Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 20:17:51 -0500
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Cc: phish-www@netspace.org
Subject: Fall tour in capsule-review...

This message is mainly for Dan S. and the reviews page (Dan, if you'd
like to post this as an "article" rather than copy each capsule review
into review page for its respective date, I'd understand), but I thought
the rest of you might enjoy it. Apologies for the prose; I was mainly
concerned with brevity.

----------------------


Hi there. Having heard all of Fall '98 on tape, I've decided to embark
on this little project. For those of you who don't like wading through
lenghty reviews, I thought that I might provide capsule summaries of
each show. Moreover, it just seemed like a fun thing to do. For the
edification of those with really short attention spans, and also because
it was a very novel thing to do, I've also rated each show on a 10-pt.
scale, based on purely musical factors (quality of playing,
improvisation, setlist, etc.) and trying to be as objective as possible
(though you should keep in mind that some songs that you may like I may
just happen to dislike). Of course, I welcome flames telling me that a)
it's utterly stupid to try to do the quality of music justice with a
number, or b) that I've given a show a different rating than you would
have, despite that I already know these things. Anyway, enough talk...
_____
10.29.98 - Pretty standard first set, nice Julius, Limb, McGrupp, but
definitely nothing to write home about. Cute Possum, tasty Moma to open
the second set, but this Reba really makes the show. At times spacy, at
times melodious, this is a Reba perhaps best listened to with
headphones, although the segue and subsequent version of Walk Away
really rock the house. The Simple and Bowie were both above-average,
making this set easily must-have. Rating: 8.0
____
10.30.98 - Entertaining first set featured some crowd favorites, a
"breakout" version of
Long Cool Woman, and an always-nice Antelope; otherwise standard.
Excellent second
set: You really can't possibly go wrong with a Stash -> Manteca >
Tweezer -> NICU
combo. Anything after that is icing on the cake. Rating: 7.0
____
10.31.98 -Everything before the raging Mike's in the first set is fun
and forgettable; I love the VU, and "Loaded" seemed to me an ideal
choice for Phish to cover in '98. It was the first album they've done
where they didn't have to worry so much about the presentation of the
album itself, and consequently, they were really able to stretch  out
certain songs. Great set. I really enjoy the third set. I thought the
space-jamming was really interesting, and though I couldn't tolerate it
every show, it still sounds beautiful on tape, and I can even listen to
it sober. Perhaps this was a statement from the band that they will play
whatever they want, no matter what weekend it is and who is there.
Rating: 7.5
____
11.02.98 - Has there *ever* been a better looking two-set Phish show on
paper? A Tube
opener, Jam -> Drowned -> JJLC, DwD, Mango, Moma and YEM *before* Dark
Side,
and all just two days after Halloween? Oh yes, the playing was quite
good, too. And
though parts Dark Side may have been a little rough, there's not much
that can keep this
show from being an instant classic. Must-have. Rating: 9.0
____
11.06.98 - Standard first set, including a nice Maze and interesting
quasi-funky Soamelt. Jam out of Simple in second set is typical for Fall
'98 and very nice in the mellow sense. Fluff and Harry also nice to hear
but didn't add up to anything monumental. Rating: 4.0
____
11.7.98 - Standard first set; nice jam out of Mike's. I was almost
annoyed by this Weekapaug - I thought it was just a bunch of noise and
wanking near the end. Dreary, spacy second set did have a few nice
spots, and the encore made up for it a
bit. Rating: 5.0
____
11.8.98 - Boring, songish (too many songs, that is) first set, though
the Stash was nice as Trey managed to not go too over-the-top. Chalk,
Meat, Rock 'n Roll a great way to open a second set; very nice jam out
of DwD, neat segue into rather noisy Piper. Can't really go wrong with
an Antelope; Been Caught makes a nice encore. Rating: 5.5
____
11.9.98 - Standard first set. Great second set: Beautiful, mellifluous
Gin to open, nice to hear TMWSIY -> Avenu -> TMWSIY, then solid versions
of Moma, Slave and YEM to
close, what more could you ask for? A Freebird encore? Rating: 7.0
____
11.11.98 - Standard first set (PYITE, Gumbo opener were both terrific,
faltered a bit after that); set II is easily one of the most underrated
of tour. One of the best Halley's I've ever heard, Simple > Walk Away,
raging Ghost, triple encore. Rating: 8.0
____
11.13.98 - Nice Wolfman's, CTB (a favorite of mine), and a
good-as-always (shall we say
"dependable"?) Antelope among some throw-aways in the first set; Second
set featured a
terrific DwD to open, a Birds with a jam that actually didn't sound like
Chalkdust, and a jammed-out Meat. Typically predictable 1998 Hood
followed by GTBT both nice. Rating:
4.0
____
11.14.98 - First set is a little disappointing by my standards, or, I
should say, that the Reba and Tweezer > Moma weren't quite as good as
they might look on paper. The Tweezer did have some nice rocking
moments, but those three songs were the only meat in the set. Second
set: I've never heard a Bowie or Piper I didn't like (unless the latter
is too short ;-). Some nice tunes, including Sexual Healing, led up to a
terrific version of YEM, complete with (I think) a rhythm-guitar loop
and nice funk jam. Not too familiar with the Police, but any wacky cover
is good enough for me. Rating: 5.5
____
11.15.98 - Rather weak first set, perhaps the weakest set of the tour,
not very meaty,
though I guess it depends on whether or not you really wanted to hear
the not-meat.
Second set: Jim sounded like it could have gone on for a while, but the
Stash was
wonderful, and the Mike's was typically very good. Simple was a bit too
much like most
other 1998 Simples, but no real complaints. Nice Cup, 'Paug to close the
set and a Rocky
Top (single, short encore usually means the second set was good) for the
locals. 5.0.
____
11.18.98 - Again, another mostly meat-less (I don't mean the song) set.
I'm not a big fan of Birds and My Soul, and I've gotten a bit sick of
Guyute. Hard to appraise the improv. in this set because there wasn't
much, besides the long, spacy (in parts) Bowie which was overall very
good. The funk showed up for the second set in Wolfman's and Moma, both
terrific. Lizards was great in that oldie/quasi-rare way, and the Slave,
Fluff', Zero closer, plus Coil encore were all quite a punch in the gut.
Rating: 5.5
____
11.19.98 - I loved the Cities, Curtain opener. Just great to hear those
songs. Maze was
Maze, but the Ghost is worth hearing, I think. Nice set. Second set: I
don't really have too many favorite versions of ASZ, but I also can't
name one (post-1996) I don't like; this one was no exception. Thank god
they took Rock 'n Roll with them from Loaded; this was followed by a
typically great Taste. This Gumbo is probably my least-favorite of the
97-98 Funk-bos, but still superb. Encore is a standard-funk YEM with an
interesting vocal jam with guest Heloise Williams. Rating: 6.0
____
11.20.98 - Pretty standard first set, save the appearance of Rock & Roll
Pt. II and Quinn. Nice, standard versions of Tube, Stash and SOAMelt.
Beautiful Gin jam, sort of like the 11.9 Gin. Nice song selection
throughout, including the hilarious Get Jiggy, Roses and Hood. Gin is
the easy highlight. Rating: 6.0
____
11.21.98 - Standard first set, sort of rambling song-wise, though it was
nice to hear some oldies (Cry Baby Cry, Boogie On, Bold as Love).
Excellent, coherent second set. I really dug the jams out of Mike's and
Simple, the Free -> Ha Ha Ha -> Free was a rare treat, and the
Tubthumping encore was surprisingly enjoyable (and humorous, which was
the point). Rating: 6.5
____
11.24.98 - Nice 1998-ish version of DwD to open, but a little too much
plebeian guitar
soloing for my tastes. Typically great version of Moma followed, then a
wonderful textural Stash. Set finished nicely, including a welcome Tela.
Second set opened with a fantastic Ghost, full of repeated melodic
themes a la the NYE version. Too bad no jam out of Halley's, but the
Tweezer made up for it. Nothing too exploratory there,
but followed by a nice Possum. Good to hear the Dude sing a *Phish* song
he wrote for
an encore. Rating: 6.0.
____
11.25.98 - Very nice first set: PYITE opener, dark, funky Bag > Lifeboy,
average-hence-
great Bowie, GTBT closer. The second set's ASZ opener was terrific, very
well-grooved.
Great, scorching (for a while) jam out of Drowned! The rest of the set
was nice, too, but nothing out of the ordinary despite the very strong
setlist (an absolutely standard YEM). Nice encore. Rating: 6.0
____
11.27.98 - Rather dull first set, with a short Jim, polite Reba. But
then there are shows when second set just plain overwhelms the first...I
really think these "mad-segue" type sets are a bit gimmicky, but even
without the segues this set has some serious meat. The multiple
recurrence of Wipe Out and Chalkdust is fun and funny, as is the Mirror
cover; Buried, Sanity and Bill are three quasi-rarities that are just
plain great to hear. Oh yeah, they played a wonderfully direct Mike's,
H2, and even though they had one of those stupid "out-of-control"
speed-up Weekapaug jams, they redeemed it with a cool, funky "do-over."
And then they played Antelope. What, no _The Wall_ cover? Good lawd!
Rating: 8.5
____
11.28.98 - Nice 1-2-3 Gumbo-Tube-Dwd -punch to open. Each was a bit
shorter than
most other jammed out versions, but still very nice, though not
exceptional. Besides the
"Sir, I think you need a shot of Funk" Moma and typically nice SOAMelt,
nothing too
extraordinary. Second set featured a standard, rocking Julius to open,
but was followed by rather abbreviated versions of Wolfman's and the
always-welcome Timber Ho! Wonderful
to hear Crossroads; this was followed by an almost pedestrian-sounding
Tweezer, though Trey threw in some nice licks. Rating: 5.0.
____
11.29.98 - Standard first set, with the exception of a rare Catapult ->
Kung and some nice (if you like loud guitars, that is) jamming with
guest Seth Yacovone. Terrific Roses -> Simple opener (despite the forced
segue). Possum -> Wipeout was cute, the Gin was super, though not as
spectacular as other Gins this tour. A we-should-play-YEM YEM to follow
must mean that this is the last show of the tour. A nice farewell.
Rating: 5.5


Return to journals, and stuff page