Copied (typos and all...) from a review originally posted: Fri, 02 Jun 2000 00:51:09 CDT
Subject: Radio City Reviews (finally!)

Hi, everybody! Now to first dispell any unpleasant rumors, I am not dead,
nor am I married, nor did I mean for that to come out like some kind of
comparison between the two. I am, however, recharged and sustained - for
now at least - by two truly stellar performances (well, one and a half that
were _truly_ stellar...) and have no remorse that I missed what would have
been the smallest East-coast Phish show in some 10 years, but am a bit
disgruntled that Greater Northeast Productions, aka the Mail Order Gods
decided in their infinate wisdom to overlap tour and mailorder once again.
No, I did not M.O. for Fall.

So let's tawk about New Yohk. What a beautiful venue! Not so much ornate
as it was 'in a class by itself'. An impressive theater with a heavy
curtain draped from the top of an enormous stage - the lobby was painted
with scenic scapes involving floating clouds, chandeliers and lots and lots
of mirrors. The internet's "Project Phormal" was a considerable success,
with probably about 50-65% participating by dressing up somehow the first
night, and a little better participation the second night. Yours truly
opted for a comphy first show, and a tie and tails for the Monday gala. Now
onto the music...

Sunday 21 May 2000 - Radio City Music Hall
I: II:
First Tube Gotta Jiboo
Wolfman's Brother Down with Disease!!!
Squirming Coil Dirt
Possum Twist--> (new - different)
MOMA Dance Piper!!
Limb by Limb Harry Hood
Character Zero Velvet Sea
(0:59) Guyute

E: In-Law Josie Wales (aka "Minestrone" and "Bake and Boil")
Loving Cup
(1:46)

Very nice, strong opener, and a definate nice suprise from the opener
everyone and their brother were calling - Farmhouse. Of course, to open
what had been dubbed the "Farmhouse Promo Tour," what else? This has been
called "Bing Bong" by me and others in the past, but I now relenquish that
title since the album that was actually produced by Trey has the title
"First Tube" on it, even though "Bing Bong" is a clearly superior name.
When it's my band, I'll change it. But its Trey's band. And Trey likes the
internet community's descriptively cryptic moniker. Another thing Trey
liked is doing Pete Townsend-style guitar windmills during this tune after
the change to major key (at about 4:00 on the album).

Everyone got their little solo tonight, not so much a true "solo" as their
chance to be heard on the (really kick-ass looking) Radio City stage.
Page's came at the end of Coil and was considerably short. Of course, all
the screaming fans probably didn't help. It's clear on the tapes that even
if he'd wanted to strech his dynamic range on this solo, anything under a
mezzoforte would have been drowned out by the lurid cheering.

Fishman's solo was his inhuman singing/drumming extrazaganza during the Limb
outro. Fish was funny these couple of nights. For the first time ever in
my watching him, he seemed not to be intensely chugging away as usual, not
at all - but rather laid back. He dropped a couple of beats here and there,
one in First Tube, and I overheard at 7:00 before the Monday night show that
he was reachable "only by phone" from one of the crewmen, and that they'd
just been able to locate him for the first time that day. A taper said he'd
seen Fish at the bar he was at when he left at 1/4 to four am...

Mike's solo I guess was the second set Disease, which was over 20 minutes in
length and raged, rocked, and funked throughout the entire time. This
Disease was easily the highlight of the two days, and the only reason I put
it above the Ghost from 5/22 is becasue this one pumps hard all the way
through to the end, and while the Ghost is definately funkier and more
intense at points, it peters out into what I almost dare call a
"Simple-style jam" for the last five minutes.

Trey's solo came - well, he had a lot of them I guess. It could have been
Character Zero, a fairly standard version, or as Dirt, his self-professed
"favorite of the new songs," or even the next night with Horn. He played a
particularly beautiful Horn.

Most of the tunes this first night (with the exception of the aforementioned
Disease) were fairly straight-forward, no real suprises. Which was exactly
what I expected. We got to see a familiar combo with the Twist->Piper,
although the Twist was especially mellow. Probably due in part at least to
the new arrangement (yes, again) that differs from the version they did in
Hampton as well as on the album. This one starts out with just Fishman
really soft, then fade in slowly adding Trey, then Mike and Page, leaving
out the clever intro with the vocalized bassline entirely. Piper raged, and
had similar form to the CD version, in that they launch out of the first
vocal chorus, taking off with tightly-knit and seemingly reckless abandon
rather than the '97 approach of a slow and steady build. This Piper morphed
into Trey's favorite dj-style wah-wahs and had a slight Birds of a
Feather-feel jam in the outro, akin to the 10.22.99 Minneapolis Piper
although not as pronounced or long.

After Velvet Sea, Page turned to the audience and thanked them, saying he
"used to come here as a kid" and that this was a special show for him (and
also that it was his mom's (?) birthday). Trey, not to be outtalked,
commented that he and Page had come to see Steveie Wonder in RCMH, then went
on for nearly three minutes about how great "this whole thing" was - and
that "we don't want to do anything to screw it up, so let's just keep this
going for as long as we can." He profusely thanked the audience, saying how
lucky he felt for the last 15 years and how they've "built around the four
of us," and said they were the ones who should be applauding us.

Take care, and I hope to see each of you all soon...

- Mark

PS - Deer Creek tix go on sale this Saturday!

PPS - 12/11/99 Sneaking Sally-->Ghost!!!

Outside of a few private/radio shows, this is the first show since the millenium party at Big Cypress and the first show of the short 2000 NYC run. I'm listening to Daniel P's Neumann U89i tapes, which sound great.

I could hear First Tube open up every show and be totally psyched about it, but I really like the song and the Trey-gasm it promises so your mileage may very. Wolfman's brings down the energy just the right amount and lets the band settle into a groove. Squirming Coil is beautiful as always and it's nice to see somewhere other than closing a set.

Possum is possum and rages as usual and is followed by a rather compact Moma. LxL is pretty hit-or-miss with me, and while this one doesn't stray too far from the beaten path I thought the jam/solo at the end was quite excellent and worth a listen. I feel like they should have played another song or two and built off the momentum of Limb but they decide to end this very short set with a Character 0. Normally I would say meh but Trey's solo is quite good, making excellent use of the wah pedal and having a nice contour. Fun set overall.

Jibboo opens the second set in a relaxed fashion, exploring the sublime grooves that typify this era of the band's sound. It's nothing too deep but Trey reaches some very nice peaks and the crowd reacts accordingly. An excellent beginning to the set! Mike puts on his bass filters and begins making his aquatic wails to signify the beginning of Disease, the gem of the evening. Trey's solo coming out of the song is fantastic (as all his solo's were this tonight - he was 'on'), and he drives the song to a blistering peak by around the 10 minute mark. The band then starts to loosen up, entering a slower groove (that still has a lot going on). Almost like he can't help himself, Trey soon pushes the rhythm faster and unleashes much more face-melting soloing over the audience. Mike and Page take a more active role in the last few minutes of the jam as Trey takes a deserved step back.

Dirt is a lovely song and brings everyone back to earth after that monster DwD. The following Twist isn't very long but is an interesting and subdued take on the song that is quite relaxing to listen to. Piper is also fairly short but provides a nice contrast to the calm Twist by going into a glorious, effects-driven peak. Hood is standard (but nice, of course). After Wading, Trey goes into some very heartfelt banter that is a tad ominous in retrospect. He comments on how thankful he feels and how the band will keep "this going for as long as they can." Apparently that was not very long. Guyute closes out the set in tasteful fashion.

Overall this is a terrific show with a fun first set, a monster jam in the second, and plenty of other highlights (like Jibboo and Twist > Piper). Maybe not the upper echelon of shows, but certainly right below that.

Highlights: LxL, Jibboo, Disease(!), Twist > Piper

pretty standard show,but this was RCMH...FirstTube had trey doing windmills,(ala ete Townsend).The sound was excellent

a few things do stand out though,Disease was a shredder(llama teases from trey)Listen and you will see..
Harry Hood,ive seen alot of them, and i can tell u this one really was a different..after the thank you,mr.miner this jam was so soft and super cool u could a pin drop..velvet Sea, loved it...Guyute was from trey!

inlaw had to appear,and a roll-lickin' Lovin'Cup sent us out to 6th ave w/smiles on!

Awesome and straight forward first set, specifically high energy First Tube and Character Zero. Second set started off with a standard Jiboo which did pick up towards the end. DWD the high note of the show, really awesome jam starting around the 10m mark with some light funk around the 16/17m mark. Tasteful playing in Hood into Wading then a fun Guyute to round out the second set. 3/5 for me, nothing to write home about but will revisit the DwD more often.

My Review:

PHISH, SUNDAY 05/21/2000
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
New York, NY

SET 1:

First Tube: Standard.

Wolfman's Brother: Standard.

The Squirming Coil: Standard.

Possum: Standard.

The Moma Dance: Standard. >

Limb By Limb: Standard. >

Character Zero: Standard.

SET 2:

Gotta Jibboo: Standard.

Down with Disease: The last three minutes are a blast, and they bring it back to the actual ending. The majority of the jam is boring and lacks effort and creativity. >

Dirt: Standard.

Twist: Very, very mellow. >

Piper: The imitation of a plane taking off is pretty cool!

Harry Hood: Standard. >

Wading in the Velvet Sea: Standard.

Guyute: Standard.

ENCORE:

The Inlaw Josie Wales: Standard.

Loving Cup: Standard.

Summary: This show screams average and mediocre. Such a shame considering how hyped this was and how tough tickets were. The only thing I might consider for a Relisten would be the last few minutes of DWD. I would score this as a 3/5.

Replay Value: None.

After Velvet Sea, Page talked about how he had often visited Radio City as a kid. Trey then noted that he and Page had seen Stevie Wonder at this venue, and he discussed about how much the band appreciates the support of fans.
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Down with Disease