9-25-00 -- Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs, Kansas

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 23:30:30 EDT
From: [email protected]
Subject: Sandstone review (long and rambling)
 
September 25th, Sandstone Amphitheater, 7:30 PM...a little chilly.
 
And so the night began.  I left my friend Tim, who had just scored a lawn
seat at the box office, and made my way down to section 3, row F (incredible
seats, slightly to the right of Trey).  I heard lots of 'fucking-A, it's
cold' talk around, and was happy I had worn my windbreaker.   So, looking
like a jack-ass (but a WARM jack-ass), I sat back and watched the stagehands
play with the equipment for the next twenty-minutes.  Finally the lights went
down.  The band walks onstage wearing normal summertime clothing (Fish had
some form of pants on under the frock), takes their places, and bust into, of
all things....
 
EVERYBODY'S GOT BLAH BLAH MONKEY:  Well, this was certainly unexpected.  The
transition from the intro to the first verse was slightly flubbed, but I
don't even think the Beatles got it right on the White Album.  Other than
that, everything sounded much like it does on your 10/31/94 tapes.  Until
after all the "come-on's"...the band embarked on a ferocious riff for the
next five minutes or so.  I can't really call this a jam, because it didn't
really go anywhere.  But man was it intense.  One helluvan opener.  A short
conversation occurred between Trey, Fish and Mike.  Mike began playing around
on his bass while Trey talked to the cup.  And then Mike found his pedals.
 
DOWN WITH DISEASE:  Hmmmm...this Disease began very slow (akin to the 'Hoist'
version) and stayed that way.  Strange...Phish has played at Sandstone three
times, and twice DWD has been the second tune, following a rarely played
cover.  In '98, it was a basic Rockin' Disease.  This year, the jam began in
the same fashion, but after maybe ten minutes, they dropped the pace down a
bit and The Funk began to make an appearance.  This groove sounded
distinctively Fall '97 to my ears.  A segue into Ghost seemed inevitable, but
they never took the bait.  Instead the jam continued to gain momentum, at one
point almost morphing into 'In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida'.  Page seemed all up for
continuing the jam, but this Disease soon came to a close, never properly
ending.  Still, very impressive jamming for so early on in the set.  Another
group confab, and the temperature continued to drop.
 
LIZARDS:  This was my first time encountering Lizards so early in a show, so
the obvious 'Maybe We'll Get a Gamehendge' delirium clouded my recollection
of this selection.  I do remember that, like the prior Disease, it was
considerably slower than normal, as well as a bit rusty (no lyrical flubs,
though).  Page's fingers may have been a little frosty, as his solo didn't
make quite the impression it normally does.  The closing was executed quite
well, however.  I was bursting with anticipation when the song ended, and
Trey made it worse by picking this particular time to request a sweatshirt
from one of the guys off-stage.  I came to the conclusion that Tela wasn't
coming when Trey and Fish began joking around.  After they were all in
agreement, we were treated to...
 
TWEEZER:  And I was pissed because I thought I had missed my Tweezer when I
saw the Chicago setlist.  Heh.  So they don't play it all tour until
Rosemont, and then they bust it out two nights later.  In the first set, no
less.  It just goes to show...the conditions can dictate the direction of a
set.  But this was no ordinary Tweezer...this was not bouncy like the
versions of yore.  This was not funky like the more recent version.  This was
slow, swaggering Tweezer.  A shitty-drunk and cocky Tweezer, if you will.  No
massing opening-up of the 'song' portion, but the Ebineezer freak-out was
enjoyable.  At one point, Mike had to kick the fan in front of him,
presumably to keep his afro from frosting over...a stage-had eventually
corrected the problem.  This Tweezer jam stayed relatively simple, but
grooved VERY hard for quite some time.  Sometime during the jam, the chord
progression shifted into something that sounded like a Free jam.  This jam
soared for a few minutes before Trey laid down a funky riff that eventually
brought the end of the jam.  This was a relatively short type-I Tweezer if
there ever was one, but man was it good.  Much bang for your buck.  I'll skip
the description of the pre-song conference, as this was becoming the norm.
 
GBOTT: This proved to be the only throwaway song in the set.  Nothing special
happening, no extended jam...really, no nothing.  Well played, though.
 
WATER IN THE SKY:  Another surprise.  I absolutely love this
song...especially the SOTG arrangement.  It's a shame the boys have kind of
shelved it.  They skipped the "I can hear you..." that interrupts normally
Trey's guitar solo, and instead Trey continued wailing.  Nicely extended,
though a lot of Trey's notes were either muted, or they got lost in the mix.
 
BUG:  Trey gave this one away by strumming the first few notes prematurely.
I figured another Farmhouse track would appear sooner or later, and I was
glad it was this one.  Though it wasn't particularly out-of-the-ordinary,
everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves during the closing jam, and it was
intense enough for me to assume this would be the last song of the set.  The
band again scoffed at my know-it-all-ness, and gave us...
 
JULIUS:  Again, here was a song normally played at a brisk pace, slowed
considerably down.  It never really sped up, but still, the closing raged as
much as it normally would.  On a side note, have you ever noticed that the
structures of Julius and DWD are pretty similar?  Strange I never caught that
before now, since the songs are back-to-back on 'Hoist'.  Trey thanked the
crowd on the final note, and setbreak was upon us.
 
All in all, this was an odd, yet very strong first set.  From the song
selection (Monkey, Lizards, H20), to the song placement (early Lizards;
first-set Tweezer; big jams first, minor jams last), to the general feel of
the songs (slow, yet intense; lighthearted yet serious) to the overall
conditions (it was forty-five degrees, but the band was remarkably focused).
Everything sort of fell into place.  Though not quite as fun, this was way
higher-quality stuff than the two Creek shows I caught this summer.  I found
my friend Tim, we Enjoyed a Smoke, and I made my way back down to my seats.
 
Still Sept. 25th, still Sandstone Amphitheater, now 9:45 PM and Downright
Cold.
 
The band comes back onstage, Trey back to just a T-shirt, and Mike now
wearing a sweatshirt (I forgot what he had on before, but he definitely added
a layer backstage).  They wasted no time getting down to business.
 
JIBBOO:  My heart kind of sank when I heard the opening chords.  Don't get me
wrong, there's nary a Phish song I dislike, but I just was not in the mood
for Jibboo at this point.  However, this band has wonderful powers of
persuasion, and by the time the jam was two or three minutes old, I was happy
I was hearing this particular song.  This was not an exploratory Jibboo by
any means, but it was quite good.  Trey mostly soloed with spirit, keeping
the keyboard noodling to a minimum.  This was a non-stop groove-fest that got
the crowd even more pumped for what came next.
 
MIKE'S:  I was happy.  I only got to his this show of the tour, and going
into it, Mike's, Tweezer, and Divided were the three I REALLY wanted to hear
that I thought I may have a chance of seeing (unlike, say, Harpua or Forbin).
 I thought my chances of a Tweezer had been dashed Saturday, and I knew I had
no chance of Divided after Sunday night.  But, the band hooks me up with two
of the three.  Saaaawheeeet!  This Mike's, unlike the songs in the first set,
was not played much slower than normal.  In fact, it was fairly close to it's
Pre-Funk tempo.   The first jam was much in the same vain as the Tweezer, in
that it never really got that far out there, but that's not to say it was
lazy.  In fact, there was a wonderfully evil tone to the whole thing.  Kuroda
hit the fog heavy at the beginning of the second jam.  However, the band had
other ideas: simply slowing it down and segueing directly into...
 
HYDROGEN:  I was now extremely happy.  I haven't seen a
Mike->Hydrogen->Weekapaug since my first show back in '95.  In light of the
butchering the band has given this song since it's resurrection from
semi-retirement, this was a pretty good version.  It took a bit to get going
(I think Mike was in the wrong key in the beginning), but recovered nicely as
the ending was absolutely nailed.
 
WEEKAPAUG:  I think the entire audience was relieved when this one started,
to get some body-heat generating.  This was a fairly standard 'Paug, until
the 'quiet section', which began to take on a bit of a speedy-reggae feel.
Things began to wear thin after a few minutes, so, in one of those seemingly
telepathic moments, the band launched back into some more Weekapaugian
Grooving.  Trey, who had been on a feedback kick since Mike's Song, once
again began doing weird things, at one point slowly rotating his torso from
side to side to enhance the feedback.  The jam didn't come to quite the
wailing conclusion it normally does, but everyone came in on time, and the
whole thing went rather well.  Above-average jamming in this 'Paug, for sure.
 
AXILLA:  More strange placement, and more slow-tempo.  This was a very heavy
Axilla, and was well played.  No 'don't shine that thing' jam at then end,
instead a quick look between Trey and Fish, and...
 
HOOD:  I've said it before, I'll say it again...I HATE the Hood chant.
Doesn't get on my nerves at bad as people chucking glowsticks at the band
(which there was a little of tonight, but the couple of glowstick wars that
went down were so small it was pointless, even more so than usual), but it's
right up there on my relatively short 'bitch list' at shows.  There were at
least twenty complete strangers directly around me screaming 'HOOD!' at the
top of their lungs...makes it tough to hear anything else.  Still, I didn't
let it get me down.  But I digress.  The beginning of the composed
middle-section of this Hood was pretty rough, but that was forgivable
considering the now near-freezing temperatures.  The rest of the song itself
was played fine.  The jam was a strange one...Trey prematurely jumped the gun
to the high-octaves, as he did in the version on ALO, but the path to
recovery that that Hood took was much smoother than this one.  Instead of
dropping things back down a bit, or moving off the Hood chord progression a
little, Trey again began playing with the feedback.  For a while it seemed
like this Hood had lost it's way, but it soon regained it's life, and
everything came together for a minute or so.  Unfortunately they chose not to
build things up again before the closing vocals.  A slightly bizarre Hood,
but well worth my while.  I guessed they'd call it quits after this one, but
the didn't leave the stage.  Instead, we got...
 
FUNKY BITCH:  Yet another odd choice.  A fun Bitch for sure, but nothing
really of note.  Page took the first solo, and aside from his Lizards solo,
this was about the only time Page added something besides texture to a song.
This is not to say Page didn't do anything for this show...much to the
contrary.  His contributions just weren't out in front.  If not for him, the
big jams earlier in the show would probably have been rather boring.  This
was a fine solo, and Trey added a nice, yet brief, solo of his own to end the
song.  Surprisingly, they glanced at each other, and bowed at the end.  The
guy next to me expressed his dismay and confusion with a cry of 'No, no,
no!'.  A short wait, and the band was back.
 
REGGAE WOMAN:  And the surprises keep a-comin'.  This was a quick and to the
point Reggae Woman for sure, but I'm not complaining.  When you get a song
like this for an encore, it's already a bonus...no sense in biting the hand
that feeds when not necessary.  :-)  The abrupt ending led us to....
 
DRIVER:  I gotta admit, this is a good little song and all, but it just
doesn't work as an encore.  Oh well...at least we got more than one song (and
probably another) on this night.  I'm sure you've seen  the setlist, so you
know about the dedication Trey made.  Alas, I think Page's fingers may have
given out on him for the evening, as this was NOT the prettiest of solos.  At
least everyone in the venue was having fun freezing their collective ass off.
 
TWEEPRISE:  The obligatory closer.  But that's all good, and a fitting end to
this rather frigid Phishing excursion.
 
I must say that this was some of the jammier Phish I've heard in awhile.  Not
so much in the 'epic' sense, but every song either seemed to have incredible
jamming, or was a little tweaked out.  The setlist also betrayed conventions.
 The fun factor was much more subtle than normal...kind of a 'we're going to
joke around about the cold by not joking around about the cold' sort of
thing.  The composed music was a little sloppy, but the jamming was
near-flawless.  Well worth the thirty-bucks, the drive, and the head cold I
seem to have given myself.
 
Thanks for reading:
jeff

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 16:54:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matthew Tabaka [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9-25-2000 review
 
kansas was the bomb, for me anyway.  A great drive down, from minneapolis.  We left at
7:30 and got to the lots at 2:00pm.  Rested, this was very surreall for me being at an
outdoor fall tour show.  Gotta remember I am used to the classic winter tours of late
november so this was different.  The weather was like a summers day,but fall like as
well.  Once the sun went down it was cold cold cold.  The lawn was soaking like last
year.  Everybody's got something to hide excepts for me and my monkey.  I practically
shit my pants.  I recognized it off the bat and danced like a mad man.  Not to many
people knew the song, but whatever.  two nights of halloween bustouts, i hope the
western shows get "born under punches" and "the real me"  Not only did they fuck with
my mind by choosing this as an opener, but furthured the fucked upness by tweaking the
sonf out for at least 5 to 7 more minutes, they just rocked it out.  Trey was
screaming the lyrics and it was brilliant and convincing.  The higher you are the
deeper you go so come on!  Followed by DWD amazing funk to lizards which was beautiful
and flawless 1st time in 19 shows for me, right now this show is what legends are made
of, you can feel it.  Tweezer with steam coming out of treys mouth when he's saying
"cold cold cold".  Then mike with his "cooooaalldd" sqauk (it seriously looked as if
he were breating frost or something weird.  I wasn't even on anything, but de herb.
Great effect if you were watching the screen.  Mike was experiencing some sort of
difficulty, but I thought it strangely embellished the opening of the song.  The jam
was good, but at this point anything sounded good to my melted mind.  G-bot was fun
h2o in sky was too, bug was pretty and julius was julius.  No complaints from me these
songs were standard to certain degree, but they were all decent choices.  Setbreak
music: Talking timbuktu by Ali Farka Toure and Ry cooder (also played last night of
deer creek)

Jiboo gotta jiboo, mikes>h2>weekapaug.  Good shit, sorta tame, but rockin, weekapaug
kinda lost its momentum, but seemed original at least.  axilla rocked, hood was good,
but kinda flat. fglowsticks just aint what they used to be like at the went.  funky
bitch, was agreat choice and well plkayed.  boogie on was an immediate upgrade from
the pevious nights encore, in addition driver, which wsa cute with its banter, but I
just think this song is cheeseball galore, but we got the tweeprise.  something in the
air was felt as miked dropped his bombs that slowely travelled subsonically up the
hill that carried a wave of ohs and ahhs from the crowd as it passed through them.  
They truly do touch us all.

A great shows I'm so glad i missed work at my dumb job.


Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 20:21:53 -0500
From: "Logan, Casey R. (UMC-Student)" [email protected]
Subject: 9/25 review
 
I: Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey*, Down with
Disease >
   Lizards, Tweezer, Back On The Train, Water In The Sky, Bug, Julius [1:23]
 
II: Gotta Jibboo, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Axilla I,
    Harry Hood, Funky Bitch [1:01]
 
E: Boogie On Reggae Woman, Driver**, Tweezer Reprise [0:12]
 
-- So far I've heard really mixed reviews on this one, from people who loved
this show to people who thought it was average at best. Personally, I
thought it was a solid show throughout with some phenomenal moments.
 
For me this was number 37, I think, the first one being 6/14/94 (like
someone else who reviewed this show).
 
This venue's history with Phish is mixed. Tremendous show in 98 (including
an Emotional Rescue opener, Sneaking Sally, Ice>Lengthwise>Ice, Brother,
Camel Walk and Tela), but a really off show in 99 to open the summer tour.
Only Mike's takeover in Free stood out from that night, something that would
certainly be continued here...
 
Outdoor show, end of September -- as long as the rain stayed away, this had
the makings of a great night. Fortunately, the weather cooperated (a little
cool, but nothing an extra layer wouldn't cure). The sun went down as it
does in the fall, so by the time they took the stage it was already dark. We
were getting an ultimate treat here: an outdoor show that doesn't lose a
half set of Chris' lights.
 
   MONKEY, DISEASE->LIZARDS, TWEEZER: Who could have expected this opener?
Got the show off to a great start since it could have gone anywhere from
there. Really happy to see this crazy breakout. Great placement of Disease
to follow -- jammed out fairly long, settling into a familiar groove towards
the end and then into Lizards. To this point, they were on fire. Monkey,
Disease>Lizards was unreal, but then to get first set Tweezer next was
beautiful. It was starting to get cold during Lizards, so between that and
Tweezer Trey put on a long sleeve. I get the feeling he called this one
because of that -- Fishman and he were smiling during the first half of the
song, "Step into the freezer ... it's going to get cold, cold, cold, cold,
cold."
And here, as I recall, is when Mike started to take over. Let me begin a new
paragraph for this.
 
********THIS IS MIKE'S SHOW. Anyone who seriously argued for him to be
turned up in the mix, who loves to listen to Mike each show, you need this
one. He was prominent during the first set, but owned the second set (which
I'll get to).**********
 
   Hefty jam from Tweezer, can't much remember the end. Get Back on the
Train followed. I like it. Tight, funk-country. Good spot.
   WATER IN THE SKY: Anyone else notice that since Big Cypress, Water in the
Sky has a little something extra in the middle? Well-played. This version is
so much better than the original that no one should ever complain about
seeing it.
   BUG: Trey gave it that extra something that indicated this might close
the set, but no, Julius followed. Bug impresses me the more and more I see
it. Great intensity to this version -- great line in "nothing I see can be
taken from me."
   JULIUS: A Julius set closer.
 
**SET II: GOTTA JIBOO grooved to begin things -- I didn't catch one of the
many Jiboos this summer, so I don't know how it compares. Sounded good to
me.
 
   MIKE'S->H2->WEEKAPAUG: Kind of felt this one coming. Interesting to get
the whole groove in such a compact, early manner. The opening to the Mike's
jam was pure evil, and Mike quickly took over. Here is where it began. Trey
was absolutely tremendous in sitting back and letting Mike take center
stage, while complimenting him throughout. There are probably a lot of
people disappointed that they didn't get more Trey, but a Mike show like
this doesn't come along often. His playing throuhout the groove was awesome.
Get it. Not a long Mike's jam before gorgeous Hydrogen. Then, throw some
more spotlight on the shag. His opening solo to Weekapaug only emphasized
how on-fire he was tonight. Then, after a bit of a jam, Mike roared back in
to take over before they went into the final chorus. This, people, is the
definition of MIKE'S groove.
   AXILLA: Love it when they keep up the energy where they could so easily
drop into a ballad. I will use this spot to mention the one bad thing I
would say about this show (okay, two including Hood), and sadly that thing
is Chris's lights. I have rarely seen a show that I've left and commented on
how lacking the lights were, but tonight was one of those nights. Here was
the opportunity for an outdoor show with TWO sets of lights, and they fell
far short of what they can be. Axilla was cool in the way ALL Axilla's are
cool, but other than a few moments of Mike's, the lights were sort of dull
all night (compared to what they could've been). Even Tweeprise fell far
short of what it can (and usually) is like. Okay, enough of that, because
this is probably the only show I've seen where I would actually make a bad
comment about Chris' work. And I only make it because he normally puts on a
tremendous display.
   HARRY HOOD: I will always love the composed section, but it has been a
while since the jam of this tune has really moved me. Lately (the last few
years), it seems that the end is always so rushed. This was no exception. I
don't get this because Slave kills me every time I see it, and they both
follow a definite progression to a climactic finish. Not sure. This was by
no means terrible, just not as good as past versions.
   FUNKY BITCH: Loved this because it was like Mike's curtain call. Step up
one more time and take a bow, this time on vocals.
 
ENCORE: Boogie on had a nice groove. I hate Driver's lyrics (and I like most
Phish lyrics), but Trey's dedication was nice, especially if you were there
in 98 (and I liked seeing the review by the guy that met him). Of course,
his dedication speech went through the duration of Page's solo, which he was
supposed to be dedicating, but no matter. The intention was there. Tweeprise
ended on a powerful note, if not a familiar one.
 
OVERALL: The first set was solid, especially the first four songs. But the
Mike's Groove alone is reason enough to like this show. I understand IN A
WAY why people might not have fallen in love with this show, but if you've
seen a handful of shows where Trey totally dominates, you'll appreciate this
one. Not only was Mike exceptional, but the band backed him so well --
especially Fishman and Trey.
 
--KC

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 04:53:02 -0500
From: John Myers [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9/28 review
 
After driving for 3 hours and closing out my 4 show stint of the Fall tour I
figured it was time to write my first review.  Here's my stats, 18 shows
including the THE SHOW and way to many hours of music on CD, tape, whatever.
So, here goes.  The weather was absolutely beautiful, not a cloud in the sky,
and the temp was in the mid to lower 50's, cooler than a normal for a late
September day in KC, but pleasant with the hoody and heat from the fans.  The
lot scene, from what I saw, was pretty chill, but very happening.  Law
enforcement, yea right, in KC, they pretty much let you do what you want, no
pat-down at the gates, and very little security, if any.  The feel for the
night really started in the pre-show music, very funky and driving.
Set 1:
Something to Hide: wow, where did this come from, no one really knew what it
was, but it was well played.  At first they had some problems with the vocals
and the music was blurred, but then the feedback cleared and the music
carried so well.  It was a good start and kind of expected, the last three
show were started with covers.
DWD:  I had heard this in Chicago, but how can you resist that riff in the
ending jam.  Wow, they were really starting to set the tone of the show,
driving, in your face jamming.  The jam was very tight and extended, but once
again, unfinished, and brought down very softly like Phish seems to be doing
now-a-days and right into...
Lizards:  Probably the best Lizards I've heard, very tight.  Page's Latin
solos were very impressive and even extended.  Then Trey pulls out his solo
and starts to send the set to a new height.
Tweezer:  What?  No way, personally I was upset at this point.  I've seen so
many god damn Tweezer shows now and personally I don't think that they use it
how it should be used, they just seem to stop it now instead of jamming in
and out of it, plus I had heard it two days ago.  Anyhoo, this Tweezer was
much better than Allstate and was really pretty short, maybe 8 minutes. There
was virtually no jam and Mike controlled the whole song.  It was slow, funky,
and right when Trey went to the loop effect, Mike cut him off, so you can
imagine how it stayed nice and slow with some heavy in-your-face phish funk.
Back on the Train:  Very good follow-up.  More in your face funk and another
song with a jam.  I think that "funk jam" was the theme to the show.
Water in the Sky:  Between songs there was a lot of chatter on stage and not
through the cup, but between all members on what to play.  I figured we were
getting a set closer, say Possum, but then they broke out Water in the Sky.
Hadn't heard this since NYE and it was light, together, and done well.
Bug:  What a great song, with yet another jam.  This version was similar to
the 99 KC version, but had an extended jam at the end with Trey doing some
really nice solo work.  Trey's soloing was all over the place and filled with
really nice syncopation.
Julius:  Great crowd pleaser and a great set closer.  Pretty standard and
some fumbling by Trey, but good all-in-all.
First set reactions:  Last year, fans use to complain about placement of
songs, well, this tour everything seems to be running all over the place with
no sense or logic and to me, it is very exciting.  Phish is very
unpredictable right now and the first set should be a good indicator.  They
definitely kept everyone on their feet dancing, but blessed us with some jams
where Trey wasn't the one always leading.  Mike was taking most of the
leading and it made for some really intimate moments.  We were getting Phish,
not Trey and Friends.  Fantastic first set, but a little short of Perfect.
 
Set II: Where do I start?
Gotta Jibboo:  At this point in time, my feet were starting to hurt, but
somehow Phish knew that dancing was just the cure I needed.  The Jibboo was
standard until the jam.  Trey went to the loop, but really didn't even use
it.  He did some solo work where he was very particular in his choice of
notes and let the rest of the band fill over his longer and sustained notes.
Once they finally brought it back around they must have extended the "gotta
jibbo" part by 6 or 8 rounds.  I never thought they were going to stop, very
uncommon and a nice idiosyncrasy.
Mike's Song:  No, they didn't just...Mike's and Tweezer in the same show,
seem like the first night of NYE, maybe a Boogie On....hmmmm  The Mike's was
considerably slower than normal, which allows them to style it more like a
funk number than a rock-n-roll number.  The whole Mike's>H>Week was really
condensed, but nothing was left out and the I am Hydrogen jam started off
very dark but ascended to the light happy jam just like on Hampton.
Weekapaug Groove:  Mike is way too good at the base, he was slapping that
shit all over the place.  He took an extended intro, and then gave way to
Trey.  Trey seemed antsy to me here.  There seemed to be almost a power
struggle between them and it really took away from the inner jam portion of
the song.  Once they came around, the song was pretty much just ended.
Axilla:  Great lights and nicely done.  Again very driving and in-your-face
Harry Hood:  Awww sweet Harry.  Fishman had wanted to play this all night
teasing it before Water in the Sky and continuously doing so throughout the
show.  Wonderful middle section again with Trey doing some very nice work on
the pedals, he even went to the keys for about 4 measures.  The ending was
again just kind of shut off.  The feel good about Hood part came too soon or
too late, which ever way you wan to look at it, but it just wasn't right.  It
was very pleasant though to hear it and I thought for sure the lights were
coming on, but...
Funky Bitch:  Yes, couldn't have been a better time to go back to the old
reliable funk.  Mike was kicking again and both Page and Trey had very nice
solos.  Pretty standard version, but not a single missed note, they were
really on.
Second Set reactions:  Again, all jamming except for Axilla.  The Mike's was
very nicely done, straight to the point and funky.  I think at this point of
the show, it was pretty obvious that something special was coming in the
encore.  Nothing had been normal until now, Tweezer and Mike's in the same
show, a song that hadn't been played since 94', jamming all over the place,
what next?  Of course a 3 song encore!
Encore:
Boogie On a Reggae Woman:  I bartend at this little tiny bar, but we get to
play our own music and I swear to God we play this song atleast 10 times a
night.  I'm sorry, but it doesn't get much better than this.  Combining the
Phish Funk, with the keyboard master funk himself, Mr. Wonder, makes for a
great song.  Great crowd reaction and the best part was that Page and Trey
just gave way to Mike.  Page and Trey filled while Mike just let the slappin
happen.  Standard length, but what a treat, everyone was diggin it.
Driver:  One of my favorite ballads they play, probably b/c I saw its debut
in Vegas, but personally I would have rather seen it played acoustic.  It was
nicely done and Page's solo was a Latin style solo b/c two summers ago Trey
met some lovers before the KC show and told them he would play a Mexican love
song for them.  He played Contact and tonight he told the story and dedicated
Page's solo to them b/c they are still together.  It was one of those rare
instances where one of the band members actually talks to you.
Tweezer Reprise:  Standard, no white lights at the end though.
Overall Reaction:  A very, very good show, worth getting the tapes.  (8 out
of 10) Lots and lots of jamming, lots and lots of jamming, lots and lots of
jamming.  You could tell they were having fun.  The only set back was in the
second set where they just didn't click, which lasted about all of 2
minutes.  One last note, there was a little glow stick war, but what I want
to say is why do people purposely throw glow sticks at the stage?  Do they
realize that the guys playing the music don't want to get hit by them?
That's why we got a 53 min set in Chicago.  People, don't be stupid.  Great
show, great weather (you could see your breath), great scene, and a great
time.
stay kind, cactus

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 16:24:41 CDT
From: Blake Keeton [email protected]
Subject: sandstone show 2000
 
hi, everyone
 
i just wanted to share a couple of comments on the events of mon. night at
sandstone.
i hear alot of comments on the negative lot scene,thats kinda funny because
i came to the phish show by myself not really knowing what kind of vibe to
expect and i was shown many, many random acts of kindness througout the lot
and at the cottonwood campground nearby.
why do so many of the people that do show reviews talk about a little of the
bad instead of focusing on the intense show that we all shared.
 
blake from kansas

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 02:23:17 EDT
From: [email protected]
Subject: Very brief review of 9-25-00
 
The drive from Dallas to Bonner Springs is 550 miles, but I didn't give a
shit. Since this was to be my only show of Fall Tour 2000, and the last one
before Phish takes their "break", I didn't mind making the trek.  The
following outlines my thoughts and opinions about the show at Sandstone:
 
1st set:  Me and my Monkey was quite unexpected.  DWD fuckin' rocked.  I just
wished they'd have finished the jam before moving into Lizards which was
decent.  This was my first Tweezer and it rocked.  Hell yeah! GBOTT was short,
yet sweet.  Water in the Sky.  Bug is great.  Love when they play it.  Too
fucking bad I missed the 1st half of it due to the urgent need to piss.  
Julius was the proverbial set closer.  A good strong solid 1st set.  I give it
a A-.  Light work deserves an A-.
 
2cd set:  The entire 2cd set was very well played, but lacked energy. The
lights were mediocre at best.  Not much band-crowd interaction in either set.  
Encore appeared rushed.  Musically, this set was terrific, but I give it a B-
due to the lack of energy.  I give CK a C- for his lightwork in this set (or
lack thereof it).
 
Understand that Phish doesn't do a bad show.  However, when they are tired or
fatigued, their shows are more prone to lack the energy they are known for. I
think a break will do them good.  I think they'll recharge, center, and expand
before heading out again to kick all of us phans in the ass in the �same
manner (or even harder) that we're used to.


Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:59:32 -0500
From: Dustin [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9/25 Review
 
The show at Bonner Springs was my 6th Phish show after starting on
8/17/93 at Memorial Hall in K.C.  As stated here, I thought it was
better than the 99 show in KC, but not as good as the '98 show.  Plus, I
guess I have a special place in my heart for the first show I saw in
'93, the best one I've seen yet, because that is the only time I have
heard them play Weigh and the crowd was so small.
 
I thought the Beatles tune was great to open the show.  What a
surprise!  Many phans around were asking..."What is that?" etc.  It was
a fun show, the phaster version of "Down with Disease" was great.  You
could sure tell the boys were from Vermont (or somewhere equally
temperate) as Trey was singing and playing in short sleeves whilst able
to see his own breath.
 
Tweezer was incredible, as usual, with a hefty extended jam included and
I was very pleased to hear the quartet play "Back On the Train" from the
new one.  I wished to hear "Dirt," but it was still cool to hear another
new one.
 
As someone else said, the second set was really great, featuring Mike's
Song and Mike in general.
 
I haven't seen Sandstone so packed since the Eagles played there (which
was rainy and even colder than the Phish show) and it was refreshing to
be amongst the phlock again. :)
 
Dustin Ebaugh

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 21:38:14 -0500
From: Joseph O'Toole [email protected]
Subject: Sandstone!
 
Let me just tell you how good and terrible this night was at the same time
for me.  This will be my last show of the tour for me and obviously my last
for a year or more.  So I was naturally excited, but not expecting much after
the stellar show at Rosemont Friday night.  But to my surprise, Everybody's
Got Something..... cool way to open a show.  I was impressed with such an
opener after Saturday night's Come on Baby.  Surprised but happy to see DWD
and Tweezer so soon after the weekend.  Lizards, too!!!  Then came the
problem. Security stood in front of me for five minutes with their
flashlights on trying to clear out the aisles of dancers.  After much
frustration I yelled down to them to get out of our way so we could see the
show.  I was asked if I wanted to stay at the venue.  I told them I just
wanted to watch the show and asked them to stay out of my line of sight to
the stage.  Next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of the show.  I
couldn't believe it.  My hometown and security kicks my ass out for something
so stupid.  Power hungry assholes!!!  Did anyone else have problems?  I'd be
interested in hearing if you did.
 
This ruined my whole night.  But I did walk around and purchase a lawn seat
expecting a great second set.  I got to see the end of the first set, which
was average at best.  Second set started out great....Jibboo (sweet) and
Mike's Song>Hydrogen>Weekapaug....hell yeah.  Exactly what I was waiting all
fall to see.  Once again though, the ending of this set was fairly weak.
Funky Bitch as a closer?  It was decent.  Maybe I was just still thrown off
by all the problems I had with security earlier.  Encore was pretty good.
Boogie On Reggae Woman was the first one I've seen.  This was good.  Liked
that they threw in an additional song with Driver.....then the standard
Reprise.  In all, this was a pretty solid show, minus my security problem.
I'm still extremely upset about this.  It just kills me.  But the whole
weekend was great.  I can't tell you how solid Friday night was.  WOW!!!  I
like what you guys are saying about the new Piper jam.  I agree that it's
pretty sweet.
 
And if any of you security guys are reading this from Sandstone, please have
some respect and understand that this is not a damn Motley Crew show or
something.  You don't have to flex your muscles and show how much power you
have as a security guard.  Grow up!!!  Learn what you're dealing with before
you make assumptions.
 
Until next year......(hopefully)
 
Anyone know where I can find some moe. mp3s (live) to download?  I have to
find something new for the big break.

From: joy jacobs [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2000 3:47 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sandstone show
 
Hello Fellow Phish Heads-
 
Just wanted to write about my magical day i had with Phish being In Kansas
City today.  I was so fortunate to met Trey Anastasio today down by their
hotel.  He was getting ready to go to the store.  Just being up close and
personal with the Godfather of Phish was like a hard core Catholic nun
standing next to the Pope!!!  I was a bit nervous but we shot the shit about
some people we both knew he had partied down with the night before the
Summer 1998 show.  Anyway, I just thanked him for coming to K.C. because we
phans have been thriving on this night for months.  Man, what a hell of a
guy.  He really appreciated the fact of what I told him.  He thanked me and
told me that it was going to be a great night.  I think he really enjoys
K.C. when they come here every year.
 
Showtime around 8:00 or so, man the Beatles as an opener???  How phat is
this night going to be?  They were all just smiling at each other, and trey
just went to town.  Man these guys just love what they do so much and it
shows!  Then  they do a funkadelic tease, and I had a feeling they were
going to break into Down with Disease, and bingo Mike Gordon just steps up
to the spotlight and just gets the crowd rocking and rolling.  they jammed
so smooth on DWD, and long.  At one point in the song I said to myself
"Damm, this is only the second song!"
 
But the rocking and rolling just kept on going...Lizards?  Holy Shit, Trey
Anastasio what the hell are you trying to do to us?  Page had the beginning
many solo spotlights that would occur throughout the night. Page played the
keys so sweet, he is such a sugar daddy on the keys.  So the crowd is just
grooving hard, to then step it up another notch on Tweezer!  AHHHHHHH!!!!  I
turned around to look up on the lawn and not see anyone who was not dancing
at Sandstone.  Everybody had their groove on.  Tweezer is so improvised when
it is played.  Phish does such a fantastic job of breaking down their songs.
  But once again, Mikey was cuttin' the rug on the bass!  By this time
Gordon has the crowd into a intense transe.  Everyone around me is just
getting down and funky!
 
Finally, after a sequence of four hard core jams, they slow it down a notch
so we all can catch a breather with Get back on the Train.  I love this
song, especially the way Page was on the synthesizer/keys. Another little
solo in the spotlight for him.  Trey sang the whole song with a gleaming
smile on his face!  Then they do another one of their teases in between
songs where your like I think it is this...not wait it is this.  Once again
I called it...Water in the Sky got the crowd moving in the 45 degree weather
that it had become.  Then they played Bug, I was so stoked for this song.
It is one of my favs on farmhouse.  I love the way Trey is so passionate
when he sings this song.  Its like you can see his heart and soul when he
sings it.  And finally, Julius for the set closer!  WOWOWOW!!!  At this
point I am just in fucking ahh...they have jammed so hard for the first
set..it is only halftime?  These two guys by us were tripping so hard they
thought the show was over...they were like that was the best show I have
ever seen!
 
Overall, Phish recieves an A+ for the 1st set.  I did not sit down in my
seat once, and at the break my legs were really feeling their workout thus
far.
 
The Second Set just continued from the end of the first set.  Gotta Jibboo
was so phat with Trey on lead the Mike, Page, Fish doing the rounds on
backup.  Great opener.
 
Then the maddness of the night really gets going...this is what we all have
been waiting for!  Mike's > I am Hydrogen > Weekapaug. Holy Shit! This band
is amazing how they control the crowd.  Mike's jam was super intense with
Page fucking it up on the organs.  that song trips me out hard core, and I
 
love it!  I love how I felt during this song because I just funked out hard
core! The fog from the back of the stage and out to the crowd was trippy!
Plus, glowstick war was awesome, you just can't go to any other show and see
stuff like that!  Only at PHISH!  Once again, Mike steps it up and takes
charge of the band and takes care of business. I was really expecting them
to bust into Simple but they surpised us instead with I am Hydrogen which is
just pure beauty.  It is Trey Anastasio's finest masterpiece.  I loved how
he mums with his mouth every chord be plays, especially this song.  Then it
is all Trey and Mike on Weekapaug Groove...INCREDIABLE  MIKE GORDON IS A
PRODIGY!  He tore this song up inside and out, and up and down.  In that
stretch of jams I felt Gordon stole the show!  He was phenominal!  At the
end of Weekapaug I had goose bumps when he stepped up to the microphone for
his solo.  This crowd is just on fire!
 
But they dont' stop there!  Axilla I?  I thought they were trying to kill us
by this time!  Very loud and intense jam!  Great lights on this song.  Thank
you Kudora, your the man!  Then they groove into Harry Hood...I love when
they play songs that the crowd participates in.  Harry is such a classic
jam, and they tore it up, once again glowsticks flying through the air, but
thats a given on Hood!  I just can't believe what I have been hearing
tonight.  I felt so electrified after Hood!  For them to funk me out to
Funky Bitch, by this time nothing is phasing me anymore, these guys mean
business tonight.
 
Encore:  Boogie on Reggae Woman was just SMOOTH!  This is one of my
favorites that they cover.  The words say it all for me!  It defines my
life!  I am the reggae woman!  Now Driver was a bit emotional for me tonight
because Trey gave a shot out on the microphone about meeting me when I
talked to him earlier that afternoon about the people he kicked it with two
years ago!  He dedicated the piano solo of Page to them for still being
together!  How emotional it was for Matt and Serva the second song Trey has
dedicated to them!  But for me because he mentioned that he had met me
earlier and started talking about these people.  I couldn't believe it!  I
had tears rolling down my cheeks.  Right then and there Trey Anastasio went
to the deepest part of my soul, and has changed my life forever!  Tweezer
reprise was just icing on the cake! Overall, Phish recieves an A+++++++ for
the whole show!  A phans dream setlist was performed tonight!
 
Thank you Trey for taking the time to talk to me and saying something about
our encouter earlier that afternoon! He and the rest of the band really do
appreciate all that we phans do for them.  He proved that tonight at
Sandstone Ampitheatre!  Thank you to the crowd for rocking and rolling
because that what this whole scene is all about!
 
I apologize for writing a novel, but I must share this magical and emotional
day with all my fellow phans.  Phish and Trey touched me so deep today that
I feel like a born again Christian!!! ALLLEEEUUUEEAAHHH!  AMEN! :):)
 
Enjoy the rest of the tour, and see you all in VEGAS AND SHORELINE!
 
Lots of Love,
 
Joyful Jacobs
 
Have great shows...and see you all in VEGAS and SHORELINE

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:17:14 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: typo correction on my show review, please submit this one!
 
Hi there everyone!  The old Stone was very cold but, at least it wasn't
raining like last year! ;-)  I had a great time and brought my sweety for her
first show (my 7th)!  The music was great and the sound was great.  Me and My
Monkey was the coolest of treats and really pushed me into gear!  Mr. Gordan
had a perfect sound crafted for Down with Disease but I was surprised that
the song didn't end as it usually does, simply because it's fun to hear that
melody come back in the chorus!  Lizards, whew Page you rule!  Even in the
cold with your fingers just a twitchin'....Tweezer!!!  Yes, we stepped into
the freezer!  It was cold, cold cold!!!!  Perfectly placed and executed songs
followed....Back on the Train, Water in the Sky, and Bug.  They played Bug
and Train last year but both were much better this year, even if Train was a
little too fast for my taste.  Trey, thanks for the excellent leads on Water,
I love your ability for theme and variation.  All praise!  This is where I
must comment on the crowd... Please, 15 year olds,  smoke your 51st bowl of
*hit somewhere else!  Nothing but kids in the isle forcing their bad habbits
right in front of me and the sweet heart, who was not used to this type of
behavior!  I HATE explaining you idiots to everyone I bring to a PHISH show!
Perfect, flawless, and adorable music is ruined by you.  Please stop!
okay......Gotta Jiboo, ROCK ON TREY, great leads, perfect tempo, NOT LONG
ENOUGH!  Then my first Mike's-->Hydrogen-->Week.  AWESOME, like I told you
phans!!!! PERFECT SONGS TONIGHT!!!!!  WELL PLAYED!!!!  Mike, you put your
jacket on and proceeded to amaze all!!!!!  (p.s.  one of the dope heads in
front of me commented on how you sound exactly like Eric Clapton!!!!;-)..case
in point!!!.....Mr. Gordan you sang so good and sweet, I couldn't have been
happier! HEY wait....Fishman?  Weren't you cold, dress and all?  You looked
like you were having a blast all night long!  So not too cold huh? Boggie On
was very welcome, because I had been wanting to hear Mellow Mood but, I saw
that they played it the night before so I had my Positive Vibration goin' on!
 Okay Driver may have stole the show...I was just about to start flapping my
gums about Page's killer night when Trey Spoke out for us all and commented
on it and some phans he had a great time with earlier that day!  Very nice,
very personal, very COOL.  Tweezer Reprise was heard by the two of us as we
left you idiots behind that we swearing that it was still the first set and
smoking a bowl to remember.  Again, only you stoops could ruin this good of a
show!  98% of the other true phans were incredible, nice human beings,
pleased to meet you! Peace! Robert Keeley

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:55:21 -0500
From: "Bob Hanson [[email protected]]" [email protected]
Subject: Review 9/25/00 Sandstone
 
                Well kids here we go. Bare with me this is the first review
submitted to the All Mighty Gadiel Page. First a bit of info about me. I am
a veteran of 32 Phish shows, my first 06/??/94 in Des Moines, IA. I have
witnessed many superb performances including 10/31/95, both Deer Creek '96
shows, The "M" show w/Popper in St. Louis, Vegas '98, and well, you get the
picture. Sorry if I cannot remember the dates. So now you know a bit about
me.
                Going into the only show I will see on this Fall 2000 tour I
was having expectations which were some what high. Starting with Beatles
...My Monkey I was surprised and most of the crowd had not a clue what The
Band was throwin down. Not a bad start. This was kind of warm up song, but
definitely the nugget of the show. Next up DWD which Trey slowly climaxed
nicely with a jump into Lizards. Played out with not much enthusiasm.
Standard. Tweezer got some nice groves going early in the first set with
Mike and Trey breaking down into a slower tribal funk. Back on the Train
also kept the crowd groovin' as the funk inside the boys carried over from
Tweezer. The rest of the first set was standard versions of Water in the
Sky, Bug, and Julius. Not much smiling out of any of the boys in the first
set. Or crowd interplay for that matter. I should mention it was down right
cold with temperature's in the high forties for the night time temp.
                        Set two got going with Gotta Jibboo. It seemed to
                        Set two got going with Gotta Jibboo. It seemed to
these eyes and ears as nothing more than an average and no real climax or
crowd interplay. Trey stood with his eyes shut almost going through the
motions throughout the show. Mike's>Hyd>Weekapaug couldn't even jump start
Sandstone. Mike was really putting forth his best foot with some bombs but
it just didn't go over the top. Axilla and Hood were soooooo standard it was
obvious that nothing could save this show. Even though Funky Bitch  to end
the set was probably the best song played musically on the night it was a
little too little, a little too late. Boogie On for the encore started like
an old diesel engine in the cold. Chugging and spitting with The Boys not in
sync until Trey turned around and gave some direction. Driver and the
Tweezer Reprise were heard by me walking up past the crowd to take one last
look over the Amphitheater to see four of the greatest musicians put out a
below average performance.
                We all know any show is better than no show. True. But I
really believe that the break will do Phish a lot of good. And after 9/25/00
it is obvious. I know many may not agree with what I have pecked out here on
my keyboard. The truth sometimes hurts. Overall this show ranks real low on
my list  - or real high on my list. You figure it out.
                Bobby Hanson

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 10:13:09 -0500
From: Tom/Michelle Christiansen [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 9/25/00
 
Is this what the lot scene is comming to? Hundreds of teenagers stumbling
around with easily purchased beers sold to whoever has the cash! I am talking
about 14 year-old kids puking on their hands and knees. They are not here for
the music. Next year it will be worse, and then Sandstone will crack-down and
we will all cry about how cool the lot used to be.
 
T.C.


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