I don't know. I have mixed emotions from this little two day patriotic run across the river from the Liberty Bell. For sure, I would say that this show is the better of the two. It is my hometown venue. As everyone who was there knows, the summer of 2000 was probably the climax of the lot scene in the way that there were so many people that were there just to be a part of it. The nice (or sad, really) thing about Camden is that cops are not there to bust fans. They are there to protect your ass. That always allows for a freewheeling scene, huge and sometimes multiple shakedowns, and a summer party atmosphere. Does anyone else recall the insane drumming under the overpass on the way out the venue? There must have been over a hundred and the vibe was intense. That being said, this is a pretty solid show, even though its primarily due to the first set and weather.

Set 1:
I was lucky enough to be inside, because it rained like hell. For me, that enhanced the experience. Great start to the show and a nice touch with family on stage. It was really the Gin that stands out for me on this show. Coming in around 15 minutes, this monster was a soundtrack for the lightning and thunder show going down around us. As they usually do, the band played directly off the weather and was fantastic. The Fluffhead was good and probably about on par with the version from the previous summer, while Antelope closed the set in style. I was feeling really good about this set.

Set 2:
The rain stopped and the crowd sagged. Jim went places, and now listening back, it sounds truly inspired and we would probably give our right nut to hear it at a show in 2011. At the time, for me personally, energy was sapped as the jam dragged on. I recall thinking that the band could feel it too and out of frustration or even some sort of cynical joke, they pulled the all fall down in Glide. Again, many will probably disagree, but this set was doomed from there out. I love Theme, but to me, Theme is best played after inspired jamming. Coming out of Glide, it didn't seem to make sense. Sand and Meat, while both solid tunes, seemed like more of the same muddled, medium paced uninspired jams. Chalkdust was an effort to salvage and raise some energy and was nothing particularly special and again, as if the band knew it, they pull out Bittersweet to close the set. Ouch. It was almost if they were punishing the over-intoxicated crowd (also filled with curious DMB fans that heard Phish was "cool" and came along to see what was going on). The Waste encore speaks for itself and I remember this show being the first and one of the VERY few times I left a show a little bummed.

No one seems to have noted the Frère Jacques tease in Fluffhead?
This Runaway Jim is a real voyage and a great 30+ min jam!!!
It almost stops halfway through but Fishman keeps it going and I'm so glad he did.
I love this Circus too!
Great show, give this one a whirl!

5-Star Excellent Underrated Show!
From the first notes of DWD to the last notes of Waste, this show is amazing. Down With Disease opened with it's typical "bang" and then led into an great jam. Geulah Papyrus was very memorable as a watery mist began to fill the air. "My Mind's" was a great surprise and a great lead in to Foam which hadn't been played for several shows. Bathtub Gin's lyrics "We love to take a bath" seemed to be a signal to God, because right at that moment the skys opeded up into a torrent of rain. I was completely drenched (along with everyone else out on the lawn) for the rest of the night. The lightening during the this song and the remainder of the 1st set really added to the excitement of the night. Fluffhead had a ton of energy and sounded amazing. Antelope was a great set closer and like Fluffhead had tons of energy.
2nd set opened with a huge Runaway Jim (ran close to 30 minutes long if memory serves me correct). Glide with the "all fall down signal" was a special treat. Theme from the Bottom into Sand and then into Meat was great. Things heated back up with Chalk Dust Torture and a surprise set ender with Bittersweet Motel were a great end to the 2nd set. Waste, although mellow was a great way to end the show since the lyrics truly reflected how everyone felt at the end of the night.
This is an amazing, high energy show that is higly underrated. I only wish some good quality audiance recordings were out there (all of the ones I've heard are very much sub-par). Hopefully the band and Mr. Shapiro will consider releasing the soundboard recordings of this show sometime soon. Whoever hears them will not be disappointed.

(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

Why wouldn’t there be a torrential downpour for the one Summer 2000 show where I had lawn tickets?
Well, chalk it up to “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and all that crap, because being drenched during the first set sure made for a memorable night. As did the boys’ playing. While not the extravaganza that 6/29/00 was, nor containing potential “best ever” jams like the 6/28/00 “Bathtub Gin” or the 7/4/00 “Gotta Jibboo,” this show held its own in that company.
The “Down with Disease” opener was appropriate for all the wet souls dancing on the lawn. The remainder of the first half of the first set featured tighter-than-expected versions of “Guelah Papyrus” and “Foam.” But the band really hit its stride during the “Bathtub Gin.” While not quite the monster they dropped six days before in Holmdel, this version had plenty of hose and was more playful. (Trey teased "Philadelphia Freedom" three times!) It seemed that as the tempo of the storm increased, so did the tempo of the band. We love to take a bath, indeed.
The second half of the set went on much longer than expected, featuring a “Fluffhead” nearly as good as the one played in this venue the year before, and a raging “Antelope” with a Tom Marshall guest appearance.
The band played with confidence for the whole first set and felt comfortable enough to stay out for well over ninety minutes. That was a harbinger for experimentation, which we got in spades at the beginning of the second set. When they started up “Runaway Jim,” I pointed out to my friend that this had opened up the first show we saw together, 7/1/94, and said "they've gotten a little more experimental with this one since then." Boy, was that right. They got a groove going, and then they diverged into Zappa-esque trickiness, where it seemed everybody was playing something different, using strange time signatures, etc. The dancing on the lawn pretty much stopped and people seemed a bit confused. At one point Fish hit the hi-hat and I figured we’d see a segue to “Bowie” or “Maze”, but they kept going. But then, they started up another groove, and locked into a momentous jam, along the lines of Holmdel's “Drowned.” They brought this to a screaming climax and then returned to properly finish the song, thirty three minutes after it started. There was too much dead space in the middle for me to consider it a “best ever” version, but it sure as hell was memorable.
Then there was a long conference, and Trey and Mike had a heated discussion. I'm sure Trey was feeling the special vibes in the air and wanted to bring out a rarity. In that spirit we got a “Glide” that, like the “Foam” from the set before, was very tight despite being in mothballs for a while. Then they played with our minds again. They dragged out the pause before the final "GLI-IIIIDE" for over a minute. Then when we thought they were going to sing it, they did the "All Fall Down" signal and fell down! The ensuing “Theme from the Bottom” was very appropriate for the waterlogged crowd and concluded with a mesmerizing wall of noise.
The “Sand” that came next was one of my favorite performances of that tune to date, and by far the funkiest. It wasn’t as long or as wild as the 6/29/00 version, but Mike and Fish just attacked the beat from the start, and grooved really hard. There were no delay loops or Trey keys here, just pure unadulterated funk. Trey and Page kept pace with some mellifluous guitar and synthesizer runs, and then they got into the weird funk effects. Then, as with the 6/28/00 “Mike's Song,” the groove ground to a halt, they paused for about a minute, and then started churning the same groove again before stopping altogether. Surely “Meat” followed because the funk was too deep (and they got to do more false endings.)
“Chalk Dust Torture” raged, and was satisfying despite not getting “out there” like the version at this venue the year before. Then it was ballad time, as they closed the set with “Bittersweet Motel” and encored with “Waste.” I thought the latter was appropriate because I consider it one of Tom Marshall’s best lyrics, so it made sense to do it in his presence, and the show was a long one, so we did “come waste” quite a bit of our time with Phish! It was time well spent, and that’s an understatement.

This one is pretty much a tale of two sets. Set I has a lot more kinetic energy to it, whereas Set II has more long jams, though they take on sort of groove-based, ambient turns compared to the first set's typically excellent for Summer 2000 Bathtub Gin, which is hose, IMO (apparently inspired by the thunderstorm.) The Jim quiets down about halfway through, and weaves a very engaging soundscape. The Sand is worth hearing (I don't wanna spoil it for you!) And the Chalkdust gets a little weird, too. Antelope from the first set is also excellent. I've long fetishized this show for the Jim alone, and I'm glad that I can now comfortably rate it 4/5 upon the totality of its merits, insofar as that's possible without having been there.

DWD kicks things off. Nothing exploratory or out there but Trey absolutely demolishes it towards the end very good kick in the butt to start things off. The Gin jam slowly builds with some great hose slowly swirling and revolving (much like the storm ahead). It soars for a little while before it comes back down to earth. Pretty good version of My Soul follows. Strong Heavy Things and Fluffhead (as usual).

Jim kicks off the second set and after about 10mins it dives into a jam with some great drum work by Fish. All the looping and weird effects kick in and a solid groove ensues. They are firing on all cylinders and it mellows out into some psychedelia. It then speeds up into a nice thunderous groove and Trey rocks out hard for a powerful ending. Theme is very strongly played. Sand although stretched IMO is the pretty standard repetitive groove you get this whole year.

Waste is a pretty nice and strong encore.

Overall a pretty above average show.