Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:21:35 -0700
From: Keir Bickerstaffe pinko525@aol.com
Subject: 11-15-95 Sundome Tampa, FL

Hello all. Been bored this summer so I've taken to reviewing shows
that have not yet been reviewed. Yes...this is a review of a tape but
it was also my first Phish show so I'll try to include what I remember.
Alrighty.....

I arrived with my dad (My lame ass was only 14) at about 5:30 and I had
tickets for the floor. My dad's reaction was "Christ I'm really gonna
have to stand for three hours..." So you can imagine what fun I thought
I was going to have (sigh). We ended up in the front row right in front
of Mike. I was on Cloud Nine. My phirst Phish show and I was right
there. Here's where the rambling stops and the reviewing begins....

What were they gonna open with....Chalkdust? Probably not....as it
opened the night before.....My Friend My Friend......

1st set:
Poor Heart, ACDC Bag, FEFY, Rift, Prince Caspian, Sparkle, SOAM, Sweet
Adeline, Squirming Coil

2nd set:
Wilson, Theme, Scent of A Mule, Mike's Song, Life on Mars?, Weekapaugh,
Fee, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

E:Suzy Greenberg

Poor Heart: Standard version. Maybe a little bit shorter than usual.
Nothinglike a little blugrass. Nothing extraordinary though

ACDC Bag: Cool jammy version. Trey seems to struggle a liitle bit in the
jam but soon finds his ground. The end picks up the tempo and everybody
lets loose. 

FEFY: I remeber being excited when they started playing this because at
the time this was my favorite song. On tape, it is nothing special and
seems a bit misplaced in the set. A dramatic Trey solo helps it a bit.

Rift: Standard Rift. About all I can say.

Prince Caspian: Not very impressive. This was before they started
jamming this out in 96. Good to hear but the show is really lacking
momentum at this point.

Sparkle: Well at least it got the crowd into it as it always does but
this show still lacks impressive jams at this point.

SOAM: An excellent SOAM. Not as spacey and structurally interesting as,
say, 6-16-95, but a fine intense version nonetheless. At some points,
the furious tension and release jamming changes keys and ascends as if
it is going to take you away but it returns to its normal structure and
ends. Awesome version. 1st highlight of the tape.

Sweet Adeline: A very noisy crowd interrupts this so they must stop in
the midle and wait till they quiet down. My favorite of the acapella
tunes.

Squirming Coil: A masterful Page piano solo makes this a magical
Coil....Thank god...

The first set I would rank maybe a 3 out of 10. With the exception of
SOAM and Coil's piano solo, it has little redeeming value.

2nd set:
Wilson: The second set starts with a bang as Wilson is kicked out. The
crowd is excited for what they hope will be a better set.

Theme: I remember Trey backing up from his mic and looking over at Page
and mouthing "Theme" to him. This is a good spacey version. The jam is
nothing extraordinary. Fairly standard.

Scent: The russian jam is always fun in concert but turns me off when I
hear it on tape as it does not translate well. This is definitely better
aprreciated if you were there.

Mike's: Thank god. This is no ordinary Mike's. The jam is furious and in
concert it clothed the front row in fog and strobes. Page is funking
this up with some fine Clavinet work and if I can remember correctly
also did a few things with the Rhodes. The dynamic dies down and Trey is
on his kit with a sustained chord running through a loop creating a wall
of sound with Page fiddling with assorted synthesizers. Awesome. Trey is
off the fit and the sustained chord ascends with Page's synth following
clossely behind. The chord then descends and then returns to the
original sustained chord as they keep pumping out the wall of sound.
Trey breaks down the wall and ends the spaciness but still manages to
make a few bizarre effects over Page's simple organ vamp. It's silence
but a loud silence. Good silence. Page's organ stops and Trey carries
this Mike's out with a very Man Who Stepped Into Yesterdayesque chord
progression with a "watery" guitar effect. Beautiful. Without the Life
On mars and weekapaugh included, this Mike's is 20 minutes alone.

Life On Mars: A cool song....it's grown on me and is a welcome breather
after the intense Mike's. Well placed.

Weekapaugh: Fish pumps out the funky groove and Mike is slapping and
pooping away. The jam is good and breaks down into a quiet dynamic, but
the funk element, is still somehow there. The Groove comes to an end and
Fish does a repeated bass drum "hearbeat". You know what that means.....

Fee: Everyone's favorite rat. It is played and recieved well and best of
all Trey has no problems with the megaphone and does not forget the
lyrics. He is in good form tonight.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: what better way then to close a set. A
fine version and judging from the crowd noise a bit unexpected.

E:Suzy Grrenberg: This version lacks the ferocity of some other versions
but Fish's screaming after each verse ups the ennergy level and Page's
piano solo is excellent.

The 2nd set I would give probably a 6 (out of 10) for jams sake. The 15
minutes of Scent is a bit of a bore on tape and the energy quotient in
some song were not there. Get this set for the Mike's....trust me. With
the exception of The SOAM...I really can't recommend the rest of the
first set. Overall, it seemed that everyone was in fine form on this
night but were interested mainly in nonjam songs that did not come off
well.

My Score:4

Thanks for reading and peace and tranqulity to all,
Evan Bickerstaffe
Trane816@aol.com

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