it was good to get phish back in the states. I actually grabbed 7th row tickets to this show off of ebay for way less than face value... very odd. I had been to this venue the year before. While it was a gang buster show, it was a little short due to massive rains, so we were ready for phish to bring it on this tour opener. by god, they did.

set 1:

First Tube: This one started in fairly predictable fashion. Mike was having very serious technical issues through out this song. By the end, they hammered most of them out. Once you could hear mike, it was a pretty straight foward version.

Wolfman's Brother: this was a nice solid '99 wolfman's. they really funked this one out before bringing down a nice in a gadda da vidda jam to close it out.

Beauty of My dreams: this was a nice version. they seemed to focus a little more on this one, being in nashville.

golgi: there were a few flubs. they got a little sloppy on this one and didn't sound quite right for the next couple songs. trey actually sounded really good; the rest of the band was not so hot.

limb by limb: once again, this was not the strongest version. they got a little lost in here.

bug: i hate this song. this is caspian kill me. it is a little bit more pallatable in the first set but none the less...

poor heart: like beauty of my dreams, they tightened up a bit on this one. this song brought me back in after a couple dud songs/performances. trey played some hot bluegrass licks

roggae: this is a real nice slower phish song. they killed this the year before with a who's who of nashville line up of guest. this may have been a little nod to that. either way good version.

chalk dust: this may be the best chalk dust i have seen. i was not overly impressed with the set up to this point, but this one rocked and gave me hope for a better 2nd set. trey smashed this one.... muy bueno

overall: not their most impressive set, but chalk dust rocked and wolfman's brother stood out.

set:

jibboo: once again, a pretty predictable, for the times, opener. this was played nice and with a bit of exploration tacked on the back side. they got into a little space funk groove that dropped into...

2001: oh we were starting to look like the memphis show the fall before, but hell, who cares? that show was great. this 2001 was one of the better ones of the summer. the gordo/fish rhythm section was in much better sync than they were in the first set. page was all over this one, while trey sat back on rhythm a bit more. this kicked into...

sand: this was another good version. as he was proned to do, he fiddled with that damn mini keyboard for a bit longer than i cared for... although any mini keyboard/trey action is more than i care for. play the guitar man! anyway, a very sharp dark/funky version.

harry hood: there were some good harry hoods in the summer of 2000, so it is appropriate that one be played on the opener. this one featured a ton of killer guests, adding a wonderful twist to this phish classic. the dog faced boy sandwich was interesting too. they kind of just popped it in there, but very good hood.

Blue Grass Time!! from here on is worth the blank discs/har drive space....

I'm Blue I'm Lonesome: there were some issues getting all the guests mic'ed in hood, but everyone was plugged in here. there was so much damn talent on the stage it really didn't matter what they played. everyone really brought it on this one.

Hold Whatcha Got: this is a funky little country/bluegrass number, and the mccoury boys, sam bush, etc really took charge on this one. at this point, phish was like a back up band for a monster bluegrass band. by the way, by the end of this song, gordo looked as happy as i'd ever seen him on stage.

uncle penn: oh yeah, breaking out some real classic bluegrass. this version was played pretty straight, but exceptional none the same. everyone took a little solo, and it really just kicked the crowd into blue grass high gear.

free bird: this one must be heard. wynona talked about her recent divorce before they started up the "electric!" free bird. wynona belted this one out, filling the holes with "oh trey oh trey oh trey" and some not so subtle passes on fish. hilarious stuff. the band and guests left to raucaus ovation.

enc:

yem: we were all hoping for another bluegrass throwdown, but no one was sad to settle for yem. trey fucked the arpeggios a bit, but once they got through the tramps/composed section they came out blazing. mike, especially, was absolutely sick. he got that space/funk thing flying. this might be the best i saw him play all summer.... must hear.

Overall: the first set is below average at best, with a few highlights. the second set started good and just kept getting better. must hear set!

Highlights: wolfman's brother, chalkdust torture, harry hood>dfb>hood, and everything after that. very good close to the second set. the complete opposite of what i had to say about the 3rd night at deer creek, which i just happened to review today...see you in cincy in a couple of weeks!!!