R4/W06: 09-17-2000 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

[blatboom]

Phish
9-17-00
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD

Source: Neumann KM150 > Oade m248 > DA-P1 (NOS) @48khz
Transfer: Tascam DA20mkII > Event Gina S/PDIF > Cool Edit Pro resampling at maximum quality to 44.1khz
Loud pop during Guyute (present on DAT source, sounds like someone smacked the mic) was smoothed with CEP
Fadout between discs 1 and 2 as at least five seconds of redundant material if you want to
rebuild the first set.
Please notify jamie@treworgy.com if there are any problems found with this transfer

Disc 1: (Set 1 Part 1, 62:22:71)

1 Guyute
2 Back on the Train
3 Bathtub Gin
4 Limb By Limb
5 Moma Dance
6 Lawn Boy

Disc 2 (Set 1 Part 2, 40:15:51)

1 Fluffhead
2 The Curtain With
3 Chalkdust Torture

Disc 3 (Set 2 + Encore, 73:17:37)

1 Rock 'n' Roll >
2 Theme From The Bottom >
3 Dog Log >
4 Mango Song >
5 Jam >
6 Free

7 Contact
8 Rocky Top

http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=1792
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=517299

lossy:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/xtfruw
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9z1dx7


I'm pumped to be putting this one up.  Of the handful of preH shows I saw, this is hands down my favorite.

Set I is a mammoth, tipping the scales at over 1:40, featuring a rare Guyute opener, the 2nd to last Fluffhead ever, and the 2nd of the 3 Withs played in 2000.  But for me it's all about set II.  Sick jams and a totally natural flow.  Enjoy!

Submitted Reviews:

Sophist
August
Caravan
Pnchundi
Khalpin
Blatboom
GBL
Slim
Ned Ryerson
MiamiPhish

[jedifunk]

this might be the last great phish show... seriously...

i can't wait to review this one

[Caravan2001]

Here's my review:  This show is da bomb.  :wink:

[VA $l!m]

Here's my review:  This show is da bomb.  :wink:

can i use that too? i'm about 3 weeks behind, and that'd make things alot easier catchin up!  :lol:

[MiamiPhish]

Yeah, looks great!  Can't wait for this one either.

[blatboom]

This is a fantastic recording of my eighth show...

Set I:

Guyute - 1st treat of the night is this song in this slot.  And this version kills!  They give the newborn elf section lots of love and it's clear they're on tonight.  The crowd loves it.

Back on the Train - this is a pumping version of this song.  I love how Trey's voice sounds all night.  It sounds a little strained or something, which really appeals to me for some reason...

Bathtub Gin - where I like my Gin's the best, early 1st set.  This one takes a little while to grab my interest.  Good music, just not earth-shattering.  But it really picks up when they pick up the pace in the 9th minute.. now we're talkin.  Page lays down some scary shit near the end!  Turns out to be a sweet Gin as they tie it up by bringing the main theme back.

Limb x Limb - they took an interminable amount of time to start the next tune, so I was a little disappointed with this choice, as it was yet another Albany repeat.  But this is as well-played as the first 4 songs--it rages.

Moma Dance - Yes!  Love it.  Super dank right from the start...Mike's bass is dripping.  Trey takes an understated approach to his early solo.  They tear that shit up after the verses.  Huge Moma Dance.

Lawn Boy - break time.

Fluffhead - I picked this out from those first couple soft notes before anyone around me on the lawn.  They happen to crush this version.  For the most part it's technically sound, but it packs a punch the whole way, very powerful.  This set could have ended right here, but no..

The Curtain With - well, nobody knew when it started that's what it would be.  What a way to follow up that Fluffhead!  I may be biased, but I think this version is far superior to the other two '00 performances (maybe I just need to single out DC, Vegas is clearly 3rd in the running)  It's unbelievable how slow they manage to play the Rift section.  Perfect With.

Chalk Dust - Totally ripping version closes this HUGE set.  (yeah Trey f's up a little on the second verse, but it's funny)

Just to be clear, this beast clocks in at One Hour and Forty-two minutes  :-o

I wanted to get the whole thing done tonight, but I'm fading fast...

[khalpin]

First time listening and I haven't looked at the setlist before listening, so I'm going in totally cold on this one.

Guyute: Only the third ever show opening Guyute. Can't complain about this one. Certainly kicking things off with a bang. The middle section is fast and tight. Leads up to the glorious climax perfectly. This is followed by an extended "hazy" section right before "I'm bouncing like a newborn elf". Great start to the show.

GBotT: Works well in the second slot here.

Gin: Here we go. I love the anticipation when you hear the opening notes of a Gin for the first time, because it has so much potential of being a monster. A little flub by Trey ~3:00. This one develops pretty gradually. So far, it's a nice dancer. Nothing crazy, but quite enjoyable. ~11:00 they spice it up a bit. I really like what Mike's bringing to the table on this one, especially as he's very high in the mix, which I like. ~15:10, what the hell is that?? Page or Trey coming out with some alien sound effects I guess. The crowd seems to randomly go wild, which I'm guessing is due to the light show. Then it returns to the Gin melody and closes out. Nice Gin jam.

Limb by Limb: Works for me. Nothing particularly noticeable about this one. Just good, solid jamming.

Moma: Nice choice.  Quality stuff.  Doesn't stray too far from the basic Moma Dance formula, but it's a pretty sweet jam.

Lawn Boy: Bathroom break.

Fluffhead: Great to hear this one.  A nice rarity at this point.  Was this the last one?  It starts out tight, but a couple minutes in the flubs start coming.  I might be a bit overly critical, they hold tight for most of it, but they spring a couple leaks along the way.  Actually, I think it's only Trey that's having trouble.  The Arrival section is over pretty quick.  Almost like they wanted to get it over with. 

Curtain: Had a bit of trouble in the beginning, but it tightens up after that. Gets really good actually.  This is pretty solid.  Ah....goes into the Rift section.  Very nice.  Very, very nice.  Oh lord...this is gorgeous.  What song is this again?  Oh yeah, Curtain...Cloud 9.....Where's my Fishman cam?...I absolutely love this jam.  Mike is laying it down beautifully and Trey is dancing all over it. And it's over....  Well, that was a very fun ride while it lasted.  (God, I'm wasted..12:15am...and I gotta work tomorrow)

Chalkdust: Mike throws in some tasty licks in between verses.  Little flub on the bridge there.  This goes on to what ends up being a pretty solid rocker.  Nice finish to the set.

Allright, I'm going to bed and will pick this up tomorrow.

R&R: Okay, a tad hungover.  Nothing a little caffiene won't cure.  This one progresses in typical R&R fashion for quite a while.  Pretty much in-line with it's general formula and after a while it goes into an ambient jam.  Not really my bag, but it works for most people, I guess.

Theme: Love this one here.  Trey struggles with the post-lyrics ascending riff, though.  It gets better after that for a bit.  Then it mellows out for a while into a transition jam, which ends up going into:

Dog Log: Awesome!  Gotta love getting one of these.  Quite the treat.  Fishman really shines on this version.  Good stuff here.

Mango Song: Not the quick in-and-out Mango song.  Seems to be a theme going here.  Lots of jamming on songs that are usually pretty standard.  Jams out for a bit then the song "ends" with Page ringing that last note over and over.  Now on to another jam.  Gets pretty sweet.  Gets into a Manteca-ish groove.  I'm totally digging this.  Sound effects start ~14:00.  Eventually dissolves as the spaceship leaves the ampitheater.

Free: Standard for the most part.  Jams out for a while.  Then goes into that section that was on the studio version but they never played live back in '95.  Pretty cool.  5 song second set, wow.

Contact: My 3-year old's favorite song.  Pretty standard, with a nice jam section there in the middle.  Always a welcome closer.

Rocky Top: Another classic encore.  "PLAY IT, LEO, PLAY IT!!!"  I love it.  Great Page solo.  Great finish.

This was a nice treat.  Good setlist and some great jamming.  Trey seemed to have more goofs than usual during composed sections, but other than that, it was a great show.  And only one quick bathroom break.  I give this one an A-.  The flubs keeping it from being a solid A.

[G. Augusto]

I suffer from the Merriweather Curse.
I never have fun at the time, but the shows later go on to be my favorites of the Tour.
Bored, is what I remember being at this show and not particularly blown away.
After Hershey, I left my buddy there and drove to Delaware to hang with my GF on the day off.
I drove back to Hershey the day of Merriweather, picked my bud up, dropped my GF back off in DE and drove to the show...
I think that and the opening duo of Guyute/GBOTT killed my spirits for this show...
I now love this show...

Guyute - 3rd time as an opener. Cool loop during last vocal part which is extra spacey.

GBOTT - Whatevz....

Gin - Very cool version. Similar feel to the Summer versions. It's kinda like the Deer Creek version in that it is really good, but nothing too crazy occurs during it. Page spaces out toward the end, tho (theme of the night?)

LxL - Yikes! A little squirrelly on one of the peaks...

Moma - Fish is quite playful during the intro as Trey forgets that one little riff.

Lawn - Always a good sign that they are having fun. Mike kills his solo (as always)

Fluff - Like, OMGZzZ! Decent version. Short jam section.

Curtain w/ - You figured (hoped) that they would include the With ending. Always a treat and this was a nice one.

Chalk - They close the set with it.

RnR - Nice opener. Jam settles into a nice, mellow style ~ 12:30 in. Finds it's way into >>>

Theme - Spacey intro...After jam, it funks out for a bit before Mike introduces the Dog Log bass line. Smoove transish into >>>

Dog Log - Modulation during intro. I like when they play the last composed part, which they do here. Always a cool kickdown.

Mango - Eh. Not the biggest fan. Trey needs a vocal coach for this one...It's the "post" Mango jam that is the show stealer, though. Starts out almost Manteca-esque. Super trippy work by the Chairman.

Free - Funky.

Conatct/Rockytop - Contact is another tell for the band that they had a good night.

While a little loose, the jams and rare setlist give this one a boost.
Top 3 of 2000 and worthy of an A.
a

[pnchundi]

Heres my take on set one:

Guyute well played, but strange as an opener.  Not easy to dance too, but sets a tone
Back on the train this is more like it
Bathtub starts off well, but no one ever takes charge.  Its like a paint by numbers but without the reference guide to say what color goes where. And then I remembered what phish in 99/00 was like, hurry up and get through the composed sections to the space beyond and see what develops.   I could almost hear Bob Ross saying, "trey's gonna put a happy little riff here, and page is going this with a happy little tree here" and so on.  During the gin, you cant see the whole picture, but by the end it turned out okay.  More heat from 1330 to 1600 mins than throughout
Limb by Limb finally something with balls!  And thats not what you think of normally when you think of limbylimb
Moma red hot
lawnboy meh, mike has a fun solo
fluffheadwow.  pretty tight through the early sections although they are a little shaky in some of the travels.  But rather than getting bogged down, they bust on through.  Great cathartic release at the end
curtain yeah, now we are talking! really well played and almost spur of the moment.  No way to see this coming. And wait, whats that? Its not over? HOLY SHIT? Curtain With? WOW  :banana:
chalkdust bringing things back to earth, but in a white-hot re-entry way.  (part of me is secretly hoping this will be the chalkdust extended bust-out too)

Wow.  This set ends a hellavu let better than it started.  I would have opened with Back On, Bathtub and then Guyute.  I know Guyute to open is a kick-down, but its not the easiest thing to build on. But after that meandering Gin, Guyute would have re-oriented things.  But from there on, great stuff

[blatboom]

on with set II:


Rock & Roll> - I love Phish's rendition of this song and I love it in this spot.  (I think I saw 4 II openers so lucky me).  It just gets everything jumping again and you know they're gonna tack a nice jam on the end...pretty pumping jam gets nuts around the 11th minute before it all settles down into a mellow/funky feel.  this is the tone the rest of the set has right here...the fade into Theme is gorgeous thanks to Fish, his cymbal almost sounds like an effect to me.

Theme> - what a great song.  They rock out the main section--everybody's on fire (Trey takes an interesting approach to his ever-important part I thought) and the jam takes off in a big way.  Mike is so laying it down as he'll continue to do the rest of the set...this jam gets so dark and nasty in the eighth minute.  It's almost too much for me still.  Page on the piano, Mike's bass is oozing and Trey's just strumming chords and Fish is doing what Fish does...Mike takes us where we're heading though

Dog Log> - the darkest, nastiest, *best* Dog Log ever.  They turn on a dime right before the vocals.  I love when you can "hear" Trey smiling as he sings.  Fish deserves much praise for his cymbal work here.  Again, Trey's voice sounds off to me but in such a good way.  I love the break down section that gives the song such a different feel for a second.

Mango Song> - Trey kicks into this one without pause.  These two tunes just fit perfectly together. (see also: IT).  I'll admit at the time I wasn't feeling it because I hated Mango, but now I love it and I love this version even though it isn't necessarily perfect (main song I'm talking, the jam is a whole other beast)...I'm just really digging the outro to Mango these days.  The way Page sort of does the high notes to end it, but it doesn't end shows what they were up to this set (plus you had the "unfinished" Theme)  But I think it's Mike again that gets the credit because he deviates from the norm during Mango and sets the theme for the upcoming jam...and what a jam it is.  I can't go play by play..it's just too much.  What I would give for this to be a DVD release! (never happen)  They pick a perfect number to break out of that sick funk

Free - and the crowd goes wild.  Such a hot start to this Free.  I happen to love Trey's solo work on the way out of this one.  It's one of my favorite versions for that reason.  "In the Blimp a lot!"

Encore:

Contact>Rocky Top - Mike for MVP?  Contact is a fun way to end a show, and this Rocky Top brings it.  Nice capper, but not my personal favorite sort of encore and I didn't enjoy it that night.  Whatever though, it fits as a nice contrast to what came before..


What a huge show from start to finish.  Set I was loaded with tunes but devoid of segues and was one of the longest first sets you'll find.  Set II was barely an hour long, but was essentially a jam with the occasional song thrown in.  A+.

[pnchundi]

wow, second is short but a real treat for the ears.

rocknroll things open with a bang and right away with the end  of the first sets intensity.  Trey rages, and page is right there with him.  Jam is fairly focused and moving for the first 11 mins and then slows down and gets spacy
theme nice follow, still intense but in a different direction.  and i swear they wind up playing something that sounds like it belongs in free more than theme
dog log wow, nicely down.  good segue way here, and even though this steaming log seems a little off, maybe a different key?, its sweet.  No "for paul?"
mangos this 2nd is intense.  mango is rocky but tasty.  the jam plays out well with page steering things.  the jam that follows which shows up as an extra track for me is great.  spacy but not without getting lost
free was that a foreshadowing? this free has a lot of heat, and def reminds me of mid-90s frees.  page, mike, and fish all stay locked on the down which anchors trey too.  trey gets nasty and mike is funk-tastic

contact they are having a lot of fun.  mike is silly and relaxed
rocky top straight forward and fun

damn, this is a great sleeper of a show. i think even if i had seen the setlist, i would thought this was one of those nights that looks like it should be good but wasnt.  (there were a couple near the end).  1st set starts slowly but builds to a raging boil.  2nd set keeps up the intensity but then rocks it out in a different way, a-?

[MiamiPhish]

I'll get a review down soon on this guy... I've listened to it through; the show is solid, but how solid I haven't made up my mind.

[rowjimmy]

this goddamned show is the shizz...

For 2000 it's damned amazing considering the ups and downs they had that year. (imo)

1 Guyute - Cool.
2 Back on the Train - fine
3 Bathtub Gin - nice. Not epic but nice
4 Limb By Limb - I dig it.
5 Moma Dance -  shake it down, ya'll
6 Lawn Boy - cool

1 Fluffhead - not perfect but not a botch. Great peak.
2 The Curtain With - when this began, I was praying for "With". Wow. Thank You Phish. I coulda gone home here and been happy.
3 Chalkdust Torture - meh


1 Rock 'n' Roll > - blast off
2 Theme From The Bottom > - Hang on!
3 Dog Log > - Wow! Love seeing/hearing this.
4 Mango Song > - They slip into this and blew my mind. Terrific.
5 Jam > - OMG!!!11!! WTF!!!1!! 3P1C!
6 Free - Excellent.

7 Contact - AH fun.
8 Rocky Top - woohoo! Never a mind blower but always fun.

Yay!

[blatboom]

this goddamned show is the shizz...

For 2000 it's damned amazing considering the ups and downs they had that year. (imo)

1 Guyute - Cool.
2 Back on the Train - fine
3 Bathtub Gin - nice. Not epic but nice
4 Limb By Limb - I dig it.
5 Moma Dance -  shake it down, ya'll
6 Lawn Boy - cool

1 Fluffhead - not perfect but not a botch. Great peak.
2 The Curtain With - when this began, I was praying for "With". Wow. Thank You Phish. I coulda gone home here and been happy.
3 Chalkdust Torture - meh


1 Rock 'n' Roll > - blast off
2 Theme From The Bottom > - Hang on!
3 Dog Log > - Wow! Love seeing/hearing this.
4 Mango Song > - They slip into this and blew my mind. Terrific.
5 Jam > - OMG!!!11!! WTF!!!1!! 3P1C!
6 Free - Excellent.

7 Contact - AH fun.
8 Rocky Top - woohoo! Never a mind blower but always fun.

Yay!

:-o
out the woodwork!

[MiamiPhish]

I thought this show had its ups and downs, with a setlist that makes a phan drool, but jams that have yet to make my jaw drop.
A good example of the up/down nature of this show was the opening trio: a show-opening Guyute which sent the crowd into a frenzy followed by a very average GBOTT which was followed by a melodic, grooving Bathtub Gin.
Some more?
A crowd-rousing Fluffhead, followed by a fantastic Curtain With, followed by a flubbed, below-average Chalkdust Torture.

Great setlist, really long set, but for me, it wasn't all that moving.


The second set was on fire... fantastic R&R to start things off, through a sick theme, dog log and then a jammed out Mango Song -> Free at perfect length.
Good Encores too.

I'm keeping this review short, because the show was so long.
I: 7.5
II: 8.5
Show: 8.0