R11/W02: 06-16-1995 Walnut Creek Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC

[G. Augusto]

Call me crazy, but the band seems pretty high for this show...

Halley's - Hadn't opened a show since 05-19-1994. Like the "Charge!" participation prior. Cool way to start with an abrupt ending into >>>

Disease - Keepin' it going. Pretty standard version, but it serves it purpose with some rock.

Esther - Hadn't been played in 25 shows, which was the largest gap at that point. Only version of the Summer Tour. *LUV* how Trey plays a ton of notes where he usually does the volume swells before the "plummet earthward" part.

Ya Mar - Always fitting for a Summer first set. Trey wants Leo to play it, and he doesn't even play it! The muted Trey solo to start is sweetness.

Cry Baby - One of my lesser favorites from the White Album. Cool that it's rare, but they have a little trouble with parts. Last one until Hampton '98.

Ice - Virtually flawless composed section. The band started to stray from the funkier '94 breakdowns this Tour. Lotsa Page instead. Did Mike switch to a fretless during this section? Sounds like it.

My Mind - Mike cuts off Trey's solo!

DFB - Split fakeouts to start. Actually, a really nice version. You can hear a security walkie talkie during one part....

Catapult - Last time played was 12-08-1994! Show Club theme alert! Just kinda thrown in there before they finally drop >>>>

Split - They start with the dissonance right off the bat. Pretty noisy/tension filled for the firs 5 minutes. Doesn't really get "together" until the last 5 minutes. The closed the first set with Split two shows prior and came out and played a little song called "The Mud Island Tweezer". A little foreshadowing?........Hmmm......

Jim - I really love this version, it's just a tuff one to review! Starts with the darkness ~5:45. Really gets noisy (and stays there for almost the entire jam) ~8:15. Settles in somewhat at 10:45 with some droning Mike. Mike hints at Jim ending at 13:20 (get to steppin') and this is followed by someone talking. Page clavs out ~15:30 in. At the 20 min. mark, Fish and Mike are synced up nicely. Still really noisy shit happening over them. Fishman is speaking ~23 with some "Doggie" and Trey whispering. Jam doesn't really retain its form until 30 minutes in. LOL. Super buttery segue into >>>

Free - Still super new. I always grouped this pairing with the Llama > Velvet Sea from Amsterdam, since they fucked your face for such a long time then went straight into a brand new tune. Still exploring the spacey jam section, but still fun.

Carolina - Get it?

YEM - Perfect composed sections. I love how you get two jams for the price of one with this version. Boyd comes out and does his thing then the band drops into a meaty jam on their own.

Coil - 3.0 fakeout style! OK composed parts. Always liked when they left Page out there to close a set/show. 3.0 always takes away from that.

Axis - Page forgets second line. OK version but they nail the big note after the drum break.

Nice pick and snapshot of Summer '95.
B+

[justjezmund]

6/16/95

Walnut Creek, Raleigh, NC

I

Halleys - Nicely done energy to kick off some really fun phish. 

DWD - I love these early diseases', so much raw rippage from all around, but especially trey.

Esther - My favorite lyrics of all time come from this.  I love this song.

Ya Mar - Page really kills it, can this set take any more fun?

Cry Baby Cry - Oh I guess it can.  I love when my favorite band plays music from my other favorite band.  And who doesn't like some mid/first set Beatles?

It's Ice - Very well done composed followed by some cool dark and just the way I like it.

MMGAMOIO - It was played.

Dog Faced Boy - I can spare a moment for one of the most chill segues >

Catapult - And keeping with the chillness this was nice.

MELT - MOAR HEAT PLEASE!!!!!  Shit gets deep but not disconnected.  I really like what fish and trey have going on throughout, they are right with each other like clockwork. 

II

JIM - This just oozes with awesome raw action.  And I love the vocal jamming.  Words are hard to come by for this, ill just say great.

Free - Flows like butta outta that jim and keeps getting darker with the progression. Nice.

Carolina - Its there.

YEM - I forgot this was a guest spot tune, I don't usually dig other people playing with phish, but he is/was the best d00d with DMB and he does make this version pretty fun.  Nice jam segment afterwards, awesome energy. Vocal jam makes me laugh.

Coil - Always nice, I like it.




Bold as Love - Love me some Hendrix encores.  Nice high to close things out. 

95 is always a fun listen.  Thanks for the pick PG, this gets a high B from me.  First set is fire, kills the second.  But yeah the jim is legit.  Fun.

[McGrupp]

I'll have my review up tonight sometime after "the football".

[sophist]

Friday, 06/16/1995
Walnut Creek Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC

Set 1: Halley's Comet > Down with Disease, Esther > Ya Mar, Cry Baby Cry, It's Ice, My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own, Dog Faced Boy -> Catapult, Split Open and Melt

Set 2: Runaway Jim -> Free, Carolina, You Enjoy Myself[1], The Squirming Coil

Encore: Bold As Love

[1] Boyd Tinsley on fiddle; Oye Como Va teases.

1st set.  Alright.  This show gets right with it.  Love the Halley's opener.  Pretty tight from what I remember.  Pretty smooth transition into DWD.   I love hearing these pre-jammed dwd's.  It's almost like they don't know what to do with it.  Anyway, raging Trey solo in this version.  Love the Esther placement and version.  Great version.  Ya Mar sounded really good too.  Some great playing by Trey.  I dug Cry Baby Cry too,  vocals are a bit flat a few times, but overall they do it justice.  I like the placement here as well.  It's Ice is near perfect, killer version with a spacey, psychedelic break in it.  MMGAMOIO.  Solid version. DFB and Catapult with the SOAM fake outs was hilarious to me.  Good versions.  SOAM was psychedelic as shit.  I really dug this version. 

2nd Set.  I love this Jim.  It's a psychedelic circus of awesome.  Some killer jamming and exploration.  The band shows a lot of patience with this version.  The segue into Free is killer.  Free has such energy, and you can just feel the explosion of energy of the crowd as they start Free.  That's how you open a set.  Free was very tight.  Raging version.  Solid version of Carolina.  YEM was fantastic.  Boyd straight kills it, and like August said, they drop straight into this meaty jam post Boyd solo.  Pure face meltage.  Good version of Coil.  Excellent outro by Page. 

Love the encore choice too.  Great version of Bold as Love. 

Overall, this show is an B+/A- in my book.  Overall they sound very tight, huge exploration in the Jim and YEM make for an epic second set.  Excellent pick!

I listened to this one as I saw the sunrise on Saturday morning.  Perfect for that. 

[Lifeboy]

Set II


Jim- good gawd, I bet the ppl in attendance were surprised and blown away with this one. It just drips with psychadelic goo. I used to listen to this Jim all the time, but I haven't gave it a spin in a while. Like sophist stated, the band really displays patience with this jam and just lets it flow. Perfectly.

Free- segue outta Jim is BUTTAH! A lot of energy in this version. Rager fa sho

Carolina- appropriate

YEM- Boyd wrecks shawp in the violin here. I really enjoyed this version. Even the jam after Boyd left the stage was pretty dope. Nice, solid YEM

Coil- I'll take it here. Nice breather after a hawt set


Bold as Love- Nice encore. Can't complain here.


Nice pick, PG. I really enjoyed this show. Solid B+

[ytowndan]

Set 1:

Halley's - Mmm...meatballs.  Solid version.  Melts into >

DWD - There were some flubs, but it was a nice rocking version.  Kept the energy flowing.

Esther - Well played.  Nice solid version.

Ya Mar - Love the tune.  Always great to hear it.  Nice version.

Cry Baby Cry - Hellz yeah!  Cool treat for sure!

Ice - Great version.  Very nice work by Page.

MMGAMOIO - A lil' first set bluegrass.  Always cool with me.

DFB > Catapult - Nice little chill down.  Always nice to get a Catapult, too.

Melt - Fish isn't taking "No" for an answer this time.  It starts getting out there around 9:30.  Starts to come back around a couple min later and continues on in a more traditional melt fashion.  Trey tears it apart.  Nice version.  Definite set highlight for me.


Set 2:

Jim - Gets out there pretty quickly.  Very psychedelic jam.  By ~11:00 it takes on that "vibe" where you just know it's going to be a monster.  ~15:00 Page is getting down and adding some texture.  It gets quite dissonant in the next few min.  Page is very prominent in this section of the jam (~19/20 min), and he continues to be throughout the spacey section.  The spooky vocal jam fits well.  Starts to pick up steam around the 28 min mark. 

Free - Very nice segue.  It fits very well here.  I like the placement.

Carolina - Cool.

YEM - Pretty nice composed section.  Boyd tears it up.  I like the "twofer" jam, as stated above.  Killer post-Boyd jam. 

Coil - Love it. 


Encore:

Bold - Great encore selection.   


Nice pick!  Melt is my first set highlight, while the obvious Jim is my set two highlight.  Solid "A" pick!

[McGrupp]

Set I:

Halley's - Nice start to the show.

DWD - Still a stellar start to the show. Nothing super mindblowing here, but a good melodic solo from trey.

Esther - I like the placement, always a treat to hear.

Ya Mar - Fun.

Cry Baby Cry - Also a treat. Very cool, with a nice trey solo.

Ice - Perfect, lots of page = ok with me.

Mind - Was it mbw who said it last week? "I, too, feel this way sometimes"

DFB > Catapult - Fish got a bit ahead of himself (And the rest of the band), wanting to go into split. Not sure if I like the placement of these, like aug said it seemed like trey did it just to annoy fish. It's playful, but seems a bit forced. Catapult seems sort of like a "why the hell not" type of decision. Still fun and enjoyable.

Split - Highlight of the first set for me. Very dark and dissonant, love this version. Fishman plays off of trey's atonal notes really well with nice accents. Will def return to this version in the future...

Set II:

Jim - Here we go. Song is standard, good 2nd set opener. Nice trey picking patterns in the 5-6 minute range to help the jam get started. Jam then starts to go dark for a bit. Trey is patient as he sets a "vibe" instead of just soloing. By the 9 minute mark we get "out" there, as the jam crawls into atonal territory. Evil. Here we go, by around 10:30 it's clear this jam is here to stay. I'd be straight scared by 11:30 ish. Loss of form around 12 min, but trey is still pushing (this is where he would have abandoned in 3.0). Not really sure where they're going, but they're not sure either. I definitely think they made a conscious decision to jam this one. Fish is staying busy, keeping the jam afloat while the other 3 members wander into psychedelic territory. ~16:40 we get into swirling madness/noise. This is fucking OUT there. Evil. Jam still hasn't developed any sort of theme or form other than the statement "We can fuck your mind if we want to." Love the spacey ambient playing/fish vox around 22 min. Nice page playing -> Jim beat by fish with more trey madness -> settling down, which segues relatively smoothly into...

Free - I like the symbolism here, as if we just crawled out of a cave. Nice version, nothing stood out to my ears though.

Carolina - Yup. Crowd clapping on the up-beats instead of the downbeats.

YEM - Very well executed composed section. Nice "nirvana" section as well - trey always seems to play all the notes I want to hear in these 94/95 versions. I'm not a fan of Boyd tinsley at all. I hate his playing style, his jamming style, his improv style, his tone, his note choices. I thought his solo sucked. I should note that this isn't just blatant DMB hate - I used to be a big fan of DMB when I was 13/14 and have seen them live a handful of times. I don't like them anymore, but respect them for who they are as a band. I still thought Boyd's solo was terrible. Trey continues the song and puts boyd to shame. Pretty rippin trey solo.

Coil - Nice. Feels right. Beautiful page playing as always...

Encore:

Axis - I love this song. Another treat. Gives me goosebumps every time.

I really enjoyed listening to this show. Thanks for the great pick, Dave.

[pnchundi]

This was the only walnut creek show i missed, stupid me for living in colorado.

Halleys- great way to crank things up
DWD- straight forward rock. 
Esther- good placement and a solid version
YaMar- summer time fun! Out in the lawn getting down
CryBabyCry- A little cool down
Its Ice- they are really starting to find their connection now.  Great Ice with Page waaay out front
MyMind- another show club theme?
DFB-Catapult jokes on fish.  I like catapult
Melt- Kickass melt here.  They slip away from the core quickly and things get nice and spacy but still pretty cohesive

Jim- Jumps the leash and takes off running.  The first 9-10 mins are pretty straight forward and high energy.  Things start slipping and sliding after that.  I agree with the first review, there are some really awesome moments here when the band gels and finds an interesting thread or theme and follows that, but then there are also some very unfocused sections too.  Not a complaint, just an observation, but this is a good reason why summer 95 is called Space Camp. 
Free- i like that free is the landing pad from really heavy jams.  Its a great song capable of taking off, but its a chance for the band to come together and regroup while kickin ass at the same time
Carolina-
YEM- great version always fun with a guest who can hang with YEM and not a straightforward blues/rock number like Possum.  Boyd rips it up and then leaves.  He is strange one for sure.  Nice vocals at the end.
Coil- great to way to wrap things up and Page continues to shine

Axis- great encore.

Obviously this show gets most of the love for the Jim which is a monster and really began to open up a lot of doors for the band.  "We can do that with this song?" which makes for some really great listening.  But the rest of the show is top notch too, and Page stands out all night.  A-

[McGrupp]

People really like boyd's solo?  :?

[PIE-GUY]

People really like boyd's solo?  :?

[McGrupp]

 :-D

Fair enough.

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

How could you not like Boyd's solo?

[McGrupp]

How could you not like Boyd's solo?

It's mostly his style that bugs me. I get that he's a very dynamic player - he's very used to "building" up tension within his own solos by playing to the drums (beauford, but you can hear Fish emulating that type of jam style a little bit in Boyd's solo). But mainly I just think he's a shitty violin/fiddle player. You can hear that his fingers don't have much accuracy, and thus with the violin being a fretless instrument, his notes sound out of tune.

My ears just don't like it. Not to be too negative or harsh, but when I picture him walking off the stage, in my mind it's out of embarassment, not cockyness (although, having met the dude more than a few times, I know this is probably not the case).

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

Fair enough.  I think it's pretty cool myself.  I was especially impressed that it sounds like he's studied a few YEM's beforehand.

Then again, I actually enjoy a lot of DMBs stuff.

[WhatstheUse?]

1995-06-16

Set 1

Halley's Comet - THIS is how you start a Phish show -- high energy opener (With the 'Charge' tease taboot!)   I think there might even be some 3.0 versions longer than this one!  :lol:

DWD - Keeping the energy high, I like it.   Not a low point in this jam, Trey is on fire and Page is filling in the spaces perfectly.  Wooaahh! 6:35 Mike changes the tonal center for a sec, and Trey throws on the Chorus effect in that perfect way that only he can do.... cue the ending..... this is the start to a hot show.....

Esther - Love the placement on this.  Fantastic song and perfect timing for little cool down. 

Ya Mar - LUV me first set summer show Ya Mar.  This show is starting out with some of my all time fav songs!  Trey's having some fun with the vocals and calling for LEo @ the wrong times.  Ya Mar has always been one of those tunes that Trey shines rhythmically with -- he has such a wonderful way of bouncing around beat and playing syncopated passages flawlessly. This version does not disappoint.   He seems to be using a light bit of chorus effect more this show than usual, no?

Cry Baby Cry - This show keeps getting better! This is one of my favorites from the White Album, wish they would play it again some time. 

Ice - Nooiiiiccee! Jam is real dark and creepy, mostly page going off.  Good stuff.

Mind - I like bluegrass.

DFB > Catapult - Melt fakeout!!!!  I dug this whole section.  This is a fun, weird band.

Melt - Perfect way to end a nearly perfect 1st set, imo.  This version is what it's all about, dark psychedelic dissonance, fuck yes.  Fishman and Trey are completely locked in. I love how weird and out there this gets, this band has got some serious balls; what are they called again?  A+ version.

Runaway Jim - Here we go! I definitely think they made a conscious effort to jam this one out in the first slot.  I mean, they played it a zillion times before this and it barely ever came close to 10 min...sooo..... I didn't really take any notes during the jam so I'll just echo my 2 favorite descriptive lines from sophist/McGrupp - "It's a psychedelic circus of awesome" and "We can fuck your mind if we want to."

Free - pretty nice segue here (probably would have been "THE BEST SEGUE EVA" if I had been there ) Real sick jam in this one.  Basically any Free I hear now that is not a 3.0 disappointment is an awesome Free.

Carolina - makes me smile

YEM - Pretty perfect composed section.  I'm w/ McGrupp, Boyd sucks and this solo doesn't do anything for me.  Love that they drop right back into a meaty jam of there own and that completely makes up for Boyd. Trey tears it up like a muth f'er.

Coil - again, is a perfect way to end the set.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

Bold as Love - RAWK!


This show is a SOLID A.
The song selection is top notch for my liking, the setlist flow is perfect and the psychedelic summer 95 goo is oozing.
Great pick.