From cdhoard@umich.edu Sat Dec 12 16:21:17 1998
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 20:33:09 -0500
From: Christian David Hoard 
Cc: Dan Hantman 
Subject: Phish at UIC - 11/8/98 Review

Hey,

WOW! HOLY CRAP! What a great time!

Here's a few words on Sunday's Phish show.

Pre-show I met some friends in the city for a couple brews. We showed up
at the pavilion kinda late and only spent a short time in the lots. It
was cold outside. I made my way in and took a spot on the floor up
front.

8:09 - Taste: What a way to open a show! This was cool. As the song grew
and grew bigger and louder near the end, my smile grew the same way.
They just kept on building and building higher and higher. Taste lasted
11 minutes. 8:20 - Carini: I didn't know this tune. After a moment I
figured out what it was and grooved with them. Good and heavy sounding.
They were having a lot of fun with it. I watched Page laughing during
one part. He couldn't even sing along - cracking up. Fun! 8:25 - Love Me
(Treat Me Like A Fool): I was fortunate to be up front to watch Mike
sing this one. More fun! 8:28 - Ride Captain Ride: This was another
surprise. The crowd enjoyed this one. Lots of smiles. 8:35 - Fee: Very
cool. I was really happy to hear this. At the end of the song, it looked
like they were about to wrap it up and move to a new song but they went
into this really cool little jam with harmonics and delay. It only
lasted like two minutes but it was really cool. 8:41 - Paul and Silas: I
didn't know this one. I liked what I heard though. This was last played
2/28/97 so it was a rare treat. 8:45 - Roggae: One of my favorite new
tunes. I love this tune so I obviously loved this jam. At this point
Trey could have taken a shit on his guitar and I would've cheered.
Roggae was really nice though. I loved it. "The circus is the place for
me..."  8:53 - Water in the Sky: I don't have any specific notes on this
one. It was well played. I think I was in one of those trance-like
states at the time. 8:57 - Stash: This was great! A highlight of the
set. Stash kicked my ass. Later in the song Mike threw in some Fikus
teases. The lights were exceptionally cool during this song. 9:11 -
Cavern: After the killer Stash, this one didn't disapoint. I took care
of my shoes and just bopped along for the ride. At 9:16 they were done
all too soon. They left us all wanting more.

At set break I went and enjoyed a nice long wait to get some water. I
headed upstairs and met some friends in their "obstructed view" seats
which weren't that bad. They were looking down at the back of Fishman's
drumset. It was really cool wathcing him for a while from up there.
While upstairs I was sitting next to a door to the outside. There were
some cops and security guards chatting by the doors. The cops let like a
dozen or so people in from outside. Mighty cool of them I thought.

10:00 - Chalkdust Torture: Back into it again. Really cool. 10 minutes
long. Rowdy! 10:10 - Meat: This was funky as would be expected. The cool
thing about this Meat was the endings. They stopped. And went back into
it after a long pause and then ended it. They were chatting for a second
and we were ready for the next tune. Nope. Back into the Meat groove.
They stopped again. Cheers and more chatting for an even longer time.
Ready for the next tune. Nope. Back into Meat again! Crazy. 10:15 - Rock
and Roll: I'm not too familiar with this stuff but it was a cool tune. I
guess they just didn't get enough of it on Halloween. During this tune I
made my way back to the floor and back up front even closer than I was
before. Right in the center about 25 feet back. It was all right! 10:23
- Down with Disease: This was extra phat! Mike and that MuTron. Killer.
This DWD developed into a cool jam at the end. At about 10:37 they
shifted into this really wierd jam for about four minutes more. Now that
we were already wow-ed... 10:40 - Piper: HOLY SHIT! This was the biggest
and baddest Piper ever. This thing grew and grew and grew until they
were just raging, and that was just the beginning. They kept this up for
a long time. It was like they were experimenting with finale-level
intensity for extended periods of time. They did this in several tunes
throughout the night but this was outrageous. Big, Big, Big! 10:51 -
Wading in a Velvet Sea: After the monster Piper we needed to relax a
little and this did it for us. Nice and easy. Good vocals. 10:58 - Run
Like an Antelope: Kick ass! Any Antelope is great in my book. I feared
it would be their last tune of the set though, which it was. It was
great though and was a great way to top off the night. at 11:10 they
went offstage. After much turmoil in the crowd they came back out. 11:12
- Been Caught Steeling: They busted into BCS and caught everyone by
surprise. I heard them do this at Alpine and this was just as fun. They
dug into the middle groove section while criusing along on the
trampolines. It was a big bunch of fun. at 11:17 they were done.

I know this isn't really a good review cause I'm bassically sitting here
going "That was great!" but that's the way I feel. Phish showed me once
again why I like the band so much.

After-show was uneventful. It was cool checking out the city skyline
from the top of the parking garage.

Well, another great show and a great time. Monday though...

--
"THE MORE SERIOUSLY YOU TAKE YOURSELF AND OTHERS, THE MORE SERIOUSLY
YOU WILL BE OFFENDED AND DISGUSTED" - Charlie Dirksen

ION VEIN - Melodic Progressive Metal - http://www.ionvein.com



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


Date:    Wed, 11 Nov 1998 06:39:00 GMT
From:    Jdp677 
Subject: *UIC Review/Highlights*


Sunday 11/8 ROUND TWO: The first set kicked ass - it was energetic and
spontaneous all the way through.  There were little conferences on stage
between most songs, and this is always a good sign.  Taste was a surprising way
to get things started.  Rather than the instant energy of Chalkdust or Llama,
Taste steadily reaches an awesome peak by the end of the tune even though it
starts in a somewhat unassuming manner.  This was a cool first set opener since
my last Taste (11/19/97) was a second set closer.  I love placement diversity!
Carini as the second tune of the first set - WTF?!?!?!  This was great to hear,
and the crowd seemed pretty into it.  Not an epic jam by any means, but it was
just such a treat.  Love Me/Treat Me Like A Fool was fun.  At this point, it
seemed like we could be in for a set of rarities.  Those opening keys to Ride
Captain Ride had me jumping up and down (something I don't usually do).  Yes!
I was shocked to hear this one again.  Go Page!  I hate Fee, but it was not so
bad in the context of what we had seen so far.  Nice harmonics jam at the end,
I hope that they REALLY stretch out this jam one of these days.  Paul and
Silas?!?!?!  I was present for the last US performance of this tune (10/24/95),
and it was a total surprise to hear again.  Now if only they'd play Nellie Cane
. . . . Roggae is such a gorgeous tune, so I was psyched to hear it again even
after they had just played it in Madison.  I love those lyrics "I can't forget
to turn the earth so both sides get their share of darkness and of light."  The
new WITSky arrangement is sweet, and I also like the fact that it seems to be
played less frequently than most of the other SOTG tunes.  It was such an
appropriate opener in Raleigh this summer (you know what I mean if you were
there!) and I have enjoyed it ever since.  Rather than having that straight
ahead country vibe of the old arrangement, the new version has this kind of
hypnotic and Beatle-esque vocal delivery.  For point of comparison, this
hypnotic mood reminds me of the Strange Design B-side of the Free single.  The
opening segment sounds like some weird composite of Rift and Buried Alive.
This arrangement also gives Page a ton of room to let loose with a variety of
cool sound effects.  Stash was a smoker.  I don't recall specifics, since my
eyes were closed and I was groooooving, but this was definitely an above
average first set Stash.  It didn't contain the stunning revelations of 7/2/97
or 11/14/95, but it was just what the doctor ordered for some end of the first
set jamming.  Besides, after Carini, Ride Captain Ride, and Paul & Silas,
everything else in this set was a bonus :-)  Cavern was fun, got everyone
smiling and dancing.  Trey butchered the lyrics, but what else is new?  I was
hoping for the "dirty" lyrics, maybe next time.  Smiles and granola bars at the
set break.  And trying to figure out what had just happened . . . "Carini?
Ride Captain Ride?  Paul and Silas?  All in the first set?!?!  WOW!"

A rip-roaring Chalkdust rocked us right on into the second set.  This version
contained some serious intensity, a sign of good things to come for sure.  Meat
is fun, and it is growing on me, but I could have done without it since we had
just heard it in Madison.  Rock and Roll, and it certainly was!  I don't know
how this compares to the one from Vegas, but it was sweet.  Most of the crowd
seemed to recognize it instantly (I guess most people at UIC had also been in
Vegas).  I was glad to hear DWD in the middle of the second set.  It was cool
that they were using it as a second set closer at Shoreline, Atlanta, and
Starlake to really milk that bringing down the house quality of the reprise,
but I think the improvisational possibilities are much greater when it is
played beginning or mid second set.  I was hoping for a segue of some kind, but
instead we got a super-hot DWD which found its away into some exploratory/type
II territory and then returned to a killer reprise.  The jam was very enjoyable
- it never got too "out there," which may be a good or bad thing depending on
what kind of jams you like.  A little spacey jam ensued for a few minutes,
reminded me of the SOTRainbow from Va Beach this summer.  Piper followed, and
this was fast and furious.  I don't really know how else to describe it.  One
of the best Pipers I've heard, along with the BADASS ROYALTY known as 12/6/97
and 7/6/98.  Good placement of Velvet Sea, but the jamming never reached any
kind of peak.  I was hoping for some of that triumphant Trey soloing over
Page's gorgeous singing, but it never happened.  The Antelope was very intense
- a straight ahead rocker with a fierce build at the end.  Been Caught Stealing
was a surprise to hear again.  I guess they like playing this one in the
Chicago area.  A very good show overall, with an especially kick-ass first set.
 It was a much more consistent evening than Saturday.




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


Date:    Thu, 12 Nov 1998 22:02:44 GMT
From:    Marcus Pearson 
Subject: UIC 11-7, 11-8 and 11-9 rundown/review



11/8/98 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
I:  Taste, Carini Had A Lumpy Head, Love Me, Ride Captain Ride, Fee,
    Paul And Silas, Roggae, Water in the Sky, Stash, Cavern
II: Chalkdust, Meat, Rock And Roll, Down with Disease, Piper,
    Wading in Velvet Sea, Antelope
E:  Been Caught Stealing

Taste had a very nice jam as always.  Got to love the Carini and Ride Captain
Ride bustouts.  Stash was very powerful, not much delay before they really
wailed it.  There were 3 seperate raging peaks.  Incredible Stash!

Chalkdust sounded more like a 93 version, very tight and nicely jammed.
Rock And Roll was very high energy, I'm sure much like the Vegas version.
DwD seemed to be about 15 min and it just wailed all the way through like
12-31-96.  After the final chorus they went into a spacey little outro
mainly just Trey and Page playing.  They then stoppped, hence no -> or >,
and started up Piper.  Been Caught Stealing was much like Alpine this summer
complete with tramps.

This was probably the highest energy show of the run and I would imagine it was
many people's favorite.  There just wasn't enough exploratory stuff for me
though.



--------

11/8/98 - UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL


PRE-SHOW:  We arrived around 6, and wanted to get right into the GA
line, so didn�t really look much for a lot scene.  In fact, I didn�t
really see much vending or anything, just a few miracle-seekers.  I
suppose the good old Chicago November weather kept things quiet.  The
line was very well-organized, kudos to the Pavillion staff for keeping
things orderly without being overtly asshole-ish.

VENUE:  I simply loved it.  Since my first show was summer �96 at
Alpine, I figured I would never get the chance to see Phish in anything
smaller than Assembly Hall in Champaign.  UIC proved me wrong.  Plus, it
was the first show I�ve been able to see from the floor, so being about
ten people deep on Page�s side just blew my mind.  The lights seemed to
work very well with the layout, and the sound was excellent (maybe a bit
loud).

SET I (67 minutes)

TASTE:  A good, solid opener, though not especially surprising or
exceptional.  Definitely got the crowd moving, despite the fact that
very few people can accurately dance in 12/8 time.  Crowd seemed very,
very energetic for most of the show, by the way, but it could�ve just
been where I was standing.

SONG FOR CARINI:  A complete shock, first one since Island Tour I
believe?  A pretty harsh change of mood from Taste, but appreciated
nonetheless.  Trey added some new lyrics, apparently about the Madison
naked person incident.  Not much in the way of a jam, just some nice
Mike/Fish fills between the power chords at the end.

LOVE ME:  Again, another 180 degree turn in mood.  Can any other band go
from a complicated time signature to sarcastic heavy metal to an Elvis
cover in the first twenty minutes of a show?  If you know of another
one, tell me.  Well played and received; some priceless facial
expressions from Page as he hit the background vocals.

RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE:  This made it three in a row of certified bustouts in
my book.  Yeah, it was played at Deer Creek this summer (which I also
saw), but its only been played thrice in the �90s or something like
that, so it earns a place in the bustout category for a while.  Great
vocals by Page, of course.  He seemed to be having some problems with
the Rhodes during the first verse, played on the piano instead.

FEE:  At first, sort of a letdown after the bustout trio, but it
could�ve been a worse selection.  Surprisingly, it had a very cool,
mellow jam at the end, similar in some ways to the "Meatstick" jam out
of the 11/19/97 version.  A little taste of the boys� new ambient
direction, methinks?

PAUL & SILAS:  Well, having a gaping 1993 hole in my tape collection, I
didn�t immediately catch on to what this was.  I recognized the
chords�but I just couldn�t get it, until Trey started singing.  Great,
great song, hopefully its back in rotation.  At the show, I thought it
had to be the first one in something like 4 years, but that damn 2/28/97
show screwed me up.  Nonetheless, a pretty sweet bustout, and clinched
this set as an official bustout set (Certified by Me).

ROGGAE:  Perfect placement, great song (one of the best on the new
album).  Gives the crowd a nice chance to play "Cheer for your favorite
member of Phish" during the first verse.  I cheered for Page.  As usual,
nicely stretched out from the album version, without deviating into any
unusual territory.

WATER IN THE SKY:  My first time hearing the album version, I heard the
old (and quite boring) original version a couple times last summer.
Highlight was Page nicely replicating his beautiful tinkling piano
effect from the album.

STASH:  (insert Homer "woohoo!" here)  According to the good old stats
page, Stash was my odds-breaker song - nine shows without one before
Sunday.  And I dare say it was worth the wait.  Probably the best
jamming of the night, Trey brought things down nicely, and it got spacey
without losing the beat.  I swear Trey was teasing some familiar riff
for a while, possibly something from "Loaded", but I couldn�t place it.
I didn�t hear the reported "Fikus" teases, but I�m pretty bad with stuff
like that.  Brought to a nice raging climax with great lights.  I
thought the set was over but�

CAVERN:  Okay, now the set�s over.  Amusing because of Trey�s usual
lyrics brain cramp, but unremarkable otherwise.

SET I COMMENTS:  Very song-y and unusual, in a good way.  Its always
good to hear some rare stuff, it just reassures me that they�re not
phoning in the performance (as if they ever do, but still, it�s nice).
On that note, wouldn�t you think that Phish would eventually run out of
songs to "bring back" into rotation?  It seems like every show this
summer brought back some golden oldie, and there seems to be no sign of
stopping.  God, I love this band.  But I digress.  I�d say the set was
above average, overall.  Not earthshaking, but lots of fun.

SET II + ENCORE (77 minutes)

CHALKDUST TORTURE:  A good old-school set opener.  Trey, of course,
simply lit the place on fire with his solo.  Reflecting back on the
entire second set, this (somewhat unfortunately) set the tone for the
next hour of music�

MEAT:  Another one of my favorites from the new album.  Very to fun to
see live, I loved hearing Fishman sing the robot voice part live,
because it sounds so happy (in contrast to the album).  It�s also fun to
see Trey�s funk walk, which seems to always turn up while playing this
tune.  And not one, not two, not three, but four reprises at the end!
Between the third and fourth, Trey even laid down a sweet little wah
solo, similar to his solo on the album version of Ghost.  I thought they
might be heading into a breakdown jam, ala 12/6/97 Isabella, but they
did one more run-through the riff and after a moment of hesitation
started�

ROCK AND ROLL:  It sounded really familiar when it started, and I knew
it was a cover, and guessed it was Sweet Jane.  Close, I guess.  Not too
surprising to see this one repeated from �ween, as it seemed to be
unanimously proclaimed one of the best jams of the night.  Trey once
again took charge, soloing at whiplash speed.  Could it be�Machine Gun
Trey?  Short spacey jam into�

DOWN WITH DISEASE:  Kept the energy of the set rolling.  Trey
immediately settled into 1995-era mad soloing DWD mode, sometimes
seeming to fight attempts by Mike and Fish to shift it into Type II.
Trey just kept rolling, despite a perfectly placed tempo change by
Fishman.  There was no stopping the Machine Gun however, and Trey
wrangled the jam back into the end of the song.  But oddly, they didn�t
stop playing at the end�

JAM:  Okay, normally I�m reluctant to label something a "jam", but DWD
was obviously ended, and it seemed to me like they were maybe going into
something new, but it just became this very quiet, ambient jam.  Trey
played a very delicate riff with lots of harmonics, while Page slid on
over to the Moog, and Mike did this weird tapping thing on his bottom
string.  Fishman just kind of sat out, oddly enough, until the very
end.  It probably ran maybe three minutes, then just died.  Very weird�

PIPER:  Built like your normal Piper, from almost-silent to raging.
Trey stuck to just open chords for most of the song, but noone else
seemed to want to take the lead.  After the vocals, the tempo was sped
up to infinity, while Machine Gun resurfaced.  Stretched out for a
while, then ended as Trey yelled over to Page.

VELVET SEA:  ugh.  This song is soooooooo sappy.  It was nicely played,
I suppose, Trey had a nice riff going on the outro.  But this song is
just a buzzkill and a half.

ANTELOPE:  The whole crowd seemed to know it was coming, and it didn�t
disappoint.  Very standard version, not too much weirdness.  Yet again,
it was Machine Gun Trey, speeding up the tempo to Warp 10.  Normal
lyrics.

BEEN CAUGHT STEALING:  Okay, its kind of amusing that I�ve seen the only
two performances of this song, considering I only go to a few shows each
tour, and I�m fairly confined to the Midwest.  Having said that, I like
it.  I�m sure Perry Farrell wouldn�t be too happy about it, and Trey
seemed to forget the solo and add an extra "Let�s Go!", but anything
that gets the whole crowd pogo-ing can�t be bad.  It was good to see the
tramps up close too.  A girl jumped on stage at the end, but just kind
of jumped up and down in place.  Why didn�t you go for the tramps,
girl???  I would never have the guts to jump on stage, but if I did, I�d
be on those tramps before you could say "Carini".

SET II COMMENTS:  eh.  It was solid, but very, very one-dimensional for
the boys.  Most of it seemed to be Trey "Machine Gun" Anastasio and his
backing band (I know I�ve overused the nickname, but it fit for this
show, believe me).  At some points it was incredible, but it got closer
to self-indulgent than I think I�ve ever seen at a Phish show.  Sort of
disappointing, considering the direction the band has been taking.  But,
don�t get the impression I didn�t have fun, I�m just throwing in some
constructive criticism here.  Who wants to read reviews that just say
"Trey Fucking ROCKS!!!" for three pages?

    Anyway, �twas a good show, I�m glad my fall tour has finally begun
(though I�m missing the Monday night UIC show, stupid class�).  Out of
the shows I�ve seen, there�s been a couple bliss-inducing ones, and only
one disappointing one (Tinley �97), with everything else falling
somewhere in the middle at just plain awesome.  To sum it up, Sunday
night goes right into that middle pile.
    If you made it this far, thanks for reading my exceptionally long
review.  Seems to me that nobody�s writing good song-by-song analyses
any more though, so I thought I�d throw one in.  If I have time, I�ll
repeat the process for Grand Rapids, Cleveland, and Cincy.  Feel free to
write if you have a comment, and I�ll see you at the shows!

-Rob Mitchum
  (rmitchum@umich.edu)




What a difference a day makes.  11/7 was mellow, pretty lackluster, all
things considered.  Tonight, 11/8 was an incredible, high-energy, insanity
show.  TASTE got things started off right with a fantastic rendition of this
tune.  It really set the tone for the whole evening.  It just kept building
and building until the final release of the reprise of the bridge.  Just
fantastic.  Without really missing a beat, CARINI kicked in and the theme
for the night was firmly established.  This was Heavy-Metal Phish.  Trey was
taking this show by the balls and kicking our collective ass.  Obviously the
boys were well rested and ready to rock.  Things calmed down a bit with the
Elvis cover, LOVE ME, but the energy remained quite high.  RIDE CAPTAIN
RIDE, brought us back to the Anthem-Arena style and FEE was practically a
sing along.  Which begs the question if any of you can answer, when did FEE
become a breakout song?  People were commenting on how great it was to see
FEE and how they really look forward to seeing it.  Is FEE really that rare?
 Is FEE really that great that it makes your night?  A mystery to me.  I
went bananas for the next song, PAUL and SILAS.  I became a Bluegrass fan
because of Phish and this was the first traditional Bluegrass song I ever
heard them do (tape of 12/30/93) it seems to have dropped out of the
rotation quite a bit, so I was really glad to hear it.  ROGGAE was standard
and WATER IN THE SKY was another Bluegrass shot followed by a raging STASH. 
I wish I could comment more on STASH, but I really had to pee at this point,
so I had to scoot:-(  Things wrapped up with CAVERN and it was nice to see
everyone really get into this song.  Always a great way to end a set.  

In many ways this set taken as a whole reminded me of a Grateful Dead set
just in the way it sounded and flowed.  A hint of bluegrass, a lot of rock,
and just a fantastic vibe throughout the set.  I really felt a positive
energy coming from the band and we were eating it up and giving it right
back.  Friday, 11/7 just felt disjointed, 11/8 was very cohesive.  I don't
know if this will transfer to tape, but goodness I was having a great time
and it was only the end of set one.

Set two opened with possibly my favorite opening song that Phish has,
CHALKDUST.  Oh me, Oh my.  It was just killer.  It really set the tone for
the entire set and I knew, KNEW we would end with a raging Antelope. 
Chalkdust  went into MEAT and it was a high powered funk jam.  Not a great
deal different than the album.  Trey was bobbing around like a freak and
when they started ROCK AND ROLL, I started bobbing around like a freak.  The
people behind me thought I was nuts.  I couldn't stop jumping around!!  I
was so into the show at this point that they could have played anything and
I would have been happy.  DWD was just what I needed.  It kept the set
coming at full force and as it died down a song that I've loved since I
first heard it at Deer Creek last year just sent me over the top.  I would
like to say that the little jam between dwd and PIPER shouldn't really be
listed as a separate entry on a set list.  It really wasn't a "jam" per se,
just a little noodling before the next song came to them.  I'm also getting
tired of anything that sounds slightly airy or dissonant being described as
"ambient."  That word is getting way to much press lately.  So PIPER is a
great fit in this rock and roll extravaganza set and I knew a mellow tune
was on the way.  Again, I knew WADING was coming.  I think that's why I
liked this show so much.  I could just feel these songs coming, and it made
them seem even better.  I know that I'm in the minority around these parts,
but I love WADING.  I think it is one of the better slow tempo songs Phish
has in their ouvre and I just feel a connection to it.  As I foresaw,
ANTELOPE was the set closer and it was a perfect note to end the set.  The
Encore matched the insanity of the show.  BEEN CAUGHT STEALING was just the
cherry on the sundae.  It just made everybody hop around and bounce out of
the venue.

On the way home on the "L" I ran into the coolest guy.  His name was David(I
think) and he was a retired professor from the Urbana- Champaign campus. 
This was his 52nd Phish show in the last three years.  He saw his first dead
show back in 1968.  His first Phish show was (I think) back in 1990. 
Anyway, as I said to him at the platform, he really shot the demographic to
hell.  He was a really cool guy though who spends his retirement going to
Phish shows.  Something to aspire to.
This was my 22nd show and I can safely say it was one of the best.  I'm
still feeling it's effects even four days later.  It just felt SO GOOD!!! 
Sunday's show was great too, but not like this.  That is a different story
for a different time...

kck 


Before the show I met Mike at Borders , he was in a rush but I made sure I had time to tell him what I would love to see.. mike's.  I've been to 5
shows and had not seen one so I politely asked for a Mike's, he said he'd try and I knew that he would deliver.  the scene before the show was
upbeat and since this was my first show of the tour I was extremely excited.  My soul opener was a little short but still sweet.Then i h eard the
opening line to mike's song and i freaked out.  If you were anywhere near section 106 you would have seen a little party going down for me during
mike's.  I was so excited during mike's I can hardly remmeber if it was good, but I remeber they got into a tight groove and I was loving it.  other
highlights of the set for me were the wedge,,,so tight and great to hear,  Brian and Rober t was nice and Weekapug kept gettin faster and faster
until I thought I was going to explode. The second secon was amazing.  AC/DC Bag was aperfect way to open teh set and the new jam segment I
enjoyed although at points it got a little old ,  when I heard the opening notes to Ghost  I was not suprised but still excited for I really like this
song. it was a sfunky as other versions I've heard bu it still got the job done.  never seeing a Reba I thought it was one of the most beautiful
songs I have heard played , so clean and crisp and Chris did a great job.  Farmohouse  was an decent pick for the set closer and it was played really
well with trey hitting the vocals nicely.  Th encore was great.  Guyute was done really well and momentum was built up throught the song whoch
led to  a great ending.  Then cam While my guitar gently weeps.  Ir elaly enjoyed this nowing that is somewhat of a rarity and was done really
well even though trey's solo was not up to par. 
Overall a great show and hopefully I'll se everyone at the CSU convocation cente-Cleveland. 
 
If so email me at : I'm trying to hook up a little gigger either before or after the show
 
Peace, 
 
Dan 
 
col_forbin51@hotmail.com



An excellent, relatively small venue, the UIC Pavillion is everything
you
could want in an indoor Phishery.  The place is half the size of the
Rosemont Horizon (Chicago's typical indoor rock barn) and there's not a
seat
in the house where the band looks the size of plastic army men.  But you
folks in other towns don't care about physical structure details, so on
to
the music.

    A good set one, with highlights including Taste and Carini.  A
Carini as
the second song was a good sign of craziness to come, and the second set
delivered.  Set II was the craziest rock star lead playing I have ever
seen
consistently throughout a set.  Imagine a "Guitar Player" magazine with
Trey
on the cover and a caption like, "SHREDDIN' WITH TREY ANASTASIO OF
PHISH"
and you might get an idea of the heavy metal heroics unleashed by Trey
this
night.

    The UIC sound is good, clear, and loud, and Trey's power lead notes
rip through you like a lightsaber.  First, Chalkdust with several "crank
ups" in the jam.  (This is when the band escalates intensity for a measure
or two before Trey lets wail.  Think about good Chalkdust jams and you'll
know what I'm talking about.)  Then, unbelievable, Velvet Underground's
"Rock n' Roll" with an absolutely unreal rock jam.  Hearing the band going
nuts, while Page sang lines like, "Dancin to that fine, fine music, her
life was changed by rock and roll"  or "She could not beleive what she
heard at all" and then an unbelievable lead jam into the "It was all
right" chorus just illuminated what Phish shows are all about.  I lit up
with energy at that point, and literally did not believe it when they
piled another crazy rock star song on top of that, goign right into an
awesome DWD.  You've got to just trust me that Trey was just out for blood
the whole night in his solos.  Then, of course, Antelope.  "Been Caught
Stealin'" was much tighter than when they played it at Alpine, and it's
kind of strange to hear how much trey sounds like Perry Farrell.  All in
all, get set II on tape at your first opportunity.


Again, lots of cops in the lots, but not too much trouble...

Taste: Largely unrecognizable at first, turned into a great opener
(i was suprised, not a big taste fan), and had a WONDERFUL jam 
afterwords...*Very* nice taste to say the least..

Carini: WOW, i did NOT expect this, maybe this is gonna be a 
kinda crazy show? had a line apparantly about the streaker
from madison, but i couldnt make it out... Very grooving,
loud, obnoxiously great song

Love me: Mike is good :)

Ride Captain Ride: Took me a second to place pages opening,
but once a lot of ppl figured it out, the place went nuts..
very strange having just seen this at deer creek, but i 
LOVE this song!!! Treys solo seemed a bet streched out from
the dc version as well... VERY upbeat and lively

Fee: Standard, but I SWEAR they were playing meatstick aka time
afterwords, but w/out fish singing.  I am positive they were playing
it... i was singing the chorus to myself along w/the music waiting
for fish to start singing.

Paul & Silas: Great!  I love hearing them pull out older bluegrass
stuff that they dont play anymore... very loud, high-energy version
w/ great solos 

Roggae: Nothing out of the ordinary for this song, but a wonderful
version.  This is a truely beautiful song. I am always amazed at the
latter portion of the song when all the different riffs emerge in one
loud little jam

Water in the sky: Pretty ok, fun song but doesnt really go anywhere,
i agree w/whoever said it was bluegrass from outer space..

Stash: now, ive never been a big stash fan, but my god this stash
tore the house down.  the lights were amazing (hypnotizing would be 
another word), and the jam built till trey ran out of guitar
Totally changed my view on this song, as im now rummiging through
all my tapes to hear different versions of it...

Cavern:  Super-High-charged cavern, *everyone* was grooving
and singing, more than likely just happy to have such a great
set (especially after last nite...)..

Overall, WONDERFUL set, Old songs, Rare songs, HUGE songs, new songs,
funny songs, can it get bettter?

set II
Chalkdust: Wasnt really into this jam, but it seemed to be going
like crazy, i was busy contemplating how strange it was that
theyve only played one funk song in 1.5 shows, and how much this
reminded me of circa 1994 for some reason..

Meat: Actually happy to hear some deep funk, ending 
was repeated a few times and in between "endings" trey
did a bluesy wah wah solo that sounded a LOT like
the intro to Hendrix's Voodoo Chile (now THAT wouldve been
something..)

Rock & Roll: I had no idea what this was, but i figured it
might have been a velvet underground song... Excellent all around
definitely a high energy Athem Rocker.  Hope they keep this one around
for a while...

DWD: one of the stronger versions ive heard, had one of the best
jams ive heard afterword (but ive never really analyzed DWD's so
i cant really say it was way above average), went into this insane
ambient jam ... all i could think was how Heaven must sound exactly
the same, very awe inspiring to say the least.

Piper: This song is nuts. How do you start out w/ like 2 notes
and build it into a wall of sound that wants to knock you on your ass?
This version was rockin, and well above the average piper

Wading: Nice contrast to piper, somethign to chill to for a few minutes,
i really like how they can stretch this song out, and even tho its
so  slow, it still can hold my interest.

Antelope: Raging, on fire, balls to the wall fun - 
typical huge antelope after a huge show, great GREAT
soloing by trey

E:Been cought stealing: I was pretty bummed to have missed
this over the summer, but from what ive heard, the crowd
at UIC was even MORE crazy for this one.  This song is 
such an insane piece of work, i dont know what to say.
great encore, gave the show a more 'special' feeling...


wow. what a show...
cant wait to get back to chi-town tonite...
still strange that theyve only played 2 funk
songs...

take care :)
matt
nixm@expert.cc.purdue.edu



From: "Murphy, Jonathan" MurphyJ@staff.abanet.org
To: "'andy@gadiel.com'" andy@gadiel.com
Subject: fall_review (11/8/98 UIC)

After two shows Friday and Saturday nights, I was beginning to wonder
whether or not I really wanted to see the band the next two nights.  I
felt like perhaps I had reached my Phish saturation point and that I
needed a break from them if I ever wanted to be able to appreciate them
they way I used to.  It just seemed like something was missing, and I
began to wonder whether or not it was my own enthusiasm that was gone.
I knew I would get my answer over the course of the next two nights.
Our seats for Sunday night's show were better than either of the previous
nights; we were in the first row of the second level, about halfway toward
the back of the arena.  The sound there was much better there than it had
been Saturday night, and the show itself proved to be much better as well.
The first set alone was probably better than any of the four sets I had
seen Friday and Saturday; it had so much energy and everything was very
well played.  The band wasted no time in showing me why I keep coming back
for more.
Taste was as good an opener as I can remember ever seeing.  It starts out
innocuously enough, but before you know it the whole band is wailing away.
This was a particularly incendiary version that had the whole crowd going
nuts.  Already, there seemed to be more enthusiasm than had been present
thenight before; we all knew somehow that we were in for a treat.
To follow such a hot Taste with Carini was brilliant.  It actually turned
the energy level up a notch (to eleven), and by the time this great
version ended, the crowd was in dire need of a cool-down, which is just
what we got with Mike's amusing take on Love Me (Treat Me Like a Fool).
Ride Captain Ride was a flat-out blast!  I am glad that this didn't turn
out to be a one-time cover, it's got such a great 60s hippie vibe to it.
Three songs in, and already this show was looking like something special.
The set continued with a string of very nice, well-played tunes, including
my first Paul & Silas, and the ever-beautiful Roggae.  (Water in the Sky
was nice, but my fear that it wouldn't live up to the fun of the album
version proved valid).
After Water in the Sky, I finally got my first-ever Stash (in my 17th
show). This version was well worth the wait.  It was pretty standard,
which is not to say it wasn't amazing; it was.  But it did follow the
precedent of the recent Stashes I've heard on tape, with their dark,
ominous jams.  I loved it, and the crowd ate it up.  Cavern provided a fun
close to what wouldprove to be the best first set of the run.
The second set did not mark a break from the first set's high energy
playing; in fact, this set may have been the most rockin' of the whole
run.
Trey was definitely in Rock-Star mode, but he never seemed out of control,
he played with a keen ear toward what the rest of the band was doing.  The
result was one of the best versions of Chalkdust Torture I've heard, and
much better-than-average versions of Down With Disease, Piper, and
Antelope.
The highlight of the set may have been Rock and Roll, which was very
well-sung by Page ("She started shakin' to that fine, fine music, you know
her life was saved by rock and roll") and crisply played by the rest of
the band.  I love the original Velvet Underground version of this song,
but Phish's take (naturally) has a completely different feel.  It's much
looser than the original, and not surprisingly, much more jammed out.
They really nailed this song, I hope it stays in the rotation.
Wading in the Velvet Sea provided a nice counter to the rest of the
high-energy set.  Page's vocals were great, and Trey's soloing was quietly
beautiful; parts of this song got so slow and quiet, I was amazed.  It
sounded better than I could have possibly imagined this song would when I
first heard it last year.  This tune really has come a long way.
The only hole in this terrific set was Meat, a tune that is really
beginning to wear on me.  Mercifully, it's a short one.  The encore was a
big surprise, but quite appropriate.  What song could have matched the
energy level of the rest of this night better than Been Caught Stealin'?
I'm inclined to say this version was even better than the Alpine version,
but it doesn't really matter.  Both sounded perfect when they were played.
The trampolines seem kind of pointless on this tune (for all of five
seconds), but who can argue?  This was exactly the show I needed to get me
out of my Phish-funk.  It brought me back, and I couldn't wait for one
more night!

Jon Murphy
jonmurphy@mailcity.com