dpurcell@uclink3.berkeley.edu (Daniel Edward Purcell) RED ROCKS, MORRISON, COLORADO, 6/10/95 A lot more cops at the second show, no doubt because of the gate crashing the night before. Generally a lousy night, maybe 45 degrees with a light drizzle that increased to a steady misting rain during the second set. We were down much closer than the first night, which was nice, although folks were crowding us something serious throughout. Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but it seems sorta rude to me to force one's way into an already-occupied seating area and stand in front of the people who actually bothered to get to the show early. To me, this is not much better than the mosh-pit-as-legalized-violence atmosphere that pervades so many shows; it's just selfish. It's unsettling that so many people seem to think that their enjoyment of the show is more important than anyone else's, and that they therefore have license to do whatever they please. Enough ranting; on to the review... FIRST SET Makisupa Policeman -> Am I the only one who doesn't love this song? I understand that it's fun to cheer when Trey sings about waking up at 4:20 and all, but it doesn't go anywhere. Compared with the other reggae-flavored songs (NICU, Fee, or even Lizards), it's a little weak. Is it just the rarity? (They're playing it a lot more often these days.) Anyway, it was a nice enough rendition, with Trey using the digital delay to create little bursts of feedback and droning sounds. Moved into... Llama A good choice; the crowd needed to move a little or hypothermia would've set in. Pretty standard, with an energetic solo, and surprisingly funky fills by Page, which was an omen of things to come. Prince Caspian I picked it up with the first chord, which surprised me. I suppose I like this song a lot. This version seemed much less captivating than the Salt Lake version, but given how simple this song is and how little it probably deviates from one version to the next, that might have been my imagination. No solo, just two and a half or three minutes of build and a big finish. The crowd didn't seem particularly into it, but I still argue that this is the strongest (or one of the strongest) melodies Phish has come up with. While it's not their strength, it's nice to know they can write memorable pop songs, too. Now if they'll only avoid turning this into the next Sample... It's Ice Figures. "Ice," get it? It was cold out, get it? Nice decrescendo by Page, otherwise pretty standard. Page's fills were imaginative both rhythmically and melodically all night; it was his show. Free Also seemed shorter than Salt Lake's version. I still like it; the theme-and-variation riff at the beginning is very simple, but real catchy, even if it is a bit classic-rock for my tastes. By the fall tour, this'll be a favorite. Rift Yeah, sure, I *want* to be hit with that hammer. No, really, hit me a couple times. No, I like it. If you read my earlier message, you'll know I dislike this song. I know it's a matter of taste. I suppose my big problem with this song is that a) it doesn't go anywhere, b) it's played much too often (50-some times last year) and c) it's six and a half minutes long, taking up valuable time in the set. Other Rift-like songs (that is, somewhat intricately composed songs that don't really jam), like Horn or Glide or Golgi, at least have the common courtesy to be relatively short. Anyway, sorry: this complaining is doing no one any good. As Rifts go, this one was actually pretty good. Page was once again the star. In the three shows I saw (SLC and the Rocks), this was the only non-new-song repeat. Bad luck for me. You Enjoy Myself Of course, they redeemed themselves in a big way. They teased the piano intro out of the early void for quite awhile; Mike's solo was very nice, both arrhythmic and melodic; Trey held the note for the entire second guitar solo; and the vocals were tight. The jam was nice and long, getting very spacy at times, and again featuring more tonal and ambient work from Trey than usual. I think this is definitely a trend. My only complaint with this one was the vocal jam, which went on about twice as long as it should've. The whole thing was likely around 22-25 minutes. Lonesome Cowboy Bill The vacuum is back. This was, truthfully, easily the best vacuum solo I've ever heard Fishman do. It was short, and worked in the context of the song, which I like very much. (To whoever suggested that Fish do "Afterhours," another VU song: I agree!) I also prefer Fishman's spot in the first set, for obvious reasons. Suzie Greenberg I was betting on Golgi. Again, my guess was useless. A very rocking version. "Forgotten my name?" Fish yelled. "That's okay; I forget it myself sometimes!" The second solo was dragged out forever for Page, and he made the most of it. SECOND SET Maze By this point it was raining steadily, and the wind was blowing the rain under the stage. "Get ready for a short second set," my friend Jeff said to me. Maze was hot, with Page again going berserk on the organ. I always enjoy a live Maze; it's usually very intense. This show is surely worth getting on tape for Page's performance alone. Fee Another Page song, Trey with the megaphone. Solos were short, pretty standard. Uncle Pen Absolutely at the top of my list in terms of bluegrass songs (closely followed by Paul and Silas and SOAMule, then Poor Heart and Ginseng, with Two Dollar Bill and Nellie Cane bringing up the rear). Nice version, with Mike in good voice. To those who know the Bill Monroe version of this one: did Phish write the middle section, or is that Monroe's as well? Mike took a nice solo, his second of the night. Mike's Song -> They had to do it; they'd played every other jam they had in the first seven sets of the tour. I absolutely love this song. No trampolines; I forgot to mention they'd done the tramps during YEM, so I assume they chose not to repeat that trick. The opening segment was tight, as it always seems to be these days; not quite as tight as Binghamton 4/9/94 or NYE, but tight. Major Simple tease; Trey diddled around the theme for a while, not sure whether to take the leap or not. I made a fool of myself by yelling "SIMPLE!" at this point; the woman beside me thought I meant "Sample." Finally Mike's descended into space. This was both the longest and the spaciest Mike's I've ever heard; I'm sure it was at least 15 minutes by itself. They returned to the little F#m-A-E-F bit they do again eventually, this time going into... I Am Hydrogen -> Always welcome. While it's fascinating to guess where they're going with Mike's these days, Hydrogen is as good a bet as anything. Very nice and subtle. By this point the rain was really blowing onstage. Trey was blinking and wiping his forehead. The slow and languid version moved into... Weekapaug Groove Mike's solo was hot, coming close to making him co-MVP with Page. A long groove, around 15 minutes again. Not as spacy as Mike's, with Trey staying closer to traditional soloing. Fishman fucked with the beat in particularly brilliant ways around halfway in. Amazing Grace They started out underneath the overhand, then realized the rain was just as heavy there as out in the open, so they moved the mikes to the front of the stage and off they went. A good version. Sample in a Jar The woman beside me turned to me and said, "Well, you got your Sample." I chose not to correct her. I don't mind this song, but I wanted another jam. I didn't expect a Hood, but maybe a Guyute, a Stash, anything. It was not to be. Trey stretched the solo out a little more than usual. ENCORE A Day in the Life My friend Scott was sure they had something bit up their sleeve. We speculated that they'd do the Tweeprise they'd omitted in Salt Lake. Later we all admitted to each other that we'd been hoping for a Hood, but were afraid to jinx it by saying so out loud. Of course, I generally always hope for Hood when I see Phish. Sadly, I've never seen it. (I have seen RIFT several times, though.) This was an absolutely wonderful closer to the show and the weekend. Any complaints I might've had about the shortness of the second set (with a 30-35 minute Mike's Groove, it really wasn't that short) vanished with the first chords. It sounded like Sleeping Monkey to me initially, but Jeff pegged it as the Beatles classic. Page's vocals on the verses were a little tentative at first, but the backing was brilliant, the crescendos were amazing, Fishman's drum fills were poetic. A great closer. Afterwards, Page got up and left, which was unfortunate, because Trey was staying put, almost as if he wanted to do another one. Another one would have been nice, but the mood left by this new cover (first time ever, right?) was better left intact. Overall, I'd give this a strong 6, maybe a 7. A really good show, but I'm trying my best to restrain myself. Definitely bodes well for the rest of the tour. A message to all those with East Coast tickets: do not fear the new songs! Love them! They are very good! Over time, they will become even better! I mean this! Also, if someone could convince the band to do a three-night stand at the Greek in Berkeley in late September, I'd be real appreciative. If that actually happens, free tapes for everyone! Thanks for reading, and thanks to those of you who've given me feedback. I really appreciate it. And sorry to Rift-lovers everywhere. Dan...
Kim Hannula hannula@middlebury.edu Lots of setlists & comments on the Red Rocks shows so far, but no what- was-it-really-like reviews? Ok, I'll try... My weekend was wedged nicely between a milk carton on the plane from Burlington that informed me that I could feel good about Hood, and "Bouncing" on a Denver radio station on the way to the airport to fly home. (Now if only United would put the DLCD Tweezer on the in-flight music selection, I'd be set!) I got to the parking lot early Friday, since there were plenty of rocks around to ogle while waiting. Although tickets were checked at the entrance to the park as promised, there were a lot of people doing unicorn impressions in the lot. People selling t-shirts, etc. with Phish logos (etc.) on them were being rounded up, as promised (don't say they didn't warn you!) The scene didn't seem as potentially violent as at Sugarbush or Halloween, however (I was surprised to hear about the pepper spray, although I saw people on the rocks Friday night and wondered what kind of fools they were). I spent soundcheck sitting on the steps from the lower parking lot, waiting to be let in. There were a lot of things I didn't recognize soundchecked -- anybody know if those were other new songs, or was I just not listening closely enough? The amphitheatre at Red Rocks is fascinating. The seats lie between two rock walls whose red sandstone beds slope towards the stage at about the same angle as the seats below do. At the top of the amphitheatre, the rock walls end abruptly, and the ground drops into a valley that parallel the mountainside. At the bottom of the amphitheatre, the stage sits in front of another wall of rock, with buildings of red sandstone built on either side of the rock as if they are growing out of it. The layering in the sandstone behind the stage provided the only backdrop, which Chris Kuroda used to great advantage during the second set on Friday. (If anybody has any brilliant ideas about how erosion managed to make something that shape, let me know.) Friday's show began a little after 7:30 with a typically menacing "My Friend". The "Divided Sky" which followed seemed particularly appropriate, looking back up the amphitheater to the blue sky framed by red walls of rock. After "Divided" ended, there was a pause as Page took a breath (as if to mentally prepare?), and began "Strange Design" with keys and vocals alone at the beginning. As folks who were at the Lowell show mentioned, there's some Beatles influence in this one, especially in the vocal harmonies. "Oh Kee Pah" immediately followed by a rocking "AC/DC Bag" picked up the energy again. The next two songs were new, introduced by Trey (who thanked us for listening to brand new stuff -- you're welcome, it was my pleasure -- and based on the reaction of the crowd, I think it was many other folks' pleasure as well!) as "Theme from the Bottom" (I'm 90% sure he said "Theme") and "Taste". I like both of them a lot -- both songs have a lot of potential to open up. There are catchy parts to the lyrics, but they aren't the focus of the songs. They also don't have the extremely complex arrangements of songs like "Rift" or the how-fast-can-they-play adrenaline-rush feel of "Llama" -- in other words, I don't know what they're like, but I'm pretty sure that if they stay in the repertoire they'll get even more interesting. I think "Theme from the Bottom" is a love song from a catfish to a loon, but then I think a lot of silly things sometimes. "Bottom" ends with a vocal/instrumental build-up reminiscent of "Bouncing" ("From the bottom/from the top") which has stuck in my head ever since. "Taste" is in 6/8, or some other time with a circular kind of feel to it, but doesn't have the Celtic feel that "Guyute" has. Like DownerMan, I wasn't quite sure what to make of the lyrics, but the music was interesting so I didn't listen to them. "Sparkle" followed by a typically mind-blowing "Antelope" (this is the song I think is most likely to set off an earthquake) ended the set. The moon, stars, and Denver city lights were out by the time the second set started. "Split Open & Melt" started the set off with the energy level that ended the first set. The jam had an angular feel to it that reminded me of the 12/1 Salem SO&M. I didn't immediately recognize the "Wedge" that followed. The intro is different yet again from the 1993 Red Rocks "Wedge". A great song to hear so close to the Great Divide -- it stayed in my head most of the next day. "Scent of a Mule" was the only "Hoist" offering of the evening. Page's solo included some spontaneous accompaniment by Trey and Mike that added a lot musically to the solo. (I think these solos are more like composing than the whole- group-improvising-jams are.) "Cavern" rocked us next, followed by a "David Bowie" that I enjoyed, but don't remember the details of. Roadies brought out four stools and four acoustic guitars for "Acoustic Army" (who found out the title of this one?) next. The crowd was nearly silent except for cheering wildly at the false endings. They remained quiet for the "Sweet Adeline". A beautiful "Slave to the Traffic Light" ended the set. The "Squirming Coil" encore was marred only by one fan who decide to dance onto the stage, but was quickly whisked away by security. I don't usually like Page's solo as the ending of a show (I enjoy Page's playing in the context of the whole group much better than any piano solo alone), but I enjoyed this one quite a bit (this was the second time I listened to Page soloing as a spontaneous composition, and I appreciated the solo much more as a result). The atmosphere surrounding the second night was a contrast to the previous night. The weather was cool and cloudy, with scattered light showers, cutting into the sales of iced cappuccino and turning the taper's section into a sea of little umbrellas on top of the mike stands. There were mounted police riding around between the parking lots and the amphitheatre, and tickets were checked at several points on the way into the venue. On the other hand, we were let in immediately and I wasn't searched at all on the way in -- security's main concern was obviously to keep ticketless hordes off the rocks. Trey introduced his grandparents, who were sitting on the edge of the stage, before beginning "Makisupa Policeman" (in reference to the police presence?). At the end, they sped up the jam before breaking into "Llama" (would this be a one-and-a-half arrows segue?). "Prince Caspian" gets a bit repetitive ("Ooo to be Prince Caspian/ upon the waves" (or sea? I don't remember) over and over). On the other hand, I bet Suzi Balleisen loved the Narnia reference! They continued the "moving fast on top of water" theme with "It's Ice". Next came "Free" -- up there with "Bottom" and "Taste" as a new song to watch for. I want to hear it again. "Rift", typically structured and tight, followed. "YEM"'s beginning got a big cheer from the crowd. The vocal jam featured a disco-ish theme in places. An unusual first-set drummer change followed, with Fishman out front, vacuum in hand, announcing that "Usually, I play the trombone on this song, but tonight..." to wild cheers from the audience. The vacuum solo in "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" was short, but it was long enough to let us know that the vacuum hasn't been put away forever (if playing music with heavy machinery is "industrial music", should Fishman's songs be called "custodial music"?). Little Suzy G rocked us out of the set ("forgotten my name..." "that's ok, I forget it too!"), with Trey telling us not to do anything he wouldn't do (like fall off wet rocks?). The light rain that had been threatening all day finally started to fall steadily during the second set. We started out lost in an intense "Maze", followed by "Fee" (just to keep the setlists confused and let people sing along, after new songs in the first set?) and "Uncle Pen". But those were just warm-ups for the main attraction of the second set -- Mike's Groove. This was the first MikeS that I've seen live. Holy moly. Are they always like this? I want to read Charlie Dirksen's review of this one (somebody get him the tape before he gets to '95!). The jam went in and out of varying amounts of spaciness. They started to go into the ending theme (that sounds similar to the Simple riff) several times, only to jam away from it, then come back, then jam away, etc. Meanwhile, the lights used the raindrops as a new effect. Finally we mellowed in Hydrogen, then took it to Weekapaug. (Is Mike's Song still a tramps song? Is it unusual that there were no trampolines?) After Weekapaug, they put down the instruments and came forward (while roadies covered the keyboards with towels -- it must have been a little wet on stage too) to sing "Amazing Grace". The crowd wasn't quite as respectful as the previous night, but they weren't hideous. Then back to the instruments (removing a couple towels from the keys) to end the set with a powerful "Sample in a Jar" (sorry if you don't like this one, but it ended the set with a fine intensity. You've got to come back from spacy jams somehow!) I'm not a big Beatles fan, so although I recognized "A Day in the Life" as a Beatles tune I didn't know the name, and I'm not sure exactly how it differed from the Beatles version. Page sang most of it (he has a great voice for Beatles stuff), with Trey singing "Woke up, got out of bed..." etc. Between verses they broke into noisy, thrashy jamming reminiscent of BBFCFM (is this where the orchestra plays in the Beatles version?). I really enjoyed it (in spite of not being into the Beatles). All in all, a great weekend. I think the tour's going to get even better as the new songs progress. To those who haven't heard the new stuff yet -- open your ears and minds and listen when you first hear it. There's something great about hearing something new -- that's why Mike's Grooves and last year's Tweezer madness are so wonderful. I'm looking forward to SPAC, Great Woods, and Sugarbush! I just hope that this isn't the last year they are allowed to play some of these beautiful outdoor venues. Kim
Bruce "surrogate-ZZYZX" Willner brucew@stripe.colorado.edu Red Rocks Notes, 6-9/10-1995 David "ZZYZX" Steinberg could not make the shows due to car trouble. I got his tickets on the condition that I time the shows in his stead. I decided to do a very complete job and have the approximate lengths of each song. June 9 Set 1 ----- My Friend 6:30 Divided Sky 15:00 Strange Design 3:00 Oh Kee Pa> 2:00 AC DC Bag 8:00 Theme From the Bottom 10:00 Taste 7:00 Sparkle 4:00 Antelope 10:30 Total 63 minutes Set 2 ----- Split Open & Melt 14:00 Wedge 4:30 Scent of a Mule 9:00 Cavern 5:00 David Bowie 14:00 Acoustic Army 5:00 Sweet Adeline 2:00 Slave to the Traffic Light 12:00 Total 65 minutes Encore: Squirming Coil 10:00 ============================== June 10 Set 1 ----- Makisupa Policeman 5:00 Llama 4:00 Prince Caspian 3:00 It's Ice 9:00 Free 7:00 Rift 6:00 YEM w/ Vocal Jam 23:00 Lonesome Cowboy Bill 2:00 HYHU Suzie Greenberg 6:00 Total time 69 minutes Set 2 ----- Maze 10:00 Fee 6:00 Uncle Pen 4:00 Mike's Song> } I am Hydrogen> } 35:00 !!! Weekapaug Groove } Amazing Grace 1:30 Sample in a Jar 5:00 Total time 62 minutes Encore: A DAY IN THE LIFE (Beatles) 5:00 ============================= Timing the show was interesting, but I don't think I'll make a hobby of it. Brief comments: Both shows were great. I preferred the second overall (but that may just be because I love Mike's>Groove). I don't think the first show was as good as the sum of its parts. There were a lot of great jams and versions of songs, but it didn't seem to gel together as well as the second night, if you get my meaning. A very light rain fell for much of the second show. This made things a bit cold, but Chris really took advantage of it with the lights. The new songs: Strange Design (Page sings) - I really don't like this one much. It is mellow and lounge-like (similar to Lawn Boy). Theme From The Bottom (Trey, Page, and possibly Mike sing together) - This song was just OK but has tons of possibility. Watch for it to develop over the course of the tour (and future years). Lots of jamming. Good name too. :) Taste (Trey sings) - I liked this one from the start to finish. Great tune. Acoustic Army (Instr.) - All four of them sitting on stools and playing acoustic guitars. Different. Intense. Highly recommended. Prince Caspian (Trey sings) - It was short and I can't recall much about it. Not particularly memorable, I guess. Free (Trey sings) - Excellent new tune. This one wins hands down. Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Jon sings) - It's a Fishman-preformed tune, I don't know what else to say about it. There was a vacuum solo in it, but Jon said that normally he plays trombone in this song. A Day in the Life - Have they played this before? Page and Trey alternated verses. Good performance, but not all that different from the Sgt. Pepper original (without an orchestra, of course). On a serious note: Phish will probably never play Red Rocks again. It seemed unlikely anyway, because they sold out two dates in 20 minutes. But on the first night a bunch of ticketless people rushed a fence. 50-100 people apparently made it in. Even once the security and police were there with spotlights, people kept rushing up that particular hill. I heard rumors that the police had to resort to pepper spray to get the ticketless to stop charging them. If this keeps up Phish will be prohibited from performing at places throughout the country. Can't people find are better reason to "question authority" than to get into a sold out concert? Bruce "surrogate-ZZYZX" Willner