Thanks. I'm "cautiously optimistic" that the shows will happen. They're outdoors, and in Nevada, which has been looser, generally, than California. Of course it's still a crap shoot at this point. Maybe it'll happen... maybe it won't ...
I kept catching Trey’s eye and mouthing “Fluffhead” which made him giggle a couple of times as it was clear that was NOT going to fly at this event. And I was late getting back to the office and got yelled at. Totally worth it.
As my Summer 1996 adventure continued, after the London show on July 11th, we went to Amsterdam for Phish's headline show at the famous Melkweg! Among other things, the Grateful Dead had played there in 1981, so it was cool just to be in that building! The show itself was hit n miss, more of a 'you had to be there to appreciate it' affair. I think the band was as stoned as the audience was, which didn't really help. Certainly a good buzz can sometimes propel a band into a higher groove, and when everything clicks, good things can happen. That's not really what happened here. Likely the hash was so strong that they just got too spaced out to really focus. All of that being said, it was still a blast! PHISH - July 12 1996 - Melkweg, Amsterdam Set I 01. Wilson 02. Divided Sky 03. Horn 04. Split Open & Melt 05. Ya Mar > 06. Funky Bitch 07. Taste 08. Theme From The Bottom 09. Tweezer > 10. Llama Set II 01. It's Ice > 02. Prince Caspian > 03. Mike's Song > 04. Run Like An Antelope > 05. Purple Rain 06. Ska Groove > 07. NICU 08. Slave To The Traffic Light 09. Suzy Greenburg Set III 01. David Bowie > 02. Free 03. Hello My Baby 04. - crowd / encore break - 05. Bathtub Gin 06. Johnny B. Goode
I remember getting an AUD of that show in '97 and loaning it to my college Phish fan friend. He was annoyed at how badly they played. There was a funny online review back then about how it was the best show they ever played, probably written by someone as out of it as Phish and the crowd were during the show.
It's not a total train wreck, and even a "bad" Phish show has some good moments. But overall, well below par on this night. Next day -- or maybe even that night! -- I went to Hamburg and caught Bob Dylan and Neil Young & Crazy Horse at a big 'open air' event there. Fun times...
Oh crap, I don't get to thank tapers everyday, so THANK YOU For what its worth, I have LB3040 Here's from the text file: There are 4 LB numbers assigned to this date: LB-3040, LB-5812, LB-6362, and LB-6368. They may be all variations of the same source, or, LB-3040, LB-5812, and LB-6368 are one source and LB-6362 is another. In another bit torrent site, the uploader of LB-6362 stated, in response to comments about LB-6362 being believed to be the same source as the others (the following quoted material is edited because of the grammar), "I still think the recordings are different. Tapers were friends and so were very close to each other. I also think they used same mics, but I did not care those days. Levels on both channels are slightly (but visibly) different on the (LB-6362) version, and the history is so clear that they are clones (and not analog DAT copies)."
I think it's more dependent on the overall picture than individual places. There are some bands with low overhead and easily transportable setups that do a lot of fly dates to casinos/amphitheaters/etc (places with all the infrastructure in place) and basically show up with their instruments and do a show....Phish isn't one of them. I imagine they'll have to be able to do most, if not all, of the current dates in place to make it viable, or else they'll push the whole thing back. I may be totally wrong! Just don't see them trotting out the full army of roadies, gear, Kuroda's light rig, etc, to do a couple of hit-n-run shows where they're allowed.
There may be more than 1 circulating recording of that Hamburg Bob Dylan set. I recently did a fresh transfer from my DAT master tape and shared it on the 10 cent forums. I had previously shared a CDR transfer -- many years ago -- so it's been out there for a while. On my recording, the first song fades in... I am not familiar with the "LB" catalog....
LosslessBob (LB) It's an online listing where every recording/source of every show is assigned an LB Number. They list all the info about the recording etc. Basically just an immense organization listing. Extremely handy resource for comparing multiple recordings of a single show and things like that.
Onward with 2011 Night 2 in Tahoe Set 1 has a pretty terrible setlist FOR MY TASTE The bustout-nobody-cared-about of Dogs Stole Things opens the show. Probably one of my least favorite Phish tunes, I can never remember anything about it even after listening. Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan - love this song but hate this set placement. A bluesy opener followed by another slow song? No thanks. It's ok though as this one is hot and good. Poor Heart - now we're talking! BASS SOLO. Page SHREDS those keys! Awesome version. Dare I say it felt jammed out - if that's even possible! Alaska - DESTROYER OF WORLDS. I like this song a lot but it's just another bluesy little ditty. Kinda the sister of Ocelot, if you will. Amazing version, Trey melts faces. GET THIS. Halley's Comet - fun and good as always. I will never complain of getting this on a setlist, but there is literally nothing special about this version. Good fun as always. It's Ice - Now we're talking! After listening to that horrendously butchered 1996 Amsterdam version courtesy @ThirdBowl , this one makes up for it. An excellent reading of a song I ALWAYS love to hear. Great stuff. Now, It may sound like I'm being overly negative with this set so far, but it's all been highly enjoyable and excellently played - just not the songs I personally enjoy seeing all together in freakin' set More to come....
You never reviewed set 2 of the first night -- including the Rocket Man bust out! -- unless I missed it, you only commented on the first set....
@ThirdBowl From my Highlights List Funnily enough, Harry Hood was the only song in set 2 that seemed sub par! Not a great version imo. So therefore it is not on the list 8/9 Stateline, NV ** (GET THAT LIGHT! ROCKET MAN!) Party Time Oh Kee Pah AC/DC Bag >Mellow Mood (VERY nice!) Rift (Holy hell) Punch You in the Eye (PERFECTION!!!!!!) >Meat (Dank...) David Bowie 46 Days Gotta Jibboo (FREAKING ROCKS) >Light (TYPE II OUTER SPACE DARK SLUDGE FUNK. AS GOOD AS GORGE ROCK AND ROLL. OMFG) >Chalkdust Torture (Unqie Type I, HARRY POTTER!) >Slave to the Traffic Light >Free ROCKET MAN! Walls of the Cave (Harry Hood didn't do much) Bug (HOLY CRAP TREY!) The Squirming Coil
8/9/10 Stateline, NV Set 2 Holy hell can I forgive them for that first set (mindblowing DARK Stash excepted!) because they are going nuts in set 2 Lots of Type II (unfortunately only several minutes at a time), but what they do jam is great and they are blazing it up. You'll see when I post my notes
No ** rating tonight. The first set was way too inconsistent for that. BUT, that Stash and the entire 2nd set were among the best stuff of the summer. Absolutely grab those. 8/10 Stateline, NV (Get Stash, then PROCEED DIRECTLY TO SET 2, HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!!!!! JAM BONANZA!) DOGS STOLE THINGS Poor Heart Alaska (HOLY FREAKING CRAP!) It's Ice >When The Circus Comes (unexpected segue!) Ya Mar (PLAY IT LEO!) Stash (Extremely odd DARK jam!!!!!! HIGHLIGHT OF SET) Funky B (EXTREME! BEYOND AVERAGE HEAT!) Instant Karma Down With Disease (Goes Type II but quickly segues...) >Runaway Jim (PLINKO. FREAKING AWESOME. Type II) >Ghost (ROCKS TO HIGH HEAVEN! GOES FULL TYPE II. WHALE CALL!) >Golden Age (WOW!) >2001 >Sneakin Sally Guyuute Velvet Sea You Enjoy Myself
Hey @Harry Hood, @ThirdBowl and others who live or have seen Phish outside of the US.... We would love to talk with your for Undermine Season 2. What's it like living in a country where Phish isn't popular? How did you hear about them? How frequently do you get to see the band and what challenges does that pose? If you're an American who did Europe or Japan tours, what was your traveling experience like? If you're interested in participating, shoot me a PM and we'll set up an interview soon. Back to your regularly scheduled Phish discussion
Whoa, wait, @mdphunk is involved in the Undermine podcast? Had no idea! Thanks for the hard work, really been loving the historical dives in the recent eps!
Yes indeed! Glad you are liking it...season 2 is going to be awesome! Also working on this, which comes out this summer : Alive Again - Osiris
Summer '96! After the stoned-out Amsterdam show, I went up to Hamburg to visit some friends, and see Neil and Bob. Phish played a festival somewhere in Belgium, I believe. Anyway - Phish went down to Sesto Calende, Italy for their 3rd headline show of the tour, a couple of days later... July 15th... So, I arrived by train sometime in the mid-afternoon. I did not have tickets for this one, so went right over to the venue, which as I recall was only a few blocks from the train station. Picked up tickets and then explored the area. There's a river going through the town, and the venue is right next to that river. Several of us were just chilling by the water under some trees, enjoying the mellow vibes.... I had some stash of course from the Amsterdam stop, so enjoyed a nice afternoon puff... Where did I dine that evening? No idea. Funny how certain details are still crystal clear-- others... not so much! But certainly I must have eaten well! Italian food is rather good! Now this is just a great show! Trey has some Italian heritage and even spoke a little Italian to the audience. @warewolf95 will certainly appreciate the MYFE > PUNCH opening sequence! They came to play! Forget Amsterdam, this is the goods! Phish -- La Marna -- Sesto Calende, Italy JULY 15 1996 Set I 01. My Friend, My Friend 02. Punch You In The Eye 03. Fast Enough For You 04. Guyute 05. Possum 06. I didn't know 07. Harry Hood 08. Cavern Set II 01. Down with Disease 02. Maze 03. Loving Cup 04. Makisupa Policeman 05. It's Ice 06. Julius 07. HYHU / Purple Rain / HYHU 08. Uncle Pen 09. Run Like an Antelope 10. - crowd / encore - 11. Golgi Apparatus
I've been listening to May 8th 1993 - Durham, NH the past two days (it's a free show on the Live Phish app right now, btw). The 2nd set has an awesome Bowie and Mike's Groove with an AC/DC Bag encore. If you have the original CD release you get Shaggy Dog (soundcheck), Tweezer & Tela (from 5/6/93), and YEM (from 5/5/93) as bonus tracks.
The app also has 5/3/93 which is what I've been listening to the last few days. Good month for Phish.