12-18-99 -- Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
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Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 23:40:54 PST
From: Keith Fridel [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Review of 12/18/99 Hampton
Hello,
Well, I'm back in San Francisco after flying out to Hampton for the
weekend.
Saturday night's stellar show made the trip more than worth it. This
was the one. If you were there, you know what I mean.
For the record this is my second review ( I reviewed the excellent fall
Portland, OR show from this fall). Saturday night was my 46th show since
1992 with 250-plus hours of Phish on tape, cd, etc. Now that the business
is out of the way, on to the pleasure.
First off, THE FUNK was so deep that you couldn't walk, dance, run or swim
through it; you could only float. Songs like Sand and Get Back on The
Train seemed to be the versions that the band had been shooting for all
year. And they were nailing everything. Much has already been said about
YEM for instance. I can't agree more. This is THE pentultimate version.
Really.
We were all stunned after the first set. Literally speechless. They were
that great. It's funny, by playing the "Hood" first they seemed to get
all the yahoo element out of the show right away. All the glowsticks were
used up. All the balloons were popped. It was just us and the band for
the rest of the night.
I've never danced harder at a concert in my life. I don't think I saw a
single person sit down for a moment. The "slower" songs like Horse/Silent
In The Morning had a poignancy I've never heard the band have before.
Minestrone was just completely engaging. The audience was quiet as a
mouse for the entire song. I was so proud of us!
Ah heck, I don't know what else to say except that this was an unusually
special show. I've maybe been to two or three Phish shows that were
"better", musically. But I've never been to one that was as satisfying
and fulfilling as last Saturday night in Hampton. This was one for the
faithful.
The encores may look "pat" on paper. In person they were anything but.
Yamar was downright emotionally stirring. The lyric about "he was my
grandpa" received a beautiful little ovation from the crowd in reference
to Trey's recently deceased grandfather. Sleeping Monkey was filled with
emotion and heartfelt playing. Suddenly the lyrics took on new and deeper
meanings. The last night of the tour. The last "regular" Phish show of
the year/millenium. We were all being taken home on the train. The band,
us, and of course, the sleeping monkey.
One last note: I spoke with many, many folks about the prospects/rumors
of Phish taking some time off. There ain't a fan I spoke to that didn't
agree that it was so rightfully deserved. To Trey, Mike, Page, and Jon,
my New Year's wish to them is to take that time for yourselves. Spend
some time with your kids, wives, friends, etc. Take a year, or two years.
We'll be here, your phaithful phunky phans.
Cheers.
From: James Natale [email protected]
To: [email protected] [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 5:58 PM
Subject: SLAMPTON 12-18-99 review
Well this was my 55th and a finally of a 7 pack at he crowned jewl or
space ship,whichever you prefer. Before the show I snuck a half 5th of
Jack in to Hooters, yes Hotters, to watch my awful Steelers. As they
sucked we moved over to Hoilday shakedown balloon central Inn to booze,
got tossed. Love that Atrium!!! any how as we needed more schwill, I went
to get my bugggy: towed. Fuck. After A whiskey drunk tirait at the tow
nazis of A&D towing. I said the hell with it and headed to the lot. I
like to sober up around six so I gulped water and I only enjoy 5to50 hits
of nugs or so during a show ,so I decided to take in some extras early.
Great spot, the floor seemed especially crowded this year; so I hti the
triangle= the area between Page and the board in the first section. Since
Hampton is so wonderful we kicked it in the isle above the seats. Bomb
view and mad room.To the show.
HOOD: 3rd all time what could go wrong Hamptonesque Hood!!!!! see 96'&97"
BATCS: Heard the begining all most tackelked my boy, one of my favs from
the summer. Love Jimmy Smith. Plus a blues jam with Phish type buids.WOW
Dog Log: Damn never thought Id ever.... again almost killed my boy.
Wheres my dog gone? YEAHHHHH
TUBE: always the slamin!!! nice to see it not as an opener
Heavy Things: Poppy Yes. Catchy and happy though. Plus I love to hear
songs that piss of tour kids
GBOTT: YES YES YES, I could hear this every night the harmoys in the
first verse can make my set.
1st Tube: WOW my first and Ill tell ya, the jam,especially Trey's build
lead makes the whole venue tighter. I mean it actually feels smaller
inside. I hope they play it 6 times in Florida.
Minestrone: Nice. Looking for Driver =, but nice.
YEM: WOW one of the hardest sick versions. no space no loop just
hardness.
SETBREAK: recover and speculate met a cool cat from URI
2001: My one boy was calling Bowie, but I kept giving him the hand
singnal: 2-0-0-1
fukier and funkier evey time. This was so hard. I havent read or hear
dfrom anyone else, but did all the Frampton stuff sound like it was being
teased over Sally teases? A tease within a tease. a few of us heard it
and we dont trip out, except on the band.
Sand: Yes I have the Shore Line tape and the begining lead is some of my
favorite stuff out. I read the NC list at about 5am,half drunk, as my
ride came and I was so hurt that I wouldnt hear it. So needless to say
when Mike hit that bass line.FREAK OUT
Horse>Silent. Always a treat, the line,you know got me primed for NYE
Possum: The intro was killer. No suprrises in the jam. like Philly but I
didnt like falling down on that nasty floor,ya never know what ya might
land on in Philly!!
Mikes: We were waiting and it bombed!!!! So hard,just like the whole show
Simple: I kept saing NO Simple. but once I got over my too many Simple
bitterness, It was nice
Weekapaug: Damn Mike, that intro was outa hand great grove,great vocals
then it came my boy and I looked at eachother in full disbeleief, I hear
ya about the owls, that was my weekend, I didnt know if I could drink
after the show since I dont do drugs, but After Buffalo Schwill, there
was no question. Ask the entire Hoilday Inn Im sure they heard my singin>
weekapaug, such a hard transition damn !!!SLAMPTON!!!!!!
E: Ya Mar: unexpected and terrific, sonic breakdowns, Trey given it up to
his Grand Pa. I got the chills,you cant replace Grand Pa's. Sleeping
Monkey Great tour closer. Understated. Perfect fuckin perfect lets go to
Florida. That was one of the hottest shows Ive seen, perfect
placement,perfect everything.
For all ya bitter kids. chill, imagine the breakouts in FLA. PARADISE
CITY OPENER!!!! ya G&R
Sanity, Peaches, Mustang Sally, Destiny? Hey reach for the stars its 2000
see ya there. Look for a Sweedish Flag and a home made Life on Mars T.
travel safe. Natale or SLEEMORE, nothin worse thatn I tour name that
comes from Sample. Oh well I love the kids who gave it to me.
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 17:49:07 -0500
From: Lee Davis [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: the lot after 12/18/99
I don't know if any of the other people writing reviews left early or
just didn't didn't care enough to write about it, but what happened in
the lot after the last hampton show was incredibly disturbing.I've seen
about 12 shows overall, and I've seen some busts, but this was
outrageous. My girlfriend watched a girl her size(5 feet), get attacked
by a police dog for pleading with the police to let her get her dog back
which had ran past the police barracade. I saw at least five police
equiped with dangerously pissed off k9s litterally running through the
croud not 20 minutes after the show, tackling, searching, and cuffing any
one who stood in their way, or anyone whom the dogs barked at. Absolutely
NO probable cause!! It was utter chaos and extremely deppressing.
Certainly not something you expect to see at a venue as chill and as phat
as Hampton. I booked from the lot as fast as I could, as I'm sure just
about everyone else that saw this sight did. Something needs to seriously
be done to protect the constitutional rights of all of us. The worst
thing about it is that anyone who wasn't there(the local citizens of
Hampton, Virginia, or the whole nation) will read about the busts that
they made the Phish show, not how they made them. After this event I have
decided to never see another show without my camcorder ready in the car
because this would have been shocking footage, however I hope and pray
that I never see anything like this again.
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 16:28:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Joe * [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Hampton(Phrampton) Comes Alive
Yes this is the mysterious person dancing my arse off to Peter Frampton
tease during 2001. I was very happy to hear that because it was, in
fact, my sign that gave the boys the needed encouragement to play it. I
know Paul also saw the sign because he played Frampton Comes Alive
during the break on the first night. I will start at the beginning of
this expedition to musical nirvana. This has been my 6th Hampton show
and this particular one blew the other 5 out of the water. I cannot,
unfortunately, see as many shows as I would like but I am very happy to
have caught the Hampton shows. Specifically the Dec 18th show. I don't
really know some of the new material but from what I heard, they were in
top form on Saturday.
Set 1
I can't belive how much complaining I hear and have heard about Harry
Hood. Harry is a great song and it is always welcome and in the number
one slot is a grat place to hear it.
Back at the Chicken Shack is one of those which I have never heard but
it was played very nicely.
Dog Fricken Log!!!!!!!
Played slow and sweet. Dedicated to Paul and influenced by the sign on
the floor.
Tube, great rocker always a pleasure living in this tube
4 more new tunes(from what I hear the first two are overplayed)
I liked Heavy Things although it was a little short.
I don't rem what GBOTT sounds like so I can't really be objective in my
review.
1st Tube-Real awesome new song to me and I really enjoyed it. Really
funky and Trey really is incredible. But so are all the other members of
the band. They definately proved tonight that it is in fact a quartet
and every band member played exceptionally well.
Trey grabs his accoustic and stool and sits and plays Minestrone. Can
everyone please do me a favor and shut the heck up when it's a soft song
and we don't need to hear screams? Would that be to much to ask? I am
glad to say the fans were trying to restrain themselves, but I heard a
couple screams slip out immediatly followed by a chorus of
shhhhhhhhhhhhh.
YEM!!!
Very nicely done but the jam was cut a little short by the vocal jam. I
miss the kick ass bass solo that usually goes with that song. The vocal
jam was really spacey and the lights were absolutely incredible. At one
point in the jam it looked as if a UFO was coming down for a landing.
Pretty appropriate cosidering the venue appears as a giant UFO from the
outside.
After the first set, normally I would speculate as to the songs in the
second set. I just heard about 1 1/2 hours of incredible jams and I
didn't care what they chose to play in the second set. Setbreak was
spent having a wonderful time throwing marshmellows and having a little
war. Then the lights went down
Set 2
As I said I didn't have any expectations for this set, I would have been
happy with just the first set.
Space>2001. That little bit does little to describe what the next 20
minutes were all about. Let's try to sum it up in 300 words or less.
They started out with the spacey intro which could have been Down With
Disease, but I knew from the very begining that it was going to
eventually be ASZ. When Fish started the drum part, I also heard what
could very well have been Split Open and Melt. After about 7 minutes of
exploring the music, Trey finally went into the first verse. More
jamming on the theme and then what comes out but "what's this, could it
be"? Do You Feel.....Wah Wah Wah, Bob Mayonaisse on the keyboard.
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Trey. After giving me my request, they played
Phrampton for a couple more minutes then launched into the final verse
of ASZ. Infrickencredible!!!
Sand, another new tune played rather nice with a long jam.
Horse/Silent I think that this same exact thing happened to me just last
year.
Possum, always fun
Mike's kicked!!!!
>Simple-nice soft Simple not like the screaming Simples previously
heard. It actually seemed like they were singing instead of screaming
becuase they slowed it down.>Mike's Groove>Buffalo Bill(wow 2 golden
oldies in one night)>Groove with Norwegian Wood tease from Trey.
Enc
I honestly was thinking and maybe hoping that they would do the whole Do
You Feel Like We Do as the encore but instead we were treated to a nice
slow Yamar with Trey giving reference to his Grandpa. My deepest
sympathy goes to you Trey.
Sleeping Monkey is usually the song that I start picking up my coat and
getting ready to leave, but this one held me glued to my chair.
On the whole, this show was better than any other Phish show I had ever
seen. I heard alot of people that don't share my viewpoint but I left
the show with the biggest smile on my face. Have fun in the 'Glades and
please be safe and help your neighbors.
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 13:42:19 -0600
From: Greg James [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12.18.99
I know that this is a little late, but I'm still trying to put the pieces
of my head back together. I'm not going to get into too much detail since
the shows have been reviewed as they deserve to be. All I really have to
say is that Phish is the GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME. Period. They can play
whatever they want, but no one can play Phish. What they pulled off on
Saturday night was something words cannot really express...you kinda had
to be there. It was by far one of the best, if not the best, show I've
ever seen. It was absolutely magnificent!!! It was, like the aftershow
passes said, The Clinic. For me it was the band proving everyone who
doubted them wrong, and proving everyone who loved them the love still
remains. They schooled us, plain and simple. Bottom line is don't take the
band for granted!!! Be grateful they are willing to play for us as often
as they do, and hold on to the moment for as long as you can. Peace & Love
to Eric from NY and his peeps, Jessica & Andrew, TK, Bill and his boys,
and the guy (who I don't even know) who kicked down the aftershow pass
which my girlfriend ended up getting, bless her little heart!! And to
everyone else who participated in the disco funk dance party which was
Hampton. See ya in Florida.
Phunky Pharoah
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 20:42:19 -0500
From: Tara [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12-18 hampton review
This show was phenomenal !!, loved every minute of it, some crew members
told some tapers that it would be a special late show since they were
getting overtime to be there til 1AM, I heard a bunch of people at the show
talking about it, and the 2nd night was much longer than the 1st
the crowd was great as always, my 26th show,
HOOD: awesome opener, the lights were perfect both nights, you can tell
this show was gonna rule right
from the start, the glow war started almost immediatly
CHICKEN SHACK: Cool tune saw it in greenville, kept the crowd moving, trey
and page jammed it out nicely
DOG LOG: are you kidding !!, I never thought I would see this, I knew
trey would say something to paul afterwords, since it's his favorite song
and all
TUBE: great tube, long extended jam, with killer lights, this show is
getting better and better
HEAVY THINGS: a little overplayed lately but it's a catchy tune
BACK ON THE TRAIN; cant go wrong with this one, perfect 1st set tune
FIRST TUBE: One of the hottest jams of the whole weekend, this RAGED !!,
the whole coliseum was going off the whole time, really happy they played it
MINESTRONE: trey went in back of his speaker rack and picked up his
acoustic, ala fall '96 when he would come out and do "talk" (see charleston
10-27-96), this tune was really cool, alot of "shushing" since it was sort
of hard to hear, trey got off his barstool and they went right into:
YEM: easily one of the best I have heard in a while, no real space jam,
just trey going off the whole time sort of like an antelope jam, the vocal
jam and lights were unreal, after this I couldn't wait for set 2
setbreak, chatted with some really cool people
2001: thought it was ghost for a second, started off with a spacy jam (see
charlotte 7-7-99), about 10 minutes into it you could hear the frampton
starting, it went on for a while with trey playing the riff that frampton
plays with the mouthpiece on "do you feel..", it was really cool
SAND: one of my favorite new tunes, heard it on a tape from gorge 99, and
loved it, not jammed out too much but was a great version
HORSE>SILENT: love everything off of rift, but could of seen a bowie or
antelope insted, but whos complaining, not as hot as the july 4th version
but was really cool when trey sings "I felt that this exact this happened
just last year" I got a little goosbump action
POSSUM: wasnt expecting it since it was played a few times late in the
tour but a possum is always nice
MIKES: finally, everyone was waiting for it all night and I was getting
worried that they would save it, but here it is, real nice mikes, right
into
SIMPLE: heard way to many mikes>simples lately, havent seen a hydrogen
since 11-22-97 in the same building, but they would make up for it during
weekapaug
WEEKAPAUG: simple faded out and fishman started the rumbling weekapaug drum
beat, the crowd erupted
the last show of the tour and this raged for about 5 minutes or so and went
into a reggae jam, me and most of the people around me were thinking
"makisupa" see 4-29-93, but we got
BUFFALO BILL: even more rare than dog log, this ruled, then just stopped
and back into
WEEKAPAUG: RAGING!!!, this whole set ruled
YA MAR, SLEEPING MONKEY: real nice encore, 2 unique tunes that left us
wanting to leave for florida immediatly
BEST SIGN: Y2 WEIGH
dave scozzaro
[email protected]
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 14:20:04 EST
From: adam scheinberg [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: review
12/18/99 Hampton Coliseum - Hampton, Virginia - Reviews
I: Harry Hood, Back at the Chicken Shack, Dog Log*#, Tube, Heavy Things, Get
Back On the Train, First Tube, Minestrone, You Enjoy Myself
II: Also Sprach Zarathustra**, Sand, The Horse -> Silent In The Morning,
Possum, Mike's Song -> Simple -> Weekapaug Groove -> Buffalo Bill ->
Weekapaug Groove
E: Ya Mar, Sleeping Monkey
Maybe it was just the super-dank gooball I had eaten in the lot, but this
show was freakin NUTS!
We got to our seats in Denver, well, maybe it just felt like Denver 'cause
we were a mile high. We're talking three row TOTAL behind us to the wall.
Somehow though, the view was still pretty good. As the lights went down,
they took the stage and I grabbed my pen ready for a wacky cover or a
bustout. But instead, Hood. Now see here, I love Hood. I think it rivals
YEM for the quintessential Phish song. But I've seen it so many times and
it's so predictably climactic everytime (So is Antelope, 2001, Bowie, and
every other long Phish song, but who's complaining?). And the fact is, the
"special-ness" of the Hood opener was lost by them having done it in Philly.
I must admit, I was let down. But they made up for it. Despite the
inevitable and increasingly lame glowstick war, this was a monster Hood.
When the hell is Trey going to stop the music and just say "Hey! Fuckers!
Cut the shit already! This is a nice calm song and we're really working hard
to make it sound incredible. Now sit down and enjoy the music or get the
fuck out of here!"
But I digress.
Back at the Chicken Shack: I thought it was My Soul at first, and I was
pissed. But as I realized what it was and I opened up to the jam I started
really feeling it. An excellent rendition.
Then came a few chords I didn't pick up right away. Through the feedback, I
started hearing Dog Log, but I assured myself that I was inventing songs out
of the noise, as I've been known to do. But, sho nuff, I hear that familiar
riff and "boom!" Dog Log it is. Sa-weet!
Tube followed. Though this is getting to be as common as sunset, but who
cares? Doesn't it rock anyways? I thought this version did.....a lot.
Then Heavy Things. Pop song, Shmop song. It's awesome.
GBOTT: Not my favorite of the new tunes. I liked it better when it was Trey
solo. Now it's only okay, imo. But I wasn't upset.
First Tube: Yay! Finally this tune that tore me up at 9:30 Club done by
Phish. They did not disappoint, what a whopper of a song!
Minestrone: I almost cried. Such perfect melody wound with complexity. I
really love this beautiful song.
YEM:
Why did I leave my review of YEM blank? 'Cause no words will do justice to
this fantastic version. It was just that freakin good. The composed part
was note-for-note, the jam itself was never flat, the vocal jam was a
Kuroda-controlled mindfuck. I won't even attempt to review it. Get the
tapes and find out for yourself.
Set two was an "I Could Sleep" set for me. That means if, for some reason,
I slept through, and consequently missed, the entire set, the show would
still be awesome. When the came out with 2001, I had to sigh. Some things
this weekend were just plain predictable. This was one. My buddy had
mentioned he was primed for a sweet ASZ, so I was psyched for him to get the
song he was looking for. It turned out to be a really good version, with
the crowd participation really sealing the deal.
Sand, sand, sand....I loved this on the Trey tour, and this was my first
Phish attempt. What a great platform for them -- they just launched into
superjam mode. I was thrilled.
Horse > Silent: Like one of the other reviewers, I was really expecting
them to ditch Silent to counterbalance the solo SITM from last week, but
this clean version was fantastic anyway. I have to admit, I absolutely
adore this song. So.....bubbly. Trips me out pretty bad.
Possum. I think I'm the only Phish fan who doesn't really like Possum too
much. I sat through the entire song.
Mike's Song: Back on my feet for the final "sure-thing prediction" of the
stand. I really dig Mike's. I wish I could say this one was epic, but, in
Hampton, expectations are high, and this Mike's only clocks in at "amazingly
awesome."
The segue into Simple was great for me. I've learned to really appreciate
this song as they've learned to really enjoy playing it. I danced right
along with everyone.
Then came Weekapaug, despite what I thought was a push to move into
Hydrogen. I was kinda upset, because I really didn't want the show to end.
Now what the setlist doesn't say it how clean the next segue was. I could
hear Mike's little "Bum, ba-dum dum" bass line creeping up and I leaned over
to my friend Bryan and said something like "I think I hear Buffalo Bill, if
they play it, I'm gonna soil myself."
Well, I nearly was forced to. The real drum line didn't start until after
the lyrics, and I saw Ttrey step up to the mike. We both said, together,
"Looking for Owls?"
I nearly fainted. Finally, my Buffalo Bill! So incredible!
It was short, unfortunately, no BB guitar jam at the end, but the whole band
knew exactly when to re-launch Weekapaug, and that smoooooooooth segue is
worth so much in my book. What proPHISHionals!
As the second Groove wound down, I took a deep breath. Two fantastic
encores blew the roof off, a totally bouncy Ya Mar and a rare Let It Be, I
mean, Sleeping Monkey. If this was only whetting our appetitaes for
Florida, what the hell could be in store for us?!
-Adam S
[email protected]
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 23:35:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Bart Tantillo [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Buffalo Bart 12/18/99
"They take it deadly seriously and completely unseriously at the same
time, which is a real tough trick to pull off." -Richard Gehr
So there we were, one last stand in a tour that saw this band let down
their collective guard on more than one occasion, showing signs of losing
the magic that has made them the best band in the world today, only to
come back like a great prizefighter and knock us out just when it looked
as if they had nothing left. A tour that had all the promise in the world,
had become a few magical nights mixed with more than a few forgettable
ones. But this was Hampton, the Vatican City of Phish Tour, and it was
the last show before what still will be, in my opinion, the single
greatest event in Phish's history, New Year's Eve at the Big Cypress
Seminole Indian Reservation. No room for a letdown, but with the apparent
weight of the world on their shoulders, how could they possibly recover in
time to pull together one classic show? Well in case you forgot, and
perhaps I myself have forgotten for a moment, this is still Phish, and
regardless of what is going on around them, the questions, the doubting,
the insanity of a scene gone sour, they still find a way. Was Saturday
night the best Phish show I have seen? No. Was it the best show of the
year? No. Was it the best show they have played in Hampton? No. But was
it a great Phish show? Oh yes. They did it again folks. Friday night was
by no means a dud of a show, in fact it was a very good show, and had
moments that out shined the best moments of Saturday night. But from
beginning to end, this night was amazing, even with the tired ass Harry
Hood opener, and subsequent glow stick barrage that threatens the safety
of everyone in attendance. Here's a quick review to end a string of
reviews that have caused me to be attacked by some of the people who have
obviously contributed greatly to the deterioration of this scene. You
know who you are too, and in case you forgot, your names are Clint
Bergeson, Brad F, Eric Sommers, and someone called Estobin, just to name a
few.
I.Harry Hood, Back at the Chicken Shack, Dog Log,
Tube, Heavy Things, GBOTT, First Tube, Minestrone, YEM
II.2001>Sand, Horse>Silent in the Morning, Possum,
Mike's Song>Simple>Weekapaug>Buffalo Bill>Weekapaug
E:Yamar, Sleeping Monkey
Well my disdain for Harry Hood is not a secret anymore, and why should
it be. This song is dead and buried as far as I am concerned. As my show
companion and I decided on Saturday, the fact that they played it as the
opener, coupled with the fact that it was now "off the board", was by far
cooler than the actual song itself. I have stated before that the now
tired exercise of flinging glow sticks has gone from a moment of pure
beauty and grace to an ugly war and contest between drunk wannabe hippies
and frat boys to see who can hit the stage and/or other fans. Nobody even
waits until the first section of the song is over anymore, it's like as
soon as Fish hits those opening drum notes, take cover. What a shame.
Not the ideal way to start a show, but from there everything was just
fine. Back at the Chicken Shack is an awesome cover song. What more can
one say about Trey, yes he can play the blues, yes he can pretty much do
anything with his guitar, and yes on some nights he warrants mention in
the same breath as the greatest guitarists in music history. Saturday was
just one of those nights. Dog Log I have heard a few times, and it serves
it's purpose well. More like a sign of the mind frame the band is in than
a show making tune. It's short, has no real room for any sort of jamming,
and yet is ironically the favorite song of sound engineer Paul Languedoc.
Nevertheless, the message was there, regardless of how good or bad of a
song Dog Log is, it was only three songs into the show, and we began to
feel like this would be a great night. Tube was, at risk of sounding like
a sappy internet Phish geek (I am), so stupendous. The middle jam was
spacey and long, Trey really bouncing up on stage, and the crowd was
growing increasingly louder with every passing moment. Then four new
songs in a row, all very good songs at that, and all on the imaginary list
we had made of songs we wanted to hear. Heavy Things, GBOTT, First Tube,
and Minestrone. The Get Back on the Train and First Tube especially stand
out, the former with a longer than usual ending, and the latter with all
the power it could possibly bring, and then some. Trey was, well Trey.
Determined as ever, not missing a beat. The highlight of the first set,
without question, was You Enjoy Myself. Every Phish review ever written
of a show containing You Enjoy Myself, probably has it listed as one of,
if not the highlight of a set/show, and why not, right? Well not really.
I hate to rain on any parades, but I was on the verge of classifying YEM
with some of the other older, bigger songs that had grown stale over the
past year or two. The vocal jams were becoming redundant, and it seemed
to lack the power it had when I first heard live it in the mid-nineties.
However, after Saturday night's version, and I am glad I have a witness
for this, I have a renewed love for the Mount Everest of Phish songs, as I
have called it in the past. I judge YEM's mostly on the music that begins
when Trey and Mike jump off the trampolines, and ends with the vocal jam,
for it is the only time in the song where there is room for any
improvisation. That being said, Saturday's YEM was as good of a version
as I have ever heard live. It seemed like it wasn't ever going to reach
the vocal jam, a move I wouldn't have minded one bit (see Albany
10/10/99). It did however, but it didn't matter. I can still see Trey
rocking back and forth as fast as he could with a huge smile on his face
directed at Mike as they proceeded to kick our collective asses. The
greatest "closer" song in their repertoire, played to it's full potential,
just what the doctor ordered.
Now it was anything goes time. Last tour of the millennium, last set,
Hampton Coliseum, bring it on. 2001, of course, nothing else would have
fit as the opener, this version did not disappoint, and the "Do You Feel
Like I Do" teases from Trey made it all the more special. Man they sure
do have a knack for pulling out something so miniscule, and having it make
a world of difference. Sand was equally incredible, not as good as the
version I heard in Providence last Monday, but not too shabby, Trey once
again playing big. He plays guitar like Michael Jordan playing basketball
in the N.B.A. Finals, always seems to save his best for the biggest
stages. Horse>Silent was cool, nothing spectacular, ditto Possum, not
that these were subpar by any means, they just took a back seat to other
moments in the set, like the 2001, and the Mike's Groove that closed the
show. Wow!!!!!! What can I say about this to do it justice, I probably
shouldn't say anything, at risk of doing it an injustice. Just know it
was hot, man that Simple just comes out of nowhere, what a transition. I
really wanted to hear Buffalo Bill, I always feel it coming at tour ending
shows, but I hadn't heard it since the Centrum in 1997. The
Weekapaug>Buffalo Bill>Weekapaug was the highlight of the night for me,
just because of my affection for it, and hopes that it would make an
appearance. Incredible. Yamar was a sentimental choice as the first
encore, with Trey and Mike alternating those breakdown lines, in an ode to
Trey's deceased grandpa, who used to get mention in the song whenever he
was in attendance and it was played. The lines "He was a good old pa", and
"He was my Grandpa", brought some respectful applause from the crowd, and
were a touching tribute in a way that way only Phish can provide.
Sleeping Monkey, also reduced to a showing at occasional "big" shows, was
a nice mellow way to close a great stand at the Hampton Coliseum. The
legend lives on, and if it is up to me, nobody I know will miss the shows
there the next time Phish is in town.
Finally, a note of thanks to the people who have joined me on the eight
shows I have seen this tour. I apologize to referring to you only as one
half of the "we" during the course of these reviews, but the anonymity is
something to protect you from the harmful "dirties" that have infiltrated
my mailbox (not really). For the first time since I began seeing Phish, I
went through a run of shows on a particular tour without having to go to a
single show alone, and I am grateful to all of you who traveled, from nea
and far, to see this band. You know who you are, old friends and new,
thanks. BT
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 18:56:57 -0500
From: rich.ham [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: hampton shows!
Haven't ever dropped in a review, but this weekend's performances in
Hampton deserves as much praise as can be heaped upon them, so here's me
doing my part: Last night (saturday) was one of the best concerts I've
ever seen--even in the ballpark of 12-31-95 and a handful of top notch
dead shows. The boys dropped bomb after bomb. Rather than run through the
whole list, I'll just say this: virtually everything was played better
than you could ever hope for it to be played--and the setlist clearly
speaks for itself. The Hood had second set closer energy, and it opened
the show! Truly comparable with any of your all-time favorite Hoods.
First Tube was fantastic and YEM was divine funk, with even a quick taste
of the late-jam progression common to late '95 YEMs i.e. Albany, MSG. My
friends and I commented at intermission that we felt like we had already
seen a wholly satisfying concert.
Little did we know what we were in store for in set two. I don't know
how long the 2001-Sand combination was--probably around 35-40
minutes. The sequence may be among the most cosmically groovy live music
played by any band, anywhere, ever. I remember being thrilled at one
point during Sand to realize that musical expression as we know it on
planet earth had finally evolved to the point where I was just sure that
we were grooving to the same type of shit that more highly evolved
life-forms in distant galaxies must also groove to. If you were there,
you know what I mean. The shit was out of this world. Oh, yeah--and they
finished with a Mikes package that I suppose was as good or better than
anything all weekend. They just kept raising the bar, as they have for
years. What a special weekend, and what a special way to close out the
tour. A quick shout out to Wilz/Ben, who missed the weekend due to a
freaky car accident--thank god you guys are OK. Peace to all--rich
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:55:30 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: hampton. sat night
what show was that one dude at? FLUFFHEAD?.......he must have been jamming
to this tune in his head. probably had a great time, huh buddy!?! DAVID R.
ALLEN.......I WANT WHAT YOU GOT!!!!!!!!
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 21:39:46 -0500
From: Susan Blevins [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12-18-99
Hood...feeling good from the get go.
Back at the chicken shack.....Got the poultry pluckin blues.
Dog Log.....Paul's favorite. "In fact, he likes it so much...we're gonna
play it again."
Tube.....Hell yeah. So stupendous.
Heavy Things....Raleigh two nights ago....good song though.
Get back on the train......RALEIGH TWO NIGHTS AGO
1st Tube.....Oh man oh man. This song....oh man.
Minestrone.....If Trey played this song at every show in every set for
every song...I'd still be cool with it.
YEM....had to call Eugene in Boone, NC when they busted out this one.
Set one...4 of 5.
Set numero dos
2oo1...."Do you feel....like I do?" Phramton came alive!
Sand....RALEIGH TWO NIGHTS AGO! I love this song though.
Horse>Silent....I thought they were going to leave of Silent to
compensate for the Silent on foot a few shows back. Nothing special.
Possum....what else can I say except...RALEIGH TWO FUCKING NIGHTS AGO.
Better version this time at least.
Mike's: Raleigh??? What the hell is Raleigh??
>Simple: What is a band without sky scrapers??? It ain't shit.
Weekapaug: Michael Jordan slappin the hell out of her.
>Buffalo Bill????:......???? Looking for owls?? More like my mind. It
was just here a minute ago.
>Weekapaug.....this guy told me, before the show, Phish was a bunch of
aliens and Hampton Coliseum is their spaceship. I almost believed him
during the segue back into the groove.
Set two:4.3 of 5
Encores:
Yamar: Trey pays respects to his grand father. "He was my grand pa".
Sleeping Monkey: Called it. What a way to close the last tour in this
millineum than the song that sends us home on a train...with a
monkey...that's asleep?
Encores: 4.7 of 5
Overall: 4.5 of 5
And I'm spent. See you in Florida.
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 01:22:07 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Amazing
Phish did an amazing job this past weekend. This past summer I left a
little note rather than and all out review and I heard about it from many
people... I just don't want to bug you with a song by song... when it is
left by so many others that know so much more than I do. Anyways, I
thought that they did amazing on Saturday (as well as friday and this past
wed.) This was by far my best show out of the four I have been to. Opening
with Hood was great... we go to see the THIRD ever Hood opener. The second
set opener was GREAT.... 2001 was amazing. The lights looked great from I
guess what would be third row... but I couldnt see the whole effect. I was
happy to see YEM.... but I had seen it this past wed. as the first set
closer..... that was disappointing... but it was an amazing YEM. Silent
in the Morning was a shocker to me but totally amazing. I was very happy
to hear a weekapaug and (although I expected it) a Mike's. What an amazing
week.Thanks Kowitz, Lowy, Weiner and Stefie for an amazing weekend. Can't
wait til this summer. (Loving cup was totally amazing on friday. what an
awesome song.)
-Linz
Maryland
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:22:37 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: hampton
HAMPTON 18TH
this show was unbelievable!!!!! hood was a great opener, got the crowd
really going. the chicken shack was definetley funky, and i didnt see a
single person not dancing. first tube was one of the best, and who would
have thought trey would whip out the acoustic for minestrone?? a great
surprise...and then oh yes, we were expecting it, YEM!! mike had a great
solo, and the unbelievable lighting towards the end, along with the vocal
jam made it the best one ever.
2001-a great opener to the second set, great jamming. silent in the
morning with some great vocals from trey...he was definetley on tonite.
possum...who would have thought...the second time in 3 nights!! a great
version. at this point, my hopes for some mike's groove were slowly
fading...but wait, here i was!!! a great mike's song into simple, i
thought i could hear page trying to get the band go into hydrogen, but
they skipped out on it, and went straight into weekapaug!!! man this
concert was insane...the crowd was off the hook!!!!! then buffalo bill
and back into weekapaug to end...i thought the first set would be hard to
top off, but they came pretty close there in the second.
ya mar was great, and fish's monkey solo at the end was stupendous. great
show overall, one of the greats. definetley a 9 or higher. take it easy
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 15:23:43 CST
From: jason smith [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: hampton99II
I like Phish for a lot of reasons. I love that you never know what to
expect. They can play concise songs or extended grooves. They can be
lyricaly focused or instrumental. On the second night of their Hampton
shows Phish came out swinging with a kind of rock n' roll that only they
do.
They focused on instrumental pieces that carry a groove that many people
that have never been to the Phish show think is only found in electronica.
It is not really found even there.
Harry Hood opened this second night. All of the various flourecent items
phans had brought were not used up yet. Balloons, glowsticks, and glow
rings were everywhere. I was reminded of the big energy experiment
between crowd and performers that is the Phish show. The band weaved in
and out of there classic composition deftly. They are so unbelievably
talented. By the end of the song everyone at Hampton was feeling good
about more than just Hood.
I haven't heard Back at the Chicken Shack since last year in South
Carolina.
It pulled the crowd into a new kind of groove. It really highlighted
how different the instrumental groove can be for this band. Nice Choice.
Dog Log was a goofy old school shot in the arm for everybody. It was
about this time that I knew we were really in for it. Phish was clearly
having fun. They dedicated the song to Paul Languadoc and started to play
it again. It really translates over to the crowd when the boys are having
a good time.
I love Tube. This sound is one of the places where Phish really seems to
spearhead Rock music. People like to dance. Phish really gives an
opportunity by playing electronica reminiscent grooves.
Heavy things hints at this same tip. There is a steady ping that comes
from Fishman that keeps the crowd moving. I love the lyrics too. The
crowd was in a frenzy and Phish wasn't letting up.
Get back on the Train has become a favorite of mine. Crowd response made
it apparent that I wasn't alone. Trey took subtle aproaches, at times in
this song, that carried more power than more assertive riffs could have.
I thought the first set should have been about to end.
wrong
More disco, more Tube, First Tube that is. This style of play just kicks
ass. Everyone was losing their minds. People were gettin down over here,
they were gettin' down over there. People were throwin' there hands in
the air, waving them like they didn't even care!!!
This was my first Ministrone. Very nice. Trey has got mad skills on the
guitar and a took a moment to show us a little something. I thought the
set was over but. . . .
Instead they whip out YEM!!! Good Lord. . . . Someone please help me my
brain has blown through the top of my head. The light show was rediculous
especially during the fantastic vocal jam to polish off an amazing first
set.
The band took a nice leisurly set break that was just long enough for me
to pull myself together.
2001, 2001, 2001, yeah thats right uh huh. We love this song we cant get
enough of the funk. We dont need no lyrics. Give it up for Mike Gordon
ladies and gents baddest bass man on the planet. Whats that yeah go ahead
and tease Frampton so we can freak out more than we already are. Yeah
that's right Phish Jams.
Sand is so Phat. Phish is all about the dance groove on Hampton's second
night. I'm sweatin, I'm dancin, everybody was just grinning and shaking
there butts.
I really wanted to hear me some Silent in the Morning and I knew it was
coming at us when Trey sang The Horse.
Silent in the Morning brought a bliss over the crowd. Page is where it's
at. The for guys in this band just allow one another to create such a
spectrum of sound. My eyes were rolling back in my head from euphoria by
the time they finished this tune up.
Possum, Possum, Possum is such a happy song. It just makes me feel good.
It had a really nice effect on the rooms energy. Phish has got this
groove to a science so it doesn't offer anthing unexpected. Of course,
why would you tamper with such a great song. Mike's voice was sounding
good.
His voice was sounding even better when they tore into the obligatory
Hampton Mike's Groove. Mike's Song and Weekapaug surounded an uplifting
Simple. As if they hadn't already done enough, Buffalo Bill was inserted
into Weekapaug. End of a terrific second set.
Hampton Coliseum was deafening while we waited for Phish to return to the
stage.
Return they did with Ya Mar. This song was perfect. How does Phish know
just what to play all the time. People were dancing, singing along. After
such a long show perhaps this would be the only encore.
OR MAYBE THEY WOULD PLAY A SICK VERSION OF SLEEPING MONKEY, LIKE THEY DID
TO CLOSE OUT A WONDERFUL WEEKEND TO CLOSE OUT THERE PRE MILLENIUM INDOOR
PERFORMANCES!
THANKS GUYS!!!
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:55:30 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: hampton. sat night
what show was that one dude at? FLUFFHEAD?.......he must have been
jamming to this tune in his head. probably had a great time, huh buddy!?!
DAVID R. ALLEN.......I WANT WHAT YOU GOT!!!!!!!!
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 02:43:17 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12-18
Sweetest thing all evening, besides the fact that this show was incredible
from beginning to end, no slack no letdown, pure adrenaline thoughout...
Trey giving his grandpa props during the Ya Mar...
Brought tears to the eye...
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 12:36:27 -0600
From: Greg James [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12.18.99
I know that this is a little late, but I'm still trying to put the
pieces of my head back together. I'm not going to get into too much
detail since the shows have been reviewed as they deserve to be. All I
really have to say is that Phish is the GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME.
Period. They can play whatever they want, but no one can play Phish.
What they pulled off on Saturday night was something words cannot really
express...you kinda had to be there. It was by far one of the best, if
not the best, show I've ever seen. It was absolutely magnificent!!! It
was, like the aftershow passes said, The Clinic. For me it was the band
proving everyone who doubted them wrong, and proving everyone who loved
them the love still remains. They schooled us, plain and simple. Bottom
line is don't take the band for granted!!! Be grateful they are willing
to play for us as often as they do, and hold on to the moment for as
long as you can. Peace & Love to Eric from NY and his peeps, Jessica &
Andrew, TK, Bill and his boys, and the guy (who I don't even know) who
kicked down the aftershow pass which my girlfriend ended up getting,
bless her little heart!! And to everyone else who participated in the
disco funk dance party which was Hampton. See ya in Florida.
Phunky Pharoah
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 21:30:57 MST
From: Ben Moore [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/18/99
hi folks, this is my first review so here goes. just for reference i have
seen the boys 45 times since 93. if what i have to say seems to preachy,
don't read it. if you have negative things to say about this show, what
the hell are you doing taking up space at the show? sat. in hampton was
the sick funk bomb show that makes us do what we do to see phish, whatever
it takes in most cases. i understand that people get their expectations
up for shows like this, phish is pretty damm good at living up to them.
however, if you don't want to be disapointed, ever, go in with the
attitude that whatever they play, you were supposed to hear. i realize
that i am incredibly lucky and that things generally work out for me at
shows (especially when i go alone), but if you couldn't get it on for this
one, go home. i'm not going to go into detail about the set list, there is
no need. the first set was sick, everything a first set should be, lots
of tight grooves, a nice break and then a beautiful climax in YEM. i
actually heard people bitching about the Hood, "you can't do two Hood
openers on an 18 day tour" what do you want? furthermore who the hell are
you to tell the band what they can and can't do? i called the 2001 opener
which always makes things fun, however, there is no way to say that this
set was anything less than phish at thier best. the super space funk that
never stops. chris toying with our minds while the band toys with our
bodies and souls. i spent the whole show at the back of the floor and
danced like i haven't danced in a long time, if ever. i know the people
around me would say the same thing. anyway, the funk that started in 2001
and sand blew my head apart, and didn't let the wounds heal until the last
note of sleeping monkey.
mostly what i want to say is that this is as good as it gets. in the
money driven, consumer based, me first society that we live in, you will
not find a better thing than a show like hampton. for all you rich white
kids, like me (even if you don't think that you are rich, compare yourself
to the other 5.8 billion people in the world who don't live in america),
realize that this is our music, cherish it, be thankful for it and when
you are lucky enough to hear it live, dance your ass off. these guys are
not going to play music forever, don't bitch, count your blessings every
time you get to hear a single note.
be safe in florida, treat each other well (this is what really makes a
show the best that it can be) and remember that whatever they play, it is
for you. above all, be grateful for the time we have together with
nothing to do but dance!
i know this whole thing sounds a little tripe, i just felt the need to
write. i don't know if anyone will even read it, if you do, thanks.
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 14:55:48 -0500
From: pete [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/18/99 review
the 2nd night was sure to top the first, which by any standards was a
little lame for a hampton show....and this night had everything one
could ask for-rare tunes, classics, new tunes, and a quiet acoustic tune
set I
Hood-welcome home! hampton is the home of harry hood, and a hood show
opener is nothing short of amazing
Chicken Shack- nice to hear, the first of the tour and a very nice blues
solo by page
Dog Log-crowd went nuts, trey talked about how they wanted to play it
again and they played a few notes right after finishing.....always a
treat to hear a rare tune like dog log
Tube- no let downs yet! nice and funky, cool work on the keys by trey
instead of the usual loops-not as good as the hampton 98 tube, but it
was sweet none the less
Heavy Things- again! wow, trey must love this one-i think it (along w/
jennifer dances) show his desire to be a pop star more then ever-man,
this one should go back into the bag
Get back on the Train-even if it is sorta the same every time, GBOTT
offers a sweet beat by fishman and nice funky bass by mike-good vocals
as well
First Tube- hell yeah! at least not all the trey solo tunes are pop
songs! this one should be around for a while-great lights to go along w/
the build up to the trey solo
Minestrone-crowd got really quiet to hear this one-cool to hear but i am
not sure that a soft acoustic number belongs in an arena...but nice
acoustic work by trey, but i think it might be better suited to his solo
show then phish
YEM-the first ever in hampton and it was a stellar YEM-very funky, had
the place going nuts and a extended vocal jam which seemed longer then
ones in the past year or so.
set II
2001-oh my god! this one was the shit! the "do you feel" tease was
classic-trey sounded just like peter frampton, and then called page "bob
mayo" or something like that-but a sweet 2001, just what the crowdd
wanted-blast off from the mothership!
Sand-really extended jam after the lyric section, more space funk 2001
type jamming but not quite as tight-this one is almost at that level but
it rages even now
Horse>Silent-great vocals by page, but i wish they would have saved it
for NYE but oh well i guess they can play it in big cypress as well
Possum-really long intro, page was jamming thru the whole song, mike
belted out the lyrics better then the last few times i have seen it
Mike's- straigh ahead mike's. always a classic but not anything out of
this world
Simple-segue by trey, they hit the vocals better then ever-really
playing this one well now
Weekapaug- slapping away at his bass, mike looked like he was really
enjoying the crowd going nuts and it was funk, funk, funk...then it
started to slow down-a nice reggae beat was coming by fishman-could it
be???
Buffalo Bill- YES!!! my favorite song! a nice segue from weekapaug, then
it was fishman's turn to make the band's choice as to what to play-mike
was sick on this-really short but then again it always is..back in to...
Weekapaug-just the final vocal section really, but the crowd was insane
after this one!
encore: Ya Mar-really cool to hear as an encore (when was the last Ya
Mar encore?) mike nailed th vocals and fishman had 2 solos....very nice
island feel to it
Sleeping Monkey-when this started, everyone was in awe-what a bonus!
when fishman stood up to sing his lines, trey got really out of his way
so everyone could see him w/o him standing in the way...awesome end to a
great show
overall-i would say this rates up with both shows from 98 and the first
night of 97-great setlist and didnt have a true slow tune to kill the
mood-i would give this one about an 8.5 or 9-not a show for the ages,
but one of the best you could ask for-see you all at big cypress!!!
by: rick derris
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 00:16:27 -0500
From: David R. Allen [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: awwww yeah!
Tonight's show was the bomb that doesn't stop! Let me explain.
Beforehand I just hung out with some buds ; ). Then i went to the show
all by myself. That's when I met up with some phellow phans, and it was
sweet. We all got in a circle and puffed some stink kind for, oh it had
to be 15 minutes. The only bad part was it was kinda windy so the
lighter kept going out, oh well.
On to the show. First set raged. Initially Gordon was laying down some
phat bombs at the beginning of Harry Hood, I thought perhaps he was
leading us into "Bouncin", but we were not to be quite that lucky
tonight, even though we were still lucky because of, that's right>>>
Trey wailed so hard. I thought my head would explode during some of the
solos, everyone was all like "when will he stop", and "it's too
intense", but he never did. He just reached back into his sack and
pulled it out, bones and all. Totally raw. A bit later came YEM, now I
have this song on "A Live One" so I wasn't too thrilled to hear it,
plus I had to piss so I skipped out on this tune, hoping to avoid lines
during set break.
Next was the set break, it was boring. I thought maybe something funny
would happen, but this was not to occur this night. Although I did get
some Nerds that the guy behind me had. Too bad it wasn't hits though ; )
.
Next came set two, the only things I can say about this is FLUFFHEAD,
the reason I am so happy about this is I love to puff fluffy nugs. I
feel that perhaps Phish played this tonight because they saw me in the
audience and could just tell I love Fluffy nugs. The rest of the set
raged on, Fish was not happy though. Don't ask me why. Mike's groove was
sweet, although I still wish Mike's was called Microdot like in the old
days, for obvious reasons.
All in all ,a sweet show, I love it! Trey was on tonight, just like on
"A Live One". btw, did anyone else notice Page's ummmm, how do I say
this, "woody" he was sporting during the encore. Yikes! Hey don't point
that thing at me! ROFLMAO !
See ya'll in Phlorida!
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 03:19:09 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: dec18 1999-my review
Going to this show with not very high expectations I came home very
satisfied. The night before had let me down,and I thought that I was going
to be let down again but they proved me wrong. They put on an awesome
show,Hood as an opener!! I never expected that chicken shack was very
funky ,and then there was a very interesting DogLog ,Tube was interesting
but it was a little spacey,next was heavy things was fun ,and thenthere
was get back on the train -kind of decent. First Tube was alright and then
the little acoustic ditty , Minestrone. Finally a classic ,YEM , I love
that tune and this one was real funky.
Second set was real cool , I never expected a 2001 ,with
teases of a Frampton song and Sand was Intense .During the horse> silent I
tried to make my way to the front and see them up close and personal, i
was there for about 2 seconds and I think I made some people angry so me
and my friend left and went back to where we were before.then a posssm
that was insane ,and FINALLY Mikes ,I had beeen waiting for that ,they
always play a Mikes Groove at Hampton. I was hoping they would maybe play
a standard mikes groove with Hydrogen in the middle but of course they had
to play Simple, although the Buffalo Bill was very cool , with Weekapaug
closing the set I was definitly satisfied with their performance tonight.
The encore was great YA MAR > Sleeping monkey,that was awesome!!I ahd
a lot of fun and PHISH proved to me that they are still awesome and they
can play some shows that reaaly arent that great and some that are just
amazing!
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 01:30:04 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: (no subject)
The show tonight in hampton was awsome. Best one I ever seen out of 11.
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 12:34:30 -0800 (PST)
From: jason streitfeld [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Review: Hampton, 12-18-99
Ok, this was my 36th show overall - my 21st this year, and my 4th this
tour. It was the best show i've seen all year - right up there with
12-30-97 and 4-3-98, imo.
Set I:
Hood: wow!
Chicken Shack: nice and tight - groovy and rockin at the same time!
Dog Log: WOW! tighter than any version i've heard on tape - they really
took this one seriously, musically speaking!
Tube: Insane space funk!
Heavy Things: for some reason i can't get sick of this one. great song,
beautifully melodic performance, as always.
GBOTT: as in Raleigh, this one has a new arrangement - tighter, it
doesn't really have the same feeling as it used to, you can't hear the
train coming and going like you used to.
First Tube: rockin as always!
minestron: beautiful - mike took the opportunity to get in some nice
licks underneath trey's soloing. and i swear i heard a frankie says tease
in there!
YEM: words cannot do it justice. i'll just say this - the tramps segment
jammed like i've never heard before!
set II:
2001: The Framton Comes Alive tease took this one from magnificent to
legendary! from the beginning, CK5's spaceship was out of control!
Sand: more of the same - i thought the Raleigh version was unbelievable,
but this one was just as good, if not better.
Horse->Silent: made me remember why i love this song - they are really
focusing on opening up their arrangements - this was a serious
performance!
Possum: huge!! happy to hear this one again, too, even though raleigh's
version was totally satisfying!
Mike's: WOW!! I thought we'd get one, maybe two more songs. this was
great placement, and it just rocked!! i'd say it was about 10 minutes
before we were led, via the traditional arranged segue, into . . .
Simple: great version - everyone was on fire! beautiful jam, kind of
ended, then . . .
Weekapaug: definite highlight of entire show!! the jam was so tight, but
not rushed - it got really intense, then funked out so smoothly into . . .
Buffalo Bill: ok, this is really what made weekapaug the highlight -
flawless, smooth, thick, funky, everything you could ever want from this
song! then they dropped it right back into . . .
Weekapaug: fiery closure - i don't know if i was laughing or crying, but
i was sure of one thing - the tour Gods were shining down on us!
Encore:
Ya Mar: i wasn't really happy with this choice at first, but page's solo
changed my mind very quickly, as did the overall jam - i don't remember
how it ended.
Sleeping Monkey - great choice, i'm not always happy to see this one, but
again, they reminded me how poweful this one can be. nice and long
version - they took their time.
that's all i have to say - wonderful show - thank you, all of you, for the
vibes!
peace,
-j
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:38:01 -0500
From: Ross Fraser [email protected]
Reply-To: Ross Fraser [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12-18-99
this really isn't a review except that i was wondering if anyone saw the
YEM in DC because the ending from vocal jam out was the same at hampton
and in DC just wondering if anyone else caught that?
thanx,
Ross Fraser
http://www.phishhook.com/lists/hookah
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 12:44:09 -0500
From: J.J.
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sat. Night Hampton Review
It's Sunday 12:45 and I just got back up to Jersey after an all-nght
drive from Hampton, VA. It was my twentieth Phish show and it just may
have been the best one yet. I really don't have to say much about the
setlist. Anyone can see that it was clearly sick, in that sense. But
what they did with it.... Amazing! The Hood opener was just rediculous
(i criscened my new bowl at this point) and got the crow into the show
right away. Also, the atmosphere was really chill, which added to very
positive viblations. Hampton is such a sick venu. It's really hard to
say what the highlights were. All four were playing so perfectly
together. YEM- sick and rediculous and one of the best, if not the best,
that I've ever seen. 2001 - ever so delightful with the "Do You Fell..."
tease from "Frampton Comes Alive." We went nuts at that point. Awesome
Sand jam. After Possum we're like, "What a phat show. What's this 'last'
song going to be? (I think it was about i hr. into the 2nd set)," and
they bust out Mike's. Holy shit! And the transition into Simple couldn't
have gone any smoother. The same for the transition back into Weekapaug.
Buffalo Bill - words cannot describe the way I was feeling right now.
And I couldn't have dreamed of a smoother way back into Weekapaug. Trey
just gave Fish a little grance and POW! - right back into it. Best Ya Mar
I've ever heard. And a tasty Sleeping Monkey to close it off. That was
the low point of the show, but awesome anyway, although many disagree.
Overall - A truly clasic Phish show. A must-get on tape or disc.
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 12:26:27 -0500
From: RANDY SHERMAN [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12-18 hampton show
since no one else has reviewed it yet, i'll comment on the last show of
the tour (before big cypress of course). i don't have much to say about
it since i didn't make it last night. this was the first time in about
four years that i haven't made it to the hampton shows. i'm sure they
were both pretty decent since the band always blows it up in hampton.
so, until someone who actually went last night writes in, this is all
you've got! hope to see everyone in florida for new years. peace
greg
[email protected]
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 12:41:41 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Do u feel... jam 12/18
Hi I just wanted to point out something about the "Do u feel like we do"
jam in 2001 Some real lucky fan(s), made a banner asking for "do u
feel..." and they played it just for them.... very cool last nights show
was sick. Next to G.Woods and deer creek, I say this was the best show of
tour
Thanx
Brian
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 05:53:47 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/18/99 show review
I could write a bunch of stuff.. but the bottom line is
THIS SHOW WAS SICK
OFF THE HOOK
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 13:12:35 -0500
From: Margaret Siegel [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/18/99
it was kickass.
best songs were Possum, 2001, and that acoustic song
kickass!!!!!!
click here to return to the 1999 reviews page
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