06/07 - Comcast Center - Mansfield, MA - Post-Show Discussion and Review

[Hicks]

To be fair to myself, those two points weren't counter each other, the second point was more like an amendment to the first point.

The point is, that I think if people haven't notice a huge marked improvement this tour over '09, they either have really sensitive ears or they suck at listening.  Either way, perhaps Phish isn't something they should waste their effort on anymore.

Good point

faux, do you care to respond?

This Guyute is terrible.

My point is that at least when it's bad, it doesn't sound shitty like 2.0.  That's a good thing...I guess.

  What a crock of shit.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

Were you in/near the taping section?

right next to it, towards page's side of the sbd.  Great place to see a show.  The sound was phenomenal.  I talked to Jason for awhile, but didn't catch up with bvaz.

I saw Atlanta '98 from Fish side of the Light Board.  Perfect place to see a show, imo.

Hicks, that is a terrible Guyute.  and yes they played a horrible version of The Divided Sky earlier this tour.  However, the level of playing far exceeds on the whole where they were at when they first started this incarnation up in 2010.  The flubbed out pieces of shit are far outweighed by the tightly inspired well played polished stones they've been churning out.
 
I'd say that while the Bowie's aren't as wildly improvised, I haven't heard such perfectly executed bowie's since 1996.  The level of playing in these Bowies makes most versions of older tunes that were played in 99-00 look like excercises in futility.

Say what you want about the lack of solid improv, say what you will about the lack of deviation in setlists, say what you will about the newer tunes, but Phish is playing pretty fucking solidly and they do in fact show improvement.

I do like to joke and hate as much as the next guy, however most of my "joking" and "hating" is because I like to get a large scientific sample size before I make any judgements on the music.  I think that people saying that "Trey sounds patient" 30 seconds into a version of Tweezer is kind of dumb because you haven't heard enough of the song to know whether or not he fucking sounds patient to begin with.  Likewise, people pronouncing "DOOD, BETHEL IS SOOO SICK, PHISH IS TOTES BACK" haven't really gotten enough examples of that kinda playing to make such a proclamation.  I think it is funny to see people have a viceral emotional reaction to music without thinking too deeply into what they actually think.  As opposed to being contemplative, they're being reactive.  I think the same can be said about some people who refuse to see the marked progress phish has made.


PS- Screw you guys for making me type this all out when you are having the argument for me gumbo style.   :mrgreen: <--- what's with the smaller afro?

[Hicks]

  What a crock of shit.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

  What a crock of shit.

It is a crock of shit that fuck your face is in the rotation.  What a piece of shit song.  Doesn't mean that they suck at playing it.

[Hicks]

Were you in/near the taping section?

right next to it, towards page's side of the sbd.  Great place to see a show.  The sound was phenomenal.  I talked to Jason for awhile, but didn't catch up with bvaz.

I saw Atlanta '98 from Fish side of the Light Board.  Perfect place to see a show, imo.

Hicks, that is a terrible Guyute.  and yes they played a horrible version of The Divided Sky earlier this tour.  However, the level of playing far exceeds on the whole where they were at when they first started this incarnation up in 2010.  The flubbed out pieces of shit are far outweighed by the tightly inspired well played polished stones they've been churning out.
 
I'd say that while the Bowie's aren't as wildly improvised, I haven't heard such perfectly executed bowie's since 1996.  The level of playing in these Bowies makes most versions of older tunes that were played in 99-00 look like excercises in futility.

Say what you want about the lack of solid improv, say what you will about the lack of deviation in setlists, say what you will about the newer tunes, but Phish is playing pretty fucking solidly and they do in fact show improvement.

I do like to joke and hate as much as the next guy, however most of my "joking" and "hating" is because I like to get a large scientific sample size before I make any judgements on the music.  I think that people saying that "Trey sounds patient" 30 seconds into a version of Tweezer is kind of dumb because you haven't heard enough of the song to know whether or not he fucking sounds patient to begin with.  Likewise, people pronouncing "DOOD, BETHEL IS SOOO SICK, PHISH IS TOTES BACK" haven't really gotten enough examples of that kinda playing to make such a proclamation.  I think it is funny to see people have a viceral emotional reaction to music without thinking too deeply into what they actually think.  As opposed to being contemplative, they're being reactive.  I think the same can be said about some people who refuse to see the marked progress phish has made.


PS- Screw you guys for making me type this all out when you are having the argument for me gumbo style.   :mrgreen: <--- what's with the smaller afro?

The only ones that think that phish are still good are those that never saw them before 3.0

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

Your lack of a proper citation negates that quote from proper discussion because like a child wandering into a film halfway through the viewing, it lacks context.

[DoW]

Were you in/near the taping section?

right next to it, towards page's side of the sbd.  Great place to see a show.  The sound was phenomenal.  I talked to Jason for awhile, but didn't catch up with bvaz.

sorry.  once I knew you were there I knew lights would be soon and I had to sett he levels for the first set.
then at setbreak, I didn't see you.  you were probably talking to jason   
I'll need to make it up to port city one night this summer or one of those shows on the pier in portland.

[Hicks]

Your lack of a proper citation negates that quote from proper discussion because like a child wandering into a film halfway through the viewing, it lacks context.

It seems like it was only yesterday. . .

http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=18370.msg580083#msg580083

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

It's true.  The majority of phish fans at the shows I've been to have been younger than 25.  That wasn't a discussion of the music, but rather the fanbase.

Context is everything Hicks.

[Hicks]

  What a crock of shit.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

I'm not sure what Hicks was attempting to accomplish with this thread jack, but here is where we were before he decided to embark on this excercise in failure:

Were you in/near the taping section?

right next to it, towards page's side of the sbd.  Great place to see a show.  The sound was phenomenal.  I talked to Jason for awhile, but didn't catch up with bvaz.

I saw Atlanta '98 from Fish side of the Light Board.  Perfect place to see a show, imo.

Hicks, that is a terrible Guyute.  and yes they played a horrible version of The Divided Sky earlier this tour.  However, the level of playing far exceeds on the whole where they were at when they first started this incarnation up in 2010.  The flubbed out pieces of shit are far outweighed by the tightly inspired well played polished stones they've been churning out.
 
I'd say that while the Bowie's aren't as wildly improvised, I haven't heard such perfectly executed bowie's since 1996.  The level of playing in these Bowies makes most versions of older tunes that were played in 99-00 look like excercises in futility.

Say what you want about the lack of solid improv, say what you will about the lack of deviation in setlists, say what you will about the newer tunes, but Phish is playing pretty fucking solidly and they do in fact show improvement.

I do like to joke and hate as much as the next guy, however most of my "joking" and "hating" is because I like to get a large scientific sample size before I make any judgements on the music.  I think that people saying that "Trey sounds patient" 30 seconds into a version of Tweezer is kind of dumb because you haven't heard enough of the song to know whether or not he fucking sounds patient to begin with.  Likewise, people pronouncing "DOOD, BETHEL IS SOOO SICK, PHISH IS TOTES BACK" haven't really gotten enough examples of that kinda playing to make such a proclamation.  I think it is funny to see people have a viceral emotional reaction to music without thinking too deeply into what they actually think.  As opposed to being contemplative, they're being reactive.  I think the same can be said about some people who refuse to see the marked progress phish has made.


PS- Screw you guys for making me type this all out when you are having the argument for me gumbo style.   :mrgreen: <--- what's with the smaller afro?

[jasonsobel]

fauxpaxfauxreal - in general, we agree on a lot.

I'd say that while the Bowie's aren't as wildly improvised, I haven't heard such perfectly executed bowie's since 1996.  The level of playing in these Bowies makes most versions of older tunes that were played in 99-00 look like excercises in futility.

if the part that I bolded is true, you really need to go back and listen to 12/29/97 Bowie.  talk about execution...

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

That is very true.  12/29/97's is very tight.  However that is the exception and not the rule.  Most bowie's, I think you'll find as I have post '96, are VERY VERY sloppy when compared to their much younger cousin's and when they're compared to The last two phish has played.

The Bowie's in 99 and 2000 especially do not compare to the EXECUTION of the last two.  Sure the Japan Bowie has more improv, but the actually playing isn't on par with these two latest versions, imo.

[Poster Nutbag]

All this griping and just constantly harping on the negativity of the fact that Phish isn't the band that they were for many years throughout `90's has been taken to the point of it being both incredibly redundant and an absolute obnoxious argument. I mean we all know that Phish isn't the band they used to be, and to start to stereotype fans over the way they handle that fact is just belittling to the diversity of each persons personal philosophy on how they want to handle the matter.

There are many obvious reasons why the band is not playing the way they were in the `90's and most likely why they will never reach that level of playing again. It is sort of like a nostalgia act, which I am going to take the best advantage of while it's still here, because this last hoorah is not going to last forever, soon you won't even have any new shows to bitch and complain about or to thoroughly enjoy dancing your ass off and spending beautiful evenings with the band that has apparently brought you so much joy in life that you spend years and years, numerous hours chatting about on-line, lots and lots of money spent going to see shows and collecting their shit, and the time you put in to download nearly 2,000 shows for some of you... So I'm not really sure what there is to gain by just sending Trey or Phish hate mail within these threads anymore, it's not going to change what is nearly impossible to change for this band, and my philosophy is that if I exert all my energy on bitching about how they were in the past in comparison to how they are now, is that I'm just missing out on the last dance with one of the love's of my life. 

The fact is all four of them have many more responsibilities to juggle, The band is not on a roar of momentum that culminated over the course of 10+ years like they were in the nineties. The adventure of breaking new grounds and sounds within there improvisational jams while taking songs to new peaks and levels of greatness is no longer even legitimately possible for them. The band is no longer in that position to indulge in such adventures anymore, the moment has long since past, that ship has sailed. All we have now, is what this present time has to offer. Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare, but your not proving anything about how good or bad of a fan you are for choosing which one you think is best for you.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

Poster Nutbag, I agree with the feeling behind your post.

However, you cannot place yourself in the bands perspective.

Until they say as much, you cannot even pretend to know what their feelings on their music is nor can you serve as an ambassador to explain their own personal motivations with the music.

That said, the feeling behind the words you used does have a lot of merit, imo.