*Fillmore, San Francisco, CA - 10-15-98
First set (100 minute analog with the flip after Gumbo):
ghost (15 min, tight, rocking), water in the sky, wolfman's
brother (with funky ambient jam), gumbo (long thick funk jam), Bowie
(explosive and fiery, preceded by maze tease), robert and brian (intro of
Trey talking about things Fishman hates (like HYYU), including treys tale of the yellow
lights which Chris then spotlighted on Fish for the whole song), reba
(insane, tight, spacey, no whistling), character zero
Second set (110 minute tape withthe flip after caspian):
my soul (trey says beauty), chalkdust, roggae, moma dance,wading in the velvet
sea, caspian (the best version EVER IMHO!), relax, birds, lawn boy, harry (Trey teased Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" in the intro)
Enc: dirt, limb by limb
Thanks to Bob Wiely, GW, Ellis Godard, Mike Perrott, Julia Mordaunt for setlist info,
And special thanks go to Giddy Whitty(GW) for helping me make one of the best tapes we EVER made that night!
A Review from Charlie..
EXCITED!!?
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Everyone was ready for ENLIGHTENMENT with
the first notes the band played. The ZONE was already forming before
the band would shoot spirits and souls even more heavenward with their
music. I was reminded of the vibe before 10/31/94 Glens Falls, and
before "The Other Ones" took the Warfield's stage earlier this year on
June 4th. Not having the funds to catch Phish in Europe these last
several years, I had not seen Phish play in such small room since my
first show at the Paradise on 10/6/89. I was a jaded oldbie turned
giddy fan boy for the occasion, hell-bent on having a good time, AND I
DID HAVE A GREAT TIME, despite repeated elbowing in the ribs by
savagely euphoric fan boys. And girls.
Phish opened with a predictably powerful Ghost. It wasn't a monster like 7/3/97 Nuremberg, or a *RAGER* like most of the recent summer Ghosts, but the crowd loved it! It segued masterfully and wondrously into a lovely "Water in the Sky" (the upbeat, latest version). Wolfman's and Gumbo followed, and were the highlights of the first set, as I heard it. Although Wolfman's funked mightily away for the most part, it ended with a whimper. Gumbo, on the other hand, was awesome from start to finish, with an impressively unusual jam segment that you MUST hear for yourself. Easily one of my favorite versions and I'm looking forward to hearing it again! After Gumbo, Fish began rattling out Theme's opening, using the ride instead of the high-hat, but Trey gave him the Bowie signal, and Fish promptly started Bowie's hi-hat intro. Bowie's opening composed section wasn't as tight as you've often heard it, but the jam segment was short and sweet (reminded me of early versions). Brian & Robert mellowed out (but did not silence) the typically chatty San Francisco crowd. Trey commented before they launched into it that one of the many things Fish hates is "the yellow light." Trey asked Chris to keep the yellow light on Fish for the entire song ( Trey and Page were trying to hold back laughter at times during this non-serious version). Reba featured the only real "Type II" exploratory improv of the evening. After a somewhat sloppy opening segment, the jam began with help from THE DISCO BALL!! =^] The jam took a predictably Reba path for a long, long time (accompanied by the Disco Ball), with heavy noodling from Trey, until something Weird clicked in Trey's mind and he forced the groove into a disturbingly dark, twisted form. Definitely the only real "what the fuck!?" event of the evening, and not an especially pleasing one to my ears, either. It certainly won the award for The Most Queer Type II Jam of the night. No whistling ending... just a leap into a frightening Character Zero closer. Set break lasted about 40 minutes. We were treated to a CD's worth of the Afro-Cuban guitar stylings of Marc Ribot. The second set opened with passionate versions of My Soul and Chalk Dust, two of Phish's most basic songs. As Chalk Dust started, the crowd was so crazy with excitement that I thought people would begin slam dancing. I had been hoping for a more memorable Event to kick open the set. But these two typically great (blistering) Phish tunes clearly pleased most in attendance. Roget was beautiful and perfectly placed. I really needed a good melodious kick in the ass after what I thought were two LA TI DAH openers. It wasn't a flawless version, but it's one of my favorite Phish songs, and I was THRILLED! |
I also love Moma Dance, which came
next, but unfortunately, Phish has apparently decided not to take this
tune OUT THERE yet. This was a perfectly average Moma Dance. Sure it
was funky, sure I loved it... but it didn't do anything different from
almost all of the versions you have heard.
Fans of Velvet Sea will probably really want to hear this version (Craig!). It was the first time I think I actually enjoyed hearing it *live*. Trey seemed *very* into the solo, and, if memory serves, it went on and on and on. I'm not sure how well it will come out on tape, though, because of the (typically) inconsiderate, chatty San Francisco crowd (yes, even at tonight's gig! I couldn't believe it!). Fuckerpants (aka Prince Caspian) was the highlight of the second set, easily, in my opinion. Fishman *KICKED* *OPEN* the jam segment with thunderous cymbal & tom work, and everyone else followed suit and played the most balls-to-the-wall version of Caspian **EVER**. Must-hear, even for folks who don't like Caspian. Floating on the waves?!? More like THRASHING! The soothing, gentle, mellifluous and charming Frankie Sez, another of my favorite Phish tunes, came next. Very strange placement. An enormous contrast to the Caspian. The placement of this version caught me off-guard and didn't sit with me too well. (btw, if you haven't heard the second set of 4/2/98 yet, with the Sneaking Sally->Frankie Sez, **GET IT**). Like Moma Dance earlier in the set, Birds of a Feather was basically played the same as it has been all year, with just a bit more of an EDGE to it. The jam segment sounded more like Chalk Dust than Crosseyed and Painless to me, this time, though. I'm hoping that they use this tune to go new and different places sometime. Soon. Lawn Boy was perfect for the intimate Fillmore, of course. Page sang very well, and all were amused. Mike took a solo. Harry Hood featured a very eccentric opening segment.. lots of toying around from Trey. It wasn't all that tight. The jam segment was.. was.. was.. Original. It opened with Trey briefly teasing Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Strangely and unfortunately, there was no long, Slave-like, bewildering crescendo/build in this version. Rather, Trey seemed to be fighting with ideas.. He'd start something and then change direction and then start something again and change direction. I felt that it was aimless and sad, but some folks seemed really into it. I had high hopes in its intro, and was disappointed that nothing even Typically Great (for Harry) seemed to materialize. The version also ended half-heartedly, and many, including Mike Gordon, didn't expect it to close the set. The encores (Dirt and Limb) were very unusual. As you might expect, since the band had already played for three hours, they weren't perfect versions. But given the circumstances, they were quite good I thought. The BALLS it took to close with Limb by Limb! Such a complex song, in six, so late in the show... but they ripped out an unusually fierce, somewhat chaotic and SOAM-like version. All things considered, the *vibe* and the *scene* of this show won more points than the music, in my opinion obviously. It was **wonderful** to be so close to the band members again. I have seen bands play the Fillmore for years now, and I never thought I would see Phish perform here. To look up and see them having a good time playing on that stage was the greatest highlight of the evening for me. I've been falling asleep at the keyboard more/less, but hope that I haven't put you to sleep. Even though the music could have been more tight and more magical, it was a beautiful, unforgettable evening overall. G'night and two cents, charlie (Reprinted without permission) . . ![]() |
*The 12th Annual Bridge School Benefit ~ 10-17 & 18-98
*Sessions at West 54th ~ Sony Music Studios, NYC (Manhattan)
Tuesday, 10-20-98
* MSG Run ~ Dec. 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st !
* Trey Anastasio from Phish, John Medeski of Medeski, Martin, & Wood, and Jeff Clark are contributing to the solo debut album from Michael Ray of Kool & the Gang fame. Under the moniker Michael Ray & the Cosmic Krewe, the album was released Sept. 15 on Monkey Hill Records
* In the new issue of Guitar World, "Stash" from Picture of Nectar is listed as #73 on the list of 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time !
* Inside the new Rolling Stone (with Janet Jackson on the cover) it states "Given their sense of community, their ambition and their challenging, generous performances, Phish have become the most important band of the Nineties." Matt Hendrickson/Rolling Stone
Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View, California
Acoustic performance - unusual stage lineup ( from left to right; Fishman, Mike, Trey, and Page )
Thanks to Julia Mordaunt, Bob Wiely, GW, and Eric Angel for the setlists.
Total Time: about 53 minutes
Carolina*, Glistens**, Beyond My Grasp**, Possum, Blue & Lonesome***,
Freebird****, Driver^, Wading in a Velvet Sea, Harry Hood^^ -> Helpless^^^
* - a cappella, backs to the audience, facing the children of the
Bridge School who were seated on risers behind the stage
** - new songs; tenative titles based on lyrics
*** - Mike on banjo; Page on bass
**** - a cappella; last played 06/19/94 [337 shows] (thanks to ZZYZX's
Phish Stats)
^ - another new song; title announced as "Driver" by Trey
^^ - unfinished; Neil Young joined Phish on stage playing a small
travel guitar or possibly mandolin for the jam
^^^ - Neil Young cover; played with Neil
Total Time: about 67 minutes
Hello My Baby*, Billy Breathes, Piper, Roggae,
Loving Cup, Albuquerque, My Old Home Place**,
Guyute, Robert and Brian, Sad Lisa***, "Four Strong
Winds" ^, I Shall be Released ^^
* turned around to face the kids
** Page on bass, Mike on banjo
*** vocal duet with Trey and Sarah McLaughlin
Sad Lisa is indeed a Cat Stevens song from the album "Tea for the
Tillerman"
^ vocal duet of Sarah and Neil Young.
Four Strong Winds is a song written by Ian Tyson, which appears on the
Neil Young album "Comes a Time"
^^ Page, Neil, and Trey each took a verse
Total Time: about 90 minutes
Glistens*, Frankie Sez, Ghost, Roggae, Guyute, Velvet Sea, Driver*, Albequerque**,
Birds of a feather, Piper!, Taste
*=acoustic tune, dubuted at Bridge benefit
**=not filmed for show, Bridge Benefit mentioned again (N. Young tune)
This show was taped for PBS and will be reportadly aired in Dec '98 or early 1999.
It was hosted by David Byrne of Talking Heads fame.
Thanks to Daniel Estrin for the setlist.
And now for the review ala : WEINISH@aol.com
This was definitely strange to say the least. After passing up front row seats because my friend was off target thinking we would get a better seat, we moved to the back. However, we were more than close enough to see Trey's fingers and all of Page.
Now to the show. First, David "Freak" Byrne came out and made some really funny comments that most people did not catch onto. He is clearly a legend, and is aptly the one and only host of this event.
Then the band came on dressed casually (as you'll see when it is aired), and had a few words. The setlist was chosen already, so we thought as we were next to the camera man, but they quickly deviated and started up with "Sleep", which was not bad, but not great either. An acoustic number, which is nice to see, that I would not mind not hearing that often. It falls in with "Talk", but mellower. So after they "Sleep"ed us they asked us to "Relax" with "Frankie Sez". It was pretty standard, but the vocals were very clear which was nice.
It was cool to see Tom Marshall nodding his head in approval during the songs. Trey later made reference to Tom as co-song writer which was nice.
Next, the show BEGINS. "Story of the Ghost" was pretty much the reason that I and everyone else made the trip. It was compact, but solid. Trey started in with some of his squealing loops straight as they ended "Frankie". Mike and Fish slowly rolled in with the backup beats, and it began. They rocked it out. Trey had his solo, but I do not recall Mike's funky little bass jam, but it did not matter, this was the best song they played IMO. In and out of the funk and rock, and just when I thought they would close it they continued. The whole room was very into it. "Roggae...Velveeta Cheese...Birds of a Feather...Piper" were all okay. Nothing that great, very studioistic, if that's a word. B.O.F is "Chalkdust" to me. The other acoustic stuff was nice. Trey gave us some lowdown on the Bridge School Benefit, and played a new song, "Driver" which is about people who have within themselves a driver that guides them through life. It was decent. "Albequerque" ,on the other hand, was real nice. Done to perfection and one of the better tunes. Once again Trey had his acoustic, which he not-surprisingly plays very well. However, "Albequerque" will not be on the air because it was done during the tape-changing for the recording. They asked if it was okay and went along playing it. Moving to the end, "Taste". The band looked on sure of what to play and some of the audience thought it was over. At that point I shouted, "The Moment Ends?". Not that funny, but I wanted the "Moma Dance". Then my friends and I, amidst all the shouts for "Bowie,Antelope, Fluffhead" et cetera, shouted at "Crosseyed & Painless" because David Byrne was in the house. That went no where quick, and they started in to "Taste" as they were all in agreement. "Taste" was in place of "Moma" according to the setlist we looked at. Not happy about it, and not knowing it was the last song, they started in, and the song was typical, but great. One of the better songs, and a well-timed climatic finish.
Overall, the performance was okay, but conceptually it was great. Being there was what made it really cool. Anytime it is tuesday afternoon, and you can pickup and go see Phish for free, it is a good time. Plus, everyone was talking about VEGAS BABY, VEGAS!!! Ciao.
*Following the Fall Tour, Phish will end the year with four concerts at Madison Square Garden,
on December 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st. The mail order form and instructions are available
now in the issue of the Doniac Schvice which was mailed on October 16th and at
www.phish.com. All mail orders must be postmarked October 26th; orders postmarked on any
day other than October 26th will not be filled. Tickets will be $28 for the 28th, 29th & 30th,
and $35 for the 31st; seats will be reserved and they will go on sale December 5th at Irving
Plaza with no service charge and via Ticketmaster: 212.307.7171