Just listened to this on Phish Tracks...for the first time since the actual show. Wow. I remember this show as being pretty good, but really could only recall the fact that It's Ice was great and unfinished. The huge roar just before Mike's was in reaction to the sheets of rain that began pouring down. The Timber Ho and I were under the pavilion but it was obvious that the lawn was getting drenched.

Highlights include the Wolfman's and a old-style dark and nasty Mike's, and Drowned.

To exit the pavilion we had to walk on the lawn...it had turned into the absolute definition of a "quagmire". Each footstep was sucked several inches into the muck, threatening to keep your shoe as you slurped it out for the next step.

this was a pretty solid show. i thought the 98 show in this venue was pretty solid, but compared to some of the other shows they had been playing, see uic and michigan, it was unspectacular. the 99 shows were less than stellar. they had their moments, but trey seemed a little zonked out for a good chunk of that run. he was in better shape in 2000, and while this won't be remembered as one of the best of the year, it's still pretty darn solid.

they start things off nice and funky with a little run through ctb-wolfman's-jibboo. none of these tunes are taken too far out there, but wolfman's in particular, sound really good. a rare first set mike's song gets the house jumping. this one is solid but it does nothing too spectacular on the way to simple. simple is nice and it slowly flows into tmwsiy/avenu. this one is always a pleaser. i have yet to seem them finish this sandwich in ohio. they shot into twist around out of avenu 2 years before in columbus, and now, gordon leads the charge into a firey weekapaugh's groove.... no complaints here. gordon really blazes all the way through this tune, while trey sprinkles some nice licks here and there. finally, they smoke through wmmggw, closing down a very fine first set. the set list on this one almost reads like a 2nd set, so its tough to go into set break with any complaints. sure, mike's didnt soar like it used to, but it still rocked. better than seeing gbott for the 30th time in 2 years.

first tube gets the crowd honed back in, and it spaces out a bit before finding a really nice limb by limb. they jammed this one out nicely without straying too far from the limb theme. dirt is played well, but i did not really like it in this slot. i don't think anyone really needed a "breather" song here, but it's all good when they follow it with a nice deep it's ice. then they do it again, with velvet sea this time. searching for some flow, they delve into a good funky sand. i'm not a fan of the mini key board, but i still like these sand jams. not the best, not the worst. at least trey stayed awake for all of this one; i am quite certain he nodded off for a minute or so during sand in cincy in 99. fishman and gordon really shine on this sand. guyute was well-executed. as it was played so frequently at this time, it was one of the few "composition heavy" pieces they were consistentley nailing in 99-00. bbfcfm almost comes out of nowhere on the back section of this guyute. personally, i kind of like this song, as long as it is kept to about once a tour, but this is a fun version. then they fire up a rare set closing drowned, just to remind everyone that yes, it is raining pretty damn hard. trey takes a nice solo, but this is not a world changing drowned here. it's the thought that counts sometimes. cavern sends the fans home happy.

this is one of those very rare shows that i think the first set was a little better than the 2nd. the setlist was stacked in the first set, and the quality of play was about equal. plus, the second set seemed to lack direction and flow. after sand, they found a bit of a groove, but the first half of the set, it seemed a little up and down.

highlights:

set 1:

wolfman's brother, mike's groove

set 2:

it's ice, sand, guyute>bbfcfm

I'll be honest, this one is a step down from the last show.

I love CTB in the opening spot. It opened my first show so I do have a bias. Wolfman's has a stretched out jam that's at once funky and rocking. Extra mustard and all that. Jibboo also has some great HOSE despite it's short run time. Mike's is played fine but the transition to Simple is kind of whiffed. The -> from Simple to TMWSIY is nicely executed. Weekapaug has some energy to it as does WMGGW.

If it seems like I sped through that set it's because I really didn't find much passion in the playing. The jam in Wolfman's is fine but it's just that: fine. Jibboo is the only song that really felt like it had some real life to it. The rest of the set felt to me like they were going through the motions. I think this is what Fall '00 has it's reputation for. Not necessarily bad playing but lack of passion and creative energy. Unfortunately I have similar feelings about the 2nd set.

First Tube kicks off the momentum strong setting the stage for a good set. LxL follows and it seems like they want to take it out for a walk but they can't quite make it work. Dirt comes oddly early in the set. However it's played well with some feeling to it. It's Ice is surprisingly the "big" jam of the night. It's actually pretty nice. At this point, Phish were masters at creating soundscapes as evidenced by how easily it comes to them here. Take a listen. What little momentum was picked up with Ice is ground to a halt by Wading. Sand attempts to restart the fire but once again they cant really connect with much. Sand in 1.0 didn't lend itself to breaking out of it's shell and the consequences are clear here. Guyute's performance is decidedly ok. At this point in the show I think the band was frustrated. BBFCM blasts out of the gates to blow off a little steam. Mike really stresses his vocal chords. Drowned feels like an attempt to finish the show off at least somewhat passionately and the result isn't bad. Cavern is Cavern.

Folks, this show made me kind of bored. It has a few good moments but I do think it commits the worst sin of a Phish show: it's forgettable. Hopefully things are better next show.

I took a couple college friends with me to this one, we were freshmen at UK in Lexington. Our preshow consisted of eating peanuts, smoking a bowl, playing All-Star Baseball on Playstation, and hitting 75 north at 420.

Wolfman's Brother is a standard, excellent version (even a little Trey fiery?) and Mike's through Weekapaug is great. Guitar Gently Weeps was a nice touch.

The second set is "workmanlike", though the Ice>Velvet Sea has been a personal favorite since that night, and remains so now. Has Kevin Shaprio gotten that into Bunny radio or Live Bait? I'd love to hear a soundboard. Fish plays drums along to the rain that fell outside the pavilion, and the rest of the band takes it from there. It's lovely. BBFCFM is a fun tune.

It rained a ton that night. When we got back to Lexington, I set my shoes out to dry, but they were done. Waterlogged. Fun night, great friends, good memories, Ice>Velvet Sea is your jam takeaway.

My wife hates BBFCFM (which I really love) funny thing about that is this was her first show ... so I must say thank you boys... lol

Side note the weather was crazy all day long starting even in the lot... luckly we had pavs ... but you could tell they where having a blast on the lawn especially when the sickness off drowned closed the show ... good times back in 2000

I'm actually listening to this show right now, thought I'd toss in my 2 cents. I had fairly good seats for this one, which was a rarity for me. Glad I did, as I paid my dues during the Polaris rainstorm that summer (which was far worse in my opinion) and didn't need to get soaked again.

The setlist for this show is really nice. I don't remember anything epic about the performance this night, but there were no letdowns either until the encore. I remember Mike looking angry for most of the show - not sure why.

Highlights include Jibboo - Trey was dancing around the Jibboo jam-theme that became common that Summer but his notes were very tasteful - and a solid Mike's Song where Trey was holding notes for an entire minute (more than once) during the jam. Simple-> went into a quiet jam for 4 or 5 minutes which was a nice counter to the high energy Mike's that pre-ceeded it. The 2nd set It's Ice->Cinci Ice Jam->Velvet Sea was a treat. The Jam really went some interesting places. Started out with a drone-feel that turned into a funky, herky jerky march through the mucky-muck on the floor of the Ohio River. The march ended in a dreamy sound tapestry which was moving ever so slowly in the water until Page's piano started Velvet Sea. Sand & Drowned were also solid.

The Cavern encore was a total let down. I've heard enough Caverns, and when they hit the first notes I remember feeling like the air was let out of a balloon somewhere. All in all a good show.

I remember a couple of things about this show. First was the set list, great Cars-Trucks-Buses, Gotta Jibbo, Mike's Song/Weekapaug Groove and While my Guitar Gently Weeps to end the first set. Second set was solid too. Very good First Tube, Dirt, Sand, Guyute, BBFCM (first time hearing it) and great ending with Drowned. Cavern is one of my favorite songs, so I was happy to hear them end the show with it. The other thing was the weather. I don't know if people remember, but a tornado also hit Xenia that night. During the first set, I remember the wind picking up and of course it started to rain. I saw the speakers on both sides of the stage starting to sway back and fourth from the wind. A roadie came out a looked up at the speakers, went off the side of the stage and came back out with a broom. He tryed to stop the speakers from moving back and fourth with the broom by sticking it to the bottem of the speakers. Needlist to say it didn't work to well, so he gave up. I didn't know how hard it was raining until I turned around to look out at the lawn and see the sky light up from the lighting. I kinda felt sorry for everyone out there. After the break, and they came back for the second set. It started (rain) again only worse. I was in the middle of the pavillion and I could feal the rain blowing on me from the wind. After the show, it had stopped, but from the looks of things, it was pretty bad. Besides puddles everywhere, the lawn area (where alot of people stand on a hill to watch) looked pretty bad. Some people looked like they had been sliding down the hill covered with mud from head to toe. Kinda looked like they were at Woodstock of 69. I'm glad I wasn't one of them.

There was this big thunderstorm that came through in the middle of Mike's song.
It felt like the band was playing to the storm. The sky turning black and the lights on the stage turned yellow and mean looking. I like everything about this show. I always like when they play First Tube and Sand in the same set. It just has a cool feel. Drowned was a great way to end the set because of the thunderstorm. I remember after the show getting lost in a amusement park that was closed. It was very surreal.

Cars Trucks Buses: I have always loved this as an opener. Gets everybody up and moving, gets the blood flowing. This one is no exception.

Wolfman’s: Very straightforward but great tone setter in the two slot of the first set. Rocks hard and at the 12.5 mark gets a bit beyond it’s true structure and Trey is in that signature 99 lick type zone but only briefly returning to the familiar ending of Wolfman’s at 13.5.

Gotta Jibboo: Keeping the momentum going strong with this selection. Really peaky in the late 7:00’s and early 8:00’s and through 9.5 - Trey has some very impressive runs.

Mike’s: Total rager, this; in combination with the downpour – the fans just go bonkers. It leads to an intense Mike’s. This is a significant highlight for this show, for sure! Kind of abruptly into > Simple…

Simple: This one gets nice and introspective in the 7-minute range leaving about three minutes of very chill jamming. Wind is wreaking some havoc during this chill jam. The -> is incredible and unpredictable, did not see that coming.

TMWSIY: Gorgeous. You can here the wind kicking up throughout this.

Weekapaug: Good stuff, great pace, and intensity. Crowd eats it up. Standard yet very solid.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: Good set closer.

Super solid first set – bodes well for set II. 1:13 in length.

First Tube: Powerhouse.

Limb By Limb: Straight ahead rager, no subtlety to it and with that in mind, belongs in the first set.

Dirt: I love this tune, but not in the three hole in a second set. No sir.

It’s Ice: Interesting jam that has length but if we are really being honest with each other – does it really do much of anything? For me, it doesn’t. I have listened to this a bunch over the years and given it every opportunity to grab me. Perhaps being in attendance and under the right circumstances it would have left a different impression. It is certainly a notable jam in the history of It’s Ice, that much is for sure.

Wading in the Velvet Sea: The segue out of It’s Ice into Wading is fantastic, a must hear for any Phish fan. Ethereal.

Sand: Loops start doing their thing in the late 4:00’s. Nicely adding some texture to a very spacey sounding jam. Very, very mellow. 5:45 cool, alien effects from Page. Fans are loving this. 9:20 Trey coming back to life and here we go with those signature 99 licks. Mellows back out at 12:20. This version of Sand is extremely tame.

Guyute: Placement sucks. Really sucks. Crowd goes bonkers for it though so what do I know. It’s all about energy per Trey. Folks go nuts for the ‘I hope this happens once again’ line just like at MPP. Cat is out of the bag and fans know hiatus looms and are trying to get everything out of every moment they possibly can.

BBFCFM: Set was doomed long before this. But again, what do I know as the crowd goes CRAZY for this one. Sounds like an absolute madhouse.

Drowned: Too little, too late. This is the only time Drowned has EVER closed out a second set as of the writing of this review 9.18.22. Don’t let the length listed fool you (11:25). It’s only 8:57. Like Limb by Limb – this Drowned is a straight ahead rager, no subtlety to it.

Cavern: Crowd is just going nuts during the encore break – a standalone Cavern? This had to be a major letdown. The beginning of this one is all weird too. Fans are confused and underwhelmed based on the lack of reaction. Place goes bonkers when they see the band is leaving the stage trying to pull a double encore out of them. They stand around and yell their heads off until the house lights come up. And when they do, are those scattered boos I hear?

Summary: First set > Second Set. First set doesn’t have any super crazy jams but is just solid as hell. Second set is basically just another first set that is not nearly as good as the real first set. Hope that all makes sense, lol. This show is pretty average, and I feel appropriately ranked at 3.74 out of 98 ratings. I will rate it a 4 as it is closer to a 4 than it is a 3.