6-19-09 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN

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from Daniel Smith date Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 8:42 AM Phish 2009-06-19 Deer Creek Music Center (Cool Name) aka Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre (like every other place now...lame) Noblesville, IN OK. My first show since Coventry and the disaster which was Phish's "final performance". In the meantime, I had somewhat moved on from Phish; I have like 800+ shows on disc, but I quit listening cuz it just made me bummed. So once I actually had the tickets, I didnt know how to feel. But as the date neared, I got pretty psyched up...was going to Alpine too but I knew this one would be the gem... Boy was I right (for once!) :) Set I was pretty standard I guess...for once, I like almost all the new songs; Stealing Time and Number Line are nice, as is Ocelot. Fluff was the treat of course - and maybe the best played version I have seen dating to 1998-1999 period. Then the rain delay. I knew the weather was gonna be crazy a few days ahead; shit, I was hoping it would be even worse, b/c I knew Set II would be nuttier for it. In the end, it wasn't much of a storm during Setbreak - Polaris 7-14-00 was WAY WAY worse when they delayed first set by 25 min. the delay seemed long, but I was glad set II wouldn't even start til 11...kinda makes the show unique knowing it's gonna go real late. Set II....now this was friggin sublime to my ears. Call me nuts, but the guys seem to have regained some sort of spark that they just didn't have at most 03-04 shows. Shorter jams isn't always bad, b/c everything in this set flowed and was tight. "Song I Heard" just melts into drowned beautifully. And when they drop into the jam, this shit RIPPED! Twist seems a little forced to start, but the energy continues, as the jam quickly moves right back into the territory of the Drowned jam preceeding. "Let Me Lie" - another new one, I like this too....WTF I never like the new songs?! :) Tweezer- once this dropped, I knew this was possibly the best second set since the comeback. Having listened to almost all the shows already, I hadn't heard anything that flows like this. Some of the transitions and the Page stuff in the jams reminds me of Fall 97....and that can only be good, as most of us know! :) The jam again is not long, but IS intensely focused. They seem to be taking each song just far enough, til it melts.....then they dont linger, but instead go into another tune, in this case, 2001. Suzy and Possum finish with energy; neither is even close to a "best-ever" version, but both are interesting and inspired; the "light" jam in Possum is actually quite nice. Sleeping Monkey is a pretty win encore - especially when you're dancing in the downpour. :) Loved it. Loved It. Blew away both Alpines w/o a question imho. Some of the Set II stuff is possibly the most inspired playing I've heard out of them since 10-7-00...and that's saying something. 03-04 had it's highlights, but overall you could tell something wasn't clicking most of the time. Well, I'm pleased to report that they're back, and they're tight...and (this may be most important) they're definitively having fun. :) This show ruled...not the best ever but one of the best Creek shows I've seen (and I've seen every one since 1998). GO Phish!
from mgagss date Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 2:31 PM subject Deer Creek 6/19/09 Opened up with Number Line which was OK as was AC/DC Bag which was kept pretty short. Limb by Limb was also kept pretty close to the vest with Trey's solo kept fairly tame unlike in 1997 when he would really shred it. Moma Dance was also well played with Trey nailing the bridge section. I caught my breath during Water in Sky and then they launched into an excellent version of Melt. Killer interplay between Gordo and Fishman during the jam. Zipped to the bathroom during Lawnboy and smoked a fatty during the Wedge which has been a personal fav since the Went (Limestone). Little did I know that Faulty Plan would be my theme song for the torturous ride back to Chgo but I'll spare the details. This song sounds an awful lot like Number Line.......same tempo and same key. Oh well. Connection is supposedly from Undermind and now I know why I don't listen to that cd very often. Ocelot was my favorite of the newer songs and I really like the harmony vocals at the end. Of course the highlight of the set and perhaps the show was Fluffhead. All 4 members were fully engaged and there were no screw-ups that I noticed. Trey nailed the solo as the lightning began to increase to the point of concern as I was sitting in the lawn. An announcement was made to go to your car during the long intermission (for lawn seats only) and they would return in 75min. We did and it allowed me to drink a few cheap beers (like free!) Second set opened with Ocean Sing and it did not disappoint. Hadn�t heard this song live yet and it was AWESOME!. Killer Wah-Wah by Trey and the ending jam was extended a bit. This led into Drowned which couldn�t have been more appropriate considering the downpour occurring. The jam out was also good and thought it would go alittle longer until Twist started abruptly. Kind of caught Page off guard a bit. Let Me Lie is a Trey solo song which was decent but the Tweezer that followed was sick. Great Type II jamming which segued seamlessly into 2001.....Phish at its best. Rest of the show was standard fare with special mention to Possum. I'd give the show a 8 out of 10
from arz703 date Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 7:39 AM subject Phish Show Review- 6.19.09 Deer Creek This was my phirst phish show and couldn't have been happier. I have been into phish a for a couple years now, got into them right after they split, and i have well over 300 phish CDs. I had been waiting for this forever! My kidz picked me up at noon and we left Lake County only to be SLAMMED in traffic in BOTH chicago and gary. It took us around 8 hours to get to the show when it should have taken around 5, but whatever, it didn't even matter on the way to the show. we finally got to noblesville only to wait for another hour, we decided not to check in at Riverbend campsite, and just do it after the show. Thank god we did that ;-) We entered deer creek without any search or hassle just as BACKWARDS DOWN THE NUMBER LINE was starting up. i really do love this new tune, it's just so happy. we were walking around the lawn trying to find a good spot to rage just as AC/DC BAG started. standard, but fun. i was really happy to hear LIMB BY LIMB. next was MOMA DANCE and was really phun to dance to even though they didn't jam it out. WATER IN THE SKY was standard, but nice to hear. the fishman dropped the beat to MELT and we all went nuts! This was a good one. i was so happy to see leo come out from behind his piano to sing LAWN BOY. lawn boy was the first album i got and always loved the song and was happy to hear it. oh and gordo's solo was great. we all got down hard for THE WEDGE, none of us expected to hear this one and we were so grateful for it. next was STEALING TIME FROM THE FAULTY PLAN, i do enjoy this song, hopefully it will have some potential for a jam vehicle. i know THE CONNECTION was on undermind but i didn't recognize it. OCELOT is definetly my new favorite song and was happy to hear it live after hearing it on the phenway tapes. damn that tune is catchy. next was.... FLUFFHEAD????? what the hell was happening? i was loosing my shit and the boys NAILED IT. it was flawless. trey's final solo blew my head off. perfect set closer. during set break we chilled on the grass and couldn't think what would possibly be next. all during set break there was incredible lightning. and it wouldn't just flash, it would shoot across the sky.. like a comet. and everytime it happened the crowd ERUPTED. the chairman of the boards himselft came out and told us that we needed to go back to our cars because of the lightning and the little rain. i'm thinkin' to myself ohhh shit this is gonna be deer creek '95 dead show again... but everthing was cool. my kidddz didn't even want to leave so we just chilled by the fence. by the time everyone got to their cars, they started letting everyone in and didn't even check tickets. kidz without tickets even got it. the house lights dropped and they opened with A SONG I HEARD THE OCEAN SING. always love this song. the phirst live phish cd i got was live in brooklyn so it was good to hear then they segued into DROWNED!!! man i LOVE thier sense of humor. i was acutally laughing. drowned was awesome and had a short beautiful jam at the end and went into TWIST! this was a f'in RAGER the jam was awesome, you gotta listen to it. then they played LET ME LIE the TAB song. i liek this ballad alot. they went into some heavy space and then, oh shit, can it be?? 2001! yes!!! love this song. i was dancing so hard it was great and then right into TWEEEEZAAA!! hell yess! so much energy and the jam was fantastic then into SUZY! awesome energy! by this time it was a full out deer creek dance party in the rain. then right into POSSUM. this version was rockin' the page builup was great and when it dropped, we all danced HARD. what a GREAT second set. they came out and played SLEEPING MONKEY which was nice to hear and then a rockin' TWEEPRISE. trey was LOVIN every second of it. he was dancin around and raising his leg, they were all having soo much fun. by the time we hit the lots ther was a TORENTIAL DOWNPOUR. and it was amazing. my first show was indeed INCREDIBLE
from Paul McDowell date Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 5:26 AM subject Phish Show Review 6/19/2009 Deer Creek What a show! I waited almost 5 years to the day for this show and the boys did not disappoint. First set was littered with very tight and purposeful jams. Backwards... Bag, Limb by Limb were very well played. Moma and Water were both nice and neat and straight to the point. Split Open and Melt went into an absolutely filthy jam that saw the band pull it back together seamlessly for the outro. The last Melt I saw was very sloppy so I was really excited about this one. After Lawn Boy, Wedge, which really kept the crowd into it after the ridiculous Melt, Stealing Time... blew me away. It was very heavy and it looked like the band was having fun playing it. The energy of the crowd deflated slightly with Connection, but I enjoyed the light and fluffy jam at the end. Ocelot was good but it didn't take off like some of the other versions I've heard so far. Then, it finally came. After 29 shows, magical number 30 finally gave me Fluffhead. I almost jumped right out of my skin when I heard the first couple of notes. That's all I have to say about that. The lightening storm that put on a spectacular display towards the end of the 1st set ended up delaying the start of the 2nd set until 11:00. The band more than made up for the delay. Song I Heard...>Drowned>Twist was a set opener that might not look that impressive on paper, but WOW! The band travelled through an alternate universe where anything was possible and we all were fortunate enough to go with them. They had to throw in a slow one for everyone to collect their thoughts for a few minutes so Let Me Lie served that purpose. Then they unleashed the fury with Tweezer>2001 in which I believe Trey was teasing 2001 very slowly and with some effects at the end of the Tweezer jam, but I have to listen to the playback to verify that to myself. They closed out the night with Suzi, Possum and a beautiful Sleeping Monkey>Tweprise encore just as the skies began to really open up. Now that I have a family and real responsibilities, I fully appreciate the opportunity just to have just one night out with the greatest band of my generation, so maybe my opinion isn't the most objective. Maybe being completely stone cold sober at a Phish concert for the first time truly opened my eyes to the genius of this band. Either way, in my humble opinion, they are back and better than ever. O.K., maybe not better than '93 but that was a different time and place. The vocal harmonies are beautiful and elegant, the free form jamming is fun again, and the rigid technical sections of the Melts and YEMs of the world are dead on. If they broke up again tomorrow, I'd be extremely disappointed but I would be satisfied with this being the last show I ever saw.
from eric tipton subject Deer Creek OK. Let it be duly noted: My second show was at Deer Creek 6/19/95. Cool that I would see them again on 6/19/09, 17 time I have seen Phish at the crick. Here goes: Phish 6/19/09 Verizon Wireless Music Center , Noblesville, IN SET ONE Backwards Down the Number Line (7:46) AC/DC Bag (6:51) Limb By Limb (8:42) The Moma Dance (7:27) Water in the Sky (3:51) Split Open and Melt (12:01) Lawn Boy (3:22) The Wedge (6:25) Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan (6:36) The Connection (4:41) Ocelot (9:39) Fluffhead (15:08) SET TWO A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing (11:33) Drowned (4:16) Noblesville Jam (6:42) Twist (9:44) Let Me Lie (5:44) Tweezer (12:43) 2001 (8:10) Suzy Greenberg (5:44) Possum (10:04) ENCORE Sleeping Monkey (5:34) Tweezer Reprise (4:25) I won't bore you with the details of my brutal journey to get to Deer Creek. All I care to comment about that was that it indeed was brutal. Me and my buddy snuck into a VIP box only to be kicked out halfway in BDTNL. lol BDTNL: Was a bit suprised to hear this open the show. It worked though. Nice little jam. Right about now we are being escorted out of our VIP box, ha! Bag: Now it's officially on. Page and Trey seemed like they weren't totally on the same page during the jam. It was still fun to get down to and try and avoid the security guards in the aisle. LxL: This one is short but Trey rips it a new one. Killer. "Johnny B Fishman on the drums - go go Johnny go go..." Funny little banter from Trey after Fish takes his little outro solo. Moma: My buddy totally called this one. Fishman whispering the "up the rigging" lyrics was kind of cool. Water in the Sky: Meh, we went to go get a beer. SOAMelt: Up in the lawn at this point. We were both hoping for something markedly better than the one from Jones Beach. meh. Didn't do a thing for me. This song used to melt faces. Not so much anymore. It's just too slow. Lawn Boy: Nice. The Wedge: I wore a tshirt from a pizza place that I used to live about a block away from in Denver called the Wedge. So, I wore that to the show hoping to hear it that night. I got lots of remarks from people about it and I would just say, "Sure hope we get one tonight!" Lo and behold, it happened. So we went bonkers on the lawn. Stealing Time: It was fine. Having just listened to it again, it actually rocks hard. But I guess I was hoping for something more. The Connection: Beer line reprise. Ocelot: Like the others played so far. That said, it does rock. Fluffhead: I hadn't seen one since Vegas 00. Ever since they busted it out at Hampton - I hoped I would get to hear it again. Those opening notes were cathartic. The set up until now was pretty meh to me. This saved the first set. It certainly wasn't the tightest version they have played since being back. But that storm rolling in and lightning going OFF throughout, tough to put into words. Trey absolutely tore up the ending. It was a fist pumping, raucous good time. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing: Early on this one is really loose - really psychedelic. Space jam. Trance inducing. Really like the notes Trey was playing through the 9 and 10 minute mark. Beautiful. The segue into Drowned is ridiculous... Drowned: Smiling ear to ear at this point. Couldn't have asked for a better song in this slot. Dancing, grinning - gettin' DOWN. Page's section was totally off the hook. Noblesville Jam: Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. The four to five minute is so damn danceable. Page is laying down grooves that are delicious. Segue into Twist > Twist: Page must have been pissed because Trey just kind of cut him off and bolted for Twist. Wish I could have been closer to gauge the interaction between Trey and Page at this point. Let Me Lie: I actually don't mind this song as long as it isn't at the show I am attending. Unfortunately I was at this show - therefore I wasn't cool with it. Tweezer: Helluva way to follow up what I would consider a lack in momentum with Twist and especially Let me Lie. For me, I really did enjoy this Tweezer at the show and then again on the tapes. There is nothing ground breaking in here. Nonetheless, fun to get down to - the last minute or two gets pretty dark and trippy and segues nicely into > 2001: Awesome. Couldn't have asked for a better selection that this one! Suzy: Standard. Possum: Standard. encore, Sleeping Monkey: Nice choice, I can always dig it. Tweezer Reprise: Rocked. So, for me the highlights would be Fluff, Ocean and Drowned. When they announced that you could go out to your car and return once the storm was over - the crush of people trying to get off the lawn and to their cars was NUTS. I got stuck in the middle of all that. Thank God I wasn't in "the wrong mindset".
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