Matt Dallman 

St. Louis (6.13.95) Review [very, very long]
 
 Hey there, pholks.  I just got back from the St. Louis show at the 
 Riverport Ampitheatre, and, well, I thought I'd share some thoughts...
 
 
 6.13.95  Riverport Ampitheatre, St. Louis, MO
 
 
 
 Anyway, to begin, I lost my notebook after the show that contained 
 tonight's setlist along with COUNTLESS other important stuff that was 
 very special to me.  I drove *back* to the venue after the show to try to 
 look for it, but security wouldn't let me in, which I expected, and he 
 checked with some employees, and he said they said that they did not find 
 anything, so the long and the short of it is that this list might be 
 somewhat incorrect, but I remembered the important moments, for sure, and 
 I think I remembered the unimportant moments, too, like Sparkle.  
 
 First of all...THE RIVERPORT AMPITHEATRE BLOWS to see a Phish show at.  
 PArking before 5 pm cost 10 bucks, there were cops on mopeds riding 
 around making sure people were not drinking or certainly not smoking or 
 inhaling.  I knew this going in, so my group went to a bar in St. Charles 
 before hand for some brews.  Got to the show around 7 pm, parked, and 
 walked to the gate...
 
 Where it took one ENTIRE hour to get in to walk to my seat. Why did it 
 take so long?  Well, there was a "pre-entrance" where we were herded like 
 sheep into only a couple openings where people checked the back of the 
 tix to scratch off a marking that autenticates the ticket.  That took 45 
 min.  Then we had to go through the frisking off our lifetime.  I saw 
 several fans get busted for pot, and my bag with water and my late 
 notebook was almost emptied out.
 
 So needless to say, I missed the first tune...RUNAWAY JIM.  I'd love to 
 comment on this song, but I CAN"T CAUSE I GODDAMN MISSED IT!!!  I heard 
 the band start it up from the pre-entrance line...And oh wsa I pissed.  
 
 I made it in for the opening notes of FOAM.  No segue here, which I was 
 hoping for, but it was still above average.  The buildup in Trey's solo 
 was long and powerful.  I noticed he was playing a bit softer, so that he 
 blended in more.  That made the buildup more of a band thing, instead of 
 just Trey.  Good.
 
 Next was BOUNCING.  Whatever.
 
 Next came STASH.  I went to the restroom for the first half of the tune, 
 but I caught the second half.  What stuck out was Trey moving forward 
 then backward, a coulple steps each way, trying to get the others to 
 build up high when he was forward, and quiet down when he was back.  
 Didn't work.  He actually tryed this a couple songs later.  Really trippy 
 version, but relatively standard.
 
 STRANGE DESIGN was next.  First time hearing this one.  ABSOLUTELY LOVED 
 IT!!!!  Very Beatles in the harmonies.  The lyrics seemed to be about 
 personal anguish, but I couldn'e hear most of them.  GREAT SONG!!!
 
 TASTE or FREE was next.  I thought I heard 'taste' early in the lyrics, 
 but a friend said he heard it was Free.  Either way, it was very loose.  
 It is in 12/8 time signature, but the swinging feel wasn't there, mostly 
 due to Fish's syncopations that alter the feel of the rhythm.  THIS song 
 WILL get better, and I like it.  The solo section was great, but for the 
 rest of the time the band seemed a bit off kilter...too new of a song, I 
 guess.
 
REBA got the crowd back involved, in terms of singing along.  Great 
 placement of this song...the ole familer after the two new songs.  LONG 
 version...didn't keep time, but it felt like about 20 minutes.  The high 
 part at the end of the solo section was LONG and MOVING.  I kept thinking 
 Fish would do the drumroll to signal the end, but he kept keeping it 
 going!  Great version. No whistling...
 
 HYHU -->> Terrapin -->> HYHU was next.  Fish dedicated the song to three 
 girls for some mistake that was made, but he didn't elaborate.  He 
 mentioned something about humore coming out of every bad situation.  
 Terrapin was standard, with Fish taking the 'plane takeoff and 
 disappearance in the clouds' approach to the vacuum playing.  Fun.
 
 I believe SPARKLE was next.  Whatever.
 
 CHALKDUST ended the set.  Very fun, but nothing special.  Good jam.
 
 SET II
 
 I spent the first set in row 16 on the very right, but for the second set 
 I went up to row 40 with my other friends for some pot and the second 
 set.  Much better up there, in terms of sound.  Close and on the side 
 sucked for sound.
 
 BOWIE began this set.  WOW!!!!  TRIPPY as hell...I think Providence's Bowie 
 really turned 
 the corner for this band, because this version ws TOTALLY different from 
 the last one I saw, in Madison last November.  It was like Prov's version 
 minus the Lassie section in a more compact way.  The jam began with Trey 
 noodling on a little riff that reminded me of Sweet Emotion by Areosmith, 
 but it served instead as the bassline for a good bulk of the jam.  The 
 jam was good enough to be a song, by itself!!  That is how damn good this 
 jam was.  The think about it is that now the Prov version serves as a 
 base, and this song can only get better!  This was a great version, but 
 won;t compare to versions of this song from later in the tour, or from 
 the fall tour.  EXCITING!!!!!!!!
 
 LIZARDS was next.  Again, great placement of this song.  Bowie was so out 
 there and powerful that it got the crowd really listening to what the 
 hell is going on on that stage.  So we were very ready to listen to a 
 story-song like Lizards.  Lots of energy in this one, and GREAT solo 
 turns by Page.  Unfortunately, Trey flubbed the coda, which was kinda a 
 buzzkill.  He missed several notes.  Foreshadowing of things to come...
 
 AXILLA II was next.  POUND, POUND on those drums Fish!!  Lots of energy.  
 Got me jumping.  With the rideout ending.  Right into...
 
 --->>FEED FROM THE BOTTOM.  ANOTHER KICKASS SONG!!!  It sounded like 
 "Feed", not "Theme".  Either way, I loved it.  Best new song of the 
 night.  Great Beatlesque harmonies through a very complex vocal chorus.  
 Good jam.  GREAT SONG!!!!!
 
 Next, I remember ACOUSTIC ARMY, or I think that was the name.  Great 
 guitar work by the four in general.  Fish was off, needless to say!!!  
 The crod was mostly pretty quiet, but COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH QUIETER!!!!  
 COME ON PEOPLE!!!  Loved this one.  
 
 After this song ended, I whispered to my friend, "I'd really like to hear 
 Hood now."  And BAMM!!  there it was.  The best call I have ever made.  
 THIS VERSION WAS RELIGIOUS!!  I closed my eyes for most of it, but 
 strangely opened them whenever I sensed that the lights were changing.  
 The lights were gorgeous for this one...like a cristmas tree.  The song 
 was great...the best Hood I have heard live...better than 11.22.94 in 
 Columbia.  Trey playing more chordal arpegios (sic) to build the solo up, 
 something I haven't heard much of.  My friend next to me had never heard 
 this one before, and the first thing he said to me after it was done was, 
 "DAMN, that was friggin BRILLIANT!!"  From a newbie!  I like him.  Get 
 this set on tape, btw!!  Didn't want this one to end...
 
 Hood ending went right into GOLGI.  I was happy with this song selection, 
 strangely, because I had so much energy after Hood waiting to get out 
that I, along with most of the crowd, BELTED the ticket stub part.  Great 
 idea to play this song then, and it would have been brilliant if TREY 
 HADN"T COMPLETELY FLUBBED HIS PARTS FROM THE MIDDLE ON!!  I mean, he was 
 OFF!!  Coming from myself who is a guitarist, he MUST have broken a 
 string, cause no guitarist that good fucks up a song that often in so 
 many different places.  He knew it, too.  He was looking around at the 
 others on stage as if to say SORRY!!  Too bad, cause like I said, great 
 pick to end the set.
 
 ENCORE
 
 They came out, and got up front.  Then Trey went back to his normal vocal 
 mike to say to the crowd, "We are going to try to set an all-time record 
 [in terms of crowd siz in an outdoor venue] in singing this next one.  
 Everyone is going to have to be super-quiet."  SWEET ADELINE was the 
 song, with NO MICS at a venue of 20000 outdoors!  And the crowd was 
 perfectly quit for the first half, then get 
 restless and start whistling, etc.  This version seemed a bit longer, 
 with the boys stopping several times to pause and continue the next 
 verse.  When they paused, Fish motioned to the crowd to please quiet 
 down.  Mostly, they did, and the band pulled it off.
 
 Trey then begAn JULIUS, and I gotta say that I was hoping for something 
 different.  I was very skeptical at this selection until they started 
 jammin it out, and OH, DID IT SMOKE!!!  THEY WERE KICKIN!!  Trey was on 
 fire.  THIS IS A GREAT ENCORE SONG!!!  BELIEVE ME!!  I didn;t think so at 
 first, but my opinion changed.  So much energy!  This is going to be a 
 famous song that Phish will be known for in ten years.  It was that 
 good!!  Great ending to an overall better-than-avrage show.
 
 I give it a 7.5 out of 10 with 5.0 being an average phish show.
 
 Crowd was decent.  Security in and out blew.   Lines were obnoxious.  I 
 picked up a summer tour t-shirt and a copy of tracking...can't wait to 
 watch it.  Still pissed I lost my motebook, but maybe it will turn up.  
 Two of my newbie freind loved the show, surprisingly.  I am going to 
 MEMPHIS tomorrow morning, so y'all can read another ridiculously long review 
 again on Thursady.  Take care.  Anyone who read this far can have a copy 
 of my daud1 Prov show from 12.29.94, or my daud2 copy of Bangor, 11.2.94 
 for blanks and postage.  Email me, one and all.  THANKS FOR READING!!!
 
 courteously abstaining,
 
 Matty D
 
 mcd1@cec.wustl.edu                     


From: Todd Ellebracht 
Subject: 6.13.95 Phish show


Hi all! This is a little background info on the Terrapin dedication
Fishman did to 3 girls at Riverport in St. Louis June 13.
 
My roomate, Jon, is a dj at a local radio station KDHX (88.1 FM)
every tuesday morning, 3:00am - 6:00am. Seeing as the Phish concert
was that night, what better morning to pick for an exclusive Phish
show than that one? Around 4:00 someone called in and said hey this
is Phish! Thanx alot for playing our music. Needless to say Jon was
a little unsure of the caller's true identity (it was Fishman).
After a few questions he decided that it probably was.
 
The rest of this was pieced together from what Jon knows and talking
with Trey, Mike, and Fishman after the show:
 
Over the course of his show, Phish called about 10 more times. It
seems that they were playing Balderdash when three girls called
(Shannon, Missy, & Adrian) and requested the live version of Contact
be dedicated to them. Jon played the song with the dedication and
Phish immediately called Jon and told him to have these girls call
Sneezeblood Eyeball (we think that this name came from the game of
Balderdash they were playing) The girls called (not knowing that it
was Phish).
 
Trey told us, "We were partying a little" as he told us about the
phone games they played with the girls. Once, with two of them on
the phone saying the same thing at the same time, they acted is if
they had just been sleeping. Another time, silence. This went on for
an hour or so when the girls called Jon and wanted to know who was
calling and what was up with them. Jon told them that it was Phish.
Two seconds later, Phish called on the other line. Jon talked
between the two for a short bit, then the girls called Phish one
last time.
 
Evidently the girls were not happy about what had happened. Why??
They left a note at the hotel front desk saying something to the
effect of You shouldn't treat your fans like this. I don't really
understand that and neither did the band. I mean, come on! They were
playing a game of phone tag with PHISH. Sounds fun to me!
 
Anyway, Terrapin was dedicated to them as an apologie for any hurt
feelings.
 
As an aside, to really prove that Phish was on the line Jon asked
for 4 tickets and aftershow passes. Needless to say we got 5 tickets
and aftershow passes and had the time of our lives. If you want to
see autographs and aftershow passes check out
http://www.cec.wustl.edu/~tse1. This post can also be found there
and on my home page (below).
 
http://www.cec.wustl.edu/~gac3/