [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 10/06/00 Shoreline review
 
 
10/6 was a very solid show.  Boogie On was  extended - Mike was the driving
force in the jam.. best version i've heard (except for maybe last year's
Chula show - i'll have to compare the.. shoreline might have been better.)
DWD > Spock's Brain was the highlight of the show.  the DWD was really sick
- similar to the Tweezer from the next night.  no real ambient jamming..
powerful chord progressions - very climatic jam.  the Rift could've been
lifted from a '94 set - no flubs, tight playing.. i haven't heard that good
of a Rift for many years.  the Sand was definately the best version i've
heard (except for maybe BC.)  but, i think shoreline was even better.. the
Vegas Sand just drifted off into nothing - and pretty much sucked.  this
version was more intense than any Sand - also a very climatic jam.. instead
of the normal noodling, Trey threw in this jam at the end that just blew the
roof off!  Golgi was similar to the Rift - really tight w/ an old school
sound.. Page got up to leave after Golgi - Trey started up B&R.. Axis was a
great closer, as always.. the Bobby encore was really cool - El Paso sounded
great.. the Chalkdust was rippin', but Bobby couldn't find any room to fit
in.. he kept bending down and fiddling w/ his amp.. i think he was getting
annoyed b/c he couldn't hear himself over Trey.  phish's sound is so huge
that they can't help but drowned out any guest that comes on stage.  they
would drop off into a slower, funky Chalkdust jam, and give Bobby a little
room to play.. his guitar had this really metallic sound to it.. and was
hard to hear unless Trey held back quite a bit.  Bobby ended up getting a
pretty decent solo at the end of the Chalkdust - but, i really don't think
he contributed much.. it was still a great version, just b/c they were
forced into the funky jam a few times to let Bobby try to step in.  they had
definately planned on segueing into West LA.. it would've been smooth, but i
don't think Bobby was ready.. he motioned '1 second' to Trey and fiddled w/
something.  the West LA was sweet - nice and funky version.. a good choice,
imo.

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 12:40:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Andrew Farbstein [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 10-6-00
 
After the first two California shows, I was ready for something a little less
poppy and a little bit more spacey and dark for the next to last show.  Wow,
was I not dissapointed:
Carini:  AAHHH... now this was what I was looking for. Very dark as usual, and
rocking...too bad I didn't have great sound from my lawn spot.  Oh well.
Stash:  Continuing the trend.  Nice long Stash, with
great low down dark funky jamming before it was
kicked into overdrive at the very end.  Composed parts
done very well as well
Boogie On:  Great song to dance to.  Nothing too special here, but always a
treat.
Mellow Mood:  So psyched to hear this again after Albany.  I always said they
needed more Marley at shows, and this song is perfect.
Maze:  Very nice with keeping up with the dark and stormy.  Not too long, but
composed was very niceand the jam was nice and fast.
Moma Dance:  Some people weren't happy about this one because they had just
played it two days before, but I was psyched, because I can never get enough
Moma.  Standard, though.
Antelope:  See comments for Moma overall, a great set.  How can you go wrong
with that setlist?  The playing was great, and even with the repeats, best of
the three nights up until that point for me...

Second Set:
Okay, this is where things got absolutely awesome for me:
Heavy Things:  I like this song a lot, but it upset me because I still wanted
the dark and stormy music, and this was a little too happy for me.  I thought
this would be an indicator of the rest of the show, but boy was I wrong
DWD:  This is where things really took off.  Awesome Intro and bass playing by
Mike, he was really slapping that thing around.  The jam took a clearly dark
turn and went on real nicely for a while before...
Spock's Brain:  So, so happy to hear this.  Never would've thought.  Kept up
the dark tone of the show and flawless IMO, although I haven't heard enough of
them to be sure
IJW:  Nice, well played
Rift:  Now the roller coaster ride is going back up. Happy and well played,
much better composed then July 4th or Great Woods.
Cities:  Hadn't seen it since Lemmonwheel, and I absolutely fucking Loved it!  
The roller coaster started decending again during the jam.  It went back to
the dark and stormy funk.
Sand:  BEST FUCKING SONG EVER!!! Okay, I've been to 37 shows, and this was my
favorite song ever.  It isn't even one of my favorites normally, but they went
places I've never seen.  It was so dark and funked, I couldn't tell if I was
in Heaven of Hell.  Please, get the tapes if only for this song.  It will be
worth it.Trust me.
Golgi Apparatus:  Okay, roller coaster going up again. Very happy and well
played but standard of course.
B&R:  Not much to say.  Normal
Bold as Love:  A first for me, well played and fun as well, but I guess I
wouldn't know how well played. Overall, this set gets a perfect 10 for me.  
Even though I didn't love all the songs, the variety and the ride they gave me
was the best emotional experience of my Phish life.  I didn't even care about
the encore, until I saw the extra mic.
Weir encore:  Just fun, fun, fun.  Especially West LA Fadeaway.  It was great
because I never thought that I would hear dead at a phish show.  El Paso was
nicely done as well, and Chalkdust, well, Weir probably was not ready for it,
but it was funny. This was my favorite "normal" Phish show of my ever. This
show took me places I have never been.  If anyone has tapes, please for god
sakes email me. [email protected].  I will really miss this band. I must be
the only one who does not want them to break...


Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 15:26:35 -0700
From: Charles Dirksen [email protected]
Subject: 10/06/99 Shoreline Phish review (with special guest Bob Weir  in the
    encores)
 
"Gamehendge is a state of mind."
   -- Trey Anastasio, 09/30/00
 
I'm cc'ing rec.music.gdead on this one because of Bob Weir guesting
for the encores.
 
**DISCLAIMER**:  I received more flames in the last week for my Vegas reviews
than I have received combined in the last 4 years or so. =^] I fortunately,
though, received far more kind words from thoughtful fans. THANK YOU!!  It's
nice to know that many of you care one way or the other, too.  At the same
time, now I know why far fewer people review shows on rec.music.phish these
days than was once the case.  Apparently anyone who ever says anything
critical gets flamed by a posse of "It's all good, dude" fans who ironically
decry negativity in reviews while at the same time saying "take your negative
vibes elsewhere you [expletive] [expletive]" and "if you can't enjoy a show
then leave the scene [expletive]".  The greatest irony in all of this being,
of course, that I had fun at the *GREAT* Phish shows in Vegas and even said as
much.  Apparently a person can't have fun at a show in which the music ranged
(for the most part) from below-average to average-Great. (!)
 
My Phish experience is different than yours.  If you can't accept and
appreciate the fact that other people who love Phish at least as much as you
do love and listen to the music in a different way than you do, then READ NO
FURTHER.  This review is for people who love Phish's music and who also want
to hear a reviewer tell the truth about what he or she saw and heard.  We all
know that the weakest Phish jam is often a hell of a lot more musically
impressive than a lot of the improvisational rock out there.  We all love
Phish's music or we wouldn't participate in this forum in some way, be it by
reading its posts or actively contributing to it.  These are my TWO CENTS
based on my own experience with Phish's music over the last 11 years.
 
10/06/00 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
 
I'd never seen so many people at Shoreline! =^] It also had never taken so
long to get into the venue.  The volume of people who showed up for the music
and/or the party was truly awesome.  I bet easily around 40,000 or more.  
Tonight I imagine it'll be even more crazy (in a good way, hopefully).
 
Though there were "repeats" from recent shows in this show, it didn't matter a
bit, IMO.  They can repeat anything they want anytime they want, as far as I'm
concerned, so long as they play the version with passion.  Rumors abounded
that Neil Young would be showing up.  I didn't hear anyone mention Weir.
 
Within seconds of the jam segment of "Carini," it was obvious that Trey came
not simply to rock, but to sing.  This version's jam segment was both powerful
and forceful as you would hope and expect it to be, but also MELODIC, for a
change.  Trey's creative soloing was magnificent and refreshing to hear, since
IMO such playing was practically non-existent at the Vegas shows last weekend.  
And christ, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MR. MICHAEL GORDON!!!!! This was an siiiiick
opener, and the crowd seemed really into it, too!
 
I teared up during the jam segment of this "Stash," since it became obvious in
very short order that Trey was going to sing to souls tonight (and not just
kick ass, which, after all, is par for any Phish show!).  The jam segment was
beautifully performed and, though not a long "rager" or anything, was still
charming and soulful.
 
"Boogie on Reggae Woman" -- after the strong "Carini" and "Stash" -- was
surprisingly through the motions.  Fish, Mike and Trey kicked back for the
groove during the jam, giving the floor to Page, but Page just grooved along,
too.  Page was snaking around on the clavinet with what seemed like an
envelope-filter-like sound.  It reminded me (vaguely) of Jerry's tone in the
5/8/77 Dancin' jam segment, but unfortunately, Page didn't do anything
especially melodic.  I was hoping he would just TAKE OFF using this cool tone
and just throw down some killer melody over the groove, but it was not to be.  
This wasn't a memorable version of the tune, but it was still fun to dance to.
 
What little I heard of "Mellow Mood" (the first minute or two) was performed
much better than it was in Vegas, IMO.  Such a great, catchy tune!  "Maze" --
like the version in Vegas -- was executed admirably in the last five minutes
or so (what I heard of it), but this is one of those Rift tunes that were
played sooooo much in 1993-1995 that I just haven't been able to get into them
as much as most around me can at a show.  My problem, I know, but I am
abivalent about this song *live* since I've caught it so many times.
 
"Moma Dance" was also played forcefully, and, similiar to the Vegas version,
was more "rocking" and less "funky."  This version didn't hold a candle, of
course, to the spectacular 7/6/00 version, but so what.  I remember in Vegas
in November 1997 hearing "Black-Eyed Katy" (which later became "Moma Dance")
for the first time and **LOVING IT** then.  I'm surprised it hasn't
improvisationally gone Further and Farther more often since that time, though
(the only real improvisational versions of "Moma Dance" still being the 7/6/00
and.. that one in Japan in June..?).  I still love this song!
 
"Antelope" was an excellent closer, performed very well to close yet another
short set.  It wasn't a top ten or even twenty version, by any stretch, but it
was still a blast! Trey seemed very eager to get off the stage at the end,
though, for whatever reason (there was no goofing off or toying around in the
closing Rye Rye Rocco segment, at all;  he didn't even wait very long to say
the "Rye Rye Rocco" lyric!).
 
Second set opened with a fun, happy happy joy joy "Heavy Things," a song which
-- I can't help it -- I have grown to appreciate and enjoy.  I do wish Trey
would take a longer solo during it, but whatever.
 
"Down with Disease" was GORGEOUS, in my opinion.  It contained this
mesmerizing, divinely enchanting jam in it, that eventually segued in an
awe-inspiringly brilliant manner into "Spock's Brain."  One of Phish's finest,
true segues, EVER, without question.  "Spock's Brain" was performed better
than it was in Vegas (as you might expect), and made me wistfully think back
to the versions I saw on tour in summer 1995.  This is a really weird song,
though, that only some fans seem to appreciate, I being one of those fans (I
believe I heard someone near me during it say "I don't care if it's Spock's
Brain, I think it sucks" (mileage varies)).
 
Trey brought out the stool and acoustic for "Inlaw Josie Wales," and played it
near-perfectly.  It was the most "warm" event of the show.  Trey brilliantly
turned a 20,000+ person-strong outdoor rock concert into an intimate affair.  
I'll never forget it.  I can't comment on "Rift" since I took off running for
the john.  "Rift" is a fantastic Phish song, both compositionally and
lyrically, but having heard it and seen it so many times (like "Maze") it's a
"bathroom tune" for me and has been since 1994.  "Cities" is one of my
favorite Phish covers (along with "Melt the Guns," which I sure wish they'd
have brought back by now).  This version was fun (aren't they all??), but I
don't recall the jam segment being especially memorable.
 
"Sand," on the other hand, was THRILLING and INSPIRED!! Just a raging version
of this tune.  Mike was slaying the repetitive (but very cool!) bass line, and
Fish and Page seemed to really work it, too.  This version **destroyed** the
aimless one in Vegas last week, IMO.
 
"Golgi," like "Rift," is a great tune lyrically and compositionally, but also
one I just have seen and heard too many damn times to appreciate as much as I
once could and did.  It was well-played from what I'm told.  "Brian and
Robert" sounded pleasant from the john (I have grown to like this song a heck
of a lot more than I did when I first heard it).  "Bold As Love" was a great
set closer as it always is, but didn't take me for strong like many versions
in the past have.  I still love this Hendrix cover and, as far as I'm
concerned, they can end a set with it at every damn show if they want!
 
Ahhhh, the encores.  Bob Weir.  And I thought Kid Rock was "controversial"!  
8^] I was very happy that they invited Bob on stage, if only because Bob has
done a lot for improvisational rock music over the last 35 years.  But damn,
did someone forget to tell him that HE WAS Phish's GUEST? 8^} He seemed to be
eager to conduct the members of Phish, just as he routinely does/did with "The
Other Ones."  Anyway, I love "El Paso" and usually loved it when I heard it
off and on at the 48 or so Dead shows I saw between 1986 and 1994. Trey
actually played some Jerry-esque licks/runs in this "El Paso" between breaks
in the verses, as Jerry used to do.  They made me LOL (and if you've heard me
laugh, that's a bad thing).  Bob Weir has a beautiful voice, IMO (except when
he's screaming like a freak during "One More Saturday Night," I suppose ;-).  
Phish watched Bob like hawks during this version, seemingly in terror of
screwing it up.  Though not flawless by any stretch of the imagination, Bob
sang it well and Phish played it as well as you'd might expect them to play
something they had hardly rehearsed (if at all).  I enjoyed it, even if it
wasn't strong musically.
 
Immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY, following "El Paso," Trey launched into
the opening, raucous chords of "Chalkdust Torture," and Bob Weir
**immediately** went over to Trey -- extremely concerned -- with a "WHAT THE
HELL CHORDS ARE YOU PLAYING?!!?" look on his face (Deadheads have seen Bobby
do this at "Other Ones" shows and Dead shows), which of course sent me into
hysterical giggling, laughing and cackling (I probably offended many fellow
fans in or near section 101 row O near the center aisle... I'm sorry if you're
one of them).  Honestly, to follow up a song as serene and soulful as "El
Paso" with "Chalkdust Torture" was spectacularly funny.  At least to me.  
They are just such different tunes.  It reminded me of the 12/28/93 Bender
Arena show when "Highway to Hell" was performed after a sweet "Harry Hood"
(both versions of which I loved).
 
"Chalkdust Torture" was siiiiick, but weird...  Even though Mike, Fish, Page
and Trey were all looking at Bobby to solo, for whatever reason, Bobby's
guitar wasn't coming through either the house speakers or apparently his own
monitor on stage.  At least, from where I was in 101, I couldn't hear a single
note from Bobby, at any time during this version, and there were times when
Bobby at least appeared to be doing a hell of a lot more than playing rhythm
guitar!  It was extremely funny to watch, especially for people who have a
love/hate relationship with Weir.  At one point, when Trey was just TAKING OFF
and RAGING during the jam segment (while watching Bob Weir the entire time),
Bob looked nervously over to the monitor board and made the motion he makes
with his arm to turn up his monitor.  I don't think Bobby knew what the hell
was going on at all, and it was a RIOT watching and hearing Trey just TEAR THE
JAM SEGMENT APART all the while looking at Bobby, who wasn't able to keep up
at all.
 
Ok, I don't know why I found this to be so riotously amusing, but I did.  
It's not that I'm not a fan of Bob Weir's.  I think he's a brilliant
songwriter and a very talented musician.  It's just it was really wild
watching Phish basically *stare Bob down* as he tried to keep up with
"Chalkdust" and jam with them... Bobby you see wasn't *making a sound at all*
even though he *appeared* to play his guitar.  It just looked really damn
funny. I have no idea why you couldn't hear Bobby at all during this
"Chalkdust," but I'll presume that it wasn't intentional. :-)
 
I thought they were going into "Smokestack Lightning" for the first few
measures of "West L.A. Fadeaway," a mistake I never made at Dead shows since
you knew when it was Jerry's turn.  "West LA Fadeaway" was performed fine, and
it had the same ending of The Other Ones version, which presumably Bob taught
Phish to play at setbreak or at some point before the encore.  I guess they
chose this one because it is easy to learn/play, but it would have been a
cooler finish if they'd tackled Stephen->Eleven or Playing! I used to enjoy
West LA Fadeaway at Dead shows.  I liked the Other Ones version at Shoreline
last August with Bonnie Raitt (sp?) better than this one, but no big deal.  
I'm a fan of this tune.  I don't think Bobby took a solo during it, for what
it's worth, and I don't remember anything especially memorable about it
musically.  It wasn't a strong finish to the show.  I actually heard a couple
people booing.  But IMO, this trio sure beat even the most incredibly
well-played Monkey Top encore I've ever heard.  :-)  And I love Sleeping
Monkey!
 
All things considered, I had a BLAST at this Phish show!  I think it would be
worth getting the tapes for the Stash and DWD jam segments alone.
 
TWO CENTS, please add you own!
 
charlie

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 16:47:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: jade deyo [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 10/6/00 shoreline review
 
Disclaimer:

this show was an especially special one for me in many different ways.  it
marked my 13th phish show, the 9th this year, and the first one i was able to
share with my brother.  in all, our "mini-phamily" consisted of three phish
show "virgins", two who had been to one show last fall, and myself.  everyone
that i've met at my meager 13 shows have been so loving and phriendly that i
was eager to share such an even with those who had no idea what to expect.  i
found myself reliving the same feelings that i felt after my gorge/portland
three-show run last fall.  feelings of the band, the phamily, the whole
experience of the entity that we call phish!!
 
On to the show:

we got to the lot late on friday but were able to park relatively easily.  we
made our way toward the will-call booth and, after a bit of a hassle, made it
to our tickets as well (i don't know what shoreline was trying to do with the
lines and gates but luckily they fixed it before the saturday show).  since we
had an extra we were able to "miracle" a sister who'd lost her ticket in the
lot.  it was a special way to start off the show and she was truly grateful
for the gift... something like four giant hugs, wonderful!!
 
once inside (bag check was actually a breeze) we made our way to our seats.  
100 level, row Q, on the aisle- trey side (thank you very much ck!!!!), we
were all pumped for what was about to be one of my most memorable shows yet.
 
1st set:  i won't go into great detail but it started off rockin', got bassy &
funky, and ended with an Antelope that i'll never forget.
 
set break we all just kinda chilled and reflected on the set.  needless to say
everyone in my little crew was blown away.
 
2nd set:  a couple of things jumped out at me in this set.  musically the
highlight started off with a lovely Inlaw and went into a crazy combination of
Rift>Cities>Sand that had everyone with me wearing smiles a mile long.  after
a pretty tight Golgi the boys played a wonderful Brian and Robert that, i
believe, was what really sold phish to the beautiful women that i was with.  
it was so sweet and pure and flowing that we just put our arms around each
other and held tight and swayed to the music... bliss!! thank you so much
guys!!!  the Axis was my first live and was incredible.  page really belts it
out and trey... well what can a man say about trey besides that jimi would
have been proud!  superb second set all around.  beautiful phriends, beautiful
memories.
 
Encore:  Bobby, Fish, Page, Mike and Trey...  enough said.
 
thank you so much, phish, for 10 shows and countless memorable days this
summer and fall.  i've experienced things in conjunction with you that i'll
carry around for the rest of my life.  the energy and love that you share with
us is truely incredible.  rest up, we'll see you again soon.
 
jade

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 00:27:21 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Shoreline Oct. 6, 2000 - Review
 
Phish - Friday, October 6, 2000
Shoreline Ampthitheatre
Mountain View, CA
 
What a show, WHAT A SHOW!
 
What I had hoped to get for my first official 'west coast' show and for my
first time at the great shoreline amphitheatre I got and a whole lot more!  
The trip cross-country was made worth it with this show.
 
Having heard about the poor lawn seating at shoreline and with
only lawn seats in hand for both nights, my only focus going into
to the concert area was to just get to the lawn and put my blanket
 down in a decent spot.  I really missed the lot flavor of shoreline,
truthfully I don't know even if there is one, because on both nights
all I saw was highway 101, the amphitheatre parkway, 20 minutes
of not bad traffic on the parkway to the parking lot, and bill graham
drive leading to a very small parking lot called section C.  In front of
 parking section C was the entrance right behind the stage so we went straight
in.  However the west coast flavor of concert going was soon witnessed inside
with the almost festival like concession area which included all types of
vending, a full bar showing the baseball playoff games, and all different
kinds of food, beer and wine for sale, nothing like the bland generic hotdog,
pretzel, beer concessions you get out east!  The west coast feel for concert
going was also further received on the lawn.  First let me say the lawn at
Shoreline gets CROWDED!!!! PACKED!!!  Plus if you go up the lawn about 10 rows
of people you can hardly see the stage, and even from there it's like being in
the nose bleeds at a ball game, thankfully the camera work on the projection
screens is exceptional, THE BEST I have ever seen at any venue, providing
views of the band and their instrument play better than I would have seen
myself if I was sitting on the stage. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!! You made the lawn
bearable with those shots! But to return to the west coast 'scene' it was
definitely a lot more pleasant on this lawn.  Eventhough as people begin to
arrive your blanket quickly becomes half the size of what you initially laid
it out to be, everybody is really respectful of each others area (except for
the "RV VIP" crew from VA on Sat night which were a group of obnoxious tour
kids, but that's another tale).  And man is the west coast concert goer
eccentric. We saw an alien, a spoonface man, homer, saturday night fever guy,
and may other characters, they sure take their concert going seriously.  Plus
there are also those in the crowd who are willing to share their "Phish
expertise" with anyone who wants to listen. The crowd is also much older and
less tour ratty (for lack of a better term).
 
It's been a while since I have been at a show on the lawn of any venue, and
definitely even longer for a sold out show!  And I know why I stick with
pavilion seating.  But overall a pleasant experience, especially on this
Friday night!
 
    On to the music.  I really didn't keep any notes so I am basically
 going on memory, therefore this probably won't be as detailed as some of my
other reviews The first three songs were lost in the haze of the poor lawn
sound.  Muffled and very low I could pick out some nice playing in Stash, but
I have to say the first three were average and Boogie On Reggae Woman was
almost down right dull.  But never fear, like magic the lawn monitors kicked
in, crisp, and though still not as desired much louder than prior allowing for
the music to be enjoyed!  Believe me, I was getting worried there for a second
having traveled this far for such poor sound during the first three.  Anyway
this led to a very pleasant, very Marley styled version of Mellow Mood which
had the crowd dancing and even though this song is a little short and I
could've had it go another five minutes it was well received all the way from
Trey's rhythmic guitar to Fish's backing vocals.  A favorite from the start!
This really set the tone for the rest of the set, and Maze was very much
inspired by it with a very creative assault!  They were in another gear. The
Moma Dance was fantastic and Trey singing this one with a ton of soul and
beautiful flavor in both voice and playing.  Great Version. Plus Mike was also
on. The whole band was on!!!!!!!!!!!!!  THIS IS IT THE LAST TWO!!!!!!!!  
Antelope just sealed the deal that we (Phish) aren't going anywhere just yet
and we are going to give it to you as hard as we have been for the last 17
years and this Antelope contained those 17 years of energy and creativity!
 
  Heavy Things was a pleasant way to start set 2, but one of the highlights
was the Dw/D!  Man was this one strong and perfect. This one went right into
Spock's Brian, there was no hum or anything just a strong flawless segue
(reminds me of Cities from Tweezer on New Years 98-99).  Spock's wasn't
perfect and truthfully I don't think the band remembers what the song's
intention was when they first performed (or even wrote) it in 1995, but even
though the crowd sat patiently through it, I was happy to hear it's return in
the setlist for this particular concert experience.  Too bad they won't have
time to work into it and remember what it is all about. Definitely seemed a
lot more blossomed back in 1995 even though probably just as much played on
this tour as then.
 
Inlaw was a 180 degrees flip from Spock's.  Trey knows what he wants out of
this one and gave us a near perfect rendition.
 
I don't know what else to write about the remainder of the setlist. Think of
this as me just standing there with my mouth wide open, scratching my head
going man this is incredible!  Everything, even golgi was right on! They
scored a 10.  Cities, Sand and Bold as Love were easily the best ever seen
versions for me.  Brian and Robert was a beautiful fit after the Sand, SAND
was really amazing, and then Page again knocks on the door saying "we ain't
done yet" with Bold as Love.
 
 Now for the encore.  I have never seen Bobby "Ace" Weir play lead guitar with
such animation. He was so full of concentration on Chalkdust Torture. And it
just went on and on.
 
El Paso was the strangest choice, a cowboy song with Phish backing? But it
must've been something Phish could pick up easily. Mike and Fish had it down
cold, and Trey and Page were looking at Bobby's every move to keep it tight
and in line, allowing Bobby all the room in the world! Hey it was well done
and Bobby gave it his all.  I can't describe CDT. Trey's guitar was definitely
a LOT louder in the mix, so if Trey wanted to crank out his chords he blew out
Bobby, but again he was getting him to fill in, allowing Bobby to be heard.  
Bobby was just going off, showman, cheeze, whatever you want he was trying to
play lead improvisation harder than I have ever seen before!  Viagra-fied! It
was a phenomenal site, I must've cracked up at least 10 times, Bobby and
Phish!!!!!!!!!!  Sweet!  AWESOME!!!!  I hate to say it but I think the true
greatness of this performance can only be fully appreciated by those in the
crowd who know Bobby from going to Dead shows!  Still shaking my head, Bobby
and Phish!
 
West LA had a lot of Bobby cheeze in it especially vocally, and Trey did a
great job with the solo!  And as with El Paso Bobby became the leader of the
band, unlike CDT where Trey lead things. Once again phenomenal, I apologize
for the "gushing".  I just really like the meeting of these two worlds.
 
What a show, what a great show!
Thanks for the time,
Peace,
Kaz
[email protected]

Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 21:15:13 -0500
From: Dennis [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: shoreline 10/6
 
Ya know, I read some of these reviews, and after doing a good chunk of
summer tour and only the Cinci date of fall, I have to wonder if the
drugs are getting the best of the fans.  I just got nice clean Neumanns
of this show, and I gotta say that it seems mediocre at best, and that's
a stretch.
 
i'm not even gonna touch on the phish sets, as that just sets traps for
flames, so I'll address the encore, which pretty much everyone before me
says was great...
 
Were you tripping?   Or rather, were you tripping HARD?  The El Paso
drags... and Bobby seems like the only one who knows the song.  The
Chalkdust was a pretty strange tune to have a guest sit in for, as it's
structure doesn't leave much room for improv work.  No wonder it sounded
like a clusterfuck with Weir trying to figure out where to go!  And West
LA Fadeaway was hardly noteworthy.  Weir's vocals were drab, and Phish's
performance was weak.
 
All I can say is after my personal experiences this summer, and at what
I thought was a lame Cinci show (9/20), I'm very glad that the guys are
taking a much deserved and needed break.   I hope a good year or two off
helps them shake off the cobwebs, and shakes some of the riff-raff off
the future tours.  Maybe some of the pharmie punks will latch on to the
Kid Rock scene.  I think that by and large, not just based on the shows
that I saw but also the numerous recordings that I've heard, that the
whole Phish thing has gotten pretty stale.  I hope a good break shakes
the assholes from the scene and returns the band's calibre of playing
back to where it was in the band's heyday... back in the '91-'94
days.... before most of the pacifier-sucking KIDS were poluting the
scene while the band just went through the motions.  And while I'm on
that train of thought... put the fucking pacifiers away, you freaks.  Is
it not bad enough that you act like retards, but you have to look like
one too?  Why don't you wear a fucking pamper while you're at it???  and
now that I'm on a rant... what is with playing gansta rap in the
amphitheatre lots while people stuck in the lots try to hear hte
show????  People without tickets try to hear the show while assholes
play some ghetto crap about poppin' caps in a mutha's head while 'is
beeotch sucks 'is cock.... how fucking rude.
 
This whole scene sucks, from the tired band on down to the bottom
feeders in the lots.  I hope it's better if and when the band returns.
And don't think for a second that the loser element in the lot isn't
contributing to the band's decision.  Any Phish fan that has been around
for a number of years agrees that everyone except the younger heads
agrees that the scene has decayed, and the band doesn't like it either.
 
--
The basis of reality may not be the quantum...but the bit...
 
"It's always better to be shot out of a cannon
Than squeezed out of a tube."  ~ Hunter S. Thompson

Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 13:15:07 -0700
From: Mike Powers [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: 10/6/00 review
 
10/6/00 Shoreline
I: Carini, Stash > Boogie On Reggae Woman, Mellow Mood, Maze, Moma Dance,
Run Like An Antelope
 
II: Heavy Things, Down With Disease > Spock's Brain, the Inlaw Josie Wales,
Rift, Cities, Sand, Golgi Apparatus, Brian and Robert, Axis: Bold as Love
 
E: El Paso,  Chalkdust Torture> West La Fadeaway  > West LA Fadeaway
 
Recovering from the Vegas > Shoreline run...thought I'ld share some thoughts
on Friday night Shoreline....
First Set was quite the recap of Vegas > Phoenix.  Carini started things off
with a bang just like it had in Vegas on Friday night.  Phish gave us a
powerful Stash in the # 2 slot this night...definitely the earliest first
set Stash I've ever seen the boys play.  They meant business tonight.  Stash
seg'd into a funky Boogie on Reggae Woman which of course drew immediate
cheers from the Mountain View Phish faithfull.   Mellow Mood was on deck
next and continued to give the crowd memories of the Vegas run...just a
beautiful cover for Phish.  A first set Maze kicked in and completely
represented the crowd on the Shoreline lawn and pavilion.  I don't think
i've ever seen Shoreline so packed in the aisles...but it was a great
crowd...everyone was working with each other to ensure good space for peeps
to groove in.   Moma Dance continued the power funk of this tour...not as
strong as the Vegas Moma...but still pretty damn good.   A solid [of course
not nearly as strong as the immortal 7/16/94 one...;-) ]Antelope closed
things out and kept us reved up for what was to become a classic set II for
Phish.
Heavy Things was certainly a surprise for a Shoreline Set II opener.  I
don't think I've ever felt such an intensity level drop like it did with the
crowd when they opened with it.  BUT Phish did save the day the rest of the
set in such a magical way.  Down With Disease followed the Heavy Things set
II "soundcheck" and we were once again on our way to that special place this
band takes us.  This Down With Disease could possibly be the best I've ever
heard over the years.  The only ones that come to mind that could compare to
this are the 12/31/96 and 12/29/97 ones...but I'm fairly confident this
Shoreline one could be THE ONE...  The energy that Phish was generating
during the jams was unreal...a whole new level of intensity for the crowd
was reached.  Out of nowhere as the Down With Disease was reaching the
stars, the band seg'd PERFECTLY into Spock's Brain...it's still echoing in
my head.  If someone had told me back at Lowell in '95 that Spock's Brain
would be a major highlight TWICE in a 2000 West Coast run, I probably would
have laughed...but it was perfect at Shoreline and Vegas.  The Inlaw Josie
Wales gave the crowd some time to catch our breaths and watch Trey
masterfully show us his accoustic skills...quite the surreal moment.  Next
up was Rift!  This Rift came straight outta a '94 time warp and was played
perfectly.  Classic Phish!  Out of the blue came Cities...and damn, what a
hell of a Cities it was.  Funky, energetic and powerful.  The Bay Area sky
seemed to glow with orange as Phish plowed thru Cities.  Pure magic.  Next
up, good old Golgi.  Definitely the strongest Golgi I've ever seen over the
course of my 9 year journey with Phish.  Yes we all might look at this song
as fluff over the last couple of years...but this one was for real.  It
captured the spirit of the crowd and it didn't even end the set.  Brian and
Robert gave us some time to chill again as Phish slowed things down for us.
I'm not a particular big fan of this tune, but it has grown on me over the
last year.  There was a pause while the boys decided want to give us
next....and then it kicked in, Axis: Bold As Love!   Soooooooo strong.  It
seemed perfect to close things out...just as perfect as the Day in the Life
at Vegas.  We were blown away.
Shoreline was going nutz before the encore. The energy level was insane.
The crowd saw the stage crew bringing out another mic and monitors and
people were starting to freeeeeeeeeeak out.  Who would it be?  Claypool?
Neil Young?  Nope, Bobby!  Another classic moment as the Phish vibe merged
with Grateful Dead history.  El Paso was smooth and calm, but then I
couldn't believe it as Trey kicked into a ripping Chalkdust.  It was
hilarious watching Bobby lean over to Trey trying to learn the chords on the
fly.  It didn't matter though.  Trey took Bobby and all of us on a wonderful
ride while screaming "Can't I Live While I'm Young.."   West LA Fadeaway was
a surprise to everyone for a song choice, but to quote Bug, "It doesn't
matter..."  What a hell of an encore.  Phishtory once again took place in
front of 19,000 + people.
As the show emptied out there was clearly some serious energy left in
everyone.  Phans seemed to have a great chilling in the lots while preparing
to escape back to San Francisco to continue festivities.  A solid classic
show from the band from Vermont.  Thank you Phish.
-Powers
[email protected]
San Francisco

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 01:00:32 GMT
From: Ryan Vandenbroeck [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 10-06-00 Review
 
Well, I didn^�t plan on writing any reviews of the Shoreline shows, but after
reading the reviews posted, I felt compelled to add my $0.02.  Here goes a
quick recap of my experience at the Friday show (10-06-00).
 
My info: I^�ve been listening to Phish since about ^�95 and going to shows
since ^�96 but this was only my 8th show (I generally just catch them when
they come to the bay area, save for Vegas ^�97 and ^�98).  We had lawn seats
and they were OK (meaning not too far back on the lawn).  Shoreline is such
a huge amphitheater that, if you^�re anywhere on the lawn, you^�re not going
to be able to see the stage worth squat.  However, there are two large video
screens and, though you can^�t choose what you want to look at, the cameras
have some great angles and you can see things like facial expressions from
the band.  The sound on the lawn was excellent, from my perspective.
Perfect volume, nice balance of instruments, etc.
 
SET I:
CARINI:  Decent opener, IMO.  People who saw the Vegas shows were
disappointed as it was the opener there, but played well and played tight
with a good, lengthy solo from Trey.
 
STASH:  This one seems to follow me around and, though it isn^�t my favorite
song, I always seem to catch good versions.  This one was perhaps the best
I^�ve seen.  The jam was never lost its tightness and it hit some serious
peaks.  Excellent jam.
 
BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN: I was really stoked to hear this one.  Pretty
standard version with no real jam, just the band grooving on the main
progression for a couple minutes.
 
MELLOW MOOD: I^�m not a big Marley fan but this was a good song.  Played well
and pretty tight, it gave me a chance to sit back and relax while listening
to some good tunes.
 
MAZE: Excellent.  I caught this one at my first 2 Phish shows and it has
eluded me since.  Great performance- both the organ and guitar solos built
very slowly but hit some tremendous peaks.
 
MOMA DANCE: Pretty standard version.  Nothing stands out about this version
but it was very tight and fun.
 
RUN LIKE AN ANTELOPE: WOW.  Every review I^�ve read so far has said something
along the lines of "great Antelope but not that great."  IMO, it was that
great.  This was probably, I dare say, the best Antelope I^�ve ever heard.
Most Antelopes seem to really rage but get sloppy.  This Antelope not only
rocked harder than just about any Antelope I^�ve ever heard, but it was as
tight as I^�ve ever heard Phish play.  I can^�t say enough good things about
this Antelope- check it out for yourself.
 
SET I OVERALL: This was, IMO, the best set of the weekend.  The Carini
opener let a few people down but it was welcome to me.  Stash and Antelope
had incredible jams.  Maze featured excellent solos.  Boogie On and Moma
brought out some good old funk and Mellow Mood was a nice, melodic breather.
  This set featured a little bit of everything, every song was played
extremely tight, and the jams and solos hit some tremendous peaks.  This was
possibly the best set of live Phish I^�ve ever witnessed (keep in mind we^�re
talking only 9 shows here).
 
SET II:
HEAVY THINGS: Not what I wanted for a second set opener- I like the song but
I like it better as a set I thing.  When they played it as the second set
opener, I thought they might stretch it out with some lengthy improv at the
end, as I^�ve heard some suggest they do, but they didn^�t.  Pretty standard
version.
 
DOWN WITH DISEASE: One of my favorite songs, though only the first time I^�ve
seen it live.  The intro was pretty cool and it had some good solo work from
Trey.  Not a stellar version but pretty good.  They slowed it into a funk
jam and oh-so-subtly morphed it into...
 
SPOCK^�S BRAIN: After seeing this on the Vegas setlists, I was really hoping
to catch this one.  I have one copy of a 95 version (don^�t remember the
date) and I absolutely love it.  This version was pretty different, though.
The verse sections of the song were played with more of a funky feel than
the 95 version I have.  Though I^�ve read some reviews saying the performance
of this song was flawless, I thought it got pretty sloppy with some missed
cues by the rhythm section toward the end.  Nonetheless, it was great to
hear this song.
 
THE INLAW JOSIE WALES: Wow.  I was kind of bummed when I saw Trey pull out
the acoustic and sit on the stool, but this was performed flawlessly.  A
beautiful song, played perfectly.  One of the highlights of the weekend,
IMO.
 
RIFT: I was really stoked to hear this one.  Rift is one of my favorite
compositions in the Phish repertoire and I had yet to hear it in person.
Played well, very tight but nothing out of the ordinary.
 
CITIES: Totally unexpected.  I was stoked to hear this one- my band plays it
and it was good to hear the Phish version (we play it better, though, hehe).
  Nice and funky nothing out of the ordinary with the exception of Trey
singing "a whole lot of bad points" instead of "some bad points."  I didn^�t
know quite what to make of that- is that how he^�s singing it lately or was
he referring to something else (possibly a reference to the catalyst(s) of
the band hiatus)?
 
SAND: Started really slow.  Literally.  I don^�t think I^�ve heard this one
ever played this slow.  The verses were pretty standard but the jam went to
some interesting places.  This one just grooved with Trey, using some weird
pedals and gadgets and such, and Page, using his Rhodes, brought this jam
waaaay out there.  It was bizarre and strange but it really, really grooved.
  One of the best songs of the night, IMO (though a friend of mine didn^�t
particularly care for it).
 
GOLGI APPARATUS: If only the energy from this song could be transferred on
to tape.  Ever time I^�ve heard this one live, it^�s absolutely rocked but it
never sounds quite as good on tape.  This one was great- such high energy
that I expected it to be the set closer.
 
BRIAN AND ROBERT: I like this song sometimes.  This was one of those times.
Played tight, flawlessly, soulfully, etc.  Page played the acoustic piano
for this one (he usually plays the Rhodes on this one- has he been doing
this a lot lately?) and it sounded great.  Short but sweet.
 
BOLD AS LOVE: For some reason I expected to hear this one at Shoreline but
it caught me off-guard.  Played very well, but nothing out of the ordinary.
 
SET II OVERALL: Well played songs (with the exception of Spock^�s Brain, but,
hey, I was so glad to hear that one, it didn^�t matter).  The only real
lengthy jams of the set were DwD and Sand.  It's fairly unusual to hear only
a couple jams in the second set, but still a fun set.
 
ENCORE:
EL PASO: I^�m not the biggest Grateful Dead fan in the world (though I do
like a lot of their stuff) and this is probably one of my least favorite
Dead songs.  It was played extremely well, however, very tight, very
melodic, very soulful.  A nice performance.
 
CHALKDUST TORTURE: I was stoked to hear they were closing with a Phish song
(or so I thought) after they closed with a Dead song when they played with
Lesh.  Nothing against the Dead, I just hoped for them to close with a Phish
tune; I^�m a big Phish fan and not too much of a Dead fan.  As soon as Trey
started the opening lick, Weir grabbed him to ask what he was playing (do
your homework, dude!).  Weir threw off the normal intro, but the band
absolutely nailed an impromptu intro after that!  It was a pretty good
version of Chalkdust with Weir throwing in some cool fills now and again.
It^�s surprised me that no one has mentioned that this version was
unfinished.  They jammed for a while during the typical guitar solo section
(Trey was tearin^� it up!) but never went into the end-of-solo-breakdown
(probably my favorite part of the song) and repeat of the chorus.  I guess
it wasn^�t much of a surprise; the whole time they were playing Chalkdust, I
was wondering how Weir was going to figure that part out if he couldn^�t even
get the fairly easy E7-A section.  However, instead of hitting the gnarly
breakdown, they slowed things down and soon found themselves in...
 
WEST LA FADEAWAY: This is another one that my band does; I was pretty exited
to hear it.  I wanted to hear a Phish song to close out the show, but with
the cool segue and soulful rendition, this one did just fine.  Weir sang
this one extremely well and the band played really tight behind his lead.
He did bring the song to a few unexpected line repeats at the end, throwing
off the rest of the band, but it was a fun performance, nonetheless.
 
ENCORE THOUGHTS: Before the show, a friend of mine went backstage and told
me that the word backstage was that Bob Weir was back there.  I thought it
wasn^�t true and that Phish probably wouldn^�t want to play with him, or vice
versa.  I guess I was wrong.  He still played well and, though Phish catered
to the Grateful Dead crowd like they usually do when they play Shoreline,
they played so well, that I would have dug anything they played.
 
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Everything they played was played VERY tight (with the
exception of Spock^�s Brain).  The first set was probably better than the
second set (largely because of the crazy peaks in Stash and Antelope).  One
thought: it seemed to me that people were more into the music than they were
the fact that Phish played with a member of the Grateful Dead (the opposite
of last year^�s show with the Lesh guest appearance).  Make what you want of
that thought- I kind of like it that way.

Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2000 23:50:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: M G [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Shoreline Review 10/6/00
 
Friday,Oct. 6,2000

as i hit San Francisco friday afternoon,,i realized i had been coming to shows
at shoreline for 8 years now. Tons of memories and great times,,,,i was very
excited for this weekend.  I got to Shoreline at about 6 pm, and realized i
had not entered Shoreline Amphitheater,,but instead a part of "hell" entitled
Shoreline Amphitheater...There was thosands and thousands of folks trying just
to get to the gate and being led in this barricaded maze of bullshit!  We were
being filtered through in a way i never saw at 50 dead shows and have never
seen at a phish show!  All i kept saying to myself was,"youll never gett outta
this maze"

Thank God they got a clue Saturday night and realized this was a stupid ass
idea on their part. on to the show,,,,,

CARINI: teriffic opener,,,it was totally dark outside,,and the stage lighting
of red looked really cool.  I looked behind me and saw the massive sea of
people and it looked incredible,,,love this song,,and it was great,,not as
spacey as i've heard,,but glad to get this opener.

STASH:  Hadn't heard this in a while,,so i was glad to get it.  It wasn't
spectacular,(still have never heard anything near A Live One's Stash)

BOOGIE: first time for me and it was great,,had lots of fun dancing to it as
did everyone around me

MELLOW: Awesome! the reggae was kickin and they sounded great,,,this was lots
of fun

MAZE:  Absolutely perfect choice!  It seemed like the band must have seen this
bullshit maze SHoreline had put everyone through,,afterall,,they must have
been scratching their heads when at 6:51 there was hardly a soul on the lawn
or the reserveds!  Page tore this version up as always,,,wanted it a bit more
spacey on trey's part but it peaked really hard and i was stoked to get it as
it's one of my all time favs!

MOMA: um okay,,,,not a fav by any stretch of the imagination,,but they did a
good job,,it was nice and funky.

ANTELOPE:  fun,,nothing spectacular,,,but i love how excited eveyone gets
before the vocals. Great 1st set!
 
Second Set,,,,i won't break it down song by song,,but Ill just say that i
thought it was absolutley awesome, I loved the songs selection, and they
rocked,,

ENCORE: When bobby came out I was stunned!  never would have in a million
years guessed that one and i was beyond excited,,,I thought El Paso was a
strange choice,but it was awesome and ironically in 50 dead shows I nver
caught it!

Despite what i've been reading,,,I thought Bobby handled Chalkdust very
well,,,he did great,,illl bet everything i own,,they never rehearsed it,,,2
cents charlie says he couldn't hear bobby,,,that's interesting,,I was near top
of lawn and i could hear him loud and clear,,,he never looked lost to me and
i'll never forget the huge and i mean huge smile on trey's face during the
entire encore!

West L.A.?  I would have thought TRuckin,or the other one.  I don't really
like this song,,even with Jerry,,,but i thought it was done very well all the
same.  Judging by the crowd reaction, i would say that it's a very small
handful who didn't think this encore was awesome!

A wonderful show and i would say the best of the 2 nights!


Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 22:39:18 GMT
From: Matt Pryor [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: review for 1st night shoreline
 
I am about to head out to tonight's show but felt the need to write a quick
review about last night's show.  For all of you who could not make it there
are myriad reasons why you should get the discs/tapes to this show.  Namely,
the Stash was one of the best I've heard in years, and by far and away the
best Boogie On - they really got down with the jam and got the place into a
nice reggae frenzy which they revisited with a short Mellow Mood.  The
Disease>Spock's was great although a >Disease would've been pure bliss.  I
really love the way the vocals are places in Spock's and think they add a
nice contrast to some of the light guitar work in sections of this tune.
And need I forget Sand- there have been two amazing Sands on this tour- the
first being the second night of Albany with a little help from a
horn-playing friend in a crazy chicken head-dress outfit (if that's what he
was wearing) and then last night.  Many many layers to this jam and they
came up and down enough times so by the end I felt like I had just
experienced a wonderful set in and of itself.  And then after a beautiful
Brian and Robert they ripped through a standard Golgi and chaos descended
when Bobbie- in his traditional shorts and polo shirt came with them for the
encore and treated us all to a wonderfully placed El Paso.  AS to what
people said about Chalkdust and Bobbie looking lost in it, yes that
definitely was the case and Trey actually stopped the tune after the opening
riffs because Bobbie had to talk to him about what was about to happen.
Despite this, this Chalkdust hit so many peaks with a short funk jam in the
middle that it blew away any I've heard before.  West LA was a great ending,
and hopefully we may see a little more of our grateful friends tonight.
-Matt Pryor
  Ann Arbor, MI 

Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 12:39:00 -0700
From: Erik Lukas [email protected]
Subject: Shoreline Review 10.6.00
 
Last night's show was a lot of fun. Erik and Jenny. At the Residence Inn.
Bye.
Phish Rocks! We say no more. Nothing left to say.

Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 10:36:43 -0700
From: bobby stadler [email protected]
Subject: Oct 6th review
 
You could feel it was Friday in air. The weather was pleasant, slight windy
at times. I could feel the excitement from everyone I talked to coupled with
heavy ancipitation for these shows.
 
It was my friend's first Phish show. I guarenteed him that he would leave the
show feeling...different.
 
Set 1 was very dense, packed full of high energy tunes, all very tasty.
 
CARINI- Nice opener. This is definately not one my favorites, although I can
see why the band likes playing it. It;s a rocker for sure, and this version
was fairly standard. The band was warming up fast however, and people were
pumped!
 
STASH- Nice!!  Good way to keep it rollin along. From what I remember this
was a longer than usual version, with a great, long, building, cosmic jam in
the middle. Trey took his time with this one, and I was psyched he did. Then,
it finally exploded!!
 
BOOGIE ON- I've never heard this in the first set, let alone the 3rd song!!
The band definately intended to keep the energy high, and they were
successul. A nice funky version; everyone was loving it!
 
MAZE- I seem to hear this song alot, but it's still a classic and I love it.
Page tore it up on his solo, and Trey was transcending the whole experience
of this song. A very strong version.
 
MELLOW MOOD- My first Mood. I think Phish should actually play more reggae,
but that's just me. Great tune, with Fishman singing falsetto!! This song
established a very rootsy energy that carried through the first set.
 
MOMA DANCE- Ohh yeah!! Keeping it groovey, funky, smooth, solid. Love this
song. Fishman's vocals were the strongest I've heard and Trey nailed the
guitar melody we all love!! So far so good....
 
ANTELOPE- Yes, we'll take it guys. Typically I'm pretty fast at picking up on
this song. However tonight they started it really quiet, and somehow
different. I thought to myself "Antelope" but then about 45 seconds of a jam
that, to me didn't sound like Antelope, ensued. Finally it became familiar
and it WAS Antelope! Kind of strange, but I'm glad they are mixing up the
intro a bit. The jam was long and thick. The jam started like a late 90's jam
and morphed into a crazy, chaotic early 90's jam (my personal opinion,
subject to multiple interpretations). A phat version, and great set closer.
 
After reuniting with some friends and taking advantage of the "free hug
coupon" that a kind brother gave me, I was ready for a great 2nd set.
 
HEAVY THINGS-This has to be Phish's best pop song. I ambivilent about it. The
band though, loves playing it! They were having so much fun, so I couldn't
help but appreciate that, well, it's a great pop song. Standard with a little
jam at the end.
 
DWD-  This choice suprised me, but it took off so fast that I didn't have
time to thing much about it. I just started dancin' my ass off!! Very high
energy, people were loving it and so was the band. Mike is the man on this
song!!! The jam was large with alot of cool dynamic elements to it. They
finally brought it way down into...
 
SPOCK'S BRAIN- I'll be honest, I think this song sucks!! No wonder they
haven't played it since '95 (except for a few times this tour). It was loose
and sloppy, with lame vocals. The crowd was pretty confused, I don't think I
was the only one. But bashing this song makes me feel better so now I can
move on to....
 
INLAW JOSIE- I love this tune. Fishman sat this one out and Trey played a
stellar, beatiful version on acoustic.  Nice choice. It made me happier after
the previous tune.
 
RIFT- Yes!! A fast version, with Fishman swinging it!! This song rocks as
everyone knows, and they pretty much ripped it up!
 
CITIES- Unexpected, but then again what can you expect at Phish shows (isn't
this one of the reasons that people love 'em?) Nice tight funky version. I
love this song and we were singing at the top of our lungs!! Page kept if
ultra-funky on the clavinet.
 
SAND- It grooved hard, but didn't really go any where. It could have been 5
minutes shorter for me. I thought we'd get glow sticks on this one, but it
never happened, which may be indicative of where this version took everyone
(no where really, in my opinion).
 
GOLGI- Great fun as always. Standard and tight, with the crowd singing the
ticket stub part as loud as they could!!
 
BRIAN AND ROBERT- This song never fully did it for me until,,, tonight. It
was beautifully played, and it was a highlight of the 2nd set for me.
 
AXIS- Very ironic. My friends and I were talking about how Trey, while
playing with the wa-wa, sounds a lot like Hendrix on certain songs (i.e. some
versions of Free). Then we discussed which Hendrix tunes Phish did. I
mentioned that in addition to Fire, they've done Axis before (Warfield, May
'94). Very peculiar that they chose to end the set with this one. I prefer
the Hendrix version much more than how they do it. However, the cool thing
was now Page sings it, which sounded better that when Trey sang it. They
rocked it out at the end, but I wanted a Hood. Still alot of fun though!!
 
Encores (w/ Bob Weir):
 
EL PASO-Bob Weir, what can I say. The crowd gave him a nice welcoming cheer.
And after the hearing the first few notes I knew it was El Paso. The band
just let Bob do his thing and it worked pretty well. A tight version; Trey
was having a blast.
 
CHALKDUST- Strange choice to have Bob sit in on this song. Trey began the
opening licks of the song, played it three times, than stopped to school Bob
on the song!! People were taken by surprise. Then they busted into again. Bob
tried to add some licks here and there. Trey was giving him space and
building the jam at the same time!! Bob became animated during the peak of
the jam, and the everyone on stage (and off stage) was loving it!!
 
WEST LA FADEAWAY- Sure I'll take a three song encore anyday! First time
played, I'm sure. Bob's voice was a little horse on this one, unless he was
trying to sing like that. It did groove pretty good though, much better than
TOO's version at Shoreline this year.  Trey was just smiling and smiling; you
could tell he was really psyched to be sharing the stage with Bob, the
Shoreline veteran of 9 straight years. At one point Trey smiled very big at
Bob, and in a haunting way( but not neccessarily bad) looked like, I dare say
it, Jerry. The end of this song had some problems which kind of sucked. If I
may rip on Bob just a little bit, it was very typical of Bob going out on a
limb and hoping the band is ready for it. The song basically ended strongly,
but then Bob just kept playing and singing "Little red light..." three more
times. Finally after this shakey addition, the tuned ended.
 
Overall a good show. The first set rocked harder due to great song choices,
and more consistant, higher energy. Essentially I was able to surrender to
the flow without thinking during the first set. At times during the second
set I felt like was gasping for air trying to swim to the surface. Not
commensurate with the first night of Shoreline last year (9/16/99) but still
fun. I'm hoping for three sets tonight!!
 
Peace

Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 09:57:06 -0700
From: Mr. Test [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Shoreline 10/6
 
     First time ever at Shoreline and simply put:  acoustics, sightlines and
ambience kick ass!  However, logistically speaking, perhaps the worst in and
out venue EVER!  Took forever to get in and forever to get out.  On to the
show....
 
     Opened with a very high energy Carini that set the tone for the night.
The Stash that followed was wicked!  Trey was ON!  The entire night was
almost mistake free.  I've seen over 60 shows and can't say I've seen Trey
as into it as last night.  His smile was ear to ear all night.  NO SHIT!
Trey hit all the crescendos for Stash perfectly.  Boogie On  and Mellow Mood
were a great change from the heavy rock into funk and reggae respectively.
Maze was purely cosmic.  Page was the anchor for this one and provided many
killer organ/moog fills for Trey to play off of.  Moma was it's usual kick
ass self.  Nothing fancy - just awesome.  Although the Antelope closer
kicked ass, I thought for sure they'd do one more.  All in all a 9/10 1st
set.   GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
     The second set would prove to be no letting up.  After a tame Heavy
Things the boys pulled out a killer Disease>Spocks that would confuse many a
fans.  I thought it was magic!  Killer transition from jam to space.  Trey
was beautiful on Josie, but it was only a clue for what would follow.  The
trio of Rift>Cites>Sand was out of this world.  UNBELIEVABLE!!  I challenge
anyone to find a better Sand.  I'd say about 25 min of pure bliss.  Trey
started it off with a nice little keyboard loop that morphed into a
blistering lead at which point Page switched over to the electric piano and
went toe to toe with Trey.  Cannot say enough about this SAND!!!!!!  I
thought for sure the Golgi would end it but the boys were having way too
much fun.  Brian and Robert I can live without but we were then assured of
one more song:  AXIS!!  Killer! Page was great on this one.  Trey of course
went off on the ending solo.  9/10 2nd set.  Any statements to the effect of
burnout are incorrect at least for last night.  They were into it last
night. Period!
 
     The set list for the encores sum up the craziness that went on the
entire night.  Bobby Weir jumps up on stage and rips thru a killer version
of El Paso - a song Trey would later base Heavy Things on.  Anyhow it was
flawless.  Bobby didn't miss a beat obviously fresh off the Other Ones tour.
Chalkdust was not a song Trey should have played with Bobby.  Bobby was
LOST!!  Had no clue where this song was going.  But understandable being
Bobby is more of a rhythm man than lead.  But they all recovered nicely with
a special version of West LA Fadeaway.  What a night!
 
SEE YA TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!
 
Gags

Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 10:00:33 CDT
From: Brook Barnes [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: review10/6
 
The weather was choice and the crowd seemed jazzed when we got there. Carini
was a strong opener-they seem to jam this one longer and longer.  Stash was
one of the two gems in the first set.  It was so unprovoked and spontaneous.
  Trey led most of the jam, but Mike and Fish provided a stellar base.  It
was odd for them to jam out so hard so soon in the set, but it lifted the
crowd and led into a crunchy Reggae Woman which is always done to a top
notch Wonder performance. Mellow mood followed suit and allowed for the show
to slow down considerably, but second gem of the first set was maze with no
question.  Page led some spacy tight jamming that this song has needed for
quite awhile-phenomenal song.  Moma dance kept in stride but didn't groove
as hard as usual.  The set ended with nothing short of the best-an antelope
which as usual showcases the mad axeman at work.  Second set started off
with a standard Heavy things, while the boys nailed it-I was hoping for a
groovy birds or jibboo again. DWD had a great surprise ending jam which
segued into Spock's that proved once gain the band's ability to let the jams
get loose and risky-not for the nsync for sure.  Trey gave the band and
crowd a break with a serene Josie Wales.  Rift was nice, but cities was
huge-great sound and vocals on this one.  the second set kept going up and
down as far as energy and the band peaked again with sand and golgi and
lapsed into a mellow Brian & Robert.  Finally the set came full circle with
another great concert gem-bold as love-Page sunk the jam.  The second set
equaled the first in energy and quality, but I had hoped it would surpass
it.  However I was pleased when I saw the sound techs arranging another mike
on the stage-I was hoping for a vocal jam-but I got far better-Booby walked
out cool and collected and started off on El Paso that sounded like a
Vancouver dead tape I have-amazing.  When the song ended Trey ripped right
into chalkdust and Bobby stopped him cold turkey so he cold set up his
guitar-quite funny.  Chalkdust was improved to say the least with the extra
band member on stage-a weird choice for them to play together but I dug it.
The LA Fadeaway was sic- every bit of guitar screamed as Bobby licked away
the riffs and added some jam himself.  Overall the encore carried the show
and left everyone hoping for a second night reunion-possibly with a guest
from last year shoreline too.
 
Brook

Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 08:59:01 -0700
From: Lisa Young [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: great freebie!
 
Howdy....I was at  Shoreline last night(Fri 10/06) and was handed a free
cassette single while waiting in traffic. The band is called Bartron
Tyler  and it's great! Really groovin' and great guitar work.Anyone else
get this tape or heard of this band? Do they tour?
                       Sonic Johnny          [email protected]

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 21:22:46 -0700
From: Jason Wicha [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Shoreline
 
  Dude man,  I built this time machine this summer.  Man, I used this
thing to travel to the future to see fall tour. Like you know, I did not
have any tickets for summer tour so I did fall instead.
 
 
  The opener Meatstick, boo ya sick, ack , sick--  it keep going for
like to hours or like thirty minutes

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