R3/W06: 11-21-1995 Lawrence Joel Veterans Coliseum, Winston Salem, NC

[Hicks]

nice pick....I have this on lossy, so I'll up it tomorrow to sendspace- you're not off the hook Ikki!

sweet thanks mang! 

Don't pull a susep and forget to review yer pick!   

Its not a question of memory or forgetfulness but rather, time availibility between having a day off: do I want to listen and review a 3 hour, never heard show or have a bbque wth the fam.?  Mind you I'm very conscious of Aug's seed delivery and my obligation to this project, I'm very excited to listen and review 28Dec.96 as it awaits idle in shn. 
btw ikki, where was your review dog? 

I already said that I don't d/l lossless these days, so since no mp3 link was provided I didn't review it.   Defensive much?

[Caravan2001]

Alright, alright....everybody to their neutral corners  :lol:


Here are the mp3 linx:

Set 1:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g855ll

Set 2:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/awoz17

[khalpin]

First time hearing this one.  Sound is pretty muffled.

Fee: Pretty standard

Chalkdust: Trey rips right into this, seemingly excited to get the crowd fired up.  Good version.

Prince Caspian: Pretty standard

Divided Sky: Good spot for this.  Trey's solo seemed a bit reserved or maybe just a little quiet in the mix.  Still pretty cool, though.  Gets more prevalent later in the solo.  Nice version, as most are.

Long Journey Home/Blue & Lonesome: Nice to hear this sandwich.  Two of their better bluegrass tunes, IMO.  Back to back is great.  Didn't quite make out what Trey said in between tunes.

Guyute: First one this round of the show club, I think.  How can you not love this one?  One or two minor blubs, but otherwise quite enjoyable.

My Friend: solo starts out with Trey just playing a bunch of slow bends.  Then the vocals come back and he starts to rip.  Pretty smoking there for a while.  Then the final vocals come in a bit early.  Too bad, it kinda killed it.  Outro segues into:

Dog Faced Boy:  Didn't see that one coming.  I like the placement, though.

Runaway Jim: First real jam song of the night.  Pretty okay.

Pretty good first set, albeit light on jamming.

Set Two:
Simple: After the song portion it becomes almost a key-less jam.  Trey moved over to the mini-kit.  All I can hear is Fish and Page for a while.  Not sure what Mike is doing, he's really low in the mix.  Page moved from the piano over to the organ.  Now I can hear Mike.  This one's pretty much all Page.  Interesting version.  It got pretty good in the second half.  You really have to listen to catch it, though.  Fishman eventually starts up:

Bowie: Five minutes of the hi-hat before it starts.  Nice segue into Take Me to the River.  Pretty cool to hear.  Then back to Bowie.  Fishman stays with the TMttR beat for a while and then goes back to double-time.  Trey starts sounding a bit like the Providence Bowie ~1:00 for a couple measures.  Gets pretty hot for the next couple minutes.  Returns to the Bowie theme and then veers away, then returns, then veers away again.  Lots of tension.  Good stuff.  Another fantastic return ~6:50.  And a blazing finish.  Wow, I'm exhausted after that one.  Definitely the show highlight so far.

Glide: A chance to sit down.

YaMar: Back up and dancing.  Quite a lot of muted strings going on ~7:00.  A little too long.  I'm guessing something is happening onstage or something.

Mike's: Non-ripping Trey.  Fishman on the other hand is chuck-full-o-fills.  Then ~6:20, it becomes Page's turn, although he's tough to hear.  Then, it becomes Mike's turn for a bit.  Then on to the D-E-F# and to F.  Well, one thing's for sure, they won't be going into Simple.  It goes into a spacey jam that eventually goes into Keyboard Cavalry.  I didn't think too much of this on the first listen, but decided to give it a second try.  I definitely enjoyed it more the second time around.  ~11:40, when Trey starts playing, it gets really nice.  Nice, as in: relaxed, uplifting and almost inspirational. 

Keyboard Cavalry: Not so fun on tape as they were live.

Suspicious Minds: Fishman ensues.

Carolina: Fitting, given the venue.  Although I'm not really a fan.

Day in the Life: Set closer.  This one's been wearing on me over the years.

Good x Bad x: Good encore.

Well, the highlight was definitely the Bowie>TMttR>Bowie.  I had to give most of the second set another listen.  The first time through, I didn't like it at all apart from the Bowie, but it grew a bit on me the second time around.  At least the Simple and Mike's did.  That's about it for the set, though.  The first set was consistent and had good flow, I thought.  I'd say it's a solid B show, with a great Bowie, that I'll definitely be holding onto for multiple repeated listens.
-Kevin

[pnchundi]

one of the things i like most about this show is that it really show cases all of the different aspects of phish, much like Picture of Nectar does.

Fee Odd as a opener but really well played.  The version I have is super bass-y, and Fish rips throughout the whole show
Chalkdustreally tight, and Trey takes off from 2:50-5:30
Prince CaspianGreat early version, well played, upbeat tempo and fairly short.
Divided Sky early section is almost perfect, and the moment of collective expectation at the pause is tangible.  You can hear the audience errupt before Fish signals things back in.  Trey then takes off making great use of the sustain pedal.  Lots of peaks
Long Journey Home actually sounds like real bluegrass. Non-miced so you have to crank the volume
Blue and Lonesome Before this starts Trey jokes "we are just an old timey blue grass band.  Again really well played
Guyutereally tight, a few flubs, and Trey soars near the end.  At the beginning, Trey says the name of the song is...
My Friend My FriendAnother fairly techincal song that is well executed
Dog Faced Boy a real treat.  Fish has been killing it all night and I think Trey does this just for him, spur of the moment
Runaway Jima real romp, everyone seems really hungry to play

First set has no real flow, but they do one of every thing.   12 bar blues, divided sky, actual bluegrass, 2 real technical, an acoustic and a jam. 

Second set opens with the audience chess move! This was such a cool concept, glad I got to see this and a few others on the fall tour
Simplepretty rocking, and then Trey jumps onto the mini-kit to jam with Fish
Bowie>Take Me to the River>Bowie Extend intro with Fish rocking the hi-hat.  Bowie starts solidly and the transition into TMR is seemless, as well as the segue back.  A really nice treat, I think they would have played more, but I think Trey just knew the first verse.  The rest of Bowie is nuts!
Glidea chance to cool, and again a challenging tune with the tri-tones
Yamarup and dancing, more Trey on the mini-kit during the "play it leo." Trey latter has a cool fret work slap jam with Fish
Mike'sTrey is killing on the wah early on.  A neat little jam happens while they wait to see what direction to go in.  Pretty good segue way too
Keyboard Kalvary not always easy to listen to, but again it shows the willingness to experiment that they had back then. 
Suspicious Minds Fish does a great job on vocals
HYHU I remember this one, Fish did laps around stage with his cape on
Carolina very appropriate in this venue, and again shows every side of this band
Day in the Life Well done, not the best ending number, but lots of fun

GTBT Rips! Great end to the evening.

This is not an easy show to like, but Phish demonstrates almost every different genre that they do, and all is well played.  The Bowie>TMttR>Bowie is the easy highlight, but this show is well played start to finish.  And some nights, it is easy to say that Trey or Page is in charge, but this show goes to Fish.   

I actually drove down from Blacksburg for this show to see with a bunch of friends.  I wound up seeing my future wife, and this was her first show!

[khalpin]

I wound up seeing my future wife, and this was her first show!

My wife hates Phish.  :cry:  I bought a portable mp3 player just so I could listen to them at home.

[G. Augusto]

Fee - Odd placement. This was only the 9th time it was used as a show opener and also the last.

Chalk/Caspian - I like Fish's "waves" accompaniment during the beginning of Caspian.

Sky - Nice placement. Played well and serves as the "meat" of the set.

Journey/B&L - Take it or leave it. I liked the acoustic tunes.

Guyute - Not the tightest...but it is called "Guyute"...

Friend - Spacey jam out of it into >

DFB - Quite a few played during this tour.

Jim - The bookend of the first set and weird placement. Only closed out the first set a little over a dozen times or so...

Simple - Funky jam with Trey on minikit. Kind of just spaces out for a bit and melts into >

Bowie - Lengthy intro. Composed section is nice, as is the segue into TMTTR. Short version (I prefer Marseille) but segues nicely back into the Bowie jam. Somewhat standard jam but has a cool peak.

Glide/Ya Mar - Solid.

Mike's - Jam starts out pretty meatily (that's right!) but mellows out soon thereafter. Really doesn't do much. Finds it's way into >

Keyboard - Trey walks from guitar > Keyboard >

Minds - Drums.

Carolina - REP! Not the tightest, though.

ADITL/GXBX - Wow! 4 covers in a row to end the show...

Not the best show from Fall '95 but not the worst.
The Bowie is the real highlight.
I give it a B/B-
a

[Hicks]

Hmmm, not a very encouraging setlist for me, but let's give it a shot:

Fee:  Kind of odd that this wasn't a more frequent opener considering that it does open the Junta album.  We've been hearing this tune a little more often lately, which is cool with me, especially on nice days like this one. 

Chalkdust: standard ripper

Caspian:  This absolutely does not work for me as an early first set tune, however this version is pretty primitive and can't even really be compared to the triumphant set closers that would come down the pike later.

Divided Sky:  Sweet version, I guess it's the set highlight?   :|

Guyute:  I'm not so sure if it's that I'm sick of this song so much as its melodic structure just isn't that compelling, at least for me.  But during a set like this you gotta take what you can get. 

MFMF:  Do over opener?  j/k.  Cool atypical outro and slick segue into

Dog Faced Boy:  I liked this here

Jim:  ugh, let's just close the book on this set shall we?

Simple: I am a bigger fan of Simple when its segued into, but this version was solid.  Lots of nice Page action in the middle part of the jam.  Nice, Free-esque minikit jam too with Trey providing some cool fills and Page on the organ.  Into. . .

David Bowie:  Some weird stuff going on in the intro, me likey.  Typical until we start getting into the segue into. . .

Take Me to the River:  Hmmm, I dunno I didn't think this was very well executed vocal or playing-wise.  It was cool in that it was a deviation from the norm though

David Bowie:  Now this is HOTT!  The ensuing chaos jam is pretty nutso and the ending is off the charts.  Finally something to get excited about, Trey completely pwns the hell out of this one, yeah! 

Glide: well played

Ya Mar:  WTF is going on here, a mid second set Ya Mar?  I'm all for mixing things up a bit, but certain songs are first set songs or openers because that's where they work best, and here is a prime example.  I guess we are on the losing end of the Phish axiom that if you take lots of risks, not all of them are going to work.  The minikit jam was fairly tame/aimless as well.

Mike's: I had high hopes for this one as it can offer turn a set around but that wasn't exactly the case here, like Aug mentioned it starts off as a rager but then quickly peters out.  I suppose Trey's sustained notes at the end were semi-majestic/thoughtful but it wasn't really what I needed to change my mind about this show. 

Keyboard: marginally better than BBJ on tape.

Day in the Life: It's all about context, I've had some harsh words for this recently, but in comparison with the rest of the show I enjoyed this number.  Nice work by Fish and Page.

GTBT:  Shreds as it always does.

Well I hate to do it but this one gets a C-/C from me, I can honestly say that Fee, Divided Sky, MFMF, Simple and Bowie were the only tunes from this night that really did it for me and Bowie was the only thing that began to approach epic.

I do appreciate the pick though, sometimes it's good to listen to a show like this to remind us that Phish were in fact human and capable of having an off night.  An average show can ensure that we don't take the amazing ones for granted and makes those magical nights that much more special.   

[pnchundi]

i actually like this show because it is so challenging to like.  There is no real flow, there is no real amazing highlight, or epic jams.  But it does show how many styles phish could take on...

[Caravan2001]

sorry for the delay in my review...it's coming.....last week was a busy one for me, with family in town, so I have not had a chance to listen....I'll try to have it up soon....

[flufhed]

Here is my first ever review...this was fun.  I was going to start with the week before (12/28/96) but I was at that show so I would have been very biased.  I will try and get the latest one done by tomorrow.

Set I

Fee - Many have question this as an opener but I think it is a fun one to start a show with.  It was also the first Phish song I ever heard...so maybe it works that way for me.  Played well considering how many times they flubbed this one...and Fish is feeling it right off the bat for sure.  The sound will take some adjusting for the ears...but they always do.

Chalkdust - Love the energy right out of the gate here.  Can already agree that Mike is just too low in this mix...I can barely hear him.  On the other hand, Fish and Trey get gold stars for this one...smoking...

Caspian - Someone had used the word "primitive".  I like to hear the evolution of songs...be it early or late.  This is always a nice tune...too short though.

Divided Sky - Finally...it's a Phish show.  And Fishman is not slowing down one single bit tonight.  I really liked this version.  It becomes what the Divided Sky is all about around 3:40 when they slow it down...all the way to where it "divides" at about 7:15 and then...Yeah Baby, It's ON!!!

Long Journey Home/Blue + Lonesome - Always like how they knew to cool down the crowd before/after the big jams...  And I personally am a huge fan of acoustic music and bluegrass so this was nice to hear.  Also, North Carloina was probably a good place to pull these out...

Guyute - Guyute was an ugly pig...and this was an ugly version.  A few flubs?  Maybe they should have done a few more acoustic tunes instead.  I am a big fan of this tune and this one did nothing for me.

My Friend - Redemption from the Guyute!  I love the energy here in this version, and I just wish I could hear Mike a little louder...  Not to be repetitive from other reviews...but it is a cool segue into DFB.

Dog Faced Boy - A nice cool down before...

Runaway Jim - I love this tune.  And I love it as a closer to any set...this one is fairly standard though.  I like mine about 6 times longer than this (11-29-97) but still a nice tune.  More gold stars for everyone!

SET II

Simple - I like this as an opener too.  Both sets with "fun" openers as far as I am concerned...  Skyscraper is grand...  Finally hearing Page wake up tonight, gold star for him on this one.

Bowie - Love the intro...and you just can't go wrong with a Bowie.  Never saw this coming though...

Take Me To The River - Really???  This is a great tune and I like that they did this, but I guess I wonder why?  Cool though...and this might sound repetitive to other reviews but...

Bowie - ...Back into Bowie and from here on out it is melt-your-shit kind of stuff.  Trey gets a gold star for sure...and though I can't hear Mike very well still I think they all get stars on this one.  Solid version all in all.

Glide - And we're glad they gave us a rest after that insane Bowie.  Great fun tune...and quick...

Ya Mar - I'm gonna echo Hicks review here...this shouldn't be in the second set...  Still it is hard to not enjoy Ya Mar and it was nicely played and the jam does get going for a while.  Still, no gold stars for anyone because this just doesn't belong here.

Mike's - Dunno, not really feeling this one.  Have heard far better, and I think that the show is now on a downturn with a sub-par Mike's following a poorly placed Ya Mar.

Keyboard Calvary - I'll echo everyone here...just hard to feel what this is about on a recording.  Still, keys are nice to listen to...

Suspicious Minds - Always love the spotlight on Fish, though never been a fan of this one.  They are losing me quickly....

Carolina - I'm done...I'm in the lot now looking for a ride to the next show or a nice veggie burrito or something.

Day In The Life - Ok, I love this cover from them.  Too bad I am in the lot now.  Pretty standard version though, although Page rescues it somewhat.

Good Times, Bad Times - Another cover I love from them, and I do like it as an encore.  Not the best version I have heard though.

It was rough going there towards the end but I am gonna give this show a B- because oddly enough the 1st set rescued the 2nd set for me.  Still with 95 being a big transitional year...there were far better shows than this.

I love the idea of this weekly show review however, because it affords us the chance to hear shows like this that we may never have checked out unless we were there...

[blatboom]

Sorry for my tardiness in getting this review done...
looking forward to a Fall '95er.

Set I:

Fee - Cool way to open..dig Trey with the megaphone.  Too bad they never jammed this one out much in the day..

>Chalk Dust - this one starts hot on the heels of Fee, nice pace change.  Tight, ripping version.

Prince Caspian - I haven't heard many of the early Caspians, so I'll reserve judgement.  This one sorta rocks more than I woulda thought, thanks to Fish.  3 minutes!

Divided Sky - Sweet.  great time for Divided Skys, 95.  sick playing from everyone here.  picture perfect D Sky.

Long Journey Home - demonstrating the versatility of the band.  love it.

Blue & Lonesome - even better than Long Journey.

Guyute - Trey introduces it as "Guyute, the Ugly Pig"  :-P.  fans must have dug this one in the early days before it got overplayed.  they seem to be getting through the sections fairly well.  This is a great recording I'm listening to btw...I enjoyed that Guyute

My Friend - One of my all-time favorites.  I love the intro (wasn't that originally written with the rest of Guyute?) & I love how it slams into the balls-to-the-wall rest of the song.  So sick.  Trey & Fish especially have been ripping it up tonight..crazy stuff out of this one, forgoing Mife.  sweet segue

>Dog-Faced Boy - love this.

Runaway Jim - no gap between this & DFB, but does that count as a >?  Anyway, Jim's great as an opener or a closer.  Perfect set I capper.

Fantastic Set.  No holes whatsoever.


Set II:

Simple - damn.  picking up right where they left off.  this one just rocks, so much energy packed in...Page is all over the piano...kick-ass Simple.  and here comes Bowie

>Bowie - things take a turn for the nuts.  total sickness of a high-hat section that goes on for 5 minutes.  What's that effect during the UB40 lines?  whoa. anyway, everything sounds so sick tonight.   Love the start of every Bowie jam.  this one of course takes a particularly funky turn rather quickly..

>Take Me to the River - you can tell how un-planned this is, yet it's so fucking sick.  the crowd must have been going apeshit.  they quickly head back into Bowie after one verse

>Bowie - more typically dope Bowie action.  it actually sorta gets muddied for a minute there before Trey plays some crazy tone and things refocus.  Huge outro.

Glide - nice spot for this one.  I'm not a huge Glide fan per se, but I can get with it at certain times.

Ya Mar - another one I'm not crazy about, but don't dislike by any means.  Hopefully they do something cool with it..nice Page solo, then there is a sweet little break down with Trey leading the way.  Mike with some crazy vocals I can't understand!  Loved this Ya Mar.

Mike's Song - oh hell yeah.  Trey's been playing a lot of short sort of chords and he's sounding great all night.  You just know this is gonna be a monster, and of course it is.  Everbody's getting into the act.  wow, what a melodic jam it turns into in the 9th minute...gorgeous music, my favorite part of the night.

>Keyboard Kavalry - I guess the Mike's couldn't go on forever...Kavalry's alright, but I need to stay awake so I can finish this review...

>Suspicous Minds - cool segue.  Not crazy about this on tape, guess ya had to be there.

Carolina - their barbershop quartet songs haven't ever really done much for me  :|

Day in the Life - I guess I like this.  the last run of tunes hasn't really thrilled me.  they are playing really well though.  I'm alright with this one to close the set.


E:

GTBT - works every time as an encore.  Trey is the man.


When Simple started, I got to checking the Almanac to see how many times they opened a set with it.  Turns out this show was the last time (preH at least & I don't think they did PH).  Then for the hell of it I checked to see when they opened shows with Fee, and it turns out this was the last time!  :-o  Pretty cool I thought.  Not to mention the Weekapaugless Mike's Song.
The last couple tunes after that killer jam in Mike's kinda let me down.  ADITL was good & GTBT rocked, so I wouldn't say it took anything away at all.  I loved the whole 1st set, and of course the Bowie (Simple!), the Ya Mar and the Mike's.  Thanks for the pick, Pnch!  A

[Caravan2001]

aww-ite...better late than never....rocked this one today while cleaning the garage....


11-21-95 Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston Salem, NC

1: Fee--I liked this as an opener.  Good version too. Somebody said this was the first Phish tune they had ever heard.  me too.
Chalk Dust Torture--  way to ramp up the energy.  The crowd sounds pumped. This is another good version.
Prince Caspian- I actually liked the position of this Caspian, and the execution too.
The Divided Sky- good version and placement here too.
Long Journey Home- nice job here and with I'm Blue I'm Lonesome...nice way to break up the set.  I'll take these over an electric Rocky Top or Poor Heart any day of the week.
Guyute- a song I don;t really like, but this one is good, and better here than in the meat of the 2nd set.
My Friend My Friend- nice beginning, and then they kind of botch it a little toward the end, but then they twist it a little into some nice places they don't normally go, and I love the way it drops down into->
Dog Faced Boy- love the segue into this, great placement and pretty version.
Runaway Jim- nice way to wrap up this solid set.

2: Simple- good version, works for me as an opener.
David Bowie-> Take Me to the River**-> David Bowie, -This is killer.  Highlight for me is the 4+ minute intro.  Probably the highlight of the show, this is sweet.
Glide-  Some people there must have liked it.  Not a bad version, I'm just not a Glide person.
Ya Mar- way to pick the energy back up.  Nice verison.  I actually like the boomy/distant sound on this source.  Gives the room a nice full sound
Mike's Song-> Keyboard Army-> HYHU-->  I really like this Mike's.  Short, sweet and kinda crazy.  I really like the drop into Keyboard Cavalry.
Suspicious Minds, HYHU->  Decent for a Fish toon.
Carolina->  nice for the historical signifcance.....
A Day in the Life- decent version

E: Good Times Bad Times- as it's been said, a rockin way to end the show.  It's not 12/30/99, but it's dope nonetheless.

I used to have this cd in my car a few years back and listened to it several times.  I like it better now that I have had a long break from it.  Nice pick for making me re-listen.  I enjoyed it, and think it is a really well played show.  Not earth shattering, but it's still Fall 95 so you know it rules. I also like the Trey percussion jam during Simple (or was it R. Jim?), reminds me of 12/31/95 or 12/16/95 in places.  Imma give it a B+.....