12-28-03 - American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

please review the show, not the other reviews....


Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 09:54:33 -0700
From: eric tipton 
Subject: Phish show review - 12/28/03

12/28/03 American Airlines Arena - Miami, FL

1: David Bowie, Sample in a Jar, Tweezer*, Bouncing Around the Room, AC/DC Bag, Frankie
Says**, Llama, HYHU > Love You*** > HYHU, Tweezer Reprise
2: Gotta Jibboo, Suzy Greenberg# -> Theme From the Bottom, Water in the Sky, Friday, Harry
Hood
E: Sleeping Monkey, Loving Cup

Notes: * - about 15 minutes long; ** - lyrics flubbed; over 11 minutes long; *** - Fish
forgot the words, first scat-sung for awhile and then came out with: "I can't remember the
words/And it really doesn't matter because I can't sing either/ So who gives a fuck/ it's
time for the vacumn cleaner"; # - nearly 20 minutes long, jam very heavy metal-esque for
the part following the second verse, last verse not sung.

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After seeing all of winter and summer tour, when these dates were announced I knew I had to
make it to Miami to ring in the New Year with my closest 18,000 friends. The thought of
seeing Phish in a tropical environment on such special dates in Phistory had me eager to
see what they had in store for us. Also, Phish has definitely played astounding shows in
the state of Florida.

As I arrived downtown around 1:45 with Dave Jancy, the lot across the street from the venue
was already cranking it up. Good sign I thought. Little did I know just how raging those
lots would be throughout the whole run.

Pre-show we had a little party in our room(Holiday Inn Marina Bay). Pardon me if I miss
anybody: Tony, LMSYEM, djancy75, JoeR67, jwoolfall, jbk, aaw, nestamarley and lizardchick.
Good times and very good to see all these people again. I am 30 now. The people I started
going to shows with 10 years ago aren't really traveling to shows anymore. This year I met
a fair amount of people from the Phook at Phish shows that I really love to hang out with.
Just wanted to say thanks to all of you that have at one point or another made last year
one he lluva good time to see Phish!

I sat with bmuethip the first two nights. The seats were basically twelve rows up from
Page, courtside. Just stellar seats, thanks again so much Brian for the hook up! The venue
is very nice, it is only four years old. Very modern looking inside and out. Beer was sold
everywhere so I never had to wait in a line all four nights. I can't say enough good things
about this venue, amenities, security (lack of) etc., so I will leave it at that. Just know
that with such a positive experience had by so many at AA Arena that it is only a matter of
time until Phish will be back here.

Bowie:

The boys came out on stage at 8:05. Trippy effects had everyone in the joint thinking Bowie
or Maze. At 2:51 Fish starts up the hi hat and its made apparent that they are opening w/
Bowie. Sick way to start out the NYE run, they mean business for sure! The intro wasn't
completely flawless but it surely wasn't a trainwreck, like say; Phoenix was. At 7:44 we
are into the jam segment. Page and Trey play so well off of each other in this version. The
jam quiets down a bit at 11 minutes, nice subtle playing by Page. Trey predictably takes
control around 15 minutes or so and tears it up through the ending. Very good Bowie, nice
and tight but nothing mind-blowing. Still a great and meaningful way to open up the run.

Sample: It's Sample, it rocked in a never-changing sort of way.

Tweezer: Fuck yeah, bring the Heat boys! A Bowie opener and then a Tweezer 3 songs into the
first set? Who could ask for more than that?!! One great thing about the seats I was in was
the sightlines. Not only were we very close to the band, but you could check out everyone
getting down on the floor and on the other side of the arena. I think it's safe to say that
I was flailing around a bit during the intro. Nice funky work by Page. The jam segment is
dominated by Mike grooving hard and Trey playing some bluesy, clean licks. Very nice. This
evolves into straight up blistering guitar work from Trey. Shor t but sweet, I absolutely
loved it! People that aren't fond of Phish's noodling would enjoy this version for sure.
Cool little segue into >

Bouncin: Good version. Good placement.

AC/DC Bag: Hell yeah! Completely straightforward and rocking. Good stuff.

Frankie Says: When the opening chords were played I was not thrilled. Little did I know how
this would take off. One of the underrated jams of the night (seriously). Being so close to
Page was very cool seeing him croon away. Very cool jam with some heavy distortion from
Trey.

Llama: Again, very good placement after the mind tweaking Frankie Says. Gets everyone
moving again. At the time I thought it was sloppy, but it's not. Good yet standard Llama.

HYHU > Love You > HYHU: Entertaining to say the least. Fishman forgetting the lyrics and
all. ?Thank you, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!?

Tweezer Reprise: I love this tune in the first set closer spot! Again, the whole arena just
seemed to get down as one on this tune. Nasty!

First set impressions: Very good. It really set the stage for the madness to come.

Gotta Jibboo: I was happy hearing this open it up. All I could think of was, Burgettstown
Jibboo! There is a little difficulty for Trey around 2:35 or so. This is another tune that
has done plenty of meandering/noodling in the past. Not tonight. Trey just tears down the
house for a good 3-4 minutes in this one, just wailing away and then bringing it back to
the refrain around 12:50 or so. Blew my head off!

Suzie: No way, I couldn?t believe they were playing it in this spot. Page?s solo at the
beginning had me begging for more. The man can flat out play. The funk was extremely deep
around 2:30 or so. At 2:42 it sounds like Page is teasing the hell out of something but I
cannot place it (anyone?). The shit continues to just funk out and back into the second
verse. ?Forgot my name didja? Happens all the time. Ohhhh!? They flub right out of that
(Fishman?) but recover . From here is where things really g ot crazy and I lost my mind for
the next few minutes. This dirty, heavy metal jam comes out of nowhere from Trey. Like
nothing you?d ever expect to hear from a Suzie. So funny to look down at the floor and see
thousands of hippies doing the head banging and then realizing that I was too. Classic!
Behind it all Page is playing some really cool heavy stuff reminiscent of What?s the Use.
By the way Page needed to get turned up some. Through some of this he is barely audible on
the soundboard. Raging, raging Trey guitar work. By fifteen minutes Trey has laid off of
the crazy wanking and the jam is going into outer space lead by Page. Extremely psychedelic
and mellow grooved gets put down at 16 minutes, What?s the Use so could have segued out of
this but it was not to be (unfortunately, I love that song since seeing it in Atlanta ?99).
What the hell is Trey teasing around 18:00 through 18:30? At first I thought it was Little
Drummer Boy then I thought maybe a little Divided Sky? Lizards? Anyway, when it?s all said
and done this version is slightly longer than 19 mind-blowing minutes. Incredible.
Highlight of the night. Nice segue into >

Theme: ?So toss away stuff you don't need in the end But keep what's important and know
who's your friend.? God, I hate Phish lyrics! (10). There is a bit of a Jibboo tease at
4:28. Rocking Theme, nowhere near the version from Philly but it was still damn good.

Water in the Sky: It?s Water. Trey went ballistic.

Friday: At least it wasn?t the encore. Like Camden, Trey had a few noticeable flubs but for
the most part ripped the solo. Cool little intro into it too. Sounded a bit like it could
have been Caspian, but nay. Page was really pounding away too.

Hood: After the Friday, the energy was flagging. That is one of the few if any points in
the four-day run where I remember it being like that. But not for long as this Hood would
save the day. Completely old school most of us are used too. Not a thing like the Vegas or
Charlotte versions, this one is strai ght up Hood. Was it perfect? No, there were
noticeable flubs here and there. But it really was an emotional version and once again Page
really lays it down. I loved it and it had me feeling good and pumped as hell for the
encore. Cool delay loop jam at the end of it.

Second set thoughts: HOT! Jibboo, Theme and Hood were very strong. Suzie was the best I
have ever heard, better than Darien ?00 or Minneapolis ?96. Just completely twisted!

Encore:

Sleeping Monkey: Sweet! It?s good to see this back in the rotation a little bit, I happen
to love it played as the encore.

Loving Cup: Hell, might as well. Absolutely raging Cup. Sent me out into the Miami night
with a skip in my step.

All in all this show rocked through and through. Hard to believe that it was the first show
of the run, it was that good. Had to make you wonder what was in store for the next few
night and if they could keep up the momentum! They could and they did.

peace,
et
"See the city, see the zoo; traffic light wont let me through."

Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 23:16:03 -0500
From: Chuck Feldman 
Subject: phish review 12-28-03


1: David Bowie, Sample in a Jar, Tweezer*, Bouncing Around the Room, AC/DC 
Bag, Frankie Says**, Llama, HYHU > Love You*** > HYHU, Tweezer Reprise
2: Gotta Jibboo, Suzy Greenberg# -> Theme From the Bottom, Water in the Sky, 
Friday, Harry Hood
E: Sleeping Monkey, Loving Cup

December Twenty-eight, two thousand three
set one

                                                Bowie

composed section: no screwups, crowd singing very loud and of course hot for 
a bowie opener

jam: this was not a warmup, all phour members were rhythmically tight and 
communicating
       more rock based, less dark than your average bowie,
       pure building, eight bars tension then resolution, again and again 
until...

climax: chords teased by page directly before, all trey's triplets are timed 
and toned tightly

                                             Sample

composed section: no screwups, page's vocal mike had to be turned up during 
his bridge 'you treat me like the others...'

jam: totally average in length and intensity, trey wailing away

                                            Tweezer

composed section: mike's vocal mike was a little soft on 'its gonna be 
cold...'

jam: stayed upbeat, did not dwell in ambience for long, faded out with nice 
clav work from page

                                              Bouncing

composed section: spot on. always fun.

                                               Bag

composed section: everyone knew the words and showed it.

jam: very enjoyable, the most dancable of the set so far, funk starting to 
appear out of rock

                                                Frankie Says

compsed section: crowd chatter was very loud during this. an underrated
song, very phew phans sung along

jam: great ambient work, jon using every single little cymbal in his kit, 
trey quieted down to let page's organ work come through nicely

                                              Llama

composed section: a faster tempo than usual, which is pretty fast! page's 
organ was loud in the mix which is good.

jam: what was once twelve bar blues is now a less predictable and very 
swinging jam, swingin in the sense of off beat crash cymbals from jon

                                       HYHY -> Love You -> HYHY

vaccuum solo: first two minutes were very impressive with rhythmic drive. 
ended with loud flatulent-like noise. henrietta also introduced the members 
of the band

                                               Tweeprise

composed section: no screwups. harmony sung well, good set closer

set two

                                                    Gotta Jibboo

composed section: trey is somewhat unsure which sectinos lead into which, 
but nothing to complain about


jam: jam of the night. euphoric. personally, it evoked florida: sweetwater 
fragrant lush and lively. driving bass, simple melodies by trey, thick grand 
harmonies by page


                                                    Suzy Greenberg

composed section: crowd jumped and continued to be jumping. no neurologist, 
but there was 'forgot my name, didja?'

jam: a very heavy rock jam, trey outlining some sinister chords and jon 
keeping steady heavy cymbals

                                                   Theme

compsed section: page hit his vocals nicely. the guitar riff out of the 
secoind chorus into the jam that everyone likes was a little subdued.

jam: returned to previous jibboo territory. less full and thick than most 
theme jams which was a positive, good segue into the 'from the bottom, from 
the top' ending


                                                      Water in the Sky

harmonies were tight, crowd yelled 'filter through the EVERGLADES'


                                                           Friday

composed section: I think I like this song a lot more than most 
people...very good

jam: great drum fills, this jam managed to build in intensity without being 
repetitive and I think was a huge improvement over the Round Room version

                                                        Hood

composed section: opening had mike using his really phat bass tone, which 
drew applause.

jam: really epic, everyone knew it was the set closer...a lot of change, a 
lot of nice transitions, tempo changes. eventually they are grooving in a 
minor key and trey play the three descending notes that signal the 'you can 
feel good' over the minor sound, then page and mike switch smoothly back 
into hood, drawing tremendous applause and the whole arena singing the 
climax. the last two chords were precise: brap! *silence* 
badadooooommmm....and there's your set

encore

                                                        Sleeping Monkey

composed section: jon sings his solo verse with passion and nails each note

jam: trey wails and wails...then goes and tells page to play the opening 
chords of

                                                          Loving Cup



thanks for reading my review!

Gratefully,

Dob


Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 15:49:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Cole 
Subject: 12/28/03


      Welcome to Miami!  The boys hunkered down for the first of the BUST-OUT 4 night
      run (shout out to the 3 night runs at Deer Creek and the Roxy and of course the
      festivals) in a brand new palace and they sure aimed to deliver on all 80,000 tickets
      and to all 20,000 ticket holders.  Balancing the oldest of old school first set Bowie
      opener and AC/DC Bag (Lets get this show on the road! indeed) with a sick Tweezer
      (Mike being especially funky) after an unreal tune up jam that had the building
      quaking, yes, this was all in the FIRST SET!  The crowd had their monies worth
      already and for an instant I thought it was the end of the show after the Tweeprise,
      but no, we got one whole more set to come!  For first set crowd pleasers a Sample,
      Bouncing, Llama and HYHU Love You HYHU sandwich, with Fishman acting the part of the
      funniest/funkiest man in show business sent everyone (including the first timers) to
      set break with a BIG smile. You might not think it from the setlist but one of the
      nights sickest jams was smack in the middle of a mightily jammed out Frankie Says,
      thats right Frankies was way jammed out (I call it the Miami Jam), with
      heavy Dark Star riffs that brought to mind GD 6/23/74.  Luckily it ended up not being
      the last visit to outer space, because the 2nd set opener Jibboo went into orbit and
      Dark Star too, but the real gem had to be the crazy Suzy Jam Theme, with the Suzy Jam
      channeling Warren Haynes with a dark jam, almost Stranglehold or even Kung kinda
      dirty dank rock, coming out into a clean Theme being worked over by my man Page who
      was large and in charge for much of the night.  The Water in the Sky got a Big
      Cypress jolt from the "filter out the everglades" line, and everyone got off. 
      Unfortunately, the energy loss in Friday was palpable, but I needed a rest, thanks
      Trey (just kidding, they should have kicked it up a notch, but then I always wish
      they would just rock out 110%!).  A Hood closer is always good and then here it
      comes...tada, the Sleeping Monkey encore, I had the sinking feeling that it was some
      kinda of joke and had to laugh, but sure enough a PHAT Loving Cup was served up to
      send the rabid masses out wanting more, solving the issue of a year marred
      by mediocre encores, on this night, it is safe to say a beautiful buzz was had by
      all.  Long live the double E:

peace,

big brian in FL

Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 23:17:29 -0500
From: Steele 
Reply-To: Steele 
Subject: Phish show review 12/28/03NG 

 
This show was the best phish show in my experience that I have ever seen. I have heard alot
of mixed reviews, but me personally, I love the melodic jams they have in this beautiful
second set. Miami, I cant even begin to explain how amazing this city is and especially
being there for a Phish show. If you went, you know what I mean. After trying to walk in an
extremely packed, but energized Shakedown, the show began.
Set 1:
David Bowie- excellent opener. Played almost to perfection and the jam section was very
experimental.
Sample- Standard version, but placement made this version particularly awesome.
Tweezer- Short but sweet version. Mike was going absolutely insane. I thought he would be
wearing a neck brace after how massively he was bobbing his head.
Bouncing- Disappointed at first, but pleased near the end. I've never actually seen this
one live, but I know many people sure have.
ACDC bag- Good solid version. Got the energy back after bouncing.
Frankie says- I really don't care much for this song, but this version is awesome. It has a
very improvisational jam at the end which lasts for about 6-7 min.
llama- good version. Page was showing his true colors on this one.
HYHU>Love You>HYHU- hilarious. Fishman messed up the words and that was pretty funny, then
he started to run laps around the stage and did some crazy antics.
Tweezer reprise- An extremely incredible way to close this killer set. I waited in
anticipation for what was to be the best 2nd set I have ever witnessed in my entire life.
 
Gotta Jibboo- heard them tear this song up from 07-29 and wanted to hear it live. This
version shows what this set is about. Melodic and excellent guitar playing from Trey and
the band and audience flowing and one and sailing down a river of intense music.
Suzy- This song got the place rocking. It was really funky during the first jam section,
the second was a bit of heavy metal type playing by Trey and solid quarters by Fish. Really
interesting jam>
Theme- This was a peak experience in my life. I just remember seeing this band do this to
me and feel my mind and body float away into oblivion. This was the best playing I have
heard Trey do all year. By this point the set has already changed my life. Nothing could
end it.
Friday- This is where the song belongs, not in an encore. This version was played very
well. The jam got really intense and I felt very good energy during it.
Water in the sky- I love this song and just danced like crazy and had a very fun time with
it.
Harry Hood- This is the way this show had to end. I had never seen this live and it was so
peaceful. Thank god for music and the feelings that it can give me.
Sleeping monkey- great song to encore with. Played it very well.
Loving cup- TWO ENCORES!!! and loving cup. This is a way to end this stellar show. To me I
thought this show is going to be the best out of all the nights in Miami. I had a changing
time here. Thank you for reading. peace.
Bryan Steele

Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:04:06 EST
From: JCarb12746@aol.com
Subject: Phish show review 12/28/03

I thought it was a great show highlighted by an awesome first set.  I just want to point
out if anyone recognized the Mind Left Body Jam after Frankie Says.
 
Mike

Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:36:46 EST
From: Stcrx2003@aol.com
Subject: Phish show review

 I have never seen Phish play with more focus, energy and excietment than they did on
Monday night in Miami.  Sunday's show was good, but Monday's show is a must-have whether
you were there or not.  The entire scene in Miami was so perfect;  amazing weather, zero
security concerns, an amazing lot scene with absolutely no worries or hassles, a rested
band, a really slick arena and a truly incredible, positive and asshole-free crowd that
showed to just share in a truly great experience. I didn't even see one drunken kid brother
or sister the entire time!  I have been seeing Phish since '89 and this scene and these
Miami shows were unreal.  On Monday night, the band interaction was superb, especially
during Free and Piper.  Another highlight was Trey just losing his mind during Good Times
at the end of the second set.  The setlist was solid, especially the second set, and this
was one show you just have to listen to truly appreciate.  Miami will go down as one of the
best scenes in a long time.  The arena and the city had never hosted Phish for four days
and at I first, after Sunday's huge first day crowds, many of us thought the authorities
were going to come back in huge force on Monday; it simply never happened.  Very very
cool!! I still cannot believe some of things that I saw.  My faith has been restored!

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