4/5/98 Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
I: Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > You Enjoy Myself, Theme From the Bottom, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Bathtub Gin -> Cities, Sparkle, Split Open and Melt
I reallly dig the funky YEM in this set!! Definitely one of the better versions from the last year in this sense! [Note: I don't recall hearing Mike signaling for trampolines moves, so am I right that there weren't trampolines used during this YEM? [Ed. note: Nope - there were tramps. -Dan]] Theme and McGrupp are both very good. Not much of a Gin jam before ->Cities segues into the picture! An excellent jam out of Cities, imo. The SOAM closer is also very good, but not exceptionally so imo. I think this is a set to check out, though!
II: Down With Disease > Ya Mar -> Prince Caspian > Maze -> Oblivous Fool -> Possum** -> Cavern**
E: Bold as Love
Set two opens with an avg. great DWD which somewhat segues> into Yamar. Yamar's jam segment begins as you usually hear it, but eventually segues BRILLIANTLY into a jam quite unlike anything heretofore occurring in Yamar. A gorgeous jam with Slave to the Traffic Light undertones!! =^] This is the sort of Full Band Improv that gets my spirit soaring, and not simply my feet. Phish *can* be soulful! This jam ends after a few minutes and Trey changes the key and masterfully segues-> into Fuckerpants' melodious opening!!!! Ahhhhhhh. Anyone who didn't like that beautiful jam should be thrown up against a wall and shot. One less deaf fan boy. ;)
Caspian is unexpectedly disappointing. Trey just plays rhythm guitar and nothing really happens. (see 12/12/97 for a kickass jam out of Caspian) Maze is pretty blah until it segues-> nicely into what is presumably a reworked, funky "Oblivious Fool."
This version of Oblivious Fool is far less goofy and happy than early versions from last year (and even the 11/17/97 Denver version). I don't know whether this was just improvised on the spot or what (Mike's bassline doesn't sound improvised, though -- it is very melodious.. he also repeats this melody/lick continuously throughout this Fool). Trey ominously sings (well.. more like speaks) the Fool lyrics. Quite a dramatic change from the Fools of yesteryear.
Not much of a jam, though, before Possum ->segues quite nicely into the picture. Possum's jam segment begins very typically, with Trey noodling around over the usual accompaniment from Fish, Mike and Page. A fairly rote Possum jam ensues for several minutes, until it basically stops dead, and Trey starts funkily chording (by himself) for about thirty seconds. This would have been a nice time for BLACK EYED KATY!!!
But nooooOOoOoo, they begin a Funk Groove, and Trey almost immediately starts talking to the audience, thanking them for the run. "For those of you who wanna take off, take off, but for those of you who just want to dance to the funk, you know uh, we're going to stay around and keep groovin... we'll see you guys this summer." Even Fish gets time to funk by himself in this groove.. I can't really get into this funk jam, though. I've heard better in every version of BEK I've heard so far, and in almost all versions of Cities since early 1997, too.
Trey starts singing Cavern in the midst of this funk jam, and the jam soon becomes a slow, funky Cavern. For those who didn't notice, Cavern contains the Original lyrics (e.g., "...dung"). I can see how some were disappointed by the ending to this set. It doesn't rage.. just kinda funks out. The Bold As Love encore is very good, but still not as impressive imo as many of the versions in and around 1995.
All things considered, though, these shows, like the Nassau shows before them, were excellent Phish shows (above average based on all the Phish shows I've heard). I'm extremely excited about Phish's direction and looking forward very much to seeing some summer shows and hearing the tapes! I have to take the bar this summer so it looks like only Shoreline, Merriweather and Lemonwheel for me.
That said, I do disagree with Brian Lipman (who has heard a lot of Phish!) to some extent about the funk. I think the funk is wonderful most of the time, even though there were times in this April run when it was weak and didn't do much imo. I'm also thrilled by the new tunes, Roget and BOAF/Birds, and looking forward to hearing them *live* this summer! I think Phish has definitely taken the funk a positive, improvisational step forward, in light of this April run of shows.
Thanks again to Chris Glushko for the tapes..
two cents
charlie
-----------
Subject: Get Down Party Funk Jam!!
4/5 Providence Civic Center
The first set opened -- very surprisingly -- with my 2nd ever Oh Kee Pah. I was
hoping that it would jump into a Bag, but alas, 'twas not to be. Nevertheless,
a
YEM in the 2nd slot is really fun! I definitely prefer 1st set YEMs over 2nd
set
YEMs. The Theme that followed was typiaclly beautiful, & I always enjoy
McGrupp.
To my delight, they finished this one, unlike the 12/30 version, & then even
slightly reprised it at the end, kind of like what used to happen with Tela.
Gin was up next, making for the 2nd jam tune in the 1st set! It was ok, imo, &
segued nicely into Cities, which was also an average version. Cities segued
into
Barkle, which I kind of enjoyed, for the first time in a long time. The SOAM
closer was really nice, especially Chris' work with the lights towards the end
of
the chaos that was the jam.
Second set opener was a stand-alone DwD... nice version, but nothing
mind-boggling. Yamar followed, & was never really finished... it led into
something which I originally thought would turn into Slave, but, unfortunately,
it was Caspian AKA FUckerpants. However, this pre-Caspian segment was
*beautiful*. It felt as though Trey was delivering a soliloquy deep from within
his heart. The spotlight was on him, & he came up with something very unique,
that was a delight to hear.
Out of the end of Caspian, Maze followed. I thought that Page's solo sucked,
but before Trey had a chance to make up for it, it led into a wacked out version
of Oblivious Fool... quite haunting, in a Funky sort of way. Kinda like a scene
from Thriller. Possum followed, and, once again, remained unfinished.. Trey
announced that since Funk had been their theme, that they would continue to Funk
out for a while, & whoever wanted to leave could do so... but if you wanted to
FUnk out, you should stay. Kind of a weird thing for him to say, I thought.
With people hanging on the band's every move these days, no one would leave a
show, even if they reinvented the infamous "Poop Jam," by actually pooping on
stage. ;)
Anyway, the band indeed did Funk out for a while, it was funk to get down to.
In fact, the jam & the ensuing Cavern was some of the most fun I had on the
Island Tour. The Cavern was loony & veeeerry funky. It was slowed down, & even
included some of the older lyrics, ala 11/26 Hartford: "...I turned the blade
back on the bitch and dropped her in the dung!!" Purty kewl.
Encore was the always-pleasing Bold As Love. Fantastic way to close a show,
imo. All in all, I had a tremendous amount of fun during the 2nd set of this
show, although it was not my favourite set, musically speaking. My favourite
two
sets were the 2nd sets of the Nassau shows.
Well, this "review" seems kinda haphazard, but I typed it in a hurry, b/c I have
to prepare for Passover. To all you celebrating tonight, remember one of the
main themes of Passover -- Freedom -- and have a happy Passover.
Take Good Care...
------
Subject: 4/5/98 review
Well this is my first maybe second attempt at writing a review for a show that others will see. I usually just write a few notes
down for my own memories!
4/5/98 Was my 19th and favorite show in my 3 years of phishing. The day started out oh so nice, We awoke early and were
pumped yet a little sad that this was going to be the last show for all of us till Maryland this summer. We arrived at Trinity
Brewery about 3:00 where I met up with Hal and some of his friends from the Phish.net community and the Phunky Bitches.
After a brief stop there we headed out to walk the lots. Our friend Jay was on a 7 show dry streak for Grilled Cheeses, he is
the GURU of grilled cheeses. I knew it was going to be a great show when after about 3 minute of walking around he found his
grilled cheese. Now it was on to find the lot shirts that both Hal and I had won from the rest of our gang for guessing openers at
earlier shows. We never did find nice lot shirts :-( If anyone knows the guy with the blue Ghost shirts please let me know!
Anyway we were getting antsy and were ready for the show. We went into the civic center around 7:20, security was so
relaxed, and so nice to us! We all settled down and just talked about how nice this run was. Soon the civic center filled, with out
a security guard in sight, and everyone just sitting wherever they wanted. It was great! No one was pushing or shoving, and
there seemed to be very few problems. I took off my watch as I always do, because I do not want to know what time it is or
think about where I am while the show is going on.
Soon the lights went out and the boys plugged in and bam! Oh Kee Pa, I had only heard this jam on tapes, and I was so
pumped!!!!! It was really nice to hear live and just see how smoothly the boys can jam together. As if the Oh Kee Pa was not
enough they melted into an incredible YEM, at some point a beautiful vocal jam erupted and I went nutz!!!!! I was really
shaking my bones at this point. at one point I was so lost in the light show going along with them jamming that I forgot where I
was. I think that Chris must have some new toys, because the things he was doing with the lights were incredible! At this point I
was smiling from ear to ear when I heard that first note and bam... Theme from the Bottom. They were right on for this and their
voices sounded so crisp. McGrupp was nice, Then I thought I heard Bathtub Gin, ah yes it was, this was so great to hear. The
last time I heard Gin was the Went. Cities was nice and everyone was psyched to hear it, I think it is one of those great covers
that everyone always enjoys hearing! Sparkle, let me just say....laugh and laugh and fall apart, I was having the best time at this
point. I said to myself that this set can't end, but it must be going on 2 hours.....(turned out to be a little less) more like 90 minute
when we got a always awesome Split Open and Melt which is a great ol' tune! Wow what a first set......that first set felt like it
was a whole show and I loved it!
Set two was about to begin when Karen called Down with Disease, what a great tune to get the crowed rocking! And was it
just me or was Mike's base turned way up!!!! Yeah Mike! Hassan agreed with how intense Mike's base was. I had been calling
Ya Mar for the last few nights and it finally came out. Prince Caspian is such a great sounding song, their voices were sounding
perfect at this point! Maze=HAL! He wanted a Maze and he got his Maze! Oblivious Fool was OK, kinda neat to hear, I think
they did this one in Europe maybe. At this point they went into a funky Possum which sounded really sweet! During Possum
Trey said something like...If anyone wants to get going they can, but for all of you who want to dance were just going to keep
jamming. Everyone erupted with joy and we all danced on. At the end of Possum I was a bit sad, knowing that this spring run
was over and I was not going to see my Friends for a while. Possum rolled into Cavern with what I am told were the old lyrics.
We clapped and yelled the whole time till Phish came out for an encore (as if they wouldn't come out for one)...... A splendid
Axis Bold as Love? It was a nice tune to end a nice mini tour! Overall this show gets on a scale of 1-10 a 9 . A definite show to
get on tape.
Scott Boyarsky sboyarsk@hornet.liunet.edu
In rec.music.phish on 7 Apr 1998 03:27:07 GMT,, ISKI100
Hey Pholks, I haven't done a show review in a while, I usually wait
and then
add my responses to other reviews. Since this was such a big show for
me
being my 30th show (my first was 7/12/92), I feel that I must do a
review.
All I can say is this show BLEW SATURDAY AWAY! I wasn't that
impressed
with the setlist saturday, so I expected a lot for the final show and
I'm glad
Phish saved the best for last.
Set I
Oh Kee Pa>>YEM, Theme, McGrupp, Bathtub Gin>>Cities Sparkle, Split
open and
melt
My first oh kee pa! That's when I knew it was going to be a good
night. Just
when I was expecting Suzy, they go right into YEM! Definitly one of
the best
versions I've heard (12/9/95 being my fav). I am awaiting Charlies
review of
this one. Very straight forward funky grooves but long, at almost 30
minutes.
The vocal jam was something that's been missing as of late. I'm not a
big
Theme fan but it was a good version. McGrupp was the only lowlight,
I'm not a
fan of this tune. Bathtub Gin! I've been waiting since the
monsterous Went
gin to be blessed with another awesome version. I've also heard
Winstin-Salem
and this was solid but not quite as epic as the other two. A rough
but
welcome seque into Cities was great, another song I've been waiting to
hear
since the went (I was at 4 nov/dec shows before saturday). Sparkle
was
sparkle. The clapping has returned to New England unfortunitly. I
have
noticed that Page has expanded a bit after the final chorus, I'd like
to hear
more of this in the future. Split was called by Trey and made a
perfect set
closer, my first since the Clifford Ball.
Rating: the setlist was great how can you turn down a first set YEM.
The
jamming was average. I give it a 6.5 on the Donny Grieco rating
scale.
Set II
Down w/Disease>>Yamar, Crapsien, maze>>Oblivious fool>>Possum>>Funk
jam>>Cavern.
The disease intro is getting longer and I've never failed to call this
one
before the bass line begins. This version was phat, very welcome
since I
haven't heard it since the went (a common theme tonight). Crapsien
was a big
let down. I thought there was a chance they would pass it up on this
run. I
can't beleive how many people get into this song, it was the only time
I sat
down all night. what happen next saved the night. Maze completely
jammed!
Again some annoying people felt it was necessary to clap during the
quiet
intro (Ugg! as Linus would say). Best version I have heard (I need
to listen
to some other tapes to be sure). Again, lots of communication on
stage as
Trey motioned to mike who motioned to Fish to go into Oblivious Fool,
or part
of it. I've never heard this song before last night so I've heard it
wasn't a
complete version. Anyway, I like it better than some of the other new
songs
and I hope it makes the upcoming album. Then the seque into Possum
iced the
cake for me. Possum is my second fav song (after mikes) and I haven't
heard
it since the Clifford Ball. Not as good as some other versions but
always a
welcome treat. Then they just did a funk jam while graciously
inviting those
of us to dance while they lay down the funk. This set gets a 7.5 (by
comparison, sat night second set, I give a 4) My standards are high.
E: Bold as Love
Always a treat.
The only non-musical bummer about this show was the disgusting couple
who
SMELLED LIKE SHIT and happened to be dancing next to me for most of
the first
set. It was a rude awakening for my girlfriend who was at her first
show. I
understand that some of you don't get to shower on tour but at least
use
deodorant.
The Civic Center has got to be one of the easist places to exit.
The
employees were very cool, almost too cool as the floor looked
overcrowed.
Looking forward to the summer and unlike almost everyone who reviews
shows
here, I am not requesting tapes!!! I'll get them eventually.
Donny - looking forward to my next 30 shows!
------
From: Rob Winkler[SMTP:rwinkler@instrument.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 1998 4:25 PM
Subject: 4/5/98 review
Rob's Review of Sunday, April 5, 1998 - Providence Civic Center
The scene outside was much mellower than on Saturday.
Set 1
Oh Kee Pa - Cool! I wish they'd play this more often. It was
a great way to lead up to...
You Enjoy Myself - Another bomb of a set 1 opener. Nothing
really stands out, and I think it was a pretty standard version.
I doubt that it approached 30 minutes as one review suggests.
Mike was really subdued during the Bass/Drums section.
Theme From the Bottom - Another standard version, with
great placement out of the YEM vocal jam.
McGrupp - Again, great placement, standard jam.
Bathtub Gin - Page was going NUTS on the intro. Yes, he
always does, but I think it was even nuttier than usual. The
jam didn't ever get too crazy, and as soon as it began to
stray away from the Faucet theme, the opening chords to
Cities began to develop.
Cities - Good fun. The jam at the end was really mellow,
with very little soloing and what I think was lots of delay
loop action. It went on for awhile, but imho it kind of
dragged before finally petering out.
Sparkle - Picked up the energy level of the crowd
considerably.
Split Open & Melt - Great version. Very pleasant jam, not
overly dissonant.
Set 1 had a fantastic set list, but I thought the jamming was
mostly not that inspiring.
Set 2
Down With Disease - Got things really going, and I thought it
had one of the best jams of the night. The opening was nice,
but not as crazy as the Gorge version. The jam stayed in
standard DWD territory for awhile before wandering through
some phunk and finally some spacey psychadelic territory.
After the spacey jamming ended, there was a pause, then
Ya Mar - This was a really crazy version. It was standard
up until Trey's solo. Then, somewhere in Trey's solo, he
began to take it into some other territory. It soon became a
rather mellow, floating sort of jam, and immediately Trey
started playing something that sounded to me like they were
about to segue into Tela. I was really psyched, but the segue
never materialized. Several times Trey teased us with slight
variations of that descending progression of notes that
characterizes Tela, then he decided to explore the mellow,
floating jam for awhile. Eventually, after about 4 or 5 minutes,
he teased Tela again. Then, just as I was thinking that we
might actually get to that special, lovely region of Gamehendge,
Trey abruptly shifted gears and launched into the opening
chords of...
Prince Caspian - Uggh! I don't unconditionally hate this song,
but I thought the placement was just terrible in this case. I
didn't really care for the way it was played, either. Trey didn't
solo at all, but pounded about 5 minutes worth of repetitive
power chords down our throats after the last chorus. The
only other thing worth noting was the absence of the mellow
intro section. I looked around several times during this and
did not see ANYONE getting down to this song. This was
definitely the lowlight of the whole run.
Maze - Started pretty much right after the end of the Caspian.
Standard Page organ solo, but as soon as Page's solo ended,
Trey started up this groove where his solo would normally
start. It was a kind of mellow, loping, R&B sort of groove. As
it turns out, this was no longer Maze at all, but what I would
have to say was a re-worked version of...
Oblivious Fool - After about 2 minutes of this groove, Trey
started singing the lyrics "The terrible thing about Hell..." over
top of the groove, and I turned to my friend, astonished, and
said "It's Oblivious Fool!" She of course didn't believe me
until the chorus. FWIW, various posts have suggested that
this was not a complete version, or maybe even just a tease.
However, I'm quite sure all of the lyrics I've ever heard were
sung (1 verse and 1 chorus). The new arrangement had a
really laid-back sort of feel, completely unlike the upbeat,
Julius-style groove it used to have. It reminded me a lot of a
tune called "Just Wanna See His Face" on the Stones "Exile
on Main Street", as a point of reference. The new
arrangement was also much looser, and gave them an
opportunity to jam out on the song. Trey used a lot of wah-wah
action during this 4 or 5-minute jam, while I think Page phunked
around on the clav. Then, the jam began to pick up in tempo
and quickly segued into the opening chords of...
Possum - No one-note-repeated piano opening that's found in
most Possums. The jam built nicely and reached a pretty cool
climax after a few minutes. Then abruptly, they "broke it down".
Basically, everyone stopped playing except Trey, who kicked
out this funky, James Brown-style riff with the wah-wah pedal.
When the rest of the band kicked back in, they were in serious
funk (not phunk) mode. Here, Trey made the announcement
that went something like "It seems kind of weird that this is the
last show of the run...we'd love to keep playing...we're going
to close out the show with some more funk jamming, so you'll
know that we didn't forget about it...if you want to leave now,
go ahead - we're just going to stay up here and play some
funk-jamming for awhile." The funk jam went on for about 5
minutes, with a lot of stop-start action. Then, subtly, Trey softly
played over top of the funk groove the opening chords/notes to...
Cavern - Much looser than most versions, with a slower than
normal tempo. I think the tempo gradually sped up as the song
went on, and at the end, it was pretty much at normal tempo.
I'm told that they sang the old lyrics, but I didn't notice.
Encore:
Bold as Love - Very powerful live. I love Page's vocal delivery.
How come he sings so rarely these days?
Overall, I thought the second set was mostly great, with much
more jamming than the first set. I enjoyed the non-standard
versions of Oblivious Fool and Cavern, although I wish they'd
more thoroughly jammed on the Maze and Possum themes.
They never even came close to finishing these songs, which
was a little reminiscent of the Melkweg (Amsterdam) show
(except much better played). However I don't think the
jamming at this show ever really reached the incredible height
of the jamming in Saturday's second set. Then again, I think
that Saturday second set ranked up there with some of the
best I've ever seen, including 12/31/95 set 3. Check this
one out if you get the chance!
-----
Subject: Island our Highlights - Damn Long
Sunday 4/5 -
Oh Kee Pah! Yes! This means Suzy Greenburg...the horns must surely be
coming out right now...
I don't think I'd ever been more dissapointed at the starting notes of You
Enjoy Myself. That feeling quickly went away, though, and my only
frustration was that resulting from the fact that I felIt like I'd been
"had" by the band. Ah well...this show would prove to be as awesome as the
other three.
The Gin -> Cities was not expected, and they pulled it off nicely. To
tell the truth, I don't remember anything really stellar in any of the
songs, except solid jamming and typically excellent playing. The
sloppiness of the first two nights was all but gone as they gracefully
flew over the old composed pieces like YEM and McGrupp. The Melt and Maze
jams I remember being particularly intense, and the segues from the second
set were all very nicely done. DwD->YaMar especially.
The second set ended kind of weirdly, with a song segueing out of Maze
that I'd never heard...probably a reworked version of Oblivious Fool (for
the new album?) and then a Possum that raged as usual, into a Cavern that
was incredibly funky and had the same alternate lyrics (whatever the heck
they were) as from Hartford last fall.
The Axis: Bold as Love encore was a bit of a letdown after the previous
night's all having jaw-dropping encores, but one can't complain. There
was really nothing left for them to play. To tell the truth, I'm having a
hard time coming up with songs that would have fit better in that
spot...Fluffhead is really the only thing we didn't hear. (Although AC/DC
Bag, Forbins>Mockingbird, Ice and Harpua all would have been nice to hear
at some point on the run...) But there were alot of worse things they
could have put there. All in all, there's no complaints from this Markah.
Well, sorry I took up so much bandwith and stole so much money from my
University since i typed this while I was supposed to be working, but I
hope you enjoyed it either way, if you even read this entire monstrosity.
Take care everybody, and I'll see you in 92 days at Portland!
Take care,
- Mark
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 10:59:18 -0400
From: "Douglas L. Wertheimer"
I: Oh Kee Pah > YEM, Theme, McGrupp, Gin > Cities > Barkle, SOAM
II: DwD, Yamar > Trey Soliloquy > Caspian > Maze > Oblivious Fool > Possum > Get
Down Party Funk Jam > Cavern (Good Gawd!)
E: Bold As Love
Disco Saul AKA DJ Saul T. Nutz
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 11:14:09 -0400
From: SeaBass
The Great Seabass
tape list: http://home.earthlink.net/~seabass420
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 19:26:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Hutchison