Copied (typos and all) from a review originally posted: Wed, 5 May 1999 14:55:07 CDT
Subject: Trey in May! - 1st two shows

Wow. These two shows have been awesome. Honestly, I did not expect these Trey
solo shows to rock as hard as they did. Granted, it's not Phish, but I was
suprised by how well Trey led this new ensemble.

Last night, at the Murat Theater, things were different altogether. No miracle
seekers here, you couldn't even give your tickets away. It was worse than the
Thursday night of Nassau. I've sill got an extra to the Murat if anyone needs
one......

Wow - this place is so cool. The outside looks like a cross between a Turkisk
mosque and a medieval cathedral, very ornate and intricate, with a faux face at
the front of the theater depicting the whole Turkish/Indian theme (and the word
'MURAT'). We chatted briefly with Russ who was out taking a picture of this
Theater - basically both of us saying how fun it was to play with Trey. He
complimented him on "keeping with it" and not letting yourself get discouraged,
perservering through hard work and finally making it on your own terms. He
said he was a bit sad that his own band had moved from the rural area to Boston
then to L.A. in order to 'make it.' Inside wasn't bad either; the uniformed
ushers, lack of security and full bar made me think I was seeing the symphony.
Getting in was a bitch, a near strip search lost me a few nicely rolled
j's...but inside all was taken care of by a few Tanquery n' tonics. (woo hoo!)
Before the show one of the ushers - an extrememly excited 17 year-old girl,
came over and told us how the balcony shakes when the crowd gets going. And
she wasn't kidding. I was sure the place was gonna come tumbling down during
the second set opener.

5/4/99 - Murat Theater, Indianapolis
Set I:
Dirt, Dogs Stole Things, Mountains in the Mist, Snowflakes in the Sand, Purple
Hugh, Talk, Bathtub Gin, Kissed by Mist, [Something Train song], Wading in the
Velvet Sea, Chalk Dust Torture

Trey told us tonight that all the songs in the first set were written by Tom
Marshall and him. I'd actually been wondering that on the drive down, thanks
for the clarification, Trey. Dogs was very enjoyable, ultra-bluesy. Mountains
in the Mist was anounced as the official title of that song, as was Purple Hugh
(which Trey spelled so there'd be no confusion). The crowd erupted for Talk,
almost like they had for Bouncin' the night before (which - I failed to
mention, Bouncing had a long, almost 'jammed out' ending. Quite impressive.
Absolutely the best Bouncing _ever._) ;^> Gin was then dedicated to the guys
that had posted the title "Minestrone" for Purple Hugh, with the audience again
singing on the chorus and winding down perfectly with Trey for the ending. The
jam was great, and afterwords Trey commented that he'd be back "in 4 more years
to play Bathtub Gin again".....I love his concept of time...it's been six
years, Trey....

Kissed by Mist was a very pretty tune, and is for Julia Butterfly Hill (a woman
who has been sitting 180 feet up in a redwood for 18 months to protest
deforestation - what a gal!). The next one was as of yet unnammed, but Trey
mumbled something to the effect that it sounded like another train song. (Not
that it sounds like Trainsong, but that it sounds like a train.) Velvet Sea
was nice - strange to hear Trey singing it. Chalkdust rocked like you knew it
would. I forgot what song he was playing in the middle of it. (Too much
Tanquery...)

Set II:
Round In Circles, First Tube, Ooh Child, Bell-Bottom Blues, Heavy [something],
Learning the Rules, Somantin, Andre the Giant, I Can See Clearly Now, Pistol ->
Drums, Voodoo Child (slight return)
Encore: Row Jimmy, Last Tube -> Come On Baby

I'm not sure about the accuracy of this setlist in partuicular, I think First
Tube is really Last Tube and I don't know what last Tube is, but like I said
I've never heard the Tubes so I'd better shut the hell up. So I'll talk about
the new tunes.

Bell Bottom Blues, new tune...bluesy. Cool. Not much else to say. Heavy
something was either a tune Trey has not decided the tune to, or maybe he just
mumbled it. At any rate, we didn't catch the title. Learning the rules was
the one Reilly, Peerless and Rob heard that sounds like the Meat intro with a
Makisupa-type beat. The bassist has a repeated vocal "Is it a wind...or a
bug?" line which has some people calling it "Wing" "Bug" and lots of other
things. This title was picked by me becuase. The lyrics paint a picture to me
of musicians learning to play with one another ("leaning to speak...now we know
the rules..." etc.) I suppose it could also apply to any new relationship.
Somantin is from the 5/8(?)/98 Bearsville sessions tape, much more well done
last night. Weird tune, nonetheless. Andre the Giant featured Tony, pretty
funky. Don't remember much about it except that Trey intrduced it by saying
"This tune is either called [blah blah blah] or Andre the Giant." It didn't
matter what the [blah blah blah] was becasue everyone erupted for the latter
name.

This Voodoo Child was much better than last night's. Woo whee!! And the
encore was very nice, although quite long!

So it has been a pretty fun two days. Right now me and travelling companion
Eddy are hanging at Purdue University, watching the Cubs-Rockies game. I keep
thinking they're saying Anastasio is pitching....

Until tomorrow,

- Mark

My first in person Phish or Phish related show. The Murat is an awesome theatre in downtown Indy, I saw the Foo Fighters there on my 15th birthday. Phish also had good nights there in 93 and 94, but you already know that, I'm sure.

The acoustic set is great, and songs like Mountains in the Mist, Kissed by Mist and Velvet Sea shine in the stripped down setting. Lots of good Trey banter too.

The electric set is hard to explain, so I'll try an analogy. Remember seeing guys like J.R. Rider and Harold Miner win the NBA Slam Dunk contest back in the day? That feeling of....I don't know what this is, but it could be the best thing I've ever seen! That's the electric set of this show. Years go by, and those dunks are warm ups now, just as we've seen Sands, First Tubes, etc. way better than those from May, 1999. Still, for a couple of weeks on this tour, Trey WAS Jimi Hendrix in the Band of Gypsies album. The balcony in the Murat was bouncing, people. Its amazing the building is still standing.

It was NEW music, Trey taking chances. A great night.

Sadly I'd call this the weakest TAB show of '99 up to this point. But that's not to say this is a bad show, not even close. There's just not a whole lot that stands out. This is the weakest Sand we've seen so far in '99, which again, doesn't mean it's bad. The debuts were all well played and I really dig Windora Bug. It's funny and weird and that gets my thumbs up. Last Tube has a little keyboard solo in the middle, the second one of '99. This one is just as strange as the last.