One of my top 5 shows of the 21 I have attended. My all time favorite probably not this night but this is certainly underrated at under 4 stars to me personally. This is a great show w my 3rd all time favorite Sand w an absolutely sick (dundun dundun dundun DOO DOO dundun dundun dundun DOO DOO!!!! start subtly at 16:45 and turns into this thing w a PING kinda note at the end a high pitch note in contrast to the tasty melting cheese of Mike Gordon laying down w Trey just ripping it louder and louder not to mention a great other jam leading into this one that is long enough and different enough to be more like the regular Sand jam that would only be like a 12-14 min standard type 1. But at 18:34 Trey officially ripped the imaginary roof off the pavillion at the very back for me and i saw the 2nd coming of Jesus. It was hilariously good jamming i could not believe how just one basic set of cords over and over getting creshendo'd could cause my body such a jibation and orgasm of sweat pain and joy. Joy what a song to premier w after a set 2 opener into outerspace. Joy may be a letdown of a song in terms of soft melody but it was played really well for the 1st time and it fit the vibe that night. I hate Sugar Shack so idc if it is 1st time stats it sucks the first and last time they ever will play it. I just dont like that song. If it has to be Mikes tunes i take a Mikes Song obviously and My Mind's Got a . . . or Ginseng or other bluegrass-y mike ones or Ya Mar or even Mock or Train Song but not this one. The Trey cool guitar solo riff is NOT cool enough to make up for the general suckage that is the Shantee from hell. Give me Round Room or Mexican Cousin hell even Friday has a great guitar solo build from 4 min on that is far better than the Shack. But that was the ONLY thing i did not like about this show and for the 1st time i liked it at the time and gave it a chance but have come to hate it more and more sense. I loved No Men in . . .at MPP2 8-16-15 and love hearing new tunes cause it shows my fav band still cares about new music and are still IN IT . . u feel me i know u do? I hope u do? It was not as great as Reading 1st time they ever played there and tore the house down w a Reba better than one of my other good shows at 11-24 and 25 but 24-09 was SO MUCH better than the next night even w a Esther and V Underground n a great BOAF it just was on off night. I do not like many of the new songs. . except Blaze On and No Men. I love those 2. They are like Undermind in the funky No Men Sneakin Sally kinda Moma Dance or Funky Bitch vibe area and Blaze being like a Farmhouse album song like well hell Farmhouse but also Heavy Things or BOAF a song w lots of catchy lyrics and Chem Trails Raining Down on Me lol that is good crunchy lyrics w classic tongue and cheek T Marshall and Trey banter all over it. As far as what i hate on the new repetoire I detest Mercury How Many R U? and Heavy Rotation. Give me 555 if it must be a Mikes Song other than our song the man's groove and give me Halfway to the Moon if it must be a Page song NOT the rotation scritch and may the chompers delight in the Feugo . . true! lol I am getting chomperitis and it is contagious. . off track and stoned. Back on the show of yeah 6-7-09 my 3rd fav Camden Show i ever attended. Good venue. I saw them 7-30 and 31-03 and again the show i thought would be the last 2 Set show EVER. Thank Jesus and drug courts for our hero in guitar terms Trey that I was wrong. 8-12-04 was a highly underrated great show. Not perfectly played but just a great all around rock show w even Pebbles and Marbles kickin ass. I catapulted myself into downtown NJ and loved everyminute of seeing Phili w my slingshot Zelda Skyward Sword style only an acorn or 2 across the Divided Sky that is the Phili skyline.
Breakdown by most songs - the ones that counted this night
Chalkdust Torture - just ok - loved it as an opener being there - but just a stable like a Wilson or Runaway Jim - nothing surprising and a 7 min regular version - nothing special
Fee!!!! even though Trey forgot many lyrics as he does often w Cavern Undermind and this song - Esther and a few others too for some reason and not just the shier number of lyrics cause Mygrupp is usually sung right always. Lizards too. This version is great if u love Trey or band banter cause Trey self-depricates clearly in a silly mood of mild frustration - u guys gotta sing along cuz we knew this backstage. . . and i am CONVINCED that this happening was a direct cause of the new great musical direction that would NOT have happened otherwise. Very much for me remeniscent of one of my all time favorite funk shows up there w all 97 especially 12-29 and 30 cow jamming - the show 7-15-98 in Portland got into a Tweezer Simple for the books w a Dr Drew Snoop song of all things and it actually so worked unlike the silly HYHU shit like Bike and Love U Fishman song which i am btw a total NONE fan of even seeing it live i never got it . . i agree it is a total waste of show time like Page does in the joke where the audience was polled on 8-11-04 i believe. . somewhere in that "final" tour. But the song that Fee reminds me of in that 7-15 stellar night is not the second set but the HORN . . it has this jam . . Horn never has an ambient jam. . it just doesnt fit. . the song has a guitar solo and back to the lyrics and then over . . the construction of the song does not allow for jamming. But similiar to Fee. . which sorta has the small chance of a slow jam coming out of hte very end . . well listen to both and u will see the subtle similarities and the utter beauty of both in their simple pretty soft harmony.
The Lizards unfortunately was not played perfect - Mike was a little off in my fav part at the end of the crazy Page piano jam in the middle and then it goes into this guitar solo as we all know in repetition slowly creshendoing in ecstacy. It being my ALL TIME FAV Phish Song - I have way too high expectations of all versions of this song and having only heard it 2x live and both imperfect i needless to say have been a bit frustrated w lackluster playing of my favorite song ever. MY Friend and Hood are my 2 other favs but they play those both more often. If I Could and FEFU are my fav 2 bluegrass tunes love those guitar solos/jams.
The night has a great setlist but it is important to note this was not the best played versions of many of these songs. There was flubbing not just the obvious Fee one but general just offness - the 4 were outa sync and u can hear it occassionally. Not like Coventry but off a little bit. Wolfmans is just ok . .nothing to brag about for such a great potential funkadelic masterpeice. Many better versions out there. This one is not for the books but it is always worth a listen cause it is so damn fun
Tube - way too short . . i KNOW i am not alone in longing and yearning for the type 2 I gotta hear at one of the 2 most underrated shows i went to 2-22-03 also best Bathtub Gin i had ever heard but i had not at the time i went to the concert heard the filler one from 7-24-98 Riverport one or the Great Went one among even a better one in the SAME tour lol but to come in the future 3 gigs later at 2-28-03 the best show of 2003 by a mile. . 7-29 or 7-30 a close 2nd or 3rd and 3-1-03 2-15-16 both Golden Lady i wish was there Boogie On i absolutely adore that melody go Stevie!! So yeah the Tube from 2-22 is the best Tube i ever heard . . yes even better than 12-7-97 and the Island Tour 98 Tube and even better 7-17 at Oswego's UNofficial festival which in mho is better than all the rest except IT Cypress and Magnaball. . yes better than the Went and Clifford I really believe that listen to 99 such an underrated year of music overshadowed by 97 n 98 being only slightly superior w the cow funk introduced and explosion of Europe causing them great new feelings of tightness and smallness which made the music so much less about rock and roll cliche and back to the heart of amazing jamming. . Tube from and 9-11-99 25 and 12-13 far better than Big Cypress and that may sound sackreligious lol but listen to 2-22. This 6-7 version is like a studio version. For some reason Trey is going back to a shitty 1996 Tube. I dont like it. Give me 97> but