9-11-00 -- Tweeter Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 09:54:41 -0400
From: Peter [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: my reviews for the 11th and 12th of September
 
Here is my review for the September 11, 2000 at The Tweeter Center.
 
This show was unbelievable. Trey was in peak form tonight and he put on a
dazzling display for all of us to behold.
 
The first song was a cover song: Road Runner. Trey got the entire crowd
involved from the beginning by constantly singing Massachusetts in the song.
This met with a loud roar, and was a good way to pump us up.
 
Then they started laying the phunk groove down as they went into The Moma
Dance. YES!!!! Oh and it was soooo good too. They had an extra long
instrumental section in the beginning before the lyrics, but the best of this
song came after the lyrics ended and Trey started soloing. He was absolutely
amazing tonight. He grabbed hold of the notes and he just wouldn't let them
go. He played his heart out on this one. Leaning into it as he jammed hard and
hit the exact notes. He was flawless. Most other nights this song would have
ended already, but Trey knew he had something tonight and he just kept pouring
it on.
 
Moma Dance dies out and Rift starts up. The crowd went nuts as the first notes
rang through the night. This song was excellent. A great rocking choice after
the phunky Moma Dance. The spotlights faded back and forth from Page to Trey
as each sang their respective parts. The song wasn't really extended, but it
didn't need to be. It was a tight, solid version and very well played.
 
They slowed it down a bit, which was good after all the grooving I was doing
already. I sat down and took a breather as they played the sweet soothing
sounds of Brian and Robert. Again this was not really extended, but it was
well played. I closed my eyes, sat in my chair and swayed my head.
 
Then I got up as they went into a great version of Vultures. The music until
the chorus was non-threatening, but it turned darker once the chorus hit, and
by the time the singing was done and Trey grabbed hold of the music it turned
ominous. And this is why Phish has THE BEST light show around, bar none. The
lights actually meld with the music. None more so than with this song. As the
music turned that dark corner the lights went with it. They turned a dark
purple and orange, so that when they mixed they became like a muddy brown, and
you just got the feeling that you were watching theses Vultures feed off the
dead. Truly chilling. It was perfect.
 
Then they went back to the album Rift and played a tight version of Horn. This
set was great so far and the best was still to come.
 
After this they lightened it up a bit with Beauty of My Dreams, the last
tight, structured song of the night. A good solid version as Mike took the
spotlight as he sang, but come solo time it was back in Trey's hands and he
laid down a nice solid solo, heavy on the notes.
 
This segued into Ya Mar. I'll call it a segue, even though it's not listed
that way on phish.net. The last remnants of Beauty of my Dreams were playing
when they kicked into this song. I Love Ya Mar. It is such a light phunky
song. They played it great, although it did go on for a bit in the middle.
Page was fiddling a bit too much on the keys, but Mike grabbed the song with
his bass and drove it home to the end.
 
The set closed with Stash and oh what a Stash it was. This was the best
version I have ever heard by far. Trey was putting on a clinic tonight on how
to play live. He hit every note and when it was solo time he just never let
up. He poured it on more and more. Harder and harder. He just didn't let up
for a second. He was tearing up the place with his guitar and we were all
jumping around and going nuts as he was filling our ears with this
unbelievable sound. After what must have been 15 minutes, Stash ended and they
walked off for intermission.
 
I was beside myself. This was better than I expected. It was unreal. My ears
were still ringing from this incredible sound. They came back after about 30
minutes and I actually expected them to change up the tempo a bit or
something, but boy was I wrong. Trey picked up right where he left off as the
opening notes of Chalkdust Torture rang through the night. I grinned so wide I
think my smile fell off my face. Trey went absolutely ballistic on this. He
was firing off notes and solos left and right. His hand was moving so fast
over those strings that at times the notes were ear-piercing. Trey was
absolutely on FIRE tonight. This was a benchmark Chalkdust, something that you
need to search out and hear for yourself.
 
He then lead us into a phunky Twist. This one was a great version, maybe 12
minutes long with more great guitar work. Mike was also awesome with his heavy
bass riffs.
 
As Twist died down it segued into Piper and I took a breather for a minute as
they built the song up. I returned to my feet as they hit it full stride and
again Trey was insane. He played the fastest yet tonight on Piper. You know
how fast they sing it, well he was playing even faster. It was unreal. Then he
took us on a roller coaster ride with the instrumental portion. After the
lyric section Mike started making it a little phunky and behind us on the lawn
a glowstick war erupted. The night sky was covered in red, green and blue
lights. The music turned faster as the war was at its peak. When the war died
down the music did too. Trey then started that roller coaster ride bringing us
up and down faster and then slower. He made two false endings, then started up
again. The third time he turned into a real slow ending and started getting
spacey.
 
I thought maybe we were getting a spacey jam, but no. He went into What's the
Use? And was it ever perfect. I just stood there and swayed as someone from
the floor was blowing bubbles up into the strobe lights. It was giving it an
even more spacey effect. It was fantastic. I closed my eyes as I was taken on
this journey through my mind, swaying my body from side to side as Trey's
sounds washed over me.
 
If that wasn't enough they then segued into YEM. What a way to end the second
set. It was spacey at first as the last remnants of What's the Use died out.
Then they brought it into the familiar YEM territory, including, later on,
trampolines. At the end of it, rather than just ending the song they had a
vocal jam. Trey started with his, and then Mike, Page and Jon joined in with a
different vocal chorus. The lights turned all white and started rotating
faster and faster as they sped up the vocal jam. At its height the lights were
moving so fast it was blinding. A very interesting effect to say the least.
 
They came out quickly for the encore and tore it up one last time with about a
5 minute version of Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times. It was HOT. Trey left us
on a high note to say the least.
 
This show, to me, was phenomenal. There were 4 stand out songs that need to be
heard by all who were not at the show. These, to me, will stand the test of
time as some of the best versions ever played. The Moma Dance, Stash,
Chalkdust, and Piper. Definitely the Stash and Chalkdust were top-notch. To
say Trey was amazing is an understatement. They would, in my mind, have a
tough act to follow for tomorrow night's performance.

 
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 04:17:08 EDT
From: Jake Cohen [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Review for 9/11
 
After reading the currently posted reviews, and getting some positive email
for my review of the 9/9 show, I've decided to put up my thoughts on Monday
night's show.
 
It was to be my third show of the tour, and sadly I had to miss tonight's
show because of a committment flung on me at the last minute. Next show for
me is Hershey, so this was my last show until my momentum broke but starts
up again in a few days. I was expecting something new and exciting to follow
up Saturday's killer show. I got what I was looking for.
 
ROAD RUNNER started it off, and was an ok tune, but had tons of lyrics about
Massachusetts, 128, and Stop & Shops, so I loved it! (being the Masshole
that I am). Definitely fun, and Page was playing some great sounding effects
on one of his more rarely used boards (the one above the hammond). They
finish and Mike drops the bomb to start off a kickin MOMA. Standard version
(by which I mean phunky and dank), with some solid jamming from Trey, and as
always, the phattest Gordon grooves. They finished, and then started up the
guitar to the one song that I had been jonesin' for all tour so far, RIFT.
This version was good, my first one, and I really only have pre-'95 shows to
compare it to. Obviously, it was not as well-played as those earlier
versions, as Trey missed some notes during the basic riff that he plays (not
the solo). But the lyrics were tight, Fish had it down, and the solo was
played well, not great though. This was, however, much better than the
Camden version according to my friend Jeff, who said the Camden Rift was
horrendous.
Why do they keep playing BRIAN & ROBERT??? I'm sorry, but this is the only
Phish song about which I will say something negative. It's a nice song to
pop in SOTG and listen to the album version, or the 7/31/99 Japan version
with tibetan horn. But this song is such a buzzkill - it's a beautiful song
but it's just too damn slow and basic. It doesn't have what slow songs like
FEFY and Velvet Sea and Bug have that make those great slow tunes. To
Phish's credit, this was the first time I've ever heard them hit those
harmonies right on. They better play something rockin after this, and we got
what I mistook as Taste, but turned out to be VULTURES. My last one was 7/1
Hartford, which ROCKED!!! This one wasn't going to come close to the
intensity of the Hartford heavy metal version - but it was very well done,
and such a good song. Definitely rocked out at the end with the jam, some
really good stuff, none of the guitar pyrotechnics of Hartford though. HORN
is such a great song, awesome rock guitar, and then the prettiest guitar
solo Trey has. Ahhhh, so nice. And he played it damn well too. BEAUTY OF MY
DREAMS started and was great since we all know what bluegrass means: a
super-dank Page solo. He really does such a number on bluegrass solos that I
could just listen to him tickle those ivories all night. Mike also dropped
the phatty bass solo - which was FAAANTASTIC! YA MAR started and everyone
was psyched. Really well done, but the key was the jam out of it. First
there was some start/stop jamming - some very well coordinated
start/stopping, but they finished it off with some heavy type II jamming
that took it down to a minor, dark and spacey jam. Little did I know this
would be the theme of the night. Finished abruptly and then the opener to
Trey's dark epic piece: STASH. So excited for this one. Composed section was
well played, and Trey probably missed a few notes, but hey, he's human, and
they don't practice like they used to anymore. Which is fine for them, if it
makes them happy.....But this Stash was unlike any I've ever heard, live or
tapes. Unlike my fellow reviewer colleagues, this was one of the best
Stashes I've ever heard. Jam started and went immediately into some dark and
quiet noodling - no hard rock like on A Live One. The jam grew farther and
farther away from the Stash theme - building to a dark and sinister
blues-style jam. Some serious type II in here - colors and undertones and
some phat bass grooves. It was all about Mike tonight, and he even started
playing the bassline to "You Don't Love Me Anymore" by the Allman's at one
point. This jam grew and grew and climaxed, and then drifted back to the
Stash chords, at which point Trey laid on the normal Stash jamming for only
a minute or two until the lyrics started again. Finished well, this and the
Ya Mar were the highlights of the set.
 
Set break!!! I love Massachusetts in September - cool and crisp. Checked out
the lawn, then stubbed my friends down to our just behind the taper section
pavilion seats.
 
Trey started the second set with some sloppy CHALKDUST riffs, but he got it
together once the band joined in. Interesting placement - but this song
started what has been one of the best sets I've ever heard! The jam started
out normal but then ventured into a minor key, with some great Page and Trey
jamming. It came back for the end of Chalkdust and the song ended the way
they usually close a set - with that huge cacophony of sound and lights. But
then this noise drifted to a slow, spacey jam out of which Fish started the
drums to TWIST. How many people like the old Twist better than the new one?
when it was still called Twist Around :). Oh well, things change, but this
Twist jam was good, more of that dark jamming but still within the
boundaries of Twist. Then of course they brought it back to the words and
main riff, with the crowd doing the "woooos". They started jamming again,
and I was sure they were going to go into Llama. Trey kept on playing that
fast strummed, high-necked chords that start Llama, and some other chords in
the same fashion as well. But the rest of the band didn't follow, and this
wore off quickly. It then faded back into that dark space, with some very
nice ambient riffs from Trey and a smooth, spacey sound from Mike and Fish.
Page added some nice colors, and it sounded like they were going into a
Caspian. But then Trey pulled out the chords to PIPER, and they began to
gradually build it. This Piper started off mellow and soft, but then quickly
hit the chorus as on Farmhouse. Some ass-kickin, heavy rock jams from Trey
after the chorus, but then it began to sink into some deep rooted blues
space. This slow, dark and bluesey space was going on all night, and they
were doing it really well. Mike kept it real with the blues bass lines while
Fish laid down the funky blues beat. Page backed it up with some nice
Hammond and baby grand work, and Trey led the jamming with the smooth,
spacey sound. As it went on it grew spacier, further from the Piper sound,
until it was a full-fledged "jam" on my setlist. This Piper and jam combo
lasted 23 minutes and was a great part of this so far seamless set. Out of
this space they appropriately went into a nice WHAT'S THE USE? I love this
song - it was so much fun to hear last summer at Great Woods. It's a great
tune that really comes about as close to the west coast, Grateful Dead-esque
spacey and mellow sound. Almost like Morning Dew (I am not saying that
What's the Use is ANYTHING like Dew, I'm just trying to give a bit of a
comparison that comes close). Use? went on for a few minutes, some nice
space jam and greatspacey closing. I saw Trey counting off during the space
for what I didn't know, but then they started up the obligatory YEM set 2
closer. Just such a fun tune. Played well, no real botched notes or
anything. But people, please, why do we have to clap during things like the
pre-nirvana build, or for that matter anything but Mound? They can keep the
beat themselves, you know :). Anywho, the YEM jam was a little shorter than
I would've liked, never really went anywhere before getting back to the
WUDMTF closing lyrics. Trey stumbled a bit on one of his 270 degree turns on
the tramps. Vocal jam to close was nice - but again, why the clapping???
GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES was a great rocking encore to come after the chill
vocal jam. Really rocked, best I've heard them play it in a while. I think
this one is back into a somewhat normal rotation in the Phish repertoire.
Nice jamming, although I'm not a big fan of the 1 song encore as we've heard
so far this tour.
 
So I didn't get my Fluffhead, or my Divided (damn it, they played that one
Tuesday night) or my SOAMule (that one too!!! damn!!!!!), but I got my Rift
and more importantly, some of the best Type II jamming in a while. The
second set was seamless, and well played. I think that tonight Phish
reaffirmed themselves truly as a "jamband," taking their jams and
inmprovisational directions to new heights. They really jammed these songs,
and I was glad to have been a part of it all :). Got the awesome Spanish Bee
from the Simpsons shirt in the lot after (Marco Esquandolis). I hate cops.
They suck - they ruined at least 3 different people's nights while on their
lot patrol. Shut down two food vendors (nothing illegal being sold!!), one
beer seller, and busted some kids toking in their car.
 
I just wanted to conclude by adding that there is no such thing for me as a
bad show, or a bad song (other than B&R). I love Phish and everything that
they do - and while I'd love to see a Forbin's>Mockingbird, Tela, Brother,
Sanity and Harpua second set, I love what they've done with their "new"
sound. They're playing better than ever before this tour; as musicians
they've grown tremendously, playing what they need to play to make it on the
road. Instead of switching their sound after 1995, would you rather they had
just called it quits, and never played any of this great music that they
have now? Neither would I. See you all in the land of chocolate!!!
 
My $.02,
Jake

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 08:40:29 -0400
From: "Cokas, Chris" [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9-11-00 Tweeter Center Review
 
After Albany on Saturday I knew the "boyz" would have to really get it
on this night to keep the fans going.  They came out a little early and
started the night off w/
 
Road runner-  I've never heard this before but it was catchy and fun and
he was mentioning Massachusettes and everyone was enjoying the kickoff
 
Moma- was fantastic, it hinted to me that they were ready to phunk it
up!  Real heavy bass drops and just overall badass
 
Rift- Was nice and fast and kept the swing movin
 
Brian & Robert- I personally don't care for this tune but they did make
it sound appealing and I must admit I enjoyed even though I would have
liked something faster.
 
Vultures- was good and had a dark tinge to Trey's solo, lyrichs were
perfect and Fishman really laid on the drums for this jam.
 
Horn - was beautiful and perfect
 
They ended the set with Beauty of My dreams, Yamar and stash which all
blew me away, hard rockin tight all around!
 
Second Set
 
Kick it Gordo!
 
Chalkdust, twist, piper, what's the use, voice jam, yem
 
All perfect some nice slow spacey jams in what's the use and evrything
sounded spectacular, I would have called this one of the best sets I had
ever seen had they played a few more tunes, Trey was having a blast
watching Gordo lay it down and it just seemed like a perfect time to go
on all night.  Stupid 11:00 curfews shut them down but
 
Encore:  Good times bad times
 
They ripped it up and sent us home wanting tomorrow night to blow us
away!
 
Great time!
 
Thanks for reading
 
Chris (Sproose) Cokas

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 10:15:44 -0400
From: "Giglio, Joe" [email protected]
Subject: Teezer Cntr 9/11
 
This show was neither as good or as bad as most of the reviews I've seen on
this page so far.
I thought that the "Tweeter Cntr" atmosphere was horrendous, due to the
horrific show of force by the local authorities.  That was absolutely
ridiculous.  Does anyone remember Tienamin Sq??
Lets start having shows in VERMONT!!!!!!!  PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE?
 
Anyway...
 
I was on the lawn for the show, & had my buzz pleasantly in place (liquid),
except for the fact that there were 14yo kids burnin MUCH better nugs than i
could get.  local shwag oh well...
 
I LIKED the opener.  cool cover.  Good spirit.
 
Most of the 1st set seemed like a soundcheck.  the mix on the lawn was
rough.
The band got tighter as the 1set went on, & although the intensity seemed to
lag for a while in the second set, after an ASS KICKING chalkdust, I decided
that since this is PHISH'S show (& not mine), that i would give them the
benefit of the doubt, and went along for the ride.  AND A GOOD RIDE IT WAS.
What's the use??  that's just the pink phloyd in the boys coming out...
 
It was nice to see the guys lay some LED ZEP on the kids too.  I wonder if
that's where Page, Jones, & Bonham would have taken it eventually?
 
REMEMBER PEOPLE...
Don't blame the band if the mix sucks.  there's many factors that go into a
good show.

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 10:56:50 -0400
From: C. S. [email protected]
Subject: Tweeter
 
The Tribes Tweak Tweeter
 
From 5th row center.
 
Am I the only one who wonders why some people come to Phish shows? You know
these people, they either get burned on an X-buy (why the fuck you would pay
20 bucks for an impotent high when you can get acid for quarters is beyond
me) and spend the whole show asking each other, "Are you feeling it yet?" Or
they slam so much heroin that they end up puking on you during "Lizards". Or
they travel packs, like wolves on benzedrine, looking for women to hassle.
Anything, except the the music. It's like that old saying, "If you got phat
tour pants, obscure tour shirt from 1989, a visor tilted sideways and smells
like patchouli" then you gotta be a Phish-head right? What about the fact
that you should like the music instead of spending the whole Brian and
Robert, Vultures (what song is this?), and Horn talking about
Survivor....What the hell, if you want to talk do it OUTSIDE.  I don't know
what the hell you were talking about during YEM, but I am sorry about the
elbows to the back of your head, but next time you jump the fence to stand
in front of me and talk you're gonna get hit. Another point, if you do not
know the name of a song and are so curious that you have to interrupt me to
ask during a jam, wait until I pull out the setlist and I'll show it to
you...Finally, to that guy locked on the guys like a cruise missile, don't
you know what they look like by now?
 
Set 1
 
Chillin', really close to the guys. A few people were talking about a Mike's
opener. Trey and Fishman looked really psyched, and exchange glances and
smiles throughout Roadrunner. Energy, everyone is having fun, dancing,
asking each other, what song is this? Best answer I heard, "Oh, it's off
Never Mind the Bollocks by the Sex Pistols. Oh, yeah? Kewl. I gotta get
that. Yeah whatever, shut-up and dance. I think I heard Trey sing,
"Massachusetts wicked pissah" among other things.
 
Moma Dance. Standard. Except for the guys on my left talking.
 
Rift. Fine.
Brian and Robert. I hate this song. Interrupts my groove, but others dig it,
so I sit and listen to the epic, incorrect, rehash of episode 6-9 on
Survivor, "yeah so this guy Rich has sex with like these two guys." What the
fuck Survivor were you watching. And, hey, shouldn't you have been on tour
during those episodes?
 
Vultures. I liked it. Took a while to get it going though. I haven't seen
this in a while so for me this was a nice change of pace.
 
Horn. I hear this a lot, but it was nice to be that close for this song.
Usually I close my eyes and don't open them until the set is over. This time
I opened them.
 
Beauty
This always happens to me, I think it is poor heart, become convinced that
it is poor heart, write down poor heart and then it becomes Beauty and it
fucks up my list. Standard up tempo which I prefer.
 
Ya Mar.Fine. Fun and loose, with Trey and Fishman et al having a good time
with the audience during the start-stop jam. Extended, sometimes too far?
 
Stash. The first part was standard, Trey seemed to have difficulty at times
hitting all the notes, at one point almost totally screwing up, but
recovering so well that the East German judge didn't even notice. The best
part of this was the jam after the traditional Stash arrangement. For me the
highlight of the first set.
 
Set Break
Went to the lawn to check on the tribes. Apparently everyone was one drugs
and having a good time, a much better energy than up front. Laughing,
hugging, drinking, smoking, enjoying, tripping.
 
Set 2
 
I am next to the left beer tent on the lawn hanging when the set opens, a
lot shorter than I remember them being. Well fine, bust into Chalkdust, at
least I am not up hear and they play Mike's or something. Standard Chalk, a
bit dusty.
 
Twist - Seemed as though they had a hard time getting it together for this.
They can really jam this out, it took a bit, but they finally showed a
tighter resolve toward the end.
 
Piper. Better than usual. Why? They progressed beyond the build-up quickly
and took it to another level.
 
What's the use? Do I need to say more.
 
YEM. Highlight, as usual.
 
E Good Times Bad Times
By the end of the show, it seemed as though Phish was really pumped for
tonight. After working out the kinks of the show, they were really starting
to gel, and of course the show ended. But, it seems as though they are
totally primed for tonight. I give the show a 7. Without
YEM/Stash/Horn/Piper I'd have given it a 5. Tonight I am looking for Mike's.
But who knows, I am grateful for whatever they play.

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 12:40:18 -0400
From: Paul Charbonnier [email protected]
 
 
I'm going to have to agree with our Survivor. What ever happened to smokin a
dube or poppin a cap and Phishin out? Don't get lost in the playground people.
We are suppose to be there for the music. Can I be part of the elder tribe?
We'll anyway here's my take on the night.
Set 1
Road runner- Missed this one.
Moma- was fantastic, Dancy and groovy
Rift- Was nice and fast and kept the swing movin
Brian & Robert - take it or leave it.
Vultures - Very dark song. Great lyrics. Trey had trouble getting this one
started
Horn - was beautiful and perfect
Beauty of My dreams - I thought they were going to play Poor Heart
Yamar - Danced my ass off.
Stash - Standard kick butt.
 
2nd Set
Chalkdust
twist
piper
what's the use
voice jam
yem
Encore: Good times bad times
 
Second set was amazing. Everything just fell together.
 
Sat in traffic for 2 hours trying to get out of there. Gearing up for tonights
show is going to be a pain in the ass (Red Bull). Way tired. I think I'm
getting to old for this shit. No more Monday and Tuesday night concerts for
me. I'll be in the 4th row tonight. Unreal. This may be the closest I've
gotten to these guys since Lowell Memorial. Very psyced.


Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 09:29:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Wood [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9/11/00 - Phish @ Tweeter Center
 
Well, this will ruffle some features, but I thought the Phish show at Great
Woods (aka Tweeter Center) was utterly mediocre last night. There were its
shining moments -- a well explored Chalk Dust, nice versions of Moma Dance and
Ya Mar along with a fun YEM.  If the remainder of the show was like these
tunes, you wouldn't be reading the following words.
 
There was a fairly sizable portion of the performance that verified why I have
seriously cut back on Phish shows in general over the past few years. I never
thought I would ever see a versio of "Stash" that flat-out stunk, but sadly
that was the case -- Trey was SO off that he needed both a TelePrompter and
sheet music:  His missed changes, sour notes and missed lyrics were truly
embarassing to the point I felt for the guy.  The explorations in Stash were
too messy, its directions failing to maintain my interest -- and Stash is by
far one of my fave Phish tunes, folks!  "Rift" was so poor and disjointed to
the point I wondered why they even bothered trying to play it.
 
The second set's momentum was killed by 10 minutes of sonic dogshit known as
"What's The Use", which had no fresh ideas whatsoever -- it just sat that like
a three-day moldy port-a-pottie that reeked. More so, numerous explorations
last night just lacked *good* taste (like the overcluttered "Vultures").  
Picture a young child trying to eat food he or she dislikes just to please his
parents and winces throughout. As it was, the scene was such a zoo that I
bailed at the beginning of the encore to beat the traffic.
 
I would think tonight will be much better, but I know there have been rumors
of a hiatus.  If tonight is similar in quality to last night, I think I will
take one myself.  I may already be doing so more than I think.
 
 
 
                                John J. Wood
                                [email protected]

click here to return to the 2000 reviews page


hits (many)