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R5/W01: 07-29-2003 Post Gazette Pavillion at Star Lake, Burgettstown, PA

Started by ned_ryerson, September 07, 2008, 07:25:33 PM

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Hicks

Alright I'm here to spoil this party. 

Just kidding. 

Kinda.

I guess I'm alone on this one but this is a pretty sloppy show to my ears with not a whole lot going for it other than a bunch of bustouts for song chasers.  It seems to me that Trey's tone was particularly bad on this night, but maybe that's just because these are a bunch of tunes that I'm not used to hearing PH versions of.  I also watched this setlist update in real time on my comp and couldn't believe what I was seeing, but I think my expectations were so high (especially with all the talk of it being the best PH show) by the time I got the Kevorkian remastered discs a few months later I was pretty disappointed in what I heard.  Anyway, here goes:

Daniel:  Not a huge bluegrass/old timey fan but since this harks back to the epic 8/93 shows I'm so fond of it works aight as an opener. 

Camel Walk:  Pretty sweet version, Trey's dirty tone isn't the best for this one but it is well played.  Mike is not very prominent, which is an unfortunate theme of this show.  Still good to hear it again.

Gotta Jibboo:  Nice noodling by Trey, cool mellow summertime vibe.  Nothing crazy but I suppose this is my highlight of the set. 

Cool it Down:  Painful vocals and I'm not a fan of blooze rock, so this really doesn't do it for me. 

Scent:  The middle jam is pretty interesting, I actually dig it, weird shit.  Trey keeps stepping all over everybody else's part with poo-y leads though, he even contributes some horrible vocals to Mike's call out section.  The fast part at the end is f'd.

Fee:  Well played, and the jam at the end is pretty sweet.  One of the only times during the show that Page steps out with his synth.  Segue is smooth into . . .

Timber:  Just alright, once again Trey doesn't leave much room for anyone else which severely limits the places that this jam can go.  It's not bad, but I just don't really feel they are playing as unit here, it's just Trey way up in front with everyone following and at this stage of the game he didn't necessarily have the chops to take things to where they needed to go by himself. 

Circus:  man this one has been popping up in the club a lot lately, I'm officially sick of this song. 

McGrupp:  Not awful I suppose, but definitely not good.  Trey misses key parts after the looks like Dave section and after Page's solo.  Page's solo is good, but still not a version I really enjoyed and I am a fan of this song as its one of the rarities I had the pleasure of seeing in person. 

Golgi: was played

uhhh yeah, Jibboo was the only thing approaching exceptional, Fee>Timber was good.  I give this set a C/C+ in terms of how well the songs were executed. 

C&P:  Now we are talking, this in fact a top notch PH jam with equal contributions from everyone.  Mike busts out the envelope filter and the funk bass around the six minute mark of the "Pittsburgh Jam" track and I'm pretty sure Trey starts teasing the 7/22/03 Gumbo not long after that.  :wink:  Nice clav action by Page in there too.  Things build to an awesome peak at the ten minute mark which at first I thought they should have ended it at, but Trey comes up with another cool melodic pattern around the 15 minute mark and does some cool stuff with feedback at the very end.  Segue is kinda forced into . . .

Thunderhead:  I actually really like this song.  It's no Pebbles and Marbles or Waves, but it's still a nice example of late period Marshall/Anastasio song writing and more than a little Dead-ish.  I think they had finally progressed to the point where they could write a song in the Hunter/Garcia vein and not be too hung up on comparisons and just go with it anyway, which is cool with me.  It could be considered a buzzkill out of that monster C&P here though.

Brother:  Another rarity I got to see, this was well played and brings the momentum up nicely.

Harpua:  Is it just me or is the most overrated song in the Phish catalog?  Sure it's a sign of the boys feeling it but I'm not so sure it's a great song.  At least the beginning is well played though, and I'm sure I would've been freaking had I been in attendance.  Someone should tell Trey that the rollercoaster of the mind was a Forbin narration though. 

Bittersweet: fun enough

Fooled Around: Awful, but funny. 

Harpua: F'd.  It's seems to me that Trey's style of play is starting to grate on the other dudes at this point, particularly Page.  With the exception of the C&P he hasn't been letting them step up the way he did for most PH shows.  Sometimes musical tension is a good thing, others, notsomuch.

David Bowie: pretty standard, Trey botches the ending pretty badly. 

Farmhouse:  teh suck. 

So, yeah that's my take on this one, probably the second most overrated Phish ever behind 2/28/03, other than the C&P there really isn't much musical meat here just a bunch of novelty tunes not played very well or passionately IMO.  Personally PH was all about them jamming as a unit and that is in very short supply here, where the f is Mike for the majority of this show?  Maybe he was still hungover from two days prior, I dunno.  There are easily 10 PH shows I would take over this one.  The C&P gets an A, the rest of the show a C. 
Quote from: Trey Anastasio
But, I don't think our fans do happily lap it up, I think they go online and talk about how it was a bad show.

ytowndan

Daniel - Breakout!  Nice treat. 

Camel Walk - Always loved this tune.  Played decently. 

Jibboo - Nice energy, pretty decent playing by Trey. 

Cool It Down - I really like the way the jam flows.  It has a nice pace that flows throughout.  Again some nice playing by Trey. 

Scent - Pretty good version.  Definitely gets nutzo for a min.  Then a little sloppy, but over all, it's a fun version. 

Fee - Played well.  Melts nicely into >

Timber - I love the way it came out of Fee.  It would have been a pleasant surprise if I hadn't known it was coming.  I've always loved the Timber jams.  Evil and chaotic, and this one doesn't disappoint. It gets real out there around the 5:30 to 6:00 min mark, and then slowly feels its way back.  Very nice version here. 

Circus - Good cool down tune. 

McGrupp - Only played 3 times since '98, and this was the only PH version.  Definitely some slop in this one.  But, after realizing that they hadn't played it live in three years, and this is a PH show, I didn't expect much.  But, Page saves the day...so it's all good. 

Golgi - Nice closer. 


Crosseyed - I love the huge roar in the audience just after they break into the first few notes.  What a treat this one is.  One of the only two played during PH.  The jam starts off wasting no time.  Everyone is playing very well, and you can tell they're really reading one another.  It weaves in and out of so many different sections, and they all seem to have nice placement within the jam.  I'm not very familiar with much PH, but that was by far my favorite jam out of the era, that I've heard at least.  Is there a better PH jam? 

Thunderhead - Came out of C&P very nicely.  Not too sure what I think about the tune.  I can see how some might think it's bad placement, but I didn't see it that way. 

Brother - Hell yeah!  Brings the energy right back up.  Trey does some wicked soloing as usual.

Harpua - Two rarities in a row!  I like the story in this one.  A fun way to pump up the upcoming "IT". 

Bittersweet - Appropriate for the Pittsburgh crowd. 

Fooled Around - That's what they were doing all right. 

Harpua - "Poster's sooooo dead"  Sloppy. 

Bowie - Great way to close out the set.  A bit botched, but still a nice way to end a great set. 

Encore Break - WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Farmhouse - After this second set I'll settle for a Farmhouse encore.



Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed and surprised by this show.   Sure, there was moments of suck, but the highlights more than made up for them IMO.  A/A-

Great pick!



Quote from: nab on July 27, 2007, 12:20:24 AM
You never drink alone when you have something good to listen to.

ned_ryerson

So i started to do this review a week ago, because sunday atm is the only time that i know i have 3 hours to sit and then my wife came in and said "i found a puppy i want, lets go get it" so i said ohh i will do this on monday. then monday i spent in the ER with my 7 year old who needed 6 stitches in her lip. my new work schedule is kicking my ass. one of those i took a step back to get through the door kinda things so ive been picking up lots of side work. so here goes my week late review for this, it might be in two parts, i have to partake of my other nerd hobby today as well. not to mention watching the Carolina Panthers game, and the last game at yankee stadium. and whats that, oh yeah, this weeks show too.

Set 1.

Daniel: i think this is a good way to start the show.

Camel: How the hell can you go wrong. i relly like this song and think for the most part that it flows really well and makes you feel groovy.

Jiboo: i know i know i have said it a million time, this song does not allow for full band jam and i despise it for that, however trey does do pretty well with it.

Cool it down: never heard this one before, not bad at all.

Mule: i enjoyed mule this time. just kind of hit the spot

Fee: always love this classic. Fun to hear the crowed singing along to it. got alittle too mellow for me near the end.

Timber: oooooh i love this tune and what a surprise coming out of the mellow fee. this was a good jam, nice and evil and driving.

Circus: i think a good place for this one, especially since its in pittsburgh, its an easy cheer.

Mcgrupp: When i used to play online games one of my buddies was called Mcgrupp, we used to chat about phish all the time. so this tune makes me think of our good times, other than that though, its not exactly the most fantastic song phish ever wrote but its got its high lights and is rare enough to be a nice treat when they do play it. and lets face it, page finished it off very nicely.

Golgi: nice finish to the set.

i have to run out for a few hour, i will finish set 2 when i get back.
wait..what?

A-Train

Is there some connection for Golgi with this Venue. I think they played it 3/4 times they visited.Mcgrupp and Crosseyed for being rare have also been played there more than once.Sorry,I know this isn't a review was just curious if anybody else thought this was funny.

Hicks

Quote from: A-Train on September 21, 2008, 11:11:03 AM
Is there some connection for Golgi with this Venue. I think they played it 3/4 times they visited.Mcgrupp and Crosseyed for being rare have also been played there more than once.Sorry,I know this isn't a review was just curious if anybody else thought this was funny.

Golgi's the third most played song ever, so I don't think it's that big of a coincidence.

C&P on the otherhand may have been a conscious decision. 
Quote from: Trey Anastasio
But, I don't think our fans do happily lap it up, I think they go online and talk about how it was a bad show.

G. Augusto

Lame.
It's weaksauce when everyone else has submitted reviews for your pick and you haven't.
a

Caravan2001