From: twent@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went)
Subject: review of Lisner show 3-17-92

Wow, what a night.

Set I                                   Set II

Buried Alive ->                         Runaway Jim
Possum                                  Glide
Cavern                                  The Sloth
Sparkle                                 Poor Heart
It's Ice                                Tweezer ->
I Didn't Know                           Esther
Divided Sky                             Mike's Groove
Guelah Papyrus                          Cold As Ice intro ->
Rift                                    Love You
Bouncing Around the Room                Llama
Run Like an Antelope
                                        Encore:
                                         Memories  (a cappella, no mics)
                                         Sweet Adeline (ditto)



The boys put on quite a show tonight.  The Lisner Auditorium is a fairly new
place, nicely done, but the security was very anal -- not only couldn't we go
up to the front and dance, they wouldn't let anyone venture even an inch out of
the aisle.  Oh well, I had good seats.  Ran into a bunch o' net heads -- hi to
Dave, John, Jamie, Steve, and Katie!

The sound was a bit muffled at first, and I thought the first few songs
suffered a bit from this.  Sparkle smoked, however, and the show picked up from
there.  I Didn't Know featured Henrietta on vacuum, which I thought was odd
considering his trombone was on a stand next to his drum riser, and he didn't
use it all night.  Divided Sky was cool, and Trey's guitar just SUNG for it.
I heard Rift for the first time, and it is an AWESOME tune.  Then into a cool
Bouncing, and ended the set with THE MOST INCREDIBLE version of Run Like an
Antelope I have ever seen or heard.

The second set was possibly the best set of Phish I've heard in my life.  Mike
came out wearing his wig and glasses, and took his zoned-out look one step
more zoned.  After a jammin' version of Runaway Jim, they went into Glide,
which Trey announced as something special for St. Patrick's Day.  The crowd
really enjoyed the song, and a lot of people were singing along.  Sloth and
Poor Heart were equally tight and energetic.  The highlight came with the trio
of Tweezer, Esther, and Mike's Groove.  Tweezer went on forever, and the jam
was incredible.  Everyone got really into Esther, and then went absolutely
crazy when Trey went into Mike's Groove.  The lights and trampolines and jam
were all amazing, and Trey and Mike's antics were hysterical.  After this, Page
started Cold as Ice and Fishman went backstage and came out with his vacuum
AGAIN, this time with the now-infamous bagpipes.  He did Love You and a bagpipe
vacuum solo, which I thought worked pretty well considering the reports of it
not sounding very good at earlier shows.  The set ended with a quick, tight
version of Llama.

What annoyed me about the show was the encore.  Well, the encore itself was
GREAT.  They came out to the front of the stage, and Trey quieted everyone
down and said something about the room being big but they'd try it anyway,
and they did both Memories and Adeline.  They obviously practiced their
harmonies extensively over their break, because they were dead-on on both of
them -- Fishman can SING now!

After both of those tunes, the guys walked off without waving, and I assumed
they'd come back for another couple of tunes (like Tweezer Reprise?!??), but
to my dismay, the house lights came on the very second Fishman got off the
stage.  I am wondering if someone decided the show had to be cut at midnite,
cause Fishman took a step back onstage when the lights went on, and looked out
at the audience for awhile.  So the evening fizzled a little at the end.

However, the night was amazing.  I'm just regretting that I won't make any
more shows until at least May...

Cheers!

        -tony

--  
Tony Went (twent@wam.umd.edu) - University of Merryland

"I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride."

------------------------------

From: kcjonz@next10pg2.wam.umd.edu (David Douglas McCallum)
Subject: St. Patty's Day @ The Lisner

Hey, folks! Since Tony has already taken care of a general review
for the Lisner show, I thought I'd just mention some parts that
particularly stand out in my mind...

- The whole show smoked! Start to finish! I saw quite a few tunes
  that I heard at the Roseland last saturday, but I didn't mind
  one bit :{) The playing was a lot tighter and "on" than in NYC,
  IMHO. The smaller hall and killer location I staked out (right
  up front) probably had something to do with it.

- I was very psyched to put faces to some of the names that I see
  here on the net. I found that I was dancing around right next to
  Steve Newton, with Tony Went right across the aisle. During the
  set break, I met many more...

- A friend who had just heard Lawn Boy over the weekend and who
  was coerced by a good friend to see the show walked up to me  
  after the first set with a big smile glued to his mug and said,
  "That was really, really, really, really, really, really, really,
   really, really intense!" I could do naught but agree.

- Katie mentioned to me during the set break that she thought the
  hall would be very conducive to some A Capella tunes. She was
  quite right, in a bigger way than I (and probably she) imagined.
  I've never seen more than one a capella tune sung consecutively.

- During Love Ya, first Henrietta's vacuum cleaner didn't respond,
  and I read his lips say a horrified "Oh no!". He scurried over
  and plugged it in, rewarded with the squealing protest of the
  bagpipes. His bagpipe solo (squonk!) was unamplified and probably
  hard to hear in the back, but my favorite part was the end...he
  looked at Page and the others, who paused on cue, then he switched
  off the vacuum (BWAHHHHHHHHawwwwwwww). They all smiled and nodded.
  He also introduced the band, using Trey's full "Ernest" name.

- While I was also looking for a HUGE Tweezer Reprise to end the
  show, I thought that the A Capella end worked well for me all
  the same. I find it hard to be disappointed about anything after
  a show like that.

The post may be huge, but so was the show. Tapes of this wonderful
night are essential. I can hardly wait...

G'Day, eh!

DMcC   

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From: "Greg J. Pryzby" 
Subject: Lisner (a review of sorts)

The start seemed to hold promise as I was in the front with my camera
shooting from the aisle when security landed... They cleared the aisles
and spent the rest of the show in front of a seat dancing and shooting.
I will have the photos back this afternoon, hopefully one turned out!

The first set really smoked and seemed long (anyone, anyone?). The jams
were long and intricate, and RLaA... unbelieveable. No words can describe
it. So I won't. Just get a copy of it and enjoy! (I would have liked the
cantaloupe lyrics, but ...)

I thought the second set was a not up to the first, but grate nonetheless.
(I guess anthony and disagree here.)

Ester... I need to read the lyrics for it. I thought it was a very depressing
song! Although the lyrics weren't clear, I got the feeling of a dreadful
story being told.

It was a shame that the crowd couldn't keep quiet for the encores... I guess
silence is too much for some to handle...

Oh yea, the opening act was pretty good. Everything (the band's name) was
grate for an opening act and not bad overall. They were very funky and
reminded me of a cross of early RHCP, Fishbone, and Spin Doctors.

Hey to Doug, Dave, and the other netheads I met (sorry for forgetting names.)

--  
Greg Pryzby                                             uunet!virtech!gjp
Virtual Technologies, Inc.
Herbivores ate well cause their food didn't never run. -- Jonathan Fishman

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From: twent@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went)
Subject: Re: Lisner (a review of sorts)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1992 00:30:25 GMT

Greg wrote:
>The start seemed to hold promise as I was in the front with my camera
>shooting from the aisle when security landed... They cleared the aisles
>and spent the rest of the show in front of a seat dancing and shooting.
>I will have the photos back this afternoon, hopefully one turned out!

I took a roll of pix as well (from 3rd row center aisle) and got them back
this afternoon.  Most were too dark, but there were a couple that turned out
pretty well.  Got one or two good Page - Trey - Mike shots, and one of Trey
and Mike on trampolines during "Mike's Groove," and a decent one of Fish
playing the vacuum for "I Didn't Know"...

>I thought the second set was a not up to the first, but grate nonetheless.
>(I guess anthony and disagree here.)

I thought the second set was tighter (the show was tighter from about Rift
onward) and the killer Mike's Groove and Tweezer did it.  Did anyone else
notice how they'd hold out the last syllable when singing "tweezer" in a
dissonant chord?  I thought it sounded really cool.  It reminded me of Trey's
interview where he talked about doing shows with a choir and having them do
something similar.  Maybe he's gonna try it...
--  
Tony Went (twent@wam.umd.edu) - University of Merryland

"I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride."

------------------------------

From: "Rich Fromm - 'Whatever you do, take care of your shoes.'  18-Mar-1992 1248" 
Subject: Re: review of Lisner show
Reply-To: fromm@tecrus.enet.dec.com
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1992 01:37:24 GMT

twent@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went) writes:

|I Didn't Know featured Henrietta on vacuum, which I thought was odd
|considering his trombone was on a stand next to his drum riser, and he didn't
|use it all night.

nothing too unusual about that; i was really psyched the first time i noticed it  
there (sometime this past fall), but he also didn't use it that night; i've seen  
it there on numerous other occasions too; i've kind of stopped looking for it,  
because it doesn't seem to be any indication of whether he will or won't play  
it; the only time i can recall seeing a show where he played trombone was during  
Day 2? Arrowhead Ranch '91 during Gumbo, and that was just a couple of notes  
(maybe even just one long note) at the end, as Trey introduced the Horns,  
including "the fourth member of The Giant Country Horns...HENRIETTA!"

- Rich

------------------------------

From: jfw@neuro.duke.edu (John F. Whitehead)
Subject: Re: Lisner (a review of sorts)
Date: 23 Mar 92 16:02:45 GMT

A couple of belated notes on the Lisner show to complement the good  
reviews by Greg and Tony:

The first set was nice, though it had a few jams that didn't quite lock
up.  They really cooked in the second set, though (for which Mike wore
his glasses and wig for, though they fell off during the trampolining in
Mike's Song).  After Glide, Fish started the drum beat for Poor Heart
but Trey waved it off and got them to do a raunchy version of The Sloth.  
After it they played the Poor Heart.  Then they did Tweezer, which had
the best jam of the evening, IMnotsoHO.  It just clicked really well and
had the audience breathless.  As they finished it and it seemed as they
might have started the reprise, Page started the calliope-like intro to
Esther which, after a minute, the rest of the band went into as well.  

Mike's Song was strong (and featured a long trampoline-and-strobe-light
session), but the highlight was the I Am Hydrogen portion.  It had Mike
and Trey standing in odd orientations, sort of like a Devo freeze-shot.  
Mike bent at the waste, almost touching the floor.  Trey mimicked him
and they stayed bent over for several lines of the song.  Then Mike  
stood up, and Trey did too.  Then they bent over again, shuffled around,
stood up, and moved around again, holding each position for 10-15 seconds.
Then when Fish wasn't looking they walked up onto the drum riser behind
him and jammed up there for the final moments before returning to their
home spots for the end of IAH.  It was pretty amusing...


--  
 ________________________________________________________________________
|   John      jfw@neuro.duke.edu          Duke University Medical Center |
| Whitehead   jfw@well.sf.ca.us           Department of Neurobiology     |
|________________________________________ Durham, North Carolina ________|

------------------------------