Deer creek 8-2-98


Hey kids. First of all, I must say that everyone should go to Deer Creek
at some point. The camping/lot scene was interesting. Lots of nice
people hanging out, selling things. I talked with a number of people I
didn't know, most of whom were quite nice. All in all, the phans were
cool. This, plus a beautiful venue (maybe not as nice as Alpine, but I'm
not complaining...) and a beautiful night made for quite an anticipatory
vibe.

                Sunday, 8/2/98, DEER CREEK: "First, that Hood cut off my
penis, lit it up, and made me take a                                         hit off of it. Once I was
high off my own penis, Bowie and                                             Antelope played ping-pong
with my balls, and made me keep score."
-                                            
                                - My friend Phil, on the experience of the Deer Creek versions of
Bowie, Hood,                                         and Antelope.

This evening was all about VIBE (I don't mean the drugs). I felt
something great was going to happen, and it did...

SET I:

Roget: Not a great choice for an opener, but cool enough. Life is
easy...

Divided: Would of made a perfect opener, but who's complaining?! This
got a great reaction from the crowd. I really can't think of a better
song to have played at this point. Overall, an average Sky, but that was
more than enough. I can still see the goofy look on Trey's frozen face
during the pause. Great to hear this tune.

Horse -> Silent: Cool. You don't hear this too often, so I was happy.
Good placement. I love Trey's solo line near the end of this. Great
texture. They could have stretched this out a bit more, but no need
after a solid Sky.

Too Much of Everything: Again, damn fine song placement. This one got
everyone moving again after a mellow Silent. I hadn't heard this before.
Sounds like it could get old fast, but nevertheless, lots of fun
tonight.

Boogie on: Yeah! It took them a long time to start this one, and I
didn't recognize it right away. This was not as solid as the 12/7 Dayton
version, which also segued into...

Reba: Shit, Goddamn. I was very excited just to this one played. It's
like Divided in that you can hear it a million times and not really tire
of it, especially with the jam it yields. Tonight's was no exception.
Very nice mellow jam segment. I love melodious jams like these, though
there are times they are a bit dry (eg 8/1 Alpine Tweezer). The key
seems to be Trey, and in this Reba his soloing was great. Overall a
terrific Reba, and we even got the whistling ending!

Weigh: Wow. Again, I thought this was great placement (just my personal
taste, I guess). Great fills from Page. 

Birds: The only repeat of the three-show run. This was justified,
however, as this version far surpassed Alpine's. Very cool
Chalkdust-esque, high energy tune. Good set closer.

Good set, imo. I thought the placement was great throughout; all of the
tunes seemed to fit. Divided and Reba were definite highlights. 

Set II:

Possum: I've never really liked this song too much, but the pure energy
of this version won me (and the rest of the crowd) over. By far, one of
the best I've ever heard. Great up-tempo jamming.

Ghost: Is this the "new" ghost? Yeah. Wow. This funked hard, which was
exactly what this set needed. Great to look around and see the thousands
of fans moved by this infectious groove.

-> Lifeboy: Perhaps the first mis-placed song of the night. Not bad,
however. It actually grew in intensity and I felt Trey was about to bust
out a phat solo when instead the closing chords swept this Lifeboy
away...

Bowie: It sounded like Fish had been trying to start this at the end of
Ghost, before Trey began Lifeboy. By the way, Fish's hi-hat beat for
this song is NOT the same as the Maze intro. I love it when I read
"Fish's hi-hat beat meant we were getting Maze or Bowie..." Maze has the
rim-clicks in conjunction with a closed hi-hat beat, while Bowie has
only an open/closed hi-hat beat. Anyway, sorry for that digression. On
to the Bowie...

Wow. This Bowie blew me away. It just plain rocked. Near the end, at
Trey's fast 16th-note part, they would play through a chorus of this,
then each time, Trey would fill it out with a different tease. I
remember Lizards, Possum, D Sky, I think. This whole portion was insane,
something I've never heard in a Bowie before. The energy here was just
nuts. This Bowie was incredible. I think I was too stunned to remember
any more...

I Get a Kick Out of You: Haha. Very entertaining. Mike was really
hamming it up here. Fun for all ages...

Loving Cup: Great tune for the times. Looking around during this song,
seeing the waves of fans feeling the same vibe, I turned to my friend
Mike and said "They're gonna play Hood tonight." I just felt it was a
Hood-type night, which should sum up the evening nicely. When Loving Cup
turned out to be the set closer, I was sure we were in for a Hood
encore...

Hood: Yes! Perfect. Very cool intro section. The glowstick war is
something that must be seen to be appreciated. Cool jamming here. This
was a really beautfiful Hood. Not much build here, just gorgeous,
melodious jamming. Perfect close to a gorgeous evening...But wait:

Bittersweet Motel: Why play this? Nice tune, the Hood would have been a
perfect place to end.
___

Overall, my favorite show of the Alpine-> Deer Creek run. A mindblowing
Bowie, a Sky, a Hood, a Reba and a Ghost? What more could you ask for?
These were all monsters. More than that, the other tunes fit almost
perfectly. In short, the sets flowed well and the vibe was exception.
"Ohhhh, what a beautiful buzz..."

Later,
CDH



This is the second of three reviews of the shows I saw last weekend.  Andy
could you please post this to your reviews page, and keep up the good work.
I love your page man!!!

We arrived at Deer Creek when most everyone else was in Alpine Valley.  We
set up camp at Green Acres which is the best campsite up there.  There were
so many people, and everyone had a good time.  It was only $20 to camp for
the whole weekend, and the people who own the place use all the money they
make to help care for homeless dogs.  I would guess that there were about
1300 to 1500 people there.  What a place.  It sucks that Alpine isn't
letting people camp around there.  i wonder when Deer Creek will follow??

Anyway, my buddies rolled up that Sunday morning and I saw the setlist from
the Alpine Valley show that I skipped and cried.  What a show.  I should
have went home and watched it live.  Oh well, after seeing a very
disapointing Columbus show I was very pumped for that night.  Deer Creek
lots were kicking as always, and that place is a great place to see a show.

SET I
Roget, Divided Sky, The Horse>Silent, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Reba, Weigh,
Too Much of Everything, Birds 


ROGET-  I really dig this song, and it was the second time I've heard since
I saw the Columbus show.  I know it is not the raging jam with intricate
melodies we all hope to hear, but this will sound nice on the album(radio?).


DIVIDED SKY-   My favorite thing about a Phish show is when they bust out a
crowd favorite and Trey just looks over the audience and smiles.  He knows
he has made our days, and that self-assurance causes him to not want to
disappoint.  I freakin' love this song.  I know it doesn't jam, but it is an
epic.  This version was standard as things go, but I really wish the crowd
would just shut the hell up during the note section.  Oh well, what can you
do???

HORSE>SILENT -  Standard

BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN-  Yes!!!!!!!  I also caught this song when they
played it at Dayton, and this time I was ready for it.  Unlike Dayton, where
I wasn't ready for anything that happened that incredible night.  But this
BORM(remember where you heard that anacronym first) was jammed out hard.
Poor Stevie Wonder never had this in mind when he wrote this song.   This
jam is what I look for when I see Phish.  I look for the precise selection
of notes to create a painting for the ears.  Every single note "belonged"
where it went.  And this was a song they have played VERY sparingly in the
career of the band(although now it appears to be making a huge come back!!)

REBA-  This is one of the jam songs that falls in the category of what I
like to call an "emotional jam."   Even though I respect Phish musically far
more than the Dead, the Dead had a way of summing up all human emotions, and
then releasing the to your ears.  Phish songs always seem like more of an
adventure, while the Dead jams seem to be more of a homecoming.  This Reba
did a great job of tugging on your heartstrings and it was beautiful, not
mystical like a lot of Phish jams, but beautiful.

WEIGH - blah blah, I've seen this a hundred times, and you've all heard it a
hundred more.  

TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING-  After being very excited with the new stuff I have
heard(Roget, MOMA dance...) this song was very depressing.  There was no
musical evidence of the greatness that we all know lies within the talent of
Phish.  Any bar-band could have written this song.  I was not happy.  In
case you haven't heard this yet, this song is very reminiscent of the DMB's
Too Much in terms of lyrics.  You don't even want to know what band I can
compare the musical portion of this song to....

BIRDS OF A FEATHER-  Then this made me rethink my position on new Phish.  I
really like the Phish jams that start and end on the same basic theme.
Mike's, Ghost and Tweezer are cool because they just go off into the
netherregions of musical void, but I really enjoy songs like Limb By Limb,
Bowie, and YEM because while the jams can be crazy, music that maintains
integrity after spending time away from the central theme of a piece is very
hard to create.  Birds of  a Feather is cool how they have a middle section
and then a reprise.  I'm now back to liking new Phish

SUMMARY  Solid first set..  Highlights were Roget, Divided, and BORM.  On
the horribly abused scale that I will try to maintain continuity to, I give
this first set a 6.0.   It was above average, but not too spectacular

SetBreak-  I usually don't mention the stuff that happens at setbreak
because nobody really cares about my personal life, but during setbreak I
found the Ben and Jerry's stand that is set up inside Deer Creek, and I
realized that life doesn't get much better than chocolate ice cream and
Phish.  Deer Creek is really cool...

SET II-  Possum, Ghost>Lifeboy, Bowie, I Get a Kick Out of You, Loving Cup

POSSUM-  I was there in '96 when they broke out Simpson's and All Fall Down
secret language.  I really wish they would do this more.  Oh well, it was
still a cool Possum because nobody doesn't get pumped up when they here this
song.

GHOST-  This song is so tasty.  I read a post where someone else mentioned
that they were worried that this might become a radio single.  Hmmmm??? I
don't think so.  This is a song only Phish folk can appreciate.  It does not
seemed geared towards radio at all.  In Trey's words, "It is just an excuse
to jam,"  This Ghost was really good.  I was a bit upset because they didn't
divulge very deep into the funk..  They seemed to lay back and focus on
working with each other rather than trying to lay the soundtrack for the
next Debbie Does Dallas movie.  You know you are witnessing golden Phish
when you realize that if you could add any note at any place in the music,
you wouldn't.  It just is minimalistic and perfect.

LIFEBOY-  People are saying that this segued from Ghost.  I don't think so,
I'll have to listen to the tapes.  If so, that is the only interesting thing
to report on this song.

BOWIE-  I love the part at a show where everyone who is trying to keep a
detailed setlist pulls out their pen and paper and just completely focuses
all attention on Fishman to try and determine whether his drum beat is for
Maze or Bowie(even though every single one of us is pulling very hard for
Bowie.)  Then after the space dies out, you realize it is Bowie, tuck your
setlist in your pocket and go off.  What a Bowie this was.  Phish's music
can best be summarized this tour as precise and exact.  Things are just
fitting in the right place, and the boys are tight on everything.  From the
raging opening to the midsection, this Bowie was precise.  Then came the end
section where Trey slides up the guitar playing the rapid 32nd notes that
bring a close to this triumphant song.  But in between those ascending
riffs, instead of just playing a couple power chords, Trey did something
really weird and it was so awesome.  He would play the eight measures of the
closing, and then during the part where he slows down, he played bits and
pieces of the songs we had heard earlier that night.  First he played the
middle of Divided Sky right before the note, then they would rip back into
fast part of Bowie, then he finished out the Divided solo, back into Bowie,
then he did the Possum riff a couple of times, then he did Reba.  It was so
awesome, and completey took everyone off guard.  They were having fun, and
we all knew it. 

I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU-  This was great.  When Mike leaned over to Trey to
tell him to play this, Trey just grew an instant grin that he held while
watching Mike in amazment throughout this whole song.  We were going nuts in
our seat.  I love how Phish is throwing in crazy new stuff for us to hear
just to surprise us.  They rule.

LOVING CUP-  Not what I wanted to see close the set even though I like this
song a lot, a YEM or Antelope would have fit nicely here.  Standard as far
as those things go

SUMMARY-  A pretty fun set.  Not life changing, but fun.  I give this set a
6.0 also in terms of comparing it to other second sets.  It was fun.  

ENCORE-  Harry, Bittersweet

HARRY HOOD- The glow stick war during Harry is very very fun, but it is also
disruptive to the flow of the music.  But if this show were to be
characterized, it would fall into the category of fun.  That's why this was
neat to hear.  Four people got thrown out of my section in the lower
pavillion for throwing glow sticks.  One guy ripped one out of a security
guards hand and chucked it across the venue.  It was great, but he got
thrown out.  When the war ended and the stagelights came on, Harry was
practically over.  It was a good thing that this was the kind of epic song
they played.  A fun epic

BITTERSWEET MOTEL -  I sway back and forth on new Phish, and it really makes
me wonder what they are doing sometimes.  It's hard to hold up a song like
this to a song like Piper written in approximately the same era of Phish
songwriting.  In other words, this sucked, and I am just waiting for the
encore from hell of Circus>Motel>Rockytop...AHHHHHH!!!!

Summary  The show deserved a 6.0.  It was above average, but nothing too
special.  I knew I had one more night left, and Phish never lets you down at
Deer Creek



Had many high hopes for this 
show... the boys didn't let
me down. Here's a quick run-
through --

ROGET: New song to me, hadn't
heard it before, didn't even
find out its title until after the
show. Good song from what I 
can remember.

DIVIDED SKY: It was almost like
a dream come true. I had just
talked with a person I didn't
know before the show who had
gone on and on about how much
they were "dying to hear" The
Divided Sky. I'll never forget
his explosive response when
the first few chords broke
out. Great ecstacy -- and
this was only the second
number. I knew it would be
a special night.

THE HORSE > SILENT: Wasn't
quite what I was expecting out
of "Divided" -- sounded
pretty standard nonetheless,
although kept the mood flowing
out of Sky and into...

TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING: I think
"pure rock 'n roll" (as said
on the Phish.NET) is a fair
description of this song. Trey
had the wailing guitar down and
by this time I was dancing like
crazy. Good song, hope they
play it more.

BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN: At first
I couldn't even think of what
this was, and then finally it
hit me. Sounded really good,
when I thought they were to
break off into some sort of
extensive jam, all of a sudden
they had me clamoring for...

REBA: YES! Definitely the
highlight of the first set for
me. Totally unexpected (but 
aren't the boys always that
way?) -- I was singing along.
And then the jam-- all I can
say is it's enough to start
massive tape groveling. 
Probably already one of my 
favorite "Reba"'s of all time,
Trey just took this one to
town. Which had everyone 
geared up for the riffy -

WEIGH: By this time it was
pretty clear this first set
seemed to be pretty much
guitar-riff based (the guy
next to me made the comment
"RiffPhest?" and I couldn't
agree more). It was a good
song to hear, nothing too
amazing, but Mike seemed to
be having quite a bit of
fun with the lyrics by the
end of the song (was that
'drunk-vocal' intentional? )
and Page took the solo as
usual to wild heights. This
time the song got to the
point where I was almost 
thinking "Lawn Boy" because
it got so LOUNGE-y...but
it wasn't "Lawn Boy" I was
about to hear ---

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: The boys
must really like this song,
because they had just
played it at Alpine and it
seems to have been played
many times this tour. I
know someone on RMP made
a comment that it's "similar
to Chalkdust", I can kind
of hear that in some sort
of laid-back, low-key way.
It also (the music) seems quite 
reminiscent of the Talking
Heads in places. Nonetheless,
it's a good song, but they
didn't carry it too far.
Instead they gave us setbreak --
Set I was about 70 minutes.

POSSUM: Set II started out
so strongly I couldn't wait
to see what was next. Some
girls behind me had just
made comments on how they
were dying to hear this song,
I couldn't figure out how
everybody seemed to be getting
their wishes -- guess it
was just one of those nights.
I had never experienced quite
the energy this song had to
offer until tonight, this
song seems to really do so
much for a person when they
see it in concert as opposed
to hearing it on a tape. The
crescendos, the lights, and
the riff-y Trey jam made it
quite an exciting song and
introduced the audience to
a series of jammed-out 
pieces.

GHOST: I don't know what's
up with this "new arrangement"
- personally, I liked the
original '97 Ghost better,
the one that was just so
majorly "funkalicious" it
made you want to boogie.
This "Ghost" is still 
interesting, but not near
as full of energy, in my
opinion. I didn't even know
what the song was until they
began singing the words --
the music is quite a bit
more laid-back than the
"Ghost" they played so much
in '97. But 7 minutes into
the jam and I was in Heaven.
They got slowly into the 
groove and took off with
it. I'm not quite sure
how long they jammed on
this one, but it seemed
like a major part of a 
very good dream....

LIFEBOY: This was a surprise.
Good to hear it in concert.
Wasn't quite expecting it,
but was more than ready for it -
the outro was beautiful, Page
gave us a reason to like this
song even more...

DAVID BOWIE: By this time I
was going crazy. It wasn't
enough they gave us killer
versions of "Divided", "Reba",
and "Ghost". Now they went
full-scale into a VERY jammed-
out Bowie. I couldn't believe
my ears. The night was full
of amazing epics. But this
Bowie had the most interesting
ending I'd ever heard. In
between Trey's guitar lines 
at the end when the band
usually gets very atonal and
spaced-out, this time they
repeated the guitar line and
atonal part over and over
again, but Trey threw in
guitar lines from "Divided
Sky" & "Possum"! I was both
in awe and in sheer laughter
at the same time. When these
tapes start circulating, get
this one for sure -- this jam
alone makes it worth it...

I'D GET A KICK OUT OF YOU:
When Mike first started singing,
I thought he was doing "Ficus".
Then I realized those weren't
the words. Then I thought he
was doing "Love Me". Then I 
realized those weren't the words
either. Then he got to the chorus
and I realized this was that old
Mel Torme song -- and Mike sure
did justice to it. It's amazing
how "humorous yet well-trained
vocals" describe the man 
perfectly. He even had Trey
laughing ...

LOVING CUP: Standard, yet rocking.
Good choice to end the second set,
which by my watch was approximately
65 minutes.

HARRY HOOD: I swear the band
wanted to prove to us they could
blow us away. Divided. Reba. Bowie.
All I can say is this choice for
an encore was sensational - it was
the full 16-17 minute version,
and the "Hood" chants and glowstick
war only added to the atmosphere and
wonder of the song ... they could've
encored with just this and I would've
been happy. But they chose to go
into -

BITTERSWEET MOTEL: Nice, quiet song. Trey
and Mike had this grin on their face
(you could see it on the Deer Creek
TV screens above the lawn) while they
sang something like "Somewhere 
between Erie and Pittsburgh you've put
me in Hell ... Bittersweet Motel ..."
What a spectacular night ...

In Summation: Get this show when
the tapes circulate. You'll be
glad you did.

Well, let me start off by addressing the debate of which was better, Alpine
or Deer Creek day one?  This show gets my vote no doubt, Alpine was great,
but if you like to see Trey shine, this one's for you.

Roget....  Wasn't what I was expecting, but a nice mellow tune, personally I
like raging openers like the one we got in set two, first time though, so it
was nice to hear

Dsky.....  Was my call for the evening, hadn't heard this one since Keil 96,
and this one definately topped that version, Trey's soloing was incredible,
as was the silient jam,haven't heard the Gorge version yet, which I heard
was sloppy, but the creek
version was anything but from what I can remember, then again could have
just been excited to be hearing it

Horse>Silent..... First time, in this my 12th show, standard but great as
usual, of course the crowd erupted at the ...just last year line..  now they
really had the energy up but it only built during the next song.....

Too much of everything.....I would like to hear the original writer of this
song play a better version than phish did this night!  I heard them sound
checking it at Riverport and knew they had to break it out sometime in the
four night run.. this was perfect timing for me! Baby i want you! Great
dancing tune, hope I hear it again out east.

Boogie on.... My buddies had heard this at Dayton, and I had always hoped I
would hear it, they didn't let me down with this stellar version.  Great
tempo changes by the band as a whole, this show was quickly becoming one of
my favorites of the tour so far.

Reba.....Wow!  I was floored by this version,  phans around me shared my
sentiments on this one.  Trey had me in another dimention for this one, all
14 minutes of it, maybe longer.  Complete with whistling, how often do they
finish it anymore, Phish loves Deer Creek

Weigh.... After the intense Reba this was a nice number... love pages solo,
they were also doing some cool things with their effects, if you were there
you know what i mean.

Birds....Ok this was my third birds in three shows, I skipped columbus, but
for some reason I can't get enough of this song,  it's just so damn good,
incredibly tight this evening, great way to close the set, anyone who
wouldn't rather hear this than Character zero needs to take a closer listen

Setbreak.... Stood right inside the pavilion and stubbed people down, Had
some fun with securtiy.

Now for set II

Possum.....Insanity!  It was a Trey possum, that's what i say every time i
talk about it.
IMHO a trey possum is much better than a band possum,  i heard a band possum
last year at champaign, it was good, but it was no Trey possum, he ripped
it, and turned it over at the end about 6 more times than i thought he
would, what an opener, it was no roget!  It just plain raged

Ghost.... I called this one for the evening, hadn't been played in so long.
I will have to STONGLY disagree with the other review saying that 97 ghost's
are more pleasing.  How could he say that after this funked out Ghost, all
15 plus minutes had me shaking my little ass all over the place, man i loved
this ghost. I know some 15 minute jams can get boring, like halley's  the
next night, but this definately wasn't the case here as they rode the funk
out, Mike was nice and loud too!

-->Lifeboy....... Standard lifeboy, soothing, crisp Deer creek sound made
this one better than any i've heard, i agree with the other review saying
that it's better than a swept away, anyways we needed a little breather
before....

Bowie.... My second bowie, last yr. DC was my first, and this one definately
was on a different level than last yrs. bowie, the teases for all who were
listening, and the building up to the climax, over and over made this short
but sweet bowie one to remember, this and possum were my absolute highlights

I get a kick out of you....... Very surprising and entertaining, the band
was having some fun with this one.. not much else to say

Loving Cup........  NICE!! good call for a closer, second cup, and best for
me!  They just rocked out on this one, your typical jamming cup!

E:  I called this one, and it was my favorite song of the night,,  the glow
sticks appeared to be shooting up from the middle of the seats as if some
sort of giant fan was shooting them out of something, it was an incredible
sight, the mellow jam to this was mythodical, i was in a trance, i wish i
had a camera.

Bittersweet... heard it in st. louis as a last song,,, it's nice  be sent
off with a mellow one like this, i think it's in the rotation for good.

Hope you enjoyed my review... by the way i think the band was out of gas for
day two,, that show didn't do it for me,, or maybe it was the fact i ran
into a roadblock on the way home from night one...who knows,, can't wait for
10th row Virginia beach!!!

Hey all,
Here’s part II of my weekend reviews, of 8.2.98 Deer Creek. First, hats
off to Deer Creek On-Site
Camping. It was close, clean, cheap, and I didn’t see security giving
ANY hassles. Phans were being cool
and not causing any big disruptions so everbody got along fine.
Hopefully, things will go just as smoothly
in years to come.
  The lot was another story because a guy smashed a beer bottle over
another guy’s head and cut him
pretty badly. A girl got cut on the arm from the same incident. I don’t
know why this occured, but in
addition to the people who got hurt, there was some major potential for
big problems. Violence isn’t cool
and we can’t let this kind of thing happen.
        Roget: I had any heard the spring versions and hardly remembered it so
I don’t really have
anything to compare it to. Not many people knew it, but once it got
going they seemed to enjoy it. I had no
complaints and was glad to hear a new song right off the bat.
        Divided: My friend had been calling for it as an opener, but this
certainly did not dissapoint.
Basically, this is a “typical” Divided. I’ve heard better and I’ve heard
worse. However, when dealing with
something as special as Divided, there really isn’t such a thing as
“typical.” The silent jam seemed extra
super long, with the guys frozen on stage with the back floor lights
outlining thier bodies. Crowd response
was huge during the silent jam. I was just so happy to see it (my first
one) that I have no complaints. The
ending built nicely although didn’t go balistic by any means. 
        The Horse: Still recovering from Divided, but nice quitar work from
Trey.
        Silent in the Morning: Better than I thought it would turn out to be in
concert, but still kind of
“bluh.” Trey played nicely towards the end.
        Too Much of Everything: I hadn’t heard this before but I really liked
the lyrics. A fun song with
not much musical merit.
        Boogie on the Reggea Woman: It took them a long time to start this one
but well worth it. I’d
seen it in Dayton 97 out of Wolfman’s, and this one was far more
structured since they had actually
played it a few times in the last 9 years. I like the funky reggea
groove a lot. They held the groove together
well and Mike came through strong. Mike was leading when I could see
them talking about the next song
and I figured it was going into Makisupa or Bathtub, but....
        Reba: Yeah! I LOVE this song. All summer long this has been the song
I’m stuck on, the one
which I’ll dig out all the copies oh it that I have and listen to those
shows. Needless to say, I was flying
when they started into it. Fun fun fun. The floaty jam was great, and
again like Divided, there’s really no
going wrong with a Reba. I suppose I’ve heard better, but I haven’t
heard any that don’t leave me with a
huge smile on my face in the jam. In that respect, I suppose you could
call it a “typical” Reba. Average
length. Closed it and came back with whistling to complete the sonderful
Reba.
        Weigh: I sure didn’t expect this one but welcomed it with open arms.
Quite the rarity these days
and how can you complain about that? Nothing noteworthy but lots of fun
and well received by the crowd.
The guys were really having fun doing this one, especially Page during
his solos. I really liked the
mini-solos from each of them. 
        Birds of a Feather: 2 nights in a row? 4 in 5 shows? This is getting
redundant. I would definately
rather have them beat this into the ground instead of something like
Bouncin, though, that’s for sure. This
makes four that I’ve heard, all good and energetic but none doing
anything too spectacular. I think that’s
how this song will always be: good but not great. It gets moving but
doesn’t really modulate enough to
create a great deal of interest from me. I’m not complaining. Ok, maybe
I am a little since I saw it 2
nights in a row. They definately could have come up with a better set
closer, but who am I to tell them
what to do? I’d rather have the spontinuity and if that’s what they feel
like doing, so be it. 
        To rehash the first set, obviously Divided was the highlight, but the
majority of the rest was very
solid. A nice balance between styles, and a prefect mix of classics
(Divided, Reba) fun (Weigh) funk
(Boogie, Birds) and ho-hum (Horse, Silent) and new (Birds again, Roget.) 
     SET  II
        Possum: What a killer Possum! Probably the best I’ve heard. Not as long
as Champaign’s encore
Possum, but man did this one rock so hard! The vigorous jam segment was
frenzied energy from
everybody. Fantastic. 
        Ghost: One of my favorite Ghosts. It had the essential funk grooves,
but didn’t get too dissonant
and loose. It really kept the sweet funky grooves, “round” is the best
term I can think of to describe the
feel of the funk. It woudl start to deconstruct but would kind of come
around and back into something
more uniform. I have nothing against the far-out improv, but they can
get a little tiring after a while, so I
was happy to see it hold together more than in some versions. 
        Lifeboy: I never expected this one either. I never thought I’d like to
see this live, but it really
turned out ok. Nothing great, but it had a lot of energy in a soothing
way. The intro to Lifeboy inspired me
to start learning guitar a while back, so this had some personal meaning
for me as well. It seemed like
everyone was happy to slow down a little. Plus, I was happy that they
slowed it down with a bust-out like
Lifeboy rather than the usual Swept Away -> Steep or Billy Breathes. 
        David Bowie: The slow stuff didn’t last long, with a ripping Bowie as a
follow up. This was a
great Bowie, in my opinion, becuase even though it wasn’t very long, it
was still very unique and
energetic. They really cut short the spacey floaty section, and just
dabbled in that a little before beginning
the build to the climax. And what a climax! It seemed really drawn out
right before the crazy1/16th note
ascending chord picking part. Then, in between each segment of the
1/16th note part, Trey teased
(actually outright played parts of) Divided three times, Possum once or
twice, and someting else I didn’t
quite place. That really got everbody going. 
        I Get a Kick Out of You: This came from the nowhere of the lost world
of beyond! Nobody knew
what was going on, but still enjoyed the crazimess of it. Trey was
really entertained during the whole song
with Mike on vocals. You have to appreciate their ability to go off and
do wacky stuff like this, regardless
of it’s musical value. 
        Lovin’ Cup: Nice song, crowd was very into it. I was kind of
dissapointed to have this as the
closer, but once the encore got going it was well worth it. Don’t get me
wrong, I love this song; it’s just
not my first choice as a set closer.
     ENCORE
        Harry Hood: Most people were expecting this for encore because Set II
felt pretty short. A
beautiful version as usual. The glowstick war was a cool effect, imo,
since I hadn’t ever seen one before.
And to those who deride the glowstick war supporters: if the band didn’t
like it they wouldn’t turn off all
the lights to increase the visibilility.  
        Bittersweet Motel: a nice soothing song to close up the show and send
everybody off in a mellow
mood. I was real surprised to get a Hood AND another song for encore. 

I’d love to hear any comments, opinions, stories, or whatever. Peace,
Elliott  lesliewe@expert.cc.purdue.edu

Overall was a great show with many less frequently played songs in the
first set such as Divided, Boogie On Reggae, and weigh.  The first set
was very standard but closed with the third Birds of a feather since St.
louis.  

Second set rocked the whole way through.  Opened with Possum which was
raging. It segued into a new very funky version of ghost which i feel is
much less pleasing than last years ghosts'. Lifeboy was a good treat but
i would have rather of heard one like the Murat '93 version which
cranked.  The bowie that followed was just what i was looking for.  It
included teases of Divided, Possum, and Reba?  The next song my dad
would have really enjoyed which was I get a Kick, which Sinatra use to
cover. Hilarious cover song but probably wasn't nearly as good as Sexual
Healing. Lovin Cup was also a nice song to hear again but would rather
of heard a Harry like the one in the encore in Lovin Cups' place.
Nontheless the Harry with the glowstick war was incredible and i Know
that i hit trey and Mike with a few shots at stage. 

Great show! Amazing Place.