Subject: Charlotte Review/thoughts (long)
From: FRonen@aol.com

Setlist:
I:   Julius, Cars Trucks Buses, The Wolfman's Brother, Reba*, Train Song,
     Character Zero, It's Ice, Theme from the Bottom, Sample in a Jar

II:  Down With Disease, You Enjoy Myself, Sparkle, Simple**,
     McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Waste, Run Like An Antelope***

E:   Fire
I: 60 min, II: 85 min

* with whistling ending
** long jam
*** dedicated to Fishman's cousin Jason Roberts (14 yrs) for winning a
    guitar composition
    also with a Star Spangled Banner tease & a Spooky tease
Thanks to mikey for the setlist...
OK, this was my first (and probably only) show until the holiday tour for
the fall...
I don't live near Charlotte but was visiting a friend who lives near
there, which made the scene different for me...it was the first show I've
seen in the south, and I really got some friendly vibes there...there was
also what seemed like a lot more tailgaiting before and after the
show...but that might just be a figment of my imagination.  Lots of
ticketless, but whatever...BTW this is my first attempt at really
reviewing a show...it was my 11th show--i think i've seen enough that I
can honestly review well now...

OK, review
Set I
Julius: I think this is a really great set opener...I love this tune live.
Trey's guitar seemed a little too loud in the beginning, and it kind of
hurt my ears, but either Paul fixed it or I got used to it. They seemed to
be really into it.  Actually, overall the jamming last night was
phenomenal--everyone was in that zone that they talked about in Modern
Rock Live. I guess they were having a good time, cuz after this tune, or
around here anyway, Trey said something like "Welcome, it's great to be
here" or along those lines...

CTB: I heard this first at 11/22/95 and have loved it ever since. I mean,
it is so energetic. It's great to dance to, I think. Trey was on
percussion--I think that he's added things to his percussion set up--I
heard a lot of different sounds. I also noticed some device that he kept
on fiddling with--it had a knob which he was turning, but I couldn't make
out what it was...I assume it had to do with adjusting his guitar effects
loop. BTW Trey also has a new guitar...It's darker so it's either a
different wood alltogether or just stained.  It was pretty standard,
meaning it was incredible. Page was on fire all night, and it definately
started here--I think he likes this tune to =) His solo was
great--definately more energetic than the studio version.

Wolfman's Bro: I was really surprised to hear this...but was definately
psyched--I've never heard a live version at all. I think trey counted it
off too slowly--it was definately slower than the album version. They got
into it, though--I loved the way trey cut himself off during the refrain
to go into the harmony. What totally blew me away was when he started
doubling his harmony on the guitar...it sounded soooooo cool. I loved it.
This was really great.

Reba: Do you ever get into a song for a while--and you have to dig up
every version you can find and just listen to them successively? Maybe I'm
just weird, but I've been really into reba this past week, so I was
totally excited to hear it. Everything seemed pretty much flawless--Trey
might have made one mistake during the tough parts but nothing significant
like the new years version =) The jam was mind numbing--I think someone
who has a whole lot of rebas should start rebafiles--what a great tune.
Trey started out OK and then somewhere in the middle he clicked--I don't
just mean building intensity--that's pretty much expected--but he got into
that zone again--he was into it. He was loving the tune. I was too. It was
great. It got really intense. After it finished, Trey stepped up to the
mike, and by this point I have been trained to expect another song.  (I
don't think that's the end of the world, mind you) and I was just waiting
for him to start the next tune when they started whistling!!!!! I went
NUTS! This was just too cool!!!! I'm still not over it. I talked to a
roadie who I kind of know later on and he told me that they had been
making fun of them for not whistling anymore because that's the best part
of the song...very possibly the reason why they did it. does anyone know
the last time they whistled? wow. what a great tune.

Train song: The beginning of the Billy breathes stuff. Honestly this
didn't do much for me. I love the album version, and I liked it at
Clifford ball.  I think when it's done acousticly there's a certain
charisma to it that it lacks in electric performance. Nothing really
special. Page did the vibes on the piano--and someone mentioned a bowed
bass on the album--Page did that on the organ, but it sounded just like
the studio version so maybe it wasn't a bowed bass =)

Character 0: This is such a cool song. It was straight forward. Great
lights from Chris to match the AYAYAYAYAY parts. I think the jam was
longer that the studio version which was cool--they ended doing that
little vocal thing at the end of the song--they faded the music out
underneath it did it a little a capella--I thought they were going to
voice jam, but they didn't. 

It's Ice: I don't remember. Sorry. I think parts of it were really
dark--Trey might have been on percussion a little. I'm not sure. I think
it was good though =)

Theme:Another great song. During the chorus I kept on singing "So i carved
out things that came from your ass..." I think that's silly. It was cool.
I think the jam was long like it has been live.  I love the a capella
part.

Sample: yeah

Set II
DWD: This song has really matured into something spectacular. Trey kind of
found himself again like he had in the middle of the reba jam. It was just
a really solid jam--excellent build up.

YEM: The highlight of the evening. They came off this straight from
DWD--not a "-->" just a quck transition. Mike's solos were outstanding in
the beginning.  Besides that it was standard until the jam. My lord. That
was totally extended. I don't think i've ever heard a YEM jam that long.
Everyone was taking extra choruses. It really built itelf. It was wild.
Page's solo started from scratch and built. Then Trey's did the same and
mike as well. It was awesome. The vocal jam was shorter (maybe to
compensate) Very melodic. It started out as a really rhythmic jam and then
they started creating more melodies: Some stuff reminiscent of the
11/22/95 vocal jam with that fast Jaws harp-sounding-thing and then some
stuff reminiscent of NYE with the whispering and also some nice melodic
stuff like the ALO version.

Sparkle: I was really let down by this after that amazing YEM. really
ticked me off. I mean, it's a great song and all, but it just wasn't what
i wanted to hear after those first two amazing songs

Simple: OK, I hesitated at first...coming off of sparkle and all. I knew
there ahd been jamming on this song lately, but I still decided to remain
cautios until after the lyrics and all. With the jam trey hit the
percussion (i think)--as my friend noted in his setlist "Page on crack" he
played with everything except the electric piano. It was so cool. He also
did split level stuff (one hand on one keyboard, the other on a different
one) it was awesome to see Page standing out like that. I mean, I'm not
sure I like that for a crazy jam song--i don't know if I like it enough to
begin with to want to hear it for 15 minutes, but it was pretty enjoyable.

McGrupp: I've always loved this tune. The first version I ever heard was
12/30/93 and I still think that is Page's most beautiful solo ever. Again
it was page's turn to play. His solo was at points more melodic like it
was in the aforementioned show--not in that weird minor key he sometimes
plays in--but then sometimes he got really dissonant--he didn't care what
notes he was playing (it seemed) Aftr the solo, trey wasn't quite
perfect--but it was cool anyway.

Waste: see trainsong. also see sparkle. somewhat of a letdown
live/electric

Antelope: I love this tune.  Fish was doing some cute stuff on the jam
boxes for the intro which was cool. Apparently they teased star spangled
banner, but I didn't catch it (i'm dumb with that stuff--I missed auld
lang zyne on 12/30/95 during ya mar).  the jam was absolutely amazing. It
got so intense! I thought they were going to break three times before they
did, and they would just get more intense! I couldn't understand how they
found a way to get more intense each time but they did--that's so cool. I
like the break when it goes from 100% intensity to 0.1% intensity--i like
the roller coaster effect. This time, the break was still pretty
intense--granted it got mellower, but not  quiet...oh well. really great
antelope anyway. I think they did something funny during the ry ry rocco
part but i didn't catch it.

E
Fire: My friend called this--considering Fish's cousin had won a contest
to play a hendrix tune at MSG. It was fun--nothing extraordinary. I like
cover tunes for encores and this is a solid rock tune--really good.

Overall--great show (obviously) I think i'd probably not rate it on the
Scott Jordan scale just because some things were so great, and some were
such letdowns...set II especially--DWD, YEM McGrupp were all so
great....and sparkle, well....you know. Trey was definately in a zone at
times which was great to see...there was some really spectacular stuff in
the jams. I'd get the tapes just to check out that YEM.

BONUS! Halloween hint!!! I talked to Lee fordham--one of the light tech
people who I know (in some ways)--he told me it's not the wall (Pink
Floyd) as has been rumored--it's a half american half british 4 person
band with a female in it. I have NO idea. 

sorry if this was longwinded. 
take care
ronen
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Subject: Charlotte setlist and review (short)
From: Cale Tennison 

Well, nobody seems to be posting much about this show so I'm going to 
jump in with a short review:

First off, for those who have never been there, Charlotte Coliseum is 
quite large (I don't know concert figures, but it holds over 23,000 for 
a Hornets game compared to the 19,000 MSG holds) but the sound came 
across real well.  I'd have to listen to the tapes to verify but I suer 
sounded great from my seat.

Set 1
Julius-strong opener, very nice melodic jam that really got the crowd 
        going
CTB-w/Trey on percussion
Wolfman's
Reba-words can't descibe; a thing of beauty
Train Song
Character 0-really cool jam, strong but kinda short
It's Ice-kinda trippy, Page did some amazing soloing on this
Theme-took the studio version and transcended it; unbelievable how the 
        energy kept building and building, riding into set closer...
Sample

High pts-Ice, Theme, and Reba!
Low pts-7 of 9 songs were from Hoist and BB.  You've got 150 
songs, guys-diversity, please!
Still an excellent first set.  Had to wait 45 minutes for 2nd set to 
open  with an explosive...

Set 2
DwD-never have I heard a DwD this intense!  Included an extended bass 
        intro with Mike acrobatically abusing his bass
YEM-unbelievably sick!  The whole band shone on this one.  W/ 
        trampolines, another fierce Mike solo, and a band-crowd scream 
        so loud it could register a Richter scale reading
Sparkle
Simple-it's insane what they've done to this tune, although it seemed to 
        get a little repetitive toward the end
McGrupp-rather spacey jam, very cool
Waste-cool toward end.  That's about it.
Antelope-dedicated to Fish's cousin, the ferocity kept growing even when 
        you swore it could get no higher.  Amazing.

Encore
Fire-short, to the point, but still nothing like some Hendrix with a 
Phishy flavor to end this incredible show

2nd set High Pts-YEM, Antelope stand out in a decisively killer set
Low Pts-Sparkle.  It's a great song, but after that YEM it just couldn't 
stand up

OK, maybe this isn't so short after all.  This was my first review so 
bear with me.  Overall, the show was outstanding and the band seemed to 
be having a great time too.  They may be starting to hit their stride as 
we begin Halloween week.

-CT
_____________--------------------------------------
Subject: Another Charlotte Review
From: thekeifer@aol.com

Set list:
1:   Julius, CTB, Wolfman's Brother--> Reba (w/ whistling), Train Song,
Character Zero, It's Ice, Theme From The Bottom, Sample in a Jar
2: Down with Disease, YEM, Sparkle, Simple, McGrupp, Waste, Run Like An
Antelope
E:  Fire

I was pretty discouraged going into this thing, because I had seen the
Hampton setlist, but I cleared my mind and was ready for a good show. It
started off nice with Julius. Pretty good version with nice solo from
Trey. The band seemed to be pretty into it. Then was Cars Trucks Buses
which kept up the energy. Nothing real special here, but it was solid and
fun. I was pretty bored with Wolfman. It was slow and I just wasn't in the
mood for it. It segued into a beautiful Reba though. It was nearly ruined
by fan clapping, but I tried my best to ignore it. They did the whistling
ending which was nice because they hadn't done that lately. Train Song
doesn't really interest me that much, but for what it's worth, it was a
nice version. What I was in the mood for, was Character Zero. This was my
first one (exept for the sound check at Red Rocks) and it was perfect. I
love the little vocal section at the end. Next was It's Ice. I have seen
this a hundred times, but I never get sick of it. This time we got a nice
little suprise...When Fishman got up on his stool to do his little dance,
he lifted up his frock and gave the first few rows a nice treat. He did
his little dance and then they continued with a great version of the song.
Theme was next and it was nice, but it didn't really do much for me. I
heard Trey muting his guitar and I was praying for PYITE, but I got
Sample. It was a nice version, but I am really sick of that song. But like
I said, it was a nice version. That pretty much sums up the first set:
nice versions of average songs. The second set had me craving something
more. I had noticed that it had been at least 3 full sets since any
Gamehendge references, so I was hoping for a miracle Gamehendge set, but I
didn't really expect one. The second set opened nicely with a great
version of DWD. I am not a huge fan of the 20 minute DWD so I got a great
version. Really nice guitar work from Trey. Next came an even greater YEM.
The bass solo right before the mouth jam was incredible. It went on for a
couple minutes while Trey played on his kit. The whole thing was
enterjetic and great. Next, the energy was continued with Sparkle which
inevitably came to Simple. I like jams as much as the next guy, but I
don't think what they did with Simple really fit. I am sure a lot of
people loved this jam, but it didn't do much for me. A lot of highlights
from Page, but I would have rather heard a traditional jam song like Bowie
then a 20 minute Simple, but this is just my opinion and I am sure a lot
of people disagree. Next came McGrupp which was really nice to hear
because it was the first non-album song of night. I thought the keyboard
solo wasn't at it's best, but the song itself was really well done.
Everyone yelled as Waste began and it was well played. I like Trey's
background guitar part towards the end. Not too exiting, but it was ok.
Trey then honored Fishman's guitar playin' cousin and started Antelope. I
was really pissed because I knew this would end the set and I wasn't
really that happy with a 7 song set, but the Antelope was fantastic. I
didn't catch all the teases that everyone else has refered too, but the
song was really enterjetic. I kinda wanted a rare treat for the encore
since the rest of the show had been pretty average. They played Fire,
however, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It was the first time I had
seen that too, and it kept the energy going. The house lights stayed down
for over a minute and the crowd was still going so I thought they might do
another encore, but it was just a little tease. I had a great time at the
show, but it was pretty average. I would give it a 5 out of 10 probably.
It is a good prelude for what's to come at Halloween and I still have that
and 4 other shows to look forward to too. See ya' in Atlanta.
Take Care of Your Shoes <*(((><
Keifer

---------------------------------------------
Subject: Charlotte..... Phish got stuck
From: jeremyr@us1.ibm.com

Phish was so fat in Charlotte, they jumped up in the air and got stuck.
Amazing.
A quick disclaimer: this review will not include a lot of specifics, like
"Page picked up on Trey's earlier theme and was teasing him with it after
the  segment of ". My mind is usually not capable of retaining
such info for long after a show, and i don't like bringing pad and pen in
..... it distracts from my enjoyment. Plus, i'm trying to keep this brief.
With that in mind, here it goes....

I thought the Julius opener really set the tone for the evening. I won't 
fall into the "best ever" trap, but for the sake of comparison, i liked it
better than this summer's Red Rocks, which i thought was top notch. It
seemed a little longer than usual, but it could have just been the
vitamins.

CTB: I really dig this tune... i love Page's organ work. I picture myself 
in the Blues Brothers every time i hear it. Definitely kept the energy
level and dancing maxed out.

Wolman's: I don't remember it being technically amazing, but i fully
enjoyed it. I think i like the acapella a little better, a la JazzFest,
but no complaints here.

Reba: Segued from Wolman's. Someone with better attention to detail can
provide the nitty-gritty. I just remember it being very fast (not short,
but played with speed). In addition, they brought back the whislting!
Woo-hoo!

Train Song: Solid.

Char0: This rocked. They didn't jam it out for a long time, but they made
the most of when they did.

Ice: More nice exploration.... i'm always psyched to hear this. Page had
some nice chops, and a very sweet non-musical moment occured. During some
serious non-dancy exploring, the temperature dropped at least 5-10 degrees
in the coliseum. This was due to the fact that the dancing had slowed
considerably. Not only is that a neat affect with vitamins, but it helped
re-energize my dehydrated body since i hadn't stopped dancing since the
opening note. I think Mike might have played around on Trey's kit during
this.... i know he went over played during one of the songs.

Theme: Theme, Char0, and Waste are my favorite new ones. I love the trippy
beginning and the lyrics. Definitely a strong slow song.

Sample: I'm not a Sample-basher, so i enjoyed. It brought the energy level
back up and left me drooling for the second set.

Set II

DWD: YES! Mike standing up on stage slapping off the opening lines sent
shivers up my spine. To anyone else there.... did it seem like he extended
it just a little bit, or was it just the vitamins again? DWD is a fave,
and i think it's evolved into a fatty. Pure spine-tingling rock! Two great
set openers.

YEM: Thank you Phish! The word for the second set is FUNKY! Mike was ON
and this was a very funky YEM. I hope Charlie gets tapes of this soon,
because i'd really like to hear the meticulous yemmeister's opinion. First
off, they brought the tramps back. Woo-hoo! Reba whistling and tramps both
back in one show. I enjoyed this one more than the 95 Walnut Creek YEM
with Boyd Tinsley, which was my favorite YEM that i'd _seen_ up to then.
They did a hip-hop vocal jam with some nice beat-boxing and hamming around
by Trey. I was expecting to see tons of "They're doing Run DMC" or
"They're doing the Fat Boys" for 'ween when i got to work today. I like to
think it was Trey's way of dropping one of the many red herring teases of
the night.

Sparkle: I am not a Sparkle-basher either, so i enjoyed this. It was
pretty fast.

Simple: Wow. This is one of my favorite songs period. I really wanted to
hear it at Red Rocks..... i only got to see the first two nights because
of work so i missed the Utah Simple and the 3rd night Rocks Simple. All i
can say is... thanks for practicing up for me :) It was the bomb and it
was uncut! There was some nice exploration going on, and i think this is
where some of the teases started. I think it was during the end of this
that they did a _major_ Frankenstein tease. I really thought they were
going into it. Subtle it was not. I could be mistaken on the placement,
but i'm pretty sure it was in Simple. I couldn't have been happier after
this.

McGrupp: Wasn't expecting this, but it was definitely appreciated. We were
hoping for a crazy Simple=>Mike's=>Simple=>Mike's=>H2=>Weekapaug to close,
but this was just fine. My first McGrupp..... twas enjoyable.

Waste: Pure emotion. This song is beautiful, and i for one am very happy
that Phish can play a great love song.

Antelope: Trey dedicated this one to Fishman's 14 year old cousin, who
will be playing a Hendrix tune at MSG for a national Hendrix contest. He's
14 and a finalist in the 14-18 division. Right on, bro! Antelope smoked,
as usual.
Rye rye Rocko!

E: Fire: Continuing with the Hendrix herring. Great Trey licks included.

I'll end here with a few more thoughts..... i guess this is a little 
longer than i had planned.

1. Teases. Trey did a blatant Voodoo Chile' tease at some point....maybe
Simple? It was the opening riff and i'm sure will come out very clearly on
the tapes. A friend of mine thought he heard some Allman's teased at some
point as well, and another friend thought he heard some Star Spangled
Banner. The Frankenstein and Voodoo Chile' were blatant though.

2. Did anyone else think that Mike was just ON at this show?

3. Very funny question was posed to me after 1st set. Two intoxicated
locals said: "Hey, do these guys come back on, or is that it?" We let them
know they'd play another set and an encore, and just :) :) :)

4. They tried to clear the lot out quickly, but we didn't care because we
were on our way to see Percy Hill. What a great way to end an otherwise
incredible evening. For those who haven't heard them, Percy Hill has a
keys player, drummer, 2 guitar players, and a fat hand-drum player. They
rocked. Check them out if you get a chance. We were hoping for a little
guest appearance since they're from New Hampshire, but no luck :)

Hope everyone has a great tour, and see you in Hotlanta!

-J-
jeremyr@us1.ibm.com

".... and I realized I had indeed learned from Japhy how to cast off the
evils of the world and the city and find my true pure soul, just as long
as I had a decent pack on my back."  -Jack Keroua- (Dharma Bums)
----------------------------------------------
From: TRAVIS HOWARD 
Subject: Charlotte Coliseum

Julius- What a good song to open a show with. They rocked out on it too.
After hearing this I knew that the show was going to be a good one.

Cars Trucks Buses- I told my friend that they would open with this. I
guess
I was close enough. Page was really loving it. Trey was beating on his
drum
kit and Mike was on fire. very good tune

Wolfman's Brother- Yesssss!! I love that funky guitar and those beautiful
harmonies. I couldn't really tell from my inebrieated state but it sounded
much slower than the album version.

Reba- I am an official Reba fan. This song was perfect. The four peaople
on
stage were totally flawless at this point in the show. This song was just
amazing.

Train Song- Took me by surprize after Reba. Nice, but much better when
played acoustic. Mike was really on top of his game tonight.

Character Zero- Never have payed this song much attention, but now I see
the true beauty in it. It kicked my ass. Totally rockin jam. Great job
guys!

It's Ice- It seems like every show that I go to they play this song. I
don't ming though because it keeps getting better and better. This version
was really tripping me out. Kind of spooky in the jam.

Theme From The Bottom- Great performance. Fabulous version. If you havn't
seen then you really need to. It made me feel as if I were slowly swimming
at the bottom of the sea. Great lighting!

Sample In A Jar- I never thought that they would jam out on Sample but
they
did a good job on this one. It was a very good set closer.

Charlotte Coliseum is a very big place if you havn't been there. At the
break I went to fetch some water and almost couldn't find my way back to
my
seats. Very scary concidering how much I was hallucinating at this
point(THANKS TO THE KIND GIRL IN THE LOT). Finally I made it back and just
as I sat down the lights went out.

Down With Disease- This song changed my life. It was so awesome. Those
first watery bass notes from Mr. Gordon made me go crazy. Very good
version.
Not too long and not too short. Perfect version. Phish were playing
extremely well at this point. I don't think that I have ever seen them
play
this good before, but something was missing...

You Enjoy Myself- Nothing's missing any more. What a good, good version of
this song. Everyone took extended solos and the trampoline routine was
really hot(they must have been practicing). Very melodic vocal jam with a
little of the MSG craziness in it. What a trip!!

Sparkle- What?! After YEM? Very strange, but they could have farted in the
microphones and it would have sounded good to me. The crowd really got
going
on this one. Including me, I must admit.

Simple- Can you say J-A-M. This had to be about twenty minutes long and
all
twenty minutes of it was good stuff. Trey was goin' off on the drum kit
and
Page was taking over. Excellent

McGrupp and The Watchful Hosemasters- I love this tune and they did a good
job on it. the highlight of this song was when a crazy girl jiumped on the
stage and started getting down dancing by Page's piano. Someone had to
caome
out and carry her off stage, but the band was loving it. They started
jamming harder and better when this was happening.

Waste- At the time this song was the most beautiful, tearjerking moments I
have ever experienced. It was a good version. I think I like it better
played on an electric rather than an acoustic.

Run Like An Antelope- Trey dedicated this song to Fishman's 14 yr. old
cousin who was in a guitar contest. This was a very intense, hardcore
Antelope. I really thought that they were going to explode on stage. when
you thought that they couldn't take it any higher they did. It was kind of
cruel to Fish's cousin because it was as if Trey was saying "Like you will
ever be this good!" One of the best I've heard regardless of it's cruelty.
End of set

E: Fire- I was thinking to myself "What could they play for an encore that
could be any better than any of that?" A little Hendrix, that's what. This
song was just like the title HOT,HOT,HOT.

I left the show totally satisfied with every bit of this show!
OVERALL RATING-10.0                   ___
                                     (o o)
                            ~~~~~~oo0~(_)~0oo~~~~~~
                                 tRaViS hOwArD
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