12-30-99 -- Seminole Indian Reservation, Big Cypress, Florida

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Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 18:43:07 PST
From: Andrew Rose [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/30/99 Review
 
12/30/99 Big Cypress, FLA
 
After hearing this show's highlights for second third and seventh times, I
figured it was time I gave this show some attention in light of all the
(merited) emphasis being put on 12/31. Now, I'll be the first to say 12/31
is my number one show of all time, and you can read my review as to why ...
gotta love the Love Supreme SOAM ... and that's only in the 1st set ... but
to the task at hand:
 
Overall, 12/30 contained some absolutely amazing moments. It had its softer
spots, but I definetly classify it as one of the best shows of 99.
 
First off, Light Up or Leave me Alone had a fabulous jam. Its not incredibly
long, but its sweet. Its takes off pretty quickly, and part way into it,
Mike hits the Jiboo bass line. Could've segued quite easily but instead Trey
took the jam for a bit more of a ride and then ended it. Very nice.
 
The Ghost was terrific as always. Tasty space rock. Not as good as that
Portland, OR version (holy shit that's a monster...) but very good.
 
Ya Mar was neat too. It seemed like they tried to bring around the techno
jamming at the end, but it didn't quite materialize. Still great, and better
than your typical Ya Mar, but nothing compared to the 12/8 version. I'm
still trying to find those amazing Portland shows on mp3 ... anyone got an
FTP site for me?
 
Set two was a bit of a marathon. A sign of things to come. Wilson open
things up in fine fashion. The boys were extremely tight through this
version. Again, it didn't go on too long, but this Wilson had a nice
original sound to it. I'm not much of a Wilson fan, but this version was
nice.
 
Oh, how I love Curtain. Can't complain, and what's more, it was followed by
Tweezer. This Tweezer may have the tightest, intricate and uplifiting
composed section I've ever heard. I remember being at the show and thinking
they could just play the verse this way ovwer and over and I'd be happy. The
only let down of the jam was that it ended. Absolutely fantastic Tweezer. I
only wish they streched out the end part of the jam more and brought out the
techno sound. Instead that Taste segue can be spotted a mile away and boom,
Taste. One of the only times I was sorry to here the song, and the version
was average.
 
I thought the set was over with the Wolfman's ... a version similar to the
12/7 one if I recall correctly. Much potential, but nothing mind blowing.
Then came a boring Jiboo. Yup, boring. Trey's solo was VERY predictable. No
matter. The Hood was beautiful and unexpected - the way I like 'em. And Good
Times Bad Times was the perfect closer, and a kick-ass version. All in all,
the set had some excellent moments, but Trey seemed a little lost in places
with a few predictable solos. He redeemed himself in set 3.
 
A typically rocking Chalkdust opened. The groove to the Moma to start off
was SO mellow, so thick, so danceable. "They could play this all night" a
friend said, and he was right ... but of course they didn't. I only wish
Trey wouldn't go back to that same riff when they move out of the funk - it
kills jam potential.
 
AH the Antechnolope. My new favorite, taking over from the 12/29/97 version.
A tight intro, a sick raging jam and some of the coolest sounding keyboard
work I've ever heard from Page AND Trey at the breakdown part. They traded
lines like it was an 8 bit Nintendo game gone mad. Must hear.
 
Can you believe they busted out a Mike's Groove too? Okay, so they did the
Simple thing, which I'm not a big fan of, but this Mike's opened up some
crazy fucking Vortex. The lights and smoke during the jam were fucking
insane, but the noises coming from the stage were even crazier. I can't
describe it, here it for yourself. The interesting thing is that the
composed section was extremely mellow, tight and optimistic. This jam was
chaotic, dark and mysterious, and I LOVED IT.
 
Boogie On>Tweeprise made a nice encore, although I don't know if I can here
the Stevie song anymore after discovering the 9/18 version. It's 20 minutes
long and has some of the best jamming Phish has done in 99. Right up there
with the Boise Bag and those monsters from 12/31. Page smokes on the clav.
But that's an entirely different show ...
 
Andrew

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 17:07:51 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30/99 review Okay, I only have little notes that I jotted down and a heaping brainload of memories so I might flake on descriptions here and there...when I get the tapes I can give a much more detailed review, but here goes anyway: 12/30/99-I Water In The Sky-I called this song as my twisted little vision of a sunrise song for the overnight set, instead they open the whole shebang with it! I have to admit, it was very surreal to be at a huge Phish concert in this strange tropical swamp with the sun blaring in your face before it sets and helicopters flying around the stage. It was even more surreal to the happy electric bluegrass soundtrack that Phish provided, but people went nuts on the "Filter out the Evergaldes" line. An appropriate opener, but for the first part of this set, we were in a terrible spot and could hardly hear the music, deep drunken conversations in front of us didn't help much...time to scope out a new spot. Light Up and Leave Me Alone-As soon as they started this up I looked around a bit puzzled...I know this song, but from where? It's an old song...what is it? Then to find out they hadn't played it since '88? They were pulling out some cool stuff already. However, midway through this song I had the uncontrollable urge to go to the bathroom which is usually this Pavlovian ritual I go through upon hearing Farmhouse...go figure. Suzy Greenburg-I'm in line at the bathroom now, can hardly hear the music and it's my first Suzy! I was psyched to be present for it, but I was a little bummed that I couldn't enjoy it under the speakers in all its glory. Page's solo was great though. Corrina, Corrina-Still in line for the bathroom when this familiar ditty hit my ears. They hadn't played this since '89...perhaps some more old old stuff will be in the works tonight? Great soloing by Trey, but as the sound wasn't that great where I was it wasn't on my mind too much. Limb By Limb-Still in line for the bathroom, and I hear there's vacant ones on the other side of the venue...doh! I miss another great jam, but I could hear enough of it to know it was the first big-ish jam of the evening. Che Hun Ta Mo/Gator Song-Couldn't hear much of the onstage banter while in the eternal bathroom line, but I did hear Chief Jim Billie welcome us. This was a very cool moment, and I was digging the Chief's tunes, it seemed the crowd was too as he was a fun prescence onstage and probably a trip for him to be playing in front of 80,000 people. Got back to our spot at the end of this tune and managed to move to some speakers. Possum-If people were thinking the show hadn't picked up yet (I thought the more casual beginning was most welcome), it had by now. While not the longest, jammiest or insane Possum, it definitely picked up the pace and got everyone moving again. Farmhouse-Well, I heard it and I didn't go to the bathroom...am I cured? I like this song, but it doesn't get me excited like the others. Hell, the band was sounding great, this song was no exception. Ghost-My first big highlight of the evening. Some chatters had moved away from us, and the sound had really cleared up. I was really able to groove and listen. This Ghost was very colorful and went through some very well strung together changes. It really did that in my ears, they would be jamming on a color and just like the spectrum, would fade into the next color...the transition smooth but the color very different. Mike was really on, they all were, but he really stood out. Trey didn't fly off on solos, but added very spacey melodies to the canvas. Jon was solid as always, changing up the groove and resolving back. Page seemed to be laying the down the canvas itself, combining to make a new hue with each idea. It ended very suddenly, not dying out at all but concluding itself well. A good long exploratory jam...things were only getting better. Ya Mar-Everyone was pretty psyched to hear this, it fit the climate well. Usual Ya Mar fun, some great soloing by Page. Character Zero-While I really love this song, I usually expect the jam to be a Trey solo. This usually holds true except in cases like Vancouver and here. The jam shimmered with sonic diamonds, Trey steered you through an asteroid field, all the while Page, Mike and Jon splitting the atoms to power the reactor. A great closer in all cases, but a hint that we were really in for it if we were unprepared for the rest of what was to come. 12/30/99-II Wilson-At this point my theory about them touching on some older stuff seems to be coming true. A wall of sound, people in my section were chanting "Wiiiiiiilsooooon...." as if the tyrant were there himself. A rocking version, but it did seem a bit short. The Curtain-Wow! Busting out the Curtain. This song has so many cool twists and turns, it reminds me of Yes in many ways. They pulled it off flawlessly and it sounded great! Everyone was psyched to hear it. Tweezer->-Apparently, Curtain segued into Tweezer, but I don't remember a segue. A lot of folks bitch about Tweezer, then bitch about the band not jamming enough. Tweezer is a vehicle for anything-goes type jamming IMO. This Tweezer was shining, sparkling. Arena rock in the middle of a cowpasture. While not a particularly mellow Tweezer, it was not over the top either. Very tasteful and melodic jamming and a terrific segue into Taste. Taste-I heard the arpeggiated D chord bubbling out of Tweezer. Not only was I impressed by the way Tweezer oozed into Taste, but I love this song too! The "psyche-gospel" groove of this song always gets me going, and the soloing here was beautiful. A tough song to pull off. Meat-I'm not the biggest fan of the song itself, it's a bit sparse, but it grooves nicely and is fun to hear live. Last time I heard it was in Vegas when it was still relatively new. The constant start and stops were hilarious and you could see Trey cracking up on the video screens when they'd start it up again with that awkward drumfill. They started it up 5 times I think, I thought they were going to keep that up all night. I often read people's feelings of Phish not having fun on stage anymore...it seemed to me they were very obviously having a blast throughout this WHOLE festival. Golgi Apparatus-A tight version and a new experience to hear 80,000 people screaming "I saw you with a ticket stub in your hand!" The light show was dead on. A fun version. Wolfman's Brother-I was there, I was listening...they played this? A standard version, a little slow, even a little short. Not much was memorable from this version...it was good, but '99 doesn't seem to be the year of the Wolfman. Gotta Jiboo-Heard Trey's funky little riff, knew that one of my new faves was starting up. Everyone seems to be into this song, rightfully so. It grooved nicely, and the jam went out into a very danceable space. Mike even let go of the bassline a little, leading them into some interesting territory, but it was shortlived. This song is too short, even if it goes on for ten minutes. Harry Hood-This song came earlier than I thought it would, but looking back I guess it was good placement. A beautiful jam, not the best I've ever heard. I guess there was a glowstick war, but I didn't notice at all...seems I was more into this Harry than I thought. Good Times Bad Times-An excellent set closer...and they were going to do more after this! Trey was on fire, the whole band surged with an urgency and pure nasty rock and roll loudness that would have made Led Zeppelin start reading Family Circus. If there ever was a roof over Big Cypress, there was no hope of it ever returning to Earth now. 12/30/99-III Chalkdust Torture-Proof that there would be no lull in this set. Chalkdust raged as always, at times you could hear the uncertainty where they might have thought of bringing the song to a close but just said "to hell with it...my fingers are on fire!" and carried it on, much to our delight. MOMA Dance-I knew it would be coming, but when? The thickest MOMA I have ever heard is still 7/19/98 at Shoreline, but this one had a nice lengthy intro and great Clav work by Page. People were groovin hard to this as it is a great vehicle for thick gooey sounds and all those other great sounds that only Phish seem able to make. Antelope-I turned to my gal at the first notes of this and merely said "uh-oh". They simply were not going to let up. After the usual craziness they slipped into some really cool space. Trey hopped on his keys and was making some whacked out sounds with Page, weaving in between the beats and creating this groove that almost put you into convulsions riding it. The Sloth-Another old rarity, and another nod to the obviously anticipated Gamehendge set. A cool one to be around for, never one of my faves on tape but it is way cooler live. Not the easiest song to dance to, and a lot of people looked confused. When the Circus Comes-We heard this song a lot on Fall tour, but Trey really loves to sing it. That was made apparent to me as I watched him on the giant video screens. The look on his face when he sang it, it was like he had lived the song itself, perhaps that's what draws him to it. Mike's->-Okay, this is where things got really weird. Not only did the crowd go nuts to be treated to this the night before New Years, but we got the most evil version. While Mike is singing, Page is providing the backbone instead of Treys riff. Instead of the riff, Trey takes the most delicate, understated solos to compliment the general feel of the verse. But after the song part of Mike's is over, "delicate" no longer exists. As happy and good as Phish is, this Mike's is pure evil. The jam would just build and build, but instead of going to the chord changes that signify the end or at least a new direction, they brought Lucifer himself on stage to jam. I don't know what or who it could have been making whichever sound, but this nasty evil chord just rang, Mike was dirge city, Jon was pounding away, Trey was playing these evil chords and I guess it was Page who was making these messed up keyboard sounds that twisted our reality into this dark mass of brimstone crashing into the Earth. I could have sworn I heard someone (possibly Fishman) growling "Hell..." in a death metal voice while the cameras zoomed in on the candles onstage. It was funny, disturbing and beautiful all at the same time, and definitely the most intense Mike's I've ever heard. But they let up after a while and shifted gears into... Simple->Everyone was eager to see what song they'd jump into and Simple did not disappoint. They were able to keep up the driving groove that Mike's had put them in. It wasn't a particularly long Simple as they slowed it down, made it gooey and oozed into... I Am Hydrogen->This song is beautiful. Trey hit each note with precision and soul. Page was the real highlight of this version. He was present in the mix from the 1st song of the day and really stood out with delicate melodies and trickling complements to Trey. Of course, the serene landscapes envisioned to this song are quickly torn away. Weekapaug-Besides the Auld Lang Syne tease thrown into Weekapaug, this one was thick with funk. The gooeyness was played in a way new to my ears...thick but remarkably fast. I could really feel Fish's kick drum and Mike was just adding more visceral tone to the mix. The lights throughout this were spectacular. Just the nature of Weekapaug is pure joy to me. I knew it was a set closer though...not so much joy there but hell, they played their asses off! 12/30/99-Encore Boogie On-I was so stoked to hear this again, they really make this song their own. I was at Chula Vista (7/18/99) where Boogie On almost neared 25 minutes, but alas...this one would not be nearly as long or jammed. Still put a smile on my face though. Tweezer Rep.-Something about this was just an omen for what was to come. As much as Tweezer Reprise always sounds the same, however you are feeling can determine the intensity of the song on your brain. The lights, the crowd, the intensity that Phish showed us so far made the Reprise seem like it was the loudest thing I had ever heard...but not piercing loud. It's the kind of loudness that makes you forget where you are, or even what your name is. It leaves your head covered in soot, with smoke coming out of your ears. This set had assured me that Phish wasn't going to skimp on the energy during the overnight set. -John Pett
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 15:19:25 -0500 From: Nina Weiss [email protected] Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Che Hun Tah Mo just found this, thought it was a cool side note to the song the chief played while on stage. still trying to confirm if that was billie's producer, john mccuen, who joined them on guitar, being he produced the chief's latest album... (note: mccuen also joined phish on stage in sacramento in 1996). sho naa bish - - nina Che Hun Tah Mo In the Miccosukee tongue, the phrase means 'welcome.' The Seminoles' friendliness is described here in a Latino/blues style. It is also known as the 'welcome song' inviting all peoples to the swamps for a good time 'down where the trade winds play.'
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 17:36:44 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12-30-99 Well, this could prove to be the most difficult account I have ever taken upon myself, but here goes...Just day 1 for now, because i don't have time to put everything down for both nights:) We all showed up in a 6-car train, and I'd first like to thank everyone who let us through in that incredible mess of people and let us stay together! The drive from good old Rochester, Ny was surprisingly pleasant, although tedious at times (thank you South Carolina...), and to have it finish with such friendly people was a nice preview of what was to come. The Traffic Jam was hard to take, of course, but I agree with what I've been reading...it was fun if you made it fun. I had a blast just talking with people in other cars, taking pictures, playing football, etc. Of course, the whole procession was overshadowed... I'd like to stop here and offer my condolences to the phriends of the person that lost his life on the way in. I was saddened to hear of the occurence, and I am glad to see the outpouring of support. Consider my support added. And now to the main event...after a night of little sleep due to excitement, we all made our way to the concert venue, which was very well set up! The ice sculpture was a nice touch, although dangerous for people like me...The atmosphere inside, too, was filled with excitement and friendliness. Very nice! The boys came out with a great air of determination--I could tell they were ready to rock. I couldn't even believe that after all the traveling, I was seeing phish!! Set 1: Water in the Sky: Couldn't say I was that surprised. I love this tune, and although many around me seemed disappointed, it made me smile silently and enjoy it. There was so much anticipation...and they played it cleanly. Great way to start things off. LUOL: I was kind of confused--I wasn't familiar with this one. They rocked it, though. I had fun! Suzie: Yes!! Finally....this was a first for me, and I loved it. Page was On Fire for this one. They let him go, and he created so much energy through his music. There was a smile on my face for a long time. Corrina: Another tune I wasn't that familiar with. I couldn't really tell where the boys were going with the energy--mixing up fast and slow, and I didnt' know what to expect from the rest of the set. I loved this song, though, and wow, are they tight tonight!!! Limb by Limb: This one follows me around. And i can't say i'm disappointed with it! I loved this version. Trey's noodling and Fishman's difficult rhythms melded so well, and I was loving life. This song just took the beauty of the whole scene and put it into music. What a night already!! Next, the Indian chief was announced and I was psyched! I thought this was a great idea, and i was really interested in what they would play. I couldn't really hear what was going on, for some reason, and my view was partially blocked, so any of the translations they had for it were lost to me. The second song made me smile; they were having fun on the stage, and the alligator floating around made everyone laugh. I especially loved Fishman in the background, looking over at Page and effectively saying, "what the hell is going on??" We had a good laugh at that one. Possum: Yeeeeahhh!!! If there's a better way to get the place rockin, i would love to know what it is! This tune brought everyone back to reality. The sound was tight, and although Trey's soloing was not spectacular, this was another really well-performed tune. Farmhouse: I was hoping for another high-energy tune here, perhaps Funky Bitch. The placement was not great, but I enjoyed this version. Trey was on, that's for sure, and Page added some great harmonies. Ghost: All right!! I was hoping for a long, high-powered jam, and I got it! They got rid of some of the funk after the singing finished and just went with all power. I loved this one. Trey was really into this one, too, and that got me going even more. Mike was really rocking by now, too, and I didn't hesitate to point that out about a hundred times to my friends near me...sorry guys! And quickly after this jam was done, here came... Yamar: Nice! A first for me, believe it or not. This song has avoided me, and i was getting frustrated, so i was really psyched. The energy wasn't quite what i pictured, and the crowd seemed tired, but i enjoyed Page's incredible soloing on this one. Character: I can't remember if this one came right out of Yamar. But talk about energy!!! Trey was reeeeeally rockin here. He loves this one, and although this song is a bit overplayed, I love hearing it, especially a version like this! This one pretty much left me buzzin. Overall, the first set was solid. The band was very tight, and i loved it. Highlights for me were the Ghost jam, Page's soloing, Character Zero, and Possum. Overall for this set, about a 7. And now, the real fun began, after a rather short break to get warm clothes. We got considerably closer for the night sets, this time on Trey side, and the sound was perfect here. On the way in, i saw the Naked Dude just chillin near the gate, and we gave him a nice little round of applause for being entertaining. When he started screaming obscenities, though, we figured it was time to head in a little bit quicker:) So we waited and waited...it was almost unbearable because I was so excited. When the lights went down, everyone was so ready. And wow, was the band ever ready too!!!! The opener, Wilson: Unreal!! I didn't expect this, really...I guess i was expecting a more "untraditional" opener, but right away, i knew this was the best way to start things off. Very well-played, Trey was in control and no one had a problem with that. Curtain: My friends were going insane. This one was great, a first for me, and i loved it. We were all jumping around. Talk about a tightly-played tune, too! They'd obviously been practicing up. This one segued into.... Tweezer: Yes!!! Another unexpected twist, although someone around me somehow called this one. This jam was one of the highlights of the entire two days for me. There was always a direction for this song, and the lights were unbelievable. Fishman really led this jam, and they were all together. Page's sounds were unbelievably pretty, and added so much. Taste: The segue from Tweezer was amazing. It came from nowhere but still seemed so natural. Nothing was forced. This version of Taste rivaled Rochester. It was done in the same style, although I thought a bit shorter. The middle part here had so much energy to it, and I saw a lot of smiles. Meat: Great placement. They were having so much fun up there at this point. Trey was loving just playing around with the crowd, making people guess how many times they would stop and start. The crowd didn't seem that into this song, and it wasn't as tight as i've seen it, but it was fun anyway--more smiles! Golgi: I was hoping for Ginseng here, but no complaints from me! I was about 5 feet in the air when i heard the opening for this one. Could the lights have been any better? I was mesmerized. CK5 was on, that's for sure. This Golgi was one for the record books. Wolfman's Brother: After giving the crowd a little while to mellow, they launched into Wolfman's. There were no complaints from me--I was looking forward to some nice clean funk after meat. This version was pretty slow, and Mike was on top of his game. Unfortunately, the jam was rather short and didn't go anywhere, but I enjoyed listening to Mike go crazy. Jiboo: FINALLY! After a blatant tease in the afternoon (during Ghost?), I was ready for this one. In fact, I had been the whole time. I can't get enough of this one. The crowd was ready too, and there was about as much groovin as I saw the whole time. As an added bonus, a kind phan behind us came up and threw some jibook stickers in the air, and one of my friends was lucky enough to grab one. The song was clean, but Mike has to let go of the baseline if they're ever going to go anywhere with this jam. After a bit of a jam, they took it right into... Hood!: Nice! Perfect timing. Pretty standard Hood, nice lights, and the interaction between the band members was amazing toward the end especially. The last part of this song really did a lot for me--gorgeous work by Page. And then without warning: Good Times Bad Times!! It had been a year, and wow was i ready! For the song, anyway--I couldn't have been ready for this particular version! I haven't seen the boys rock like this in a while. It blew me off my feet--Trey was amazing. This set let me know just how tight the band was, how ready they were, and just how much this experience was going to rock. Talk about getting people pumped! And a special shout out to CK5: amazing lights! They added so much. Short break and i was pumped for set 3... Chalkdust: Great opening song. This being one of my favorite phish songs, i was pretty psyched. This was not a great chalkdust, despite a good tempo and great lights. Trey's solo was not quite there, and the crowd was tired. That didn't stop me from moving, though! Right at the end, I turned around to a friend and said "they're going to play moma." Guess what?.... MOMA: One of my only calls for the whole shebang. And a FANTASTIC moma. I could not have been happier with this one. They went everywhere with this groove, and everyone was loving life. Great segue.... Antelope!: One of the best songs I have ever seen performed. Great jam in the middle. Page and Trey's dual on keys was a huge plus and made me laugh. Page just kind of went along with it for a while, and then pretty much said "i am so much better than you" and kicked Trey's ass. So much fun. The lights were again great, and the ending had an incredible amount of power. Definite high point--people were talking about this one all weekend. Sloth: My call for the opener. I was psyched, but no one around us was, it seemed! Great version--I love this song. Kudos for the band for breaking it out. Well-timed. Circus: Pure beauty. Trey was on for this one, and he communicated such a sense of happiness. I love this song, and so far I was loving this set. Mike's: WHAT?! I had guaranteed this would not be until the 31st, and i was shocked. I could not believe what i was hearing in this set. This Mike's was interesting. Very loud, lots of energy, and a peculiar light display. Midway through, they let out a huge cloud of gas from the side of the stage, completely enveloping the band. What an effect! This jam didn't go very far; they just held a loud, piercing chord for a long time, but everyone kept dancing because Fishman kept it going. It was a very cool effect. I was hoping for a segue into Hydrogen, but there came Simple. They dropped right off of this one, hitting their usual gorgeous jam immediately. Hydrogen soon followed (wow, such a short Simple!), and this one was magical. Unbelievable version. Maybe it was the crowd...who knows? Page's work in this one was unreal. Weekapaug came right out, and everyone was ready. This one had a blatant Aud Lang Syne tease by Trey, and that got everyone going. They jammed for a while, and Trey thanked the crowd and said how much fun they wre having. What an ending! I cheered until I was hoarse. Encore: BORW, Tweezer Reprise: Good lord. The Boogie On was pure fun for the guys on stage, and we were loving it, singing along and dancing like fools. But the reprise was intense. I dno't know if i have ever seen such energy. Everyone was grooving hard and smiling uncontrollably. They rocked this version. Every one of them was on. I wasn't sleeping for a while, that's for sure! :) This third set will never be forgotten. The setlist is intense, but it doesn't even come close to doing it justice. I was blown away, especially by the Moma, Antelope, Circus, encore, and Mike's groove. Being there with some of the best people ever made it that much more special. I couldn't even imagine what was going to happen the next day! Phish sent a statement today. They said about this--"We haven't lost a bit. We are ready to rock, we are better than ever, and we want to make this the best experience of everyone's lives!" It made the trip down worth it, that's for sure!!! More to come.... karl
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 02:49:40 GMT From: peter sammartino [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Big Cypress Show.Dec.30 Dec. 30 1999, Big Cypress Seminole Indian Rersv. Well, I am writing this review for the people who were unable to attend the millenium concert in Fl. What a show! I don't know how Phish can play so hard and for so long, but they did it. Let me first tell you that that this concert was the biggest show I have ever been to. The count was about 85,000 people on the first day and I 'm not sure about the second day, but I know it was alot more. Anyway, i was lucky enough to be twenty feet from stage throughout the whole show and met a lot of cool poeple. i lost my friends in the crowd and it was fucking impossible to find anyone, especially when it got dark. Well, the guys came on stage a little after 5 pm and behind them was the most beatiful sunset. TREy was dressed in a what seemed like a crazy designed shirt becasue when the lights hit him, he looked like a piece of Art. The energy was intense as they came on stage and the vibe was truly amazing. * First song: Water in the sky- Perfect opener with the lyrics that pretained to the area they were playing "filter out the everglades". I was nuts about this song and so was the crowd. *Lite up or leave me alone- First time hearing this song and they played it very well and the crowd loved it * Suzie Greenberg- Hell yeah, thats what I said when they played this song. First time hearing this song live and it was awesome. There was a sound glitch right on the first note, which will probably sound like skipping on a cd, but they played on. Great version, I heard everyone screaming Suzie so i figured evryone was hyped and excited about the song as I was. *Corrina- Again a first time for me, but I think this song was great and lighthearted, It had a really cool beat to it and seemed like everyone was enjoying it. *Limb- this was an awesome version and they jammed the hell out of it returning to the rhythm in the end. a pretty long standard Limb. * Native Greeting-w/Chief Wille. They had a Banjo player and another guitar player with a cowboy hat on stage.The song was in Native tongue(Seminole) so I could not understand it,but there was a part in the song when Willie translated one of the chorus lyrics which was "Bullshit,Bullshit, Bullshit" funny uh? Chief talked alot, even during the song.He talked about how quite we were in coming here that his people who live like a mile away did not know all these people were here. anyways he talked a lot, alittle to much. He thanked the crowd for coming. *Gator Song- another Chief Willie and the band song. It was pretty cool. I saw a big inflated Green Gator making its way to the front and I'm sure chief saw it.Thanks *Possum- one of my favs, It was great. I danced my ass off within the little confined space I had. I could not even sit down when I was tired becasue there simply was no room. *Farmhouse-I knew it was this song as soon as i heard the guitar hit the first note. I like when they start with the guitar instead of them all staring at once like in Hampton 98'. It sounded muck like the Lakewood show Farmhouse. Solo was great. Trey played with effects first and then finished it off without the effects. *Ghost- time to bring out the funk. I love this song and they funked it hardcore. It had me groovin. *YA MAR-another great cover and it was time to puff on a nug or tw0. *Character 0- A great set closer and they jammed it way out. CK was amazing with the lights during this beacause it was dark out now. What a set I thought to myself. the temp. was dropping and it started to get cold, so I put a long sleeve.The temp reached into the 40's during the night. Phish finished around 7 pm to conclude their afternoon slash Sunset.. I think they played for nearly an hour and 40 minutes. I could be off by ten minutes. After about an 1:20 minute break. THe fab. Four came back on stage aroung 8:15. and started with Wilson.It had the crowd going. I know I screamed out Wilson to add to the noise.... The Curtain, -my first live curtain, I realized it by the guitar sound.I was really glad they playe dthis tune. I love it. It segued right into Tweezer which was amzing. The lights were crazy during this song and it looked like the band was in the mindset for a phat Teweezer Jam.The ambiance was set on stage by smoke and the lights.(thanks Chris).It was pretty long, longer the 15 minutes. it could have lasted all night though. * Taste- i like this tune and stood and watched trey as he noodled around. *Meat-another funk song.it did not have me going though. It was standard meat, noting to much. The lakefront arna in New Orleans' Meat was a helluva lot better. They only breaked four or five times during the song as opposed to the N.O about seven times. it was still good. *Golgi- another old song done very well and standard. Everyone seemed to be screaming "I saw you with a a ticket stub in your hand" *Wolfman's- I love this song, almost as good as the MANSfield 7/13/99'. They jammed it out really well. *Gotta Jibbo- another first live Jibbo and let me tell you it was probably one of my fav songs of the night. *Hood-What can I say exacept it was the fattest Hood I have seen. The light show was incredible and the glowstick war was the biggest i had ever seen. 80,000 people glowstick war. I was up front and as far as I could see there were glowsticks flying around. I got hit with one in the face.I was really into this hood and enjoyed it immensley. *Good times Bad times- another first live one for me. I have tapes with it, but never heard it live. I really like this cover it has nice jamming quality to it.This eneded the second set with a blast. The Third set was by far the best set of the night(my opinion only) *Chalkdust Torture: An amazing display of talent during this song.It takes great syncroinzed action from the band to create this distinct song because of how fast the song is being plyed by,especially for Page.It takes a lot practice. Great Version *Moma Dance--another one of my phunk favs. It lead the crowd into a giant Phunk Jam for a real long time. It was definitly funk. A nice long intro before the lyrics. I was FukenMOmaDAnce. *Antelope--I really want to hear this song on tape. It was great,probably one of the best Antelopes I heard. *Harry the SLOTH, Italian Spagetti--I have not heard this tune in a while and enjoyed it. A real old school tune from the Gamehendge story. *WTCCTC-Alright,this song was done perfectly. I love this tune out of all the slow Phish tunes, especially becasue its all Trey. I thought the best version I heard was 97' New Years, but better then Lakewood version, this time Trey played it flawlessly. A real treat fro me. I had to indulge myself to a nodule of dank during this song, as always when this song is played.Can't real dance to it, at least I can't.I just move my head and legs a little. *Mikes Song-->Simple-->I am Hydrogen->Weekapaug(with Auld LAng Syne tease): This was the best part of this night. Even though this resembles recent Hampton how setlist except for I am Hydrogen, which was my fav. parts of this long ass song segues. What can I say but Phish jammed really hard made everyone really happy during these songs. I thought the overall sound was great, even though I was twenty feet from the band, but with the constand pouring of smoke and the lights completly covered the band and about 100 feet of the crowd. At pts i could not see the band playing for several minutes. I though tonight was fucking awesome, couldn't be much better. A real treat for me to see this show. Encore- Boggie on Reggae Women-->Tweezer Rep. I really like this tune and hyped that they were playing, but I really hoped for something else like a Harpua or a Divided Sky, but its alright the show was great.The night ended shorly after Midnight.
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 09:01:25 PST From: heath anderson [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: nye 2000 a review for thursday's show: I WOULDN'T FUCKING KNOW. i drove over 30 hours from boulder, co with tickets in hand that i mail ordered the very first day we were allowed. we got past the toll booth on i-75 and then hit the stand still trafic at 11pm wednesday night. we moved exactly 6.8 miles over the next 12 hours and finally said fuck it. we were 20 miles from exit 14, snake road when we quit. my review for the whole spectacle is that phish and greatnortheast productions took my money and my new years and fucked me and the thousands of others that were stranded behind us. they left us on the interstate with no communication, no restrooms, NOTHING. there lack of preparation fucked so many out of money, time and most importantly the shows. phish should be ashamed. this isn't the same band i used to see 7 years ago. over the last 7 years i've watched phish become a money grubbing shame that deserves the little shits that now come to their shows. heath anderson
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 02:35:48 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: (no subject) Just got in from Big Cypress. So many stories to this crazy adventure that it hurts my head trying to recall everything, so here's a short summary before I pass out: Not sure who messed up on this one, but did someone forget to tell this town how many pholks to expect or what? Gates to this one should have probably started on Monday due to everybody stuck on the highway 8-12 hrs,which from what I heard caused a very tragic accident as well as cars running out of gas & overheating. Security was Excellent! Loved seeing everyone pull together with all the delays. It seemed as though everyone was helping out with picking up the trash as well as recycling. My buddy & I were extremely exhausted upon making it to the Campgrounds (11:15am Thursday);however, seeing this Beautiful place & So many smiling faces quickly brought some life back. We tried getting some sleep since we still had 5 hours before the 1st afternoon set started....no luck. Somehow managed to stay up for all of Thursday's sets THURSDAY (Afternoon Set) This set started out sounding like they were holding back a little, but still very solid Trey brought out Chief Jim Billy who sang\played guitar for a couple of songs. To me, it meant more seeing Phish really connect with the people who were nice enough to let us all come out here. Highlights: -Lite Up (Water Opener was tight, but this old Traffic cover seemed to set the tone for the night) -Corrina (Never thought I'd hear this one live. Seemed a lot slower & bluesier than earlier versions I've heard. Love this song!) -LimbxLimb (This was really hot & seemed to strike some life into the tired phans, which soon faded a bit when the Chief sang. Things picked back up midway thru: -Possum (which is always fun to hear. It would have been nice to hear Chris sing....wellllll not that nice) -Farmhouse (Seemed to get more of an understanding for this song out there. Just a perfect spot in the set for this song) -Ya Mar (Play it Leo!) (2nd Set) With the exception of Meat & maybe Wolfman's, this set SMOKED! Getting a Curtain out of Wilson left me sure that Mike's would follow, but Phish slapped you back in time with a Tweezer (ala 4/25/93). Very nice Taste! GOLGI!!! Jiboo, Hood, Good Times? GOOD TIMES?!!! SICK! Again, I'm so exhausted so I'm keeping the best part of the night very simple. It was WONDERFUL! Chalkdust - I wanted,left me wanting a little more Antelope,in my mind, was a Spliff. With Trey & Page dualing on keys. This Crosseyed-esque jam provided perfect forshadowing for things to come the next day & inspired my friend Luke & I to deem it Antelope2000. Sloth - Loved it. Circus - Really payed attention to how the screens appeared much clearer than a typical Ampitheatre. Trey gave me goose-bumps. Even after resting thru Circus, I was drained @ this point & had also forgotten about getting pumped up for a Mike's in the 1st set. Then it came - Mike's>Simple>Hyd.>Week.- danced on will alone through the groove, except for dozing off during Simple. Rested for Boogie On into a predictable Tweezer Rep. Then - Off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 15:29:10 -0500 From: Jon Labahn [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30/99 Review Since no one has, I'll share the little I saw. I got in to the lot around 1:00 PM-ish after discovering my name not on the employee list as expected! They directed me down Snake Road past the ticketing area (aptly enough named...) to what I figured would be near my employer's tent. [Note: one of the flagperspersons had a snakeskin which she indicated upon my arrival, twitting me concerning my (justifiably!) ticketless status... (nice touch, though!)] I parked, got my bearings and searched in vain for _hours_ to find my temp company's tent. Getting closer to showtime (as backup planned) I began to pick up garbage as payment for "scene privileges." Eventually, the show started and was easily audible outside the gates. (Also, to my pleasant suprise, _really_ well equalized for diffusing over that kind of distance!) Still, I felt the tangible yet slight lightness to my wrist where the ID bracelet should've been. So, in my guilt (despite more than 2 hours of steady, beer soaking work!) I left midway through the first set. I thought it strange to see there were two more unscheduled sets. The set I heard had ended before I pulled out, while many people were heading back to their tents! All in all, what I saw was pretty low-mid grade. In a word, it seemed the sort of off-tempo-wanna-be-slow-groove-even-of-such-high-energy-songs-as-Possum-and- Suzie-yet-no-real-soul-funk-synergy kind of thing I'd come to grin, bear and play along with recently. [(Up note... for the blues number I was on bottle slide! (Uh, sliding... into the trashcan...)] A real highlight was the wholehearted laugh regarding Fishman's take on what we should "Just Say..." to neurologists. Not the greatest, yet, the next two sets seemed to have picked up, after, rightly... I picked up 'n' left.
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 21:11:29 EST From: phorbin 420 [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review (kinda) 12/30/99 Well everyone happy new year, I hope that even though we are all feeling the pain of not being able to filter out the everglades that you all find something great to do. Well I have been getting calls from the show during setbreak so I am kinda speaking for someone else which I hate because I am hoping for just to catch a few minutes of them on the news tonight and she is partying her ass off at the show. Anyway from what I gather (and I am not going into detail because I didn't experience it first hand) that quote "the show was just absolutely sick there was so much energy in the crowd peaople were going freaking nuts, Water In the Sky was a weird opener" the filter out the everglades lyric for those who didn't catch in the beginning of this post. "the vendors have sold out of everything with the exception of food, you cannot by anything here" by now she got cut off I mean from Florida to Maine is pretty far for a cell phone, Anyway I just found out they closed the first set of 12/31/99 with After Midnight (Eric Clapton) so right now I am crying for not being there. Everyone be safe and if she calls again with any detail from the long set I will post it. Be safe everybody and have a great new year.
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 02:45:24 GMT From: peter sammartino [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Big Cypress Show.Dec.30 Dec. 30 1999, Big Cypress Seminole Indian Rersv. Well, I am writing this review for the people who were unable to attend the millenium concert in Fl. What a show! I don't know how Phish can play so hard and for so long, but they did it. Let me first tell you that that this concert was the biggest show I have ever been to. The count was about 85,000 people on the first day and I 'm not sure about the second day, but I know it was alot more. Anyway, i was lucky enough to be twenty feet from stage throughout the whole show and met a lot of cool poeple. i lost my friends in the crowd and it was fucking impossible to find anyone, especially when it got dark. Well, the guys came on stage a little after 5 pm and behind them was the most beatiful sunset. TREy was dressed in a what seemed like a crazy designed shirt becasue when the lights hit him, he looked like a piece of Art. The energy was intense as they came on stage and the vibe was truly amazing. * First song: Water in the sky- Perfect opener with the lyrics that pretained to the area they were playing "filter out the everglades". I was nuts about this song and so was the crowd. *Lite up or leave me alone- First time hearing this song and they played it very well and the crowd loved it * Suzie Greenberg- Hell yeah, thats what I said when they played this song. First time hearing this song live and it was awesome. There was a sound glitch right on the first note, which will probably sound like skipping on a cd, but they played on. Great version, I heard everyone screaming Suzie so i figured evryone was hyped and excited about the song as I was. *Corrina- Again a first time for me, but I think this song was great and lighthearted, It had a really cool beat to it and seemed like everyone was enjoying it. *Limb- this was an awesome version and they jammed the hell out of it returning to the rhythm in the end. a pretty long standard Limb. * Native Greeting-w/Chief Wille. They had a Banjo player and another guitar player with a cowboy hat on stage.The song was in Native tongue(Seminole) so I could not understand it,but there was a part in the song when Willie translated one of the chorus lyrics which was "Bullshit,Bullshit, Bullshit" funny uh? Chief talked alot, even during the song.He talked about how quite we were in coming here that his people who live like a mile away did not know all these people were here. anyways he talked a lot, alittle to much. He thanked the crowd for coming. *Gator Song- another Chief Willie and the band song. It was pretty cool. I saw a big inflated Green Gator making its way to the front and I'm sure chief saw it.Thanks *Possum- one of my favs, It was great. I danced my ass off within the little confined space I had. I could not even sit down when I was tired becasue there simply was no room. *Farmhouse-I knew it was this song as soon as i heard the guitar hit the first note. I like when they start with the guitar instead of them all staring at once like in Hampton 98'. It sounded muck like the Lakewood show Farmhouse. Solo was great. Trey played with effects first and then finished it off without the effects. *Ghost- time to bring out the funk. I love this song and they funked it hardcore. It had me groovin. *YA MAR-another great cover and it was time to puff on a nug or tw0. *Character 0- A great set closer and they jammed it way out. CK was amazing with the lights during this beacause it was dark out now. What a set I thought to myself. the temp. was dropping and it started to get cold, so I put a long sleeve.The temp reached into the 40's during the night. Phish finished around 7 pm to conclude their afternoon slash Sunset.. I think they played for nearly an hour and 40 minutes. I could be off by ten minutes. After about an 1:20 minute break. THe fab. Four came back on stage aroung 8:15. and started with Wilson.It had the crowd going. I know I screamed out Wilson to add to the noise.... The Curtain, -my first live curtain, I realized it by the guitar sound.I was really glad they playe dthis tune. I love it. It segued right into Tweezer which was amzing. The lights were crazy during this song and it looked like the band was in the mindset for a phat Teweezer Jam.The ambiance was set on stage by smoke and the lights.(thanks Chris).It was pretty long, longer the 15 minutes. it could have lasted all night though. * Taste- i like this tune and stood and watched trey as he noodled around. *Meat-another funk song.it did not have me going though. It was standard meat, noting to much. The lakefront arna in New Orleans' Meat was a helluva lot better. They only breaked four or five times during the song as opposed to the N.O about seven times. it was still good. *Golgi- another old song done very well and standard. Everyone seemed to be screaming "I saw you with a a ticket stub in your hand" *Wolfman's- I love this song, almost as good as the MANSfield 7/13/99'. They jammed it out really well. *Gotta Jibbo- another first live Jibbo and let me tell you it was probably one of my fav songs of the night. *Hood-What can I say exacept it was the fattest Hood I have seen. The light show was incredible and the glowstick war was the biggest i had ever seen. 80,000 people glowstick war. I was up front and as far as I could see there were glowsticks flying around. I got hit with one in the face.I was really into this hood and enjoyed it immensley. *Good times Bad times- another first live one for me. I have tapes with it, but never heard it live. I really like this cover it has nice jamming quality to it.This eneded the second set with a blast. The Third set was by far the best set of the night(my opinion only) *Chalkdust Torture: An amazing display of talent during this song.It takes great syncroinzed action from the band to create this distinct song because of how fast the song is being plyed by,especially for Page.It takes a lot practice. Great Version *Moma Dance--another one of my phunk favs. It lead the crowd into a giant Phunk Jam for a real long time. It was definitly funk. A nice long intro before the lyrics. I was FukenMOmaDAnce. *Antelope--I really want to hear this song on tape. It was great,probably one of the best Antelopes I heard. *Harry the SLOTH, Italian Spagetti--I have not heard this tune in a while and enjoyed it. A real old school tune from the Gamehendge story. *WTCCTC-Alright,this song was done perfectly. I love this tune out of all the slow Phish tunes, especially becasue its all Trey. I thought the best version I heard was 97' New Years, but better then Lakewood version, this time Trey played it flawlessly. A real treat fro me. I had to indulge myself to a nodule of dank during this song, as always when this song is played.Can't real dance to it, at least I can't.I just move my head and legs a little. *Mikes Song-->Simple-->I am Hydrogen->Weekapaug(with Auld LAng Syne tease): This was the best part of this night. Even though this resembles recent Hampton how setlist except for I am Hydrogen, which was my fav. parts of this long ass song segues. What can I say but Phish jammed really hard made everyone really happy during these songs. I thought the overall sound was great, even though I was twenty feet from the band, but with the constand pouring of smoke and the lights completly covered the band and about 100 feet of the crowd. At pts i could not see the band playing for several minutes. I though tonight was fucking awesome, couldn't be much better. A real treat for me to see this show. Encore- Boggie on Reggae Women-->Tweezer Rep. I really like this tune and hyped that they were playing, but I really hoped for something else like a Harpua or a Divided Sky, but its alright the show was great.The night ended shorly after Midnight.
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 04:20:05 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30/99 i had a good ime at the show! my favorite song was the curtain
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 12:45:24 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: BC....and all its' glory rollin' towards BC from naples is usually not a long drive....around 45 minutes......this time it took nearly twelve hours.....traffic was intense.......still we made it late wed night early thurs mornin. The place was partying like crazy......i went to sleep.. Thurs was a beautiful day and i couldn't wait to see the music....to kill time we walked the monsterous lot for a few hours shopping for treats and what not........the field opened around 2 but the band didn't come on till a bit after five...Water in the Sky opened which was nice as the crowd seemed to dig the everglades reference......I don't think anyone knew Lite up or leave me alone; which i figured was a real old tune.....still interesting.......Suzy got things movin w/ a page tearing it up. Corrina was phat as hell.......again this tune had some scratching their heads....but what a song it was beautifully played and i can't wait to hear it again... limb by limb was great.......and by now the place was packed .....Dank was being passed..and i felt joy like i only do at a great show.....Next......the chief of the seminole tribe came out to welcome everyone and do the native greeting song.....and one about alligators.....it was cool that phish had him on stage and even cooler that he welcomed us to thier property........well......when that was over came a possum that was movin the crowd and had some nice pickin from trey...farmhouse followed......and it was well recieved......then came the GHOST which kicked the space funk into drive and man did it........the ending got all whacked out w/ trey soloing fast as hell real wierd sounding then it was over....kind off a bizarre ending. YAMAR came up next and had everyone forget the spooky vibe ghost left.....yamar was well played and it seemed as i looked behind me past the tapers section, the crowd looked like a sea of bodies......Character zero was pretty much stock version... SET II.....the boys took a while for break...probably around a couple of hours......Wilson began this set and the crowd was amped......The curtatin>tweezer was one of my highlights for the show.......rockin.....Taste was next and pretty good change from the space funk........Golgi followed and was a nice dose of the old school.......Wolfman's brother.........this song i'm sick of and even the jam at the end sounds tired and overworked.........wolfman's needs to be shelved for a while.......Jiboo came next and was just what i wanted....it wasn't as good as Hampton's first night version but was still tight and got the crowd dancin..... Harry hood came after jiboo and seemed to be what the crowd wanted....they closed with good times bad times........which i hadn't seen since 94 or 95 so i gotta kick out of hearin that one........all in all this set was pretty smokin......better than the first in that the band was warmin up and startin to stretch the material........... SETIII: This set was phuckin bad to the bone. Chalk dust opened.....it was tight and the crowd was caught up in the vibes as if they would fall off the earth if they didn't move their asses. MOMA DANCE........all i can say about this is that it is the FUNK.....funk so thick words cannot do it justice.....the intro is just to much for this head........so sick.......and just when i thought it couldn't possibly get any better.....ANTELOPE.........again.....this left me speechless.....so well played w/ a nice ambient soundin jam somewhwere in the middle.......Antelope blew me away.......Sloth followed and was just what i wanted.......these guys must be reading my mind......i thought......Next Circus comes to town.......put the breaks on the funk train......still it was well played and gave everyone a breather for what came next:MIKES>SIMPLE>HYDROGEN>WEEKAPAUGH. This was to be the end of the third set and was absolutly amazing...the mikes song was at least 15 minutes long...and sooooooo phaaaaat.......the combination of the these songs was mind blowing hydrogen weekapaugh eneded the set w/ some serious dancin.....so well played.......after this all i could do is stand their w/ the biggest grin on face.....oh......and the encore......Boogie on reggae woman and tweeprize...... the reggae woman was funky as hell and had some great work by trey and page....tweeprize was well...........tweeprize the obligatory ending aftera tweezer......... Man words cannot do this day justice....it was simply amazing.......the third set is one of my all time favs now.......kudos to chris' light show and that phat sound........GORDON'S bass was felt through my body.........unreal.......there is so much more i could say but.........i'll save that for my review of friday night......
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 15:27:33 -0500 From: Austin Brownfield [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review of New Years! : ) The land was lovely, my heart was filled with joy, and I was ready for a nice spiritual break from some of my problems in life, the release I received during this magical weekend began on the 29th... Sound Check: Jam: Interesting noodling and warming up from the band, everyone was having an absolute blast because the phans who weren't caught in traffic still, got this opportunity to hear a wonderful sound check prelude to the wonder shows to follow... What's the Use: Sweet tune, standard, but always cool Ginseng Sullivan: Very nice, the boys were sounding very well, the sound check was sounding very promising... Curtis Loew!!! Woohoo!! Sweet sweet sweet!!! Mighty Quinn!!! Always lovely!! Timber Ho! YES!!!! awesome jam out of this one, you could tell the boys were pumped to be putting on this wonderful fest... Jam: very ambient for a while, then it started to rage, great way to serve some lucky phans a little taste of what was to come!! Set I: Water in the Sky: My friend kept telling me that this was going to be the opener, I kept thinking Timber Ho!, but since they sound checked that, well, it was a wonderful and very pleasing opener!! Lite Up of Leave Me Alone: Never heard the tune, friend told me what it was, very nice, sweet jam, could tell early that magic was bubbling... Suzie Greenberg: Well played suzie, nothing amazing, but strong.. Corrina: Another new one for me, liked it a lot, very wonderful that they had already busted out two oldies!! Limb By Limb: Woohoo!!! This song is great, very nice jam out of it, nothing too crazy, but very nice.. Native Greeting and Gator Song... Pretty neat, we were informed of how lucky we were to be apart of this lovely land, and atmosphere...Gator Song...Chord progression sounded very familiar....but a good time none the less.. Possum: Nice to hear, very slow, and funking style, got the crowd into it some more.. Farmhouse: I really don't like this song, but many others do, so what the hey, I just swayed back and forth, and didn't get bitter!! : ) Ghost: Woohoo!!! Nothing wild and crazy here, but it was tight, and Mike was the man, just like he always is... Ya Mar: Good Yamar, very well played, enjoying my new years travel decision very much at the moment... Character Zero: Not a big big fan, but rocked very hard, and left a smile on my face for what was to come... Set II: Wilson: Standard wilson, always nice to hear though... Curtain!!! Yes yes yes!!...then I looked at my friend and said tweezer... Tweezer!!!! OH GOD YES!!! Very nice tweezer, the jam moved many places, extremely nice to hear, this went into... Taste: Solid taste, didn't hear much because I was in the line for the ferris wheel!! Meat: Standard Meat, nice though.. Golgi: Great energy, loving it!! Wolfman's Brother: Short jam here, nothing too crazy, just a nice little funk.. Gotta Jiboo!!! Very nice, this song just kicks ass!! Harry Hood!!! OH MY, well, I had been complaining lately that the hoods haven't sounded like they were being played with too much emotion like in the older days, but oh my, I had a little bit of tears in my eyes during this hood, very sweet and powerful!! Good Times Bad Times: Sweet and tasty, finger lickin good!! Set III: Chalkdust: Nice energy to open up the set, well played Moma Dance: Nice tight and solid funk, then came a big highlight... Antelope!!!! Oh my goodness, sweet ass antelope jam, cool trey effects on the keyboard, just plain out nasty, loved it, and it was early in the set yet as well!! Sloth: Minor flubs, but super awesome to see!! Circus: Beautifully played, no complaints Mike's Song--> Simple--> Hydrogen--> Weekapaug!!!!!!HOLYSHIT!!!!!!! Wowsers, the mike's went into this crazy ass intense, and what sounded very planned...JAM!!, Chris busted out the fog, and the place was going absolutely nuts!!! Very smoothly into Simple, simple was beautiful, they brought it down perfectly into hydrogen, I was floating by this point...then came a ripping weekapaug, Mike, oh Mike!!!...Auld Lang Syne tease!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!!! Definitely the highlight of the weekend for many thus far!! Boogie: Always a super fun toon to get down too!! Tweezer Reprise: Fucking mad cakes powerful!!!! Everyone was smiling, and ready to party until the next afternoon!!! Austin Brownfield
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 17:58:57 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30/99 review wow, just got back from the show and it was just amazing. Im not gonna preach on to long but just the love for the music and each other that everyone was showing was great, probably the best crowd ive ever seen, or at least around where i was. anyways, on to the review. after hearing a great soundcheck that included curtis lowe, quinn, and a really longtimber ho, i wasnt sure what to expect from the boys except one thing h2o in the sky- called it, simply because of the "everglades line which the crowd ERRUPTED on. besides thatstandard h20 Light up...- didnt know this one but someone near me said they hadnt played it since late 80s, well it was phat to say the least. When i looked up later that it hadnt been played for 900+ shows and that it was a new record for a hiatus it just made me more excited. suzy- this has been on my "to hear" list since i first became a phan. wasnt anything stunning musically but any appearance is welcome. corrina- recognized it by the chorus, another cool song that phish hadnt played for a while. was feeling like i was at my first show, only knew two of the songs really well... Limb by Limb- DANK version. i think this is where phish shook of the rust that had been accumulating since hampton. Pretty jammed out and nothing too crazy, but something in me told me that this was gonna be a VERY cool show Native american greeting song- very strange idea indeed, esp with cheif jim billy...felt more like at a campfire then a phish show, but it was still pretty cool Gator song- Liked this a little bit more than the last song, again phish really didnt jam but two guys on stage that i guess were friends of jim billy soloed. I LOVED the inflatable gator going through the crowd towards the stage. Possum- This is where chris turned on the lights and i think the jams definately got better, perhaps because of the "fifth member" above average possum, which is still excellent in my books farmhouse- seems like theyve been playing it a lot...i love the song but i hope it doesnt end up like sample Ghost- figured this would be long and close out the set but they cut it short. still pretty good jamming though Ya Mar- always dig this, nice tight version. Character zero- phat version, not a huge phan of this but this one had me rocking. Definately the highlight of the first set. i was EXTREMELY pleased by the length of the first set; 100 minutes of phish, i was really happy but had no idea what was coming. Set II Wilson- great opener, definately set the stage for a fabulous second set curtain- another great tune, phat jam at the end and a PERFECT segue into Tweezer- lots of nice jamming here. Perhaps a forshadow of the epic jams on new years, really excellent tweezer Taste- nice and tranquil, i loved the feel of this song around the cool breeze of the everglades Meat- maybe not the best of versions, but the band had fun playing it. anytime trey gets that really big smile on his face and starts jumping up and down its gonna be a pretty great song. love that groove golgi- simple all out classic...this set was turning out to be a keeper and i think the crowd was definately pumping up the band Wolfmans- like ghost, it was also kinda short but involved grade a jamming jiboo- phat song but not to much going into the works here hood- not expecting this here- def the best hood i have seen. lots of great improv parts and the glo-sticks were absolutley AMAZING. i thought this would close out the set, i was wrong gtbt- the crowd was super into this, probably cause the band had just played an ultra cool hood. tied with hood and tweezer as the set highlights... overall this was probably one of the best sets i have seen phish do, if not the best. there was lots of tight jams and spacey jams, and the list was pretty phat too Set three- chalkdust- out of control, simply raging and the energy went through the roof Moma dance- the funk was almost too deep at this point as trey would put it. simply all out amazing version antelope- this almost shouldnt be called antelope it was so good this and mikes were the highlights of the show...so much jamming involved here, def nye forshadowing in terms of jam quality sloth- i was really glad they whipped this out here, brought us down from the space of the antelope and snapped us out of the surreal world, just in time for a circus wtcctt- man this was sweet, maybe it was just the fact that it was close to new years or something, but i could definately hear the emotion coming through in treys voice...ive never really been a fan of slow songs in the middle of really jammed out sets, but this was just a really beautiful version...hope it comes out as good on the tapes Mikes->simple->h20->weekapaug- absolute insanity. mikes pushed the 25-30 minute envelope. it was the best mikes i have ever heard, beit tape or live. simply unbleleivable. simple was well, simple, and h20 was as usual also. weekapaug was phat, but i dont think anything could really touch the mikes they played...flat out unbeleivable E: boogie on->tweezer reprise- phat boogie into a machine built tweezer rep. disappointed at the lack of a second encore, but im not complaining, they treated us to the best show (the 31st was more then a show) ever, and i went to bed a happy man
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:18:48 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: reviewoftheshow wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww!!!!! What a show! I've seen around 18 shows since 1994 redrocks, and i must say that this was one of the tightest 3 sets ever. All of the songs were well played in the older school style of phish, less phunk(though there was still some thick swamp funk) and more tension and release. What i'm trying to get at is this: Trey flat out fuckin rocked this shit. He was all over every song and definetly on top of his game. Set 2 and 3 blew me away, the Mikes got super spookey and loud while the boys disapeared into a huuuuuuuuuge cloud of smoke. At one point thought they were going to do a disapearing act but to no avail, and The antelope was sick at the end with Trey and page taking turns soloing on their keyboard. I thought this was the definetly the better night thanks to trey. TRey is God. I: Water in the Sky, Lite Up or Leave Me Alone^, Suzie Greenberg, Corrina?^^, Limb By Limb, Native Greeting*, Gator Song*, Possum, Farm House, Ghost, Ya Mar, Character Zero II: Wilson, The Curtain -> Tweezer, Taste, Meat, Golgi Apparatus, Wolfman's Brother, Jiboo, Harry Hood, Good Times Bad Times III: Chalk Dust Torture, Moma Dance, Antelope, The Sloth, When The Circus Comes, Mike's Song -> Simple -> I am Hydrogen -> Weekapaug Groove+ E: Boogie On Reggae Woman > Tweezer Reprise * - With Seminole Chief Jim Billie ^ - Last time played 8/13/88, 943 shows according to ZZYZX Phish Stats ^^ - Possible old Phish tune last played 2/18/89, 926 shows according to ZZYZX Phish Stats? + - With Auld Lang Syne tease at midnight! Thanks to CK5 for the calls!
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 17:38:47 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30 review NYE 2000 Overview: Yes, the traffic sucked, but when it sucks that bad you can just leave the car, wander about drink, smoke, and shoot the shit with your phriends. In case you didn't notice, that's what you did anyway when you weren't in your car! With the exception of the few that actually missed show time---get over it, it's a party! Another downside is the crowd control exiting the concert field after the evenings are over. Why not open the entrance at this point? It's almost as if security is saying: "screw you fun-lovers---we have to work, so we're gonna watch you squirm like the sardines you are and like it!" My biggest beef with a crowd this size is something nobody can really control, though, and that's loser that can't time their buzz properly and sleep in the venue. It's very difficult to get any kind of "Hampton-like" vibe going when you're separated from other people rocking out by a group of sloths laying around taking up prime boogie space. This isn't brain surgery folks: pace yourself so you can be in it for the long haul or get the hell out of the way. Special mention, btw, to the idiot woman with the infant laying in front of her on her blanket to the left of the soundboard around "Piper" time Saturday morning. This child was basically right next to the walkway amidst the sea of slugs that people were tripping over and I nearly stepped on her. After the fact, I noticed that Mom had thoughtfully set down several glow rings outlining this beleaguered baby's head. This is perhaps to help the stumbling-drunk sixteen year-old to make sure not to fall there when he drops into the picture? But I digress. Overall, it was a great time and we were blessed with perfect weather, although the tents did heat up quickly in the morning due to the intense sun. By the way, how in the hell did everybody avoid getting impaled by a stump in the red forest anyway? Anyway, on with the review^� 12/30 Review How can a show this great pale in comparison to the one that followed it? I intended to write only a 12/31 review until the few remaining brain cells functioned well enough to go ahead and give much-deserved props to the gem that was 12/30. Set I: This was something other than spectacular and was thus keeping with an apparent pattern of festival-opening sets that merely get the ball rolling. Given the fact that most in attendance had been subjected to traffic of sadistic proportions hours earlier, it may be a miracle that there was any energy at all for this set. "Water in the Sky" was a great opener for the obvious reason and was followed by "Lite Up^�", a song precious few, including me, knew, but was excellent nevertheless. "Suzie" was standard and I, at least, felt that it was a failed attempt to rally these troops, but I could be wrong. I love "Suzie", and haven't had one in a long time, but I must say I was under-whelmed by this one. "Corrina" was another one I didn't know and was apparently a cue for everyone to talk and that probably contributed to this set's lack of fire, but I'm only guessing. "Limb" was spirited, but nothing out of the ordinary followed by^�The Seminole Indian Chief breaking off a couple of tunes with an unidentified guitar player, as far as I could tell. This was very cool, as this guy was clearly having the time of his life playing for a crowd of such massive proportions. He made an abysmal effort to get the 70,000+ very stoned people to repeat words in a foreign tongue, but at least he quit while he wasn't too far behind. The songs, however, were great. Dude had this rich baritone that made me think of what Johnny Cash would sound like if he could actually sing. I half expected Bob Weaver to swing out for a quick duet of "Feelings" or something! In any event, this part of the set was tight. "Possum", possibly the most over-played old song, followed in what probably was an effort to get the ball rolling again, even though the sphere was never really dislodged in the first place. "Farmhouse" was nice as usual, and benefited from a beautiful sunset to the right as one looked at the stage. "Ghost" continued the mellowness but it was done well and was followed by^� "Ya Mar", the very happy, airy number that we know and love, but it was yet another mellow song, all the better to set up a searing^� "Character Zero". Whoever knocks this song is, IMHO, simply not paying attention. In the spirit of variety, this would be the heavy-metal, rock balls song that any well-rounded set list needs. Although it didn't rock hard enough to make this setlist round, it did absolutely smoke, and leave the minions salivating about what was to come later in the evening. An average set at best, but it may be that the boys purposely laid low, pacing everyone, (including themselves), to start out the long, long weekend Set II: Good God, man! This set was not unlike the soon-to-be-legendary 12/18 bomb that followed the pretty-much throw-away show that was 12/17, (excepting the Coil>Lovin' Cup encore, of course). Rip it right away with a "Wilson" and then my 2nd "The Curtain" in 39 shows. "The Curtain' raged into an always sweet "Tweezer", which reminded me that even though I may be sick of a song, Phish still deliver new twists every time they play one of their many epic numbers. This was no exception as Mike was dropping bombs like mad. I was thrilled to hear "Taste", a song I love, and it really kicked after what I thought was an uneven start. "Meat" bores me to tears, but I must say it fit pretty well into this set because a little mellow silliness was OK given what tore out of those speakers for the next forty or so minutes. We get a truly inspired "Golgi", which got the crowd really going, which was nice. I say that because if the crowd wasn't already going, they would've been steam-rolled by the PHATTY "Wolfman's" that followed. I'm not a big fan of this song, but the phunk was getting serious now and I gladly gave in well before^�"Gotta Jiboo", one of the new gems that you can't believe people could ever not move to. (there was a chick near me that basically, remarkably, never moved the whole set, but I digress.) This song is so cool and such a sign of still further progression for the band that I'm even more sorry that I'm getting old. "Harry Hood", speaking of old, followed, making for a good 'ol two-epics-in-one-set kind of early evening. I can't believe I'd ever say I dread the opening notes to this, but, like I said earlier, the ever-changing avenues the boys take throughout this song is always fascinating even though the skeleton of the song is beat. A fine, fine set closer indeed, but then in your face is: "Bah-Dump!", "Bah-Dump!" Holy shit, what a spot for this! At 6'6", I can tell you when a festival crowd is rocking. I've never seen one rock harder than this! Maybe "Sabotage" at the 'Wheel, but I digress again. Suffice it to say, this set is a must and started: "How can they top that?" questions all around. Set III: After a seemingly short set-break, it's like OK, keep things up with one for the kids: "Chalkdust". As sick as you may be of it, you gotta admit, it's a great song, especially as a vehicle to keep the growing, (people are still just arriving, thanks to the traffic "plan"), crowd cranked up. Soon enough comes the ever-funky "Moma Dance", which kicked ass right into an "Antelope" that again showcased the seemingly endless improv skills of these amazing dudes. It's the same song, but an entirely different one at the same time---go figure! "The Sloth" pops up, (again, my 2nd in 39 shows), and I'll be honest, I don't remember this song or profess to know much of anything about it, either. What I do know is that I was glad to hear "Circus", a very well-written song that gave me something other than mind-blowing jams as food for thought. As you know, this was a brief break, as I was once again hit with a "Mike's>Simple>I am Hydrogen>Weekapaug". Excepting "Simple", this was as good as I've ever seen, with Mr. Gordon to thank especially. I used to love "Simple", but then I grew up and realized that it pretty much sucks and, amazingly enough, seems to be getting worse. (Note to the band: shelve the shit---u don't need it!) Thank God it's wrapped around such phat jams! A welcome encore of "Boogie On" marked my first ever and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed, (unlike the 12/31 Rock and Roll, but that review isn't written yet!). The killer vibe has now permeated the place and nobody is immune when the always smoking "Tweeprise" closed out what may or may not have topped Set II, but who cares: I saw both, and you can get both^�so do so!
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 08:38:54 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: (no subject) Just got in from Big Cypress. So many stories to this crazy adventure that it hurts my head trying to recall everything, so here's a short summary before I pass out: Not sure who messed up on this one, but did someone forget to tell this town how many pholks to expect or what? Gates to this one should have probably started on Monday due to everybody stuck on the highway 8-12 hrs,which from what I heard caused a very tragic accident as well as cars running out of gas & overheating. Security was Excellent! Loved seeing everyone pull together with all the delays. It seemed as though everyone was helping out with picking up the trash as well as recycling. My buddy & I were extremely exhausted upon making it to the Campgrounds (11:15am Thursday);however, seeing this Beautiful place & So many smiling faces quickly brought some life back. We tried getting some sleep since we still had 5 hours before the 1st afternoon set started....no luck. Somehow managed to stay up for all of Thursday's sets THURSDAY (Afternoon Set) This set started out sounding like they were holding back a little, but still very solid Trey brought out Chief Jim Billy who sang\played guitar for a couple of songs. To me, it meant more seeing Phish really connect with the people who were nice enough to let us all come out here. Highlights: -Lite Up (Water Opener was tight, but this old Traffic cover seemed to set the tone for the night) -Corrina (Never thought I'd hear this one live. Seemed a lot slower & bluesier than earlier versions I've heard. Love this song!) -LimbxLimb (This was really hot & seemed to strike some life into the tired phans, which soon faded a bit when the Chief sang. Things picked back up midway thru: -Possum (which is always fun to hear. It would have been nice to hear Chris sing....wellllll not that nice) -Farmhouse (Seemed to get more of an understanding for this song out there. Just a perfect spot in the set for this song) -Ya Mar (Play it Leo!) (2nd Set) With the exception of Meat & maybe Wolfman's, this set SMOKED! Getting a Curtain out of Wilson left me sure that Mike's would follow, but Phish slapped you back in time with a Tweezer (ala 4/25/93). Very nice Taste! GOLGI!!! Jiboo, Hood, Good Times? GOOD TIMES?!!! SICK! Again, I'm so exhausted so I'm keeping the best part of the night very simple. It was WONDERFUL! Chalkdust - I wanted,left me wanting a little more Antelope,in my mind, was a Spliff. With Trey & Page dualing on keys. This Crosseyed-esque jam provided perfect forshadowing for things to come the next day & inspired my friend Luke & I to deem it Antelope2000. Sloth - Loved it. Circus - Really payed attention to how the screens appeared much clearer than a typical Ampitheatre. Trey gave me goose-bumps. Even after resting thru Circus, I was drained @ this point & had also forgotten about getting pumped up for a Mike's in the 1st set. Then it came - Mike's>Simple>Hyd.>Week.- danced on will alone through the groove, except for dozing off during Simple. Rested for Boogie On into a predictable Tweezer Rep. Then - Off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 17:01:03 -0500 From: Don Ogle [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 12/30/99 - Sweet Show This show was really tight and sweet. My 28th show! Definitely one of my favs! Before I go any further, I'd like to tell Heath Anderson (the writer of the previous review below this one) that the show was completely awesome - you missed a sweet weekend, and for a 7 year phan, you don't seem too loyal or have your priorities in order when you call Phish "money grubbing" when they put on a multi-million dollar millenium show for us for only $150, the shows were worth every penny, camping was great, food was reasonably priced, shitters were kept pretty clean, and an entire town (the Delta) was built for us to enjoy! Bummer for you, but don't pin the traffic problem on the band! Personal highlights for me included the tunes with the Seminole Chief Jim Billie, tight Moma Dance, Taste, Golgi, Meat, and by far my favorite tune of the night... Gotta Jiboo (my 1st one). Also the entire Mike's Groove was a pleasant surprise and a sweet Reggae Woman/Tweeprise encore was a nice nightcap! Sloth was nice too... Peace. Adam Ogle - Indiana
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 12:17:37 -0800 (PST) From: Gregg K [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 1st Night~ came in all the way from LI, NY.....were making great time until we hit alligator alley! Sat there for nearly 8 hours! ouch! finally got in! set up tent and started partying.....Music was great! Get tapes!
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 08:38:54 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: (no subject) Just got in from Big Cypress. So many stories to this crazy adventure that it hurts my head trying to recall everything, so here's a short summary before I pass out: Not sure who messed up on this one, but did someone forget to tell this town how many pholks to expect or what? Gates to this one should have probably started on Monday due to everybody stuck on the highway 8-12 hrs,which from what I heard caused a very tragic accident as well as cars running out of gas & overheating. Security was Excellent! Loved seeing everyone pull together with all the delays. It seemed as though everyone was helping out with picking up the trash as well as recycling. My buddy & I were extremely exhausted upon making it to the Campgrounds (11:15am Thursday);however, seeing this Beautiful place & So many smiling faces quickly brought some life back. We tried getting some sleep since we still had 5 hours before the 1st afternoon set started....no luck. Somehow managed to stay up for all of Thursday's sets THURSDAY (Afternoon Set) This set started out sounding like they were holding back a little, but still very solid Trey brought out Chief Jim Billy who sang\played guitar for a couple of songs. To me, it meant more seeing Phish really connect with the people who were nice enough to let us all come out here. Highlights: -Lite Up (Water Opener was tight, but this old Traffic cover seemed to set the tone for the night) -Corrina (Never thought I'd hear this one live. Seemed a lot slower & bluesier than earlier versions I've heard. Love this song!) -LimbxLimb (This was really hot & seemed to strike some life into the tired phans, which soon faded a bit when the Chief sang. Things picked back up midway thru: -Possum (which is always fun to hear. It would have been nice to hear Chris sing....wellllll not that nice) -Farmhouse (Seemed to get more of an understanding for this song out there. Just a perfect spot in the set for this song) -Ya Mar (Play it Leo!) (2nd Set) With the exception of Meat & maybe Wolfman's, this set SMOKED! Getting a Curtain out of Wilson left me sure that Mike's would follow, but Phish slapped you back in time with a Tweezer (ala 4/25/93). Very nice Taste! GOLGI!!! Jiboo, Hood, Good Times? GOOD TIMES?!!! SICK! Again, I'm so exhausted so I'm keeping the best part of the night very simple. It was WONDERFUL! Chalkdust - I wanted,left me wanting a little more Antelope,in my mind, was a Spliff. With Trey & Page dualing on keys. This Crosseyed-esque jam provided perfect forshadowing for things to come the next day & inspired my friend Luke & I to deem it Antelope2000. Sloth - Loved it. Circus - Really payed attention to how the screens appeared much clearer than a typical Ampitheatre. Trey gave me goose-bumps. Even after resting thru Circus, I was drained @ this point & had also forgotten about getting pumped up for a Mike's in the 1st set. Then it came - Mike's>Simple>Hyd.>Week.- danced on will alone through the groove, except for dozing off during Simple. Rested for Boogie On into a predictable Tweezer Rep. Then - Off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 20:40:58 GMT From: peter sammartino [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Big Cypress Show.Dec.30 Dec. 30 1999, Big Cypress Seminole Indian Rersv. Well, I am writing this review for the people who were unable to attend the millenium concert in Fl. What a show! I don't know how Phish can play so hard and for so long, but they did it. Let me first tell you that that this concert was the biggest show I have ever been to. The count was about 85,000 people on the first day and I 'm not sure about the second day, but I know it was alot more. Anyway, i was lucky enough to be twenty feet from stage throughout the whole show and met a lot of cool poeple. i lost my friends in the crowd and it was fucking impossible to find anyone, especially when it got dark. Well, the guys came on stage a little after 5 pm and behind them was the most beatiful sunset. TREy was dressed in a what seemed like a crazy designed shirt becasue when the lights hit him, he looked like a piece of Art. The energy was intense as they came on stage and the vibe was truly amazing. * First song: Water in the sky- Perfect opener with the lyrics that pretained to the area they were playing "filter out the everglades". I was nuts about this song and so was the crowd. *Lite up or leave me alone- First time hearing this song and they played it very well and the crowd loved it * Suzie Greenberg- Hell yeah, thats what I said when they played this song. First time hearing this song live and it was awesome. There was a sound glitch right on the first note, which will probably sound like skipping on a cd, but they played on. Great version, I heard everyone screaming Suzie so i figured evryone was hyped and excited about the song as I was. *Corrina- Again a first time for me, but I think this song was great and lighthearted, It had a really cool beat to it and seemed like everyone was enjoying it. *Limb- this was an awesome version and they jammed the hell out of it returning to the rhythm in the end. a pretty long standard Limb. * Native Greeting-w/Chief Wille. They had a Banjo player and another guitar player with a cowboy hat on stage.The song was in Native tongue(Seminole) so I could not understand it,but there was a part in the song when Willie translated one of the chorus lyrics which was "Bullshit,Bullshit, Bullshit" funny uh? Chief talked alot, even during the song.He talked about how quite we were in coming here that his people who live like a mile away did not know all these people were here. anyways he talked a lot, alittle to much. He thanked the crowd for coming. *Gator Song- another Chief Willie and the band song. It was pretty cool. I saw a big inflated Green Gator making its way to the front and I'm sure chief saw it.Thanks *Possum- one of my favs, It was great. I danced my ass off within the little confined space I had. I could not even sit down when I was tired becasue there simply was no room. *Farmhouse-I knew it was this song as soon as i heard the guitar hit the first note. I like when they start with the guitar instead of them all staring at once like in Hampton 98'. It sounded muck like the Lakewood show Farmhouse. Solo was great. Trey played with effects first and then finished it off without the effects. *Ghost- time to bring out the funk. I love this song and they funked it hardcore. It had me groovin. *YA MAR-another great cover and it was time to puff on a nug or tw0. *Character 0- A great set closer and they jammed it way out. CK was amazing with the lights during this beacause it was dark out now. What a set I thought to myself. the temp. was dropping and it started to get cold, so I put a long sleeve.The temp reached into the 40's during the night. Phish finished around 7 pm to conclude their afternoon slash Sunset.. I think they played for nearly an hour and 40 minutes. I could be off by ten minutes. After about an 1:20 minute break. THe fab. Four came back on stage aroung 8:15. and started with Wilson.It had the crowd going. I know I screamed out Wilson to add to the noise.... The Curtain, -my first live curtain, I realized it by the guitar sound.I was really glad they playe dthis tune. I love it. It segued right into Tweezer which was amzing. The lights were crazy during this song and it looked like the band was in the mindset for a phat Teweezer Jam.The ambiance was set on stage by smoke and the lights.(thanks Chris).It was pretty long, longer the 15 minutes. it could have lasted all night though. * Taste- i like this tune and stood and watched trey as he noodled around. *Meat-another funk song.it did not have me going though. It was standard meat, noting to much. The lakefront arna in New Orleans' Meat was a helluva lot better. They only breaked four or five times during the song as opposed to the N.O about seven times. it was still good. *Golgi- another old song done very well and standard. Everyone seemed to be screaming "I saw you with a a ticket stub in your hand" *Wolfman's- I love this song, almost as good as the MANSfield 7/13/99'. They jammed it out really well. *Gotta Jibbo- another first live Jibbo and let me tell you it was probably one of my fav songs of the night. *Hood-What can I say exacept it was the fattest Hood I have seen. The light show was incredible and the glowstick war was the biggest i had ever seen. 80,000 people glowstick war. I was up front and as far as I could see there were glowsticks flying around. I got hit with one in the face.I was really into this hood and enjoyed it immensley. *Good times Bad times- another first live one for me. I have tapes with it, but never heard it live. I really like this cover it has nice jamming quality to it.This eneded the second set with a blast. The Third set was by far the best set of the night(my opinion only) *Chalkdust Torture: An amazing display of talent during this song.It takes great syncroinzed action from the band to create this distinct song because of how fast the song is being plyed by,especially for Page.It takes a lot practice. Great Version *Moma Dance--another one of my phunk favs. It lead the crowd into a giant Phunk Jam for a real long time. It was definitly funk. A nice long intro before the lyrics. I was FukenMOmaDAnce. *Antelope--I really want to hear this song on tape. It was great,probably one of the best Antelopes I heard. *Harry the SLOTH, Italian Spagetti--I have not heard this tune in a while and enjoyed it. A real old school tune from the Gamehendge story. *WTCCTC-Alright,this song was done perfectly. I love this tune out of all the slow Phish tunes, especially becasue its all Trey. I thought the best version I heard was 97' New Years, but better then Lakewood version, this time Trey played it flawlessly. A real treat fro me. I had to indulge myself to a nodule of dank during this song, as always when this song is played.Can't real dance to it, at least I can't.I just move my head and legs a little. *Mikes Song-->Simple-->I am Hydrogen->Weekapaug(with Auld LAng Syne tease): This was the best part of this night. Even though this resembles recent Hampton how setlist except for I am Hydrogen, which was my fav. parts of this long ass song segues. What can I say but Phish jammed really hard made everyone really happy during these songs. I thought the overall sound was great, even though I was twenty feet from the band, but with the constand pouring of smoke and the lights completly covered the band and about 100 feet of the crowd. At pts i could not see the band playing for several minutes. I though tonight was fucking awesome, couldn't be much better. A real treat for me to see this show. Encore- Boggie on Reggae Women-->Tweezer Rep. I really like this tune and hyped that they were playing, but I really hoped for something else like a Harpua or a Divided Sky, but its alright the show was great.The night ended shorly after Midnight.
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 09:36:16 -0500 From: Mark Dichter [email protected] To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: NYE 2000 Dear M.I.A. Phans.... Made the drive down to Lauderdale all the way from Toronto - YES that's Toronto, Ont. (CANADA)......stayed down here for about five days before the phestivities began, which was cool - much need R + R - anyway left on the 30th at 4:30 AM thinking most were already at Big Cypress, or, if not, middle of the night was the best time to go - WRONG, WRONG, WRONG - 8.5 HRS later, finally set up camp - Message to the Staff: Why did you close the gates for a bit....you fuckers....you're worse than ticket bastards (who themselves were stupid enough to be scammed by many). More like 100 000 people at the show (none of this 75K bullshit).....apologies for the sermon..... FIRST NIGHT - a.k.a the BOMB begins Water in the Sky - Unexpected...thought they open with Cities, but it was awesome....everyone was into it and you knew where the show was going Lite Up, Or LEave Me ALone - didn't know this one 'till the chorus (and help from others) - perfectly timed...as I was packing a bowl...nice (couldn't believe...hasn't been played since '88........FUCK) Suzy Greenberg - awesome....everyone was singing and dancing, having a whale of a time, and was in a good spot right after two songs that weren't so well-known Corrina - thought it was a new song...misinformed....groovy, slow and chill and points but good solo by trey and page....definitely liked it...not so happy about it's position...no worries the crazyness has yet to begin... Limb By Limb - SO HAPPy - second favourite off the new disc (behind GHost) - and it was awesome....enough said Native Greeting Song - song with Chief Jim Billie and some of his friends (some dude named Johnny ? Olson on bass) - got us chanting some Seminole song which means "HOw are you doing"...."Good How Are You" ? HU-HE-NE_NA? Story of Alligator Wrestler - w/ the Chief....thought i'd heard it before....sounded like a camp song...very fun...and everyone was into it Possum - had it written down right off the first few riffs...despite the denial from people around me....love Possum...MIke vocals were strong (all the way through - he's so awesome and I thought he was really on for the entire weekend...dropping huge bombs...particularly 1st night..later) Farmhouse - very tight and awesome...solid Trey solo..good jam...fairly standard...don't really remember anything else...O.K Ghost - called it.....pretty solid....effects and beginning were not as crazy as I thought they could have been....but phatty steam coming off them at beginning and the Jams before "OH GOd ..never told him" were pretty sick Ya Mar - one of my girlfriend's (DANA) favs....we were jamming away hard....lots of fun...Mike was getting a little tired and I knew the boys would rap up soon...since we had passed the 90 mins mark.... Character Zero - despite the many that don't care for this song ...I have always liked it....it was very tight..good jamming...what I classify as a MINI Glowstick War....even though they often close sets witht the -0- it was still good and we got so much shit to still look forward to .......Set Start:5:05PM - Set END: 6:44PM Email more later....getting tired..again
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 23:54:21 -0500 (EST) From: Louis Bixby [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Big Cypress Hello, Just got back and i'm writing with no sleep..12/30/99 Water in the sky was nice with the everglades lyrics, But lite up and leave me alone was great since i spent 13 hours in TRAFFIC on the Alley.. It wasa Bruttle Suzie was fun, and then came Corrina, Corrina. I have only heard them do it on tape and to see them pull it out was very nice. The rest of the first set was really fun.. Actually the whole thing was one giant ball of fun. The second and third sets were full throttle with a epic Antelope in the third. The afternoon set on the 31st started with Jim> I didn't know.. A great Tube. They also played one of the most bazzare soam i 've heard. They segued into Catapult, and then Trey announced that you can only get away playing a song like catapult at the biggest concert in the world. With that said they played a fine version of Claptons After Midnight.The all night set was crazy. The first few songs were alright, but there was alot of activity after the hotdog ride. As a result the music was over looked and drowned out at times. It was one of the greatest moments of my life though, and everyone there. It was unbelieviable. They eventually settled into there set and played long versions of everything. Heavy things was great with the cheesecake chant. Did anyone Catch this on ABC?? I have to run now and sleep.. Bye
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:55:03 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: happy new year (review) hi everybody and happy new year! just got back from a 34 mile drive that took over 6 hours and i must say i'm pretty miffed at how idiotically the police handled the traffic problem. instead of realizing, as limestone does, that there are way more people than usual and messy traffic, and finds ways to accommodate, the imbecilic police force at the reservation instead acted in total denial, doing nothing to accomodate the tens of thousands of cars forced to stop for periods of a half hour a piece or longer on the way in. cars were stopped and people asleep as there was nowhere to go, but it was not until i got to the exit that i discovered the problem- the exit ramp was being fed directly into the shell station at the corner, so while the line for gas got longer and longer as people had to sit in their cars all night, all it would have taken to have made the experience reasonable would be to put cones in the exit to separate the gasers from the final show traffic, and allowed traffic to keep flowing with the aid of a crossing guard. instead, there was no one, and as soon as we passed the gas station it was literally fifteen miles with no one else on the road.... did this not sit well with anyone else? and then just one lane to filter 50,000 people out??? in my six hour ride to the highway, we saw only one civilian car pas us in the opposite direction- the rest were cops. instead of acknowledging and assisting the problem, they instead left 45000 people trapped in a campgrounds with no water and hardly any food, like a bunch of caged animals... and when i brought this to the attention of the moronic officers at the, you can only imagine how much they cared... but enough venting, as this was the only sour point to an otherwise mindblowing weekend. 12-30-99 I: after the reaction from the hampton crowd to the "filter out the everglades" line from water in the sky, this seemed the obvious song to start off this historic event. then came an amusing mix of old and new, with chief jim billie lending guitar and vocals to some amusingly phishy folk songs. the rest of the set was good but not mindblowing, with a good ghost and yamar and the ever lame character zero to close. don't like this song almost ever, enough said. II: now here's where it started getting good; i lagged on the set and missed wilson (i was less than heart-broken) and made it into to say the monster curtain> tweezer that i had called for the set. long tweezer, a little boring at the end but i love whatever comes out of tweezer, and then a strong taste, phunky-phresh meat, followed by a slew of classics and the phat new jiboo, and one of the greatest harry hood's and good times bad times ever! you could feel them rolling, controlling every note to manipulate our bodies and emotions, at the top of their game as these boys almost always are at this time of year.. III: jesus christ, what to say about this monster set that would do it justice... best set ever played?? the boys came onstage and opened up with that familiar chalkdust rift, but this was no ordinary chalkdust- there is just a different feeling at shows like this. the boys were experimenting all over the place, building and building every song in the set to its most orgasmic climax. antelope was probably the biggest and baddest one ever, blending the three parts of the song more fluidly than usual, making it a more cohesive flow (not that there's anything wrong with whatever they choose to pull in antelope, but this one was OUT THERE. never checked the time on tany of the sets, but phish was so phucked for this set that clock time was totally replaced by phish time. this monster antelope was followed by a sloth to take us into the depths of gamehendge, and then the most nauseating song in the phish repertoire imo: when the circus bores me to tears... but this song put me straight to the ground, thankfully, for what was to come is what has to be the hardest, heaviest and most utterly orgasmic mike's groove ever. they were playing with new themes, spinning off each other as only phish can do, taking you from the immediately recognizable into the nether-regions of the world's greatest rock band. it probably won't translate to tape, but mike's was just trippy as hell, with ample input form all band members, working as a well oiled machine creating brilliant, disco-tech psychedalia. by the time weakapaug kicked in, the crowd, and by that i mean phish heads who dance and not those other people who are there to do god knows what, you could feel the amazing string that trey holds us to, spinning and tearing and forcing the crowd into the woldest mike's frenzy i have ever seen. and then to top it off, i expected a quick fun bouncin' or cavern to close, but know, ever daring and always ready to push the envelope, they busted boogie on!! and phunked us all the way home to another amazing tweezer reprise. i don't know if this song is always played the same, but this version had my whole section (middle page side speaker) jumping and howling in utter delight at the greatest rock n' roll musicians on earth. it was so intense that i wanted to cry- overwhelmed at how these guys can make us move wherever they want... just incredible, and of the 60 some shows i've seen including most festivals and new years', this was the best show ever played- long, strong, full of great songs and topped with (perhaps) the ultimate phish expression of shear power- mike's groove! well its time to rest, hope this wasn't too boring but i wanted to say my peace, and to all those who really love these guys- lets stay with them... but if you didn't think that this weekend was awesome, then you probably don't like phish, so maybe you should try something else instead of just going to do the "in" thing... so happy new year everyone, especially my phamily and phriends who i missed being with last year, the page side crew, nicole, poptart, melissa, and all of the other nice people who remind me that life is as fun as you want to make, and that the future is wide open..... happy new year! love, bryan ([email protected])
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 11:30:01 -0800 From: Andy Rothman [email protected] To: [email protected] im listenin to the mikes from the mp3 site its exactly as i heard it:completely acid,exploration,awesome. we can all say easily "its all good" but this "event"was all not good. the logistics of the site lent itself to an impossible situation.they had to know that the traffic would be the worst in history and nothin!!!!!! was done to help or alleviate. it was utter insanity. i left @4:00am from 40 miles away and got there @ 2:00pm camped 1.2 miles away on 182nd and 4th. a little unreason able and very exhausting. phishes set lists have become not only very predictable but now veryyyyy repitituous.for the pinnacle concert of their career i thought very few risks were taken setlist wise.there playin is as good as ever.i think they must have a method to their style now. it lends itself to tighter playin. it used to be that guyute when played sparingly had mistakes often but now its played flawlessly due to the repeated play. the lightup was a treat and had a spectacular out jam.many of the jams were best ever or close .the midnite set would have been great in madison square garden but here 75 percent of the crowd was in a low level sound area and impossible to see position. it was almost impossible to get into it unless you were within the first speaker system. anyhow i should have expected most of this when i bought my ticket. i thought i was going to a concer but instead it was just an event. there still the greatest but lets see them in small arenas!!!!! awaken strong dreams reign here
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 03:07:04 EST From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: (no subject) I AM THE BREASTY CHEESE OF YOUR OVERTONED WART

below are reviews of the above reviews, reviewers or the opinions expressed by the authors
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 20:47:17 -0500 From: The Gendells [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: review 12/30/99 Big Cypress that pissed off guy heath anderson needs to go smoke a bowl and eat a phatty cheesecake
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 12:17:17 -0500 From: Dave Wolcott [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: response to heath anderson on 12.30.99 show heath -- i see bitterness abounding. did we drive halfway across the world to get to florida? Yes was the volume of traffic unexpected? Yes was it phish and great northeastern production's responsibility to clear the highways? No. last time i checked, the state police -- not civilians -- have jurisdiction over interstate highways. so, write a letter to the state police noting how poorly the traffic situation was handled. but, don't bust phish and great northeast. what are they supposed to do -- build new roads? the inside of the venue and campgrounds was amazing -- phish and great northeast handled the logistics superbly and everything was awesome. however, the traffic debacle belongs to the police. dude, accept some blame for yourself. if you were arriving on I-75 wednesday night, you had to have known that you would be stuck there for some amount of time. it took us 13 hours to get from the toll booth to our campsite (at 2 AM Wednesday night). our friends who arrived tuesday morning took only 30 minutes to get in. some of our friends didn't arrive until just before the first set on thursday but they said things started to clear out thursday afternoon. why give up so easily when you came so far? why not at least keep on trucking to get to the NYE sets even if you missed the thursday sets. i see little devotion secondly, why the hell would phish and great northeast provide anything on the highway? is that their job? as far as communication goes, the police should have been keeping people informed much better (i.e. telling us what the hold-up was, etc.). as far as restrooms, there was a 30 mile restroom right on I-75 -- it's called the side of the road. if you have a problem pissing and shitting on the side of a highway full of people in the same situation, than i can't imagine you would enjoy pissing and shitting in a smelly, humid port-a-jon. at least I-75 smells better. we stopped before naples and got gas, $300 worth of food, toilet paper, smokes and beer -- all the essentials for an evening on I-75. plan ahead and don't blame others for your misfortunes. if you had the tenacity, you would have made it to the show (maybe a little late) but made it nonetheless. all i can say is patience is a virtue and phish made sure the wait was well worth it!!!!!!!!!! David A. Wolcott
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