I somehow managed to wake up early along w/ Tony so we could have the oil changed in our cars. This would be the first of four for me. We checked out of our hotel, got a bite at a Thai restaurant, and got in line for them to open up the lot. Met some cool people from L.A., Michigan, and Oregon. Also, a reporter for the Orange County Register briefly interviewed Tony,Lee and me for a spot in the Travel section. It is supposed to be 8/24 according to Tony. They opened the lots around 3:30. The weather was nice and sunny. I met Nestamarley and his girlfriend Kelly (hope I spelled that right Mike). It was really nice meeting him - I have been seeing his posts for a few years now . I'd be seeing Mike on and off all the way through Pittsburgh! Anyway, the cops/security seemed much cooler today for whatever reason. I managed to put a nice buzz on before heading off for the gates. I went in w/ Tony - we both had lawn tonight (my first of the tour) and got a good spot front and center. Problem is if you are that up front on the lawn it's tough to see the stage (yeah, it sounds strange but true).

SET 1: Spices: Well, Trey did promise to play this at Shoreline so there you go. ->

Waves: Standard.

Reba: Excellent version of Reba! Soaring. Would recommend.

Lawn Boy:

The Moma Dance: I really got a groove on during this one. It funked out for a good 12 and a half minutes. I especially enjoy the minimalistic nature of the last few minutes – very heady and ethereal. >

Run Like an Antelope: Trey is quite sloppy in most everything leading up to the jam. Jam is run of the mill – so it rocked just nothing out of the ordinary.

For set break Tony and I wandered up on the hill Page side and met up w/ a friend of his. You've got to be careful up there. If you lose your balance mid-dance, then you can tweak your ankle(s). Reminded me of Alpine in regard to how steep the lawn is.

SET 2: 46 Days: Pretty solid jam right here. Nothing that I would seek out but good way to come out of set break.

Divided Sky: Very, very good Sky. Would recommend. The Dave’s Energy Guide stuff starts around 15:45, love this – it is interwoven beautifully. Mike is really thumping here. Page lays down some interesting effects around 16:45.

Friday: Brutal, horrid placement. Why would you put this here? >

Free: Mike crushes his solo. Outside of that, not much to see here… >

Seven Below: Standard.

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Standard.

Also Sprach Zarathustra: This was a nice 2001. But really short. At just under 7 minutes, I think this well could be the shortest 2001 I had seen since the mid 90's. Segue into >

Down with Disease: Ripped, Type I face melter.

ENCORE: Rift - Minor flubs galore in this one. The one I saw in Rosemont in February seemed much tighter.

Character Zero:

Replay Value/Summary: Reba, The Moma Dance, Divided Sky. Not much to chew on here, folks. They fell flat after a very hot show the night before. Out of the first 4 shows of the summer tour, 3 of them were mediocre at best. What happened with band in between the winter and summer tour? Winter tour raged and now this? A head scratcher for sure. This is one of those rare Phish shows for me where the first set is better than the second set. Everything in the second set seemed to be slightly rushed with some sloppy playing taboot. The band could have been a bit tired after 4 straight nights on stage; especially after the heater that was the night before. I know I was tired and definitely not looking forward to the 16-hour drive to the Gorge. After the show we hit the road for the Gorge and pulled over about an hour later and grabbed a hotel. The next day would be a festival of driving - we would not pull into the Gorge's onsite camping until 2am.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Ever listen to a show, and the setlist reminds you of a different show? Phish just finished a 3-night stand over the Independence Day holiday, and the third show on 7/5 with Divided Sky, Wading, and ->Waves reminded me of this setlist, so I thought I'd throw it in and review it. Turns out that this is currently the lowest-rated show of 2003 on .net, but I have to say I've heard a few sets from later in the year that IMO are worse than Shoreline.

Admittedly, there are flubs, and the setlist flow is wonky. The Round Room material sounds really good to my ears, though, as does new tune Spices. I skip right to the jam in Reba to hear Trey inch up to the peak, grab hold of it and throttle it. A very nice moment in time.

This is not one of Phish's stronger efforts. Antelope is inventive enough to merit a few extra listens. Otherwise, the modest highlights aren't especially noteworthy, and much of the time the band sounds clunky + disjointed.

Spices is an interesting opener, and not necessarily in a good way. In hindsight, it sounds compositionally like a "beta version" of Time Turns Elastic...before the song's positive qualities got added. A couple minutes of generic mud-crunching improv leads into a blissful, but "by the book", version of Waves. Reba is a little bit underpowered, but enjoyable enough. Lawn Boy is standard. Moma Dance gets into an atmospheric funk space for a bit before fading into Antelope, which has a little extra spring in its step and a couple of interesting thematic twists.

Set 2 starts solidly with a worthy, but not spectacular, version of 46 Days. Unfortunately, the added length to Divided Sky is more a matter of the band trying to find its footing, as opposed to inspired improv. Uncharacteristically sloppy version. Friday is extremely well-played, richly mining the intended emotions. Free starts off with a simmer, instead of the customary thunderous intro, but this works well in its context. Otherwise, it's an ordinary version. Seven Below is tight and crisp. Very brief jam at the end before it comes to an album-style stop. Velvet Sea is somewhat off-kilter, but solidly delivers the cathartic finish. 2001 is plenty good for a short version. Down With Disease is tight and energetic, a straight-ahead rocker to finish the set.

A two-song encore. Rift is well-played and does what it usually does. Character Zero is uncharacteristically tepid and murky, lacking its usual punch.

I don't have too much to say about this show. After the night before, I was hoping they would step up and kick some ass on this night. Not to be. This was the first time I got to hear Spices (only time in person), and it was okay, but the Waves made me very happy. Waves is my favorite song from Round Room, and I was stoked to hear it. The rest of set 1 is a total throwaway. Reba is embarrassingly bad.
Set two was not much better. 46 Days rocked, but Divided Sky was sloppy sloppy sloppy. Friday was nice, and I like this placement. Too bad they don't play it anymore. It's a nice song. Seven Below was another nice treat, but the set really didn't do much until the 2001>DWD. I love Disease as a set 2 closer, and I wish they would do it more often.
The encore was another slop-fest. This show was the first time that I felt like things were going very wrong with Phish. I had my suspicions back in the 1999 Shoreline, but I guess I was hoping the hiatus had fixed things.

No reviews? I never do them but here we go bc it can't be empty if I can help.
I was on tour from Phoenix with a great buddy of mine and his 120 lb lab, and after a great show the night before they just didn't do much tonight, the 2nd night of the stand. But that meant they would be throwing it down @ the Gorge, and we saw that they did with a sick Ghost + Mock Song(only time) night 1 + all of 7/13 but I went off topic for a second...sorry. BUt before I go into 7-10, 7-9 the night before has to be mentioned:
(7-9 w/ the fuckin' YEM opener->Simple as a nodd to their last show at Shoreline on 10-7-00 last show pre-hiatus. Another example of the band playing to the audience. But the Gin was insane and they didnt mean to close on Gin I think but they just brought it so fuckin far out there, awesome stuff. Set 2 rocked with an all-start lineup. Amazing Piper w/ a couple great jams within but the Twist----->>>>>> SEGUE into Scents was just sickness and perfect stuff right there. Then a Mikes taboot...Awesome!!!)

The 1st set with Spices as a opener does nothing at all and I wished that in Phoenix they would only play it that one time, but here it pops up again and to open? No thanks but anyways it went on into a ok Waves for that time but right after Waves was a very nice Reba, 1st one of tour so I was pumped!!! It had no whisteling but not many do those/these days. Lawn Boy for Page to say hi to everyone and then the highlight of the show I think in the MOMA DANCE. SIIIIIIIIIIIIICK hit here and I think it was unfinished too and bled into Antelope which brought the momentum right into the jam! Sweet shit. But the moma was similar-ish to the UNREAL NASTY Moma from Woosta 2-26-03. That one has Gordon just ripping it up and that version is one of my favs for sure. So a short 1st set and I could only expect good things after that Moma->Antelope.

The opposite happened and they felt like they fell flat. They played cookie-cutter songs and no flow with weird placment all around. Opener was 46 Days which rocks but it didnt hold up to anything special (at that point the 1-2-03 Debut was the best to that point). I mean 2nd song where there should be some action in my point of view they play Divided, really?? Come one guys, I will always love the song soooo much and I appreciate you switching things up and not making it a standard, but this is just not the place. And after 19 minutes you'd think a rocker or something will follow...well Friday comes in for the 3rd slot in the 2nd set of the last night @ Shoreline...that was just not nice and it killed the vibe. At that point Free and -7 just dont go anywhere and then we're back at Velvet Cheese. The song ended and out of nowhere Fishman starts the beat to 2001, no space intro, no nothing and it felt odd for me. However the cherry on top was the DWD closer?? Lastly the Rift>0 closer which I was already outside selling my waters...
So I dont think I need to summarize it but I will for the hell of it. Reba, 1st of tour and I love all versions, Moma is sick and unfinished and whacks right into Antelope to close the 1st set. Set 2 didnt have much at all but a 4 minute jam in Divided of all places to reach it to about 20 min.
Best thing about this show was that the Gorge was right after it.

Long live Phish.

Last night's show was a great Phish show. Tonight's is an economical one.

Perhaps the weakest opener of the entire touring year starts thing off with a whisper. The song Spices, as in thee song itself, has legs if it practiced enough. Simple and pretty, it feels like it could go places. Emphasis on could. However the jam is a total train-wreck. Its a directionless, wanked out "huh?" fest. Thank god Waves comes in to save the day. More like runs into Waves. Whatever, I digress. (see, I can be negative). From here, the set is actually pretty decent, economical, but man does that Spices ever nip in the bud the potential for this show to be as great as its predecessor. Onto Economy Phish. Waves has a pretty and timely, which added to the value of the already peppy Waves. Waves settles into Reba, and the set has legs. Reba is composed in a more hazy feel this time around. Played well to my ears, technically speaking, its tone is just a little... fuzzy. Reba should be crisp and neat, this one doesn't have. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. That 2003 tone, which I find pretty cool, permeates through this version (albeit making it sound less "classic"). It grows confidently to a triumphant peak and were back on track! This nifty little Reba jam picks up on the energy Waves radiated and progressed very nicely to its peak. Lawn Boy can be a hit or miss song depending on the feel and loose-energy of the set. Meaning, sometimes the heartfelt comedic Page crooning fits right into the vibe; sometimes that change in direction slows down some hard earned progress. This Lawn Boy falls into the latter in my ears. It felt just a touch of out place...not totally, but enough to dilute the set at a noticeable level beyond the comedic goofy value. Thankfully, a truly earthy Moma Dance comes next, and we are back on track. Clocking in just under 13 minutes and full of musical clay that Mike is forming with deep bass grooves, this Moma rumbles along nicely. Slow and thick, but not entirely funky, this groove elevates into space before settling into Run Like an Antelope. Some playful opening-section back and forth injects just that much more life back into the set. Really fun stuff, sets a good mood. The jam is focused, but maintains a soft edge of intensity, ever-building to a great climatic peak, even if not as an explosion. 3 solid songs, 2 out place songs, and 1 that was somewhere in between. Economy, in a sense.

Set 2 starts off with a jolt. 46 Days has a nice spark to it, really rocking the venue! It flirts with going into an extended type 2 jam ever so briefly before Trey reels it back in. It returns to the chorus and, all said and done, this feels like a good springboard. Divided Sky is not what anyone had in mind, but the surprise was welcomed! (and would be even moreso some 19+ minutes later when this contender for "Best Ever" finishes). Like Reba, the composed section had a muted, but still well-executed feel. I kind of like this tone of Divided Sky...feels like clouds, appropriately. But let's get to the jam. Hoooo man. Is this ever sweet! Trey is adeptly, nimbly picking his way through this thing at first. Like running his hands through blades of grass, each making its own note burst with color. The full band locks into a bouncy groove, and starts to run a triumphant progression toward the expected peak. Ha! Expected. Phish rarely does the expected. At this moment they methodically bring the jam down into some *close to type 2* jamming that is equal parts space, quantum, and beautiful. Page layers some fantastic effects over the minimalist breakdown groove as Mike and Trey are trading soft humble notes back and forth. They then swirl out microscopic and return to a very inspired peak! Seriously has to be considered as one of the best versions of the song they have ever performed. It IS that good. Ok I'm gonna kick you in the nuts now. Ready. Friday. How'd that feel? Yeah, me too. A weirdly started, "get right into it" Free comes next. Anything is better than Friday at that point, and this relatively benign version of Free still was able to make our balls hurt less. A sneaky good version of Seven Below comes next. Rarely mentioned because it's buried in a relatively tame set of a tame show, this Seven Below swirls and blossoms into a very breezy, uplifting jam. A secondary highlight to the Divided Sky, but a highlight nonetheless, this jam packs a good amount of substance into a short little period. Economical. Wading comes next and deflates any energy that Seven Below had created. Bummer, set started to have legs, A compact 2001 never quite rebounded form the Wading punch. I think this one was on sale though. Hmm. It feels like they are winding down the set before Down with Disease growls into the darkness. Finally! Some jamm... but... ahh damn it this is gonna close the set! It scorches along for a solid 9 minutes and maybe they're gonna take it out there.... maybe.......... sadly no, they swoop back into the refrain, albeit with a flourish, and set show comes to an end. At least they ended on a high note Rift, Zero was actually a really cool encore pairing. 15 minutes of frenetic, well placed energy, this was a very good way to end the show. Really ended on another high note. All and all, there were a smattering of good jams interwoven into this mixed bag of Phish. A couple ill-placed songs really jilted what could have been, and had the promise of, a great follow up show to 7.9.03. But it never came to be. Nonetheless, a good economy of songs to choose from should you want to dive into some Phish I can almost guarantee you've never listened to.

Must-hear jams: Divided Sky, Seven Below
Probably-should-listen-to jams: Reba, Moma Dance > Run Like an Antelope