7-22-03 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN

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

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 17:19:20 -0700
From: eric tipton 
Subject: Re: Phish 7/22/03 review


from Phish.net:

7/22/03 - Verizon Wireless Music Center - Noblesville, Indiana

Set 1: Punch You in the Eye, Beauty of my Dreams, Gumbo, Divided Sky,
Boogie On Reggae Woman, Carini > Magilla*, Possum

Set 2: Split Open & Melt > Free > Friday, The Lizards, Walls of the Cave

Encore: Bouncing Around the Room > Frankenstein

* last played 7.4.00"

The amount of money spent in Noblesville by Phish fans really is amazing.
I wish I could see a stat somewhere of how much money is brought into the
local economy during a Phish 3 night stand.

I know I spent my fair share. On this day, I bought 4 new tires for my
car, ate at Bob Evans and spent some coin at Wal-Mart as well. It's like
the whole town is taken over by the fans - funny stuff.

Pre-show was all about drinking, partying and hanging out w/ friends. Who
can forget Junkyard Dog or his crazy wife that Z posed w/. You only get
this kind of experience at Deer Creek where all the serious freaks come
out to play. Thanks to runawayjesse for the killer microbrew in the lot
(I still have your cup man, hope you don't mind!).

First set: Big huge props to Z and JBK for stubbing me down tonight - it
was great hanging out w/ you guys.

PYITE: Well of course we had been waiting and calling for a Punch all
tour. The crowd about went into a feeding frenzy as this opened first
set. Unfortunately Trey really struggles w/ this one. The Landlady
segment from 5:10 -> 5:40 and is pretty embarassing. This is the worst
PYITE I've seen or heard on disc, seriously. After 5:40 it's all gravy
though and they finish up pretty strong.

Beauty: Again a couple of very minor Trey flubs, nothing as bad as what
just happened in PYITE, but it's there.

Gumbo: Now we are talking! Again, another song we had been
calling/waiting on all tour. I had no idea what we were in for! This
Gumbo is just insane. I think I have listened to it 4 times now and it
really does g et better w/ every listen. At 9.5 minutes we have lift off
folks - the band just locks up w/ each other and they groove into a very
uplifting jam. At 14:15 there is a brief DWD tease by Trey, real quick
but it's there. Much of the 12 minute thru 17 minute mark is pure 97
nastiness. In listening to this Gumbo a few times now, it has alot of
similarity to that sick 12-6-97 Tweezer. I bet this blew some minds, I
know mine was; awesome Gumbo. I believe I saw the last Gumbo 9/27/00
(which is almost as good as this Creek version, it does not get the props
it deserves nor does that second set but I'll save that for another day)
and was jamming it out at Alpine for Woolfall and his crew; sorry you
guys didn't get this one Jeff!

Divided Sky: My favorite song. Not just my favorite Phish song but of all
the music I listen to. Surrounded by friends w/ a crowd that is going
freakin' bonkers, I don't know that it gets much better than this. This
Sky is right on the money. A ripping version that has no let up for close
to 18 minutes. Thank you Phish!

Quick note: So why do you guys think Phish has decided to bring Div Sky
back in such a huge way? It's obviously once again entrenched in the
rotation much like any pre 97 shows. I for one am a happy camper but
would like to hear some thoughts. Personally I think coming off of hiatus
they realized how much of joy it was to be back together w/ each other
again and to be able to play a song w/ as much feeling as Sky has, well
that is what the band was and is all about. My .02 cents.

Boogie On: Nice! What a way to follow up 18 minutes of bliss. Mike's bass
is so chunky on this tune, I love it! Nice Boogie but much like the
Shoreline second set opener, relatively short (6:29) and not jammed much
at all. Not complaining just stating a fact.

Carini: Great way to follow all the happy happy stuff of Div Sky and
Boogie. Plain nasty, tear your head from your body stuff right here. So
intense.

Magilla: Never could have seen this coming. The band as a whole is kind
of rusty on this but that's to be expected really - last time played
7/4/00. I'll have to go back and check my stats but this might be a first
timer for me. Enjoyable and a nice breather after the Carini that scared
the daylights out of me!

Possum: Excellent way to close out a really hot set. Again like Runaway
Jim, this is a song that to me just screams Deer Creek. I saw it at my
first two shows at the Crick: 6/19/95 and 8/12/96, both those versions
closed out the second sets. This song is just too fun to dance to,
looking around the venue seeing thousands of people w/ smiles just like
mine makes it a real treat. This Possum flat smokes into setbreak and I
pretty much collapse into my seat with a big, 'ol shit eating grin on my
mug!

Setbreak, First set highlights - Gumbo, Divided, Possum. Very strong
first set once Trey warms up w/ that sick Gumbo. The playing, selection
and placement are all sweet.

Second Set:

SOAMELT: Finally! I had this pegged as the opener for Phoenix what w/ the
heat and all. But it figures that they save this for this slot here at
Phish Mecca. This Melt really was torqueing hard core on my reality
helmet for sure - man! I love that Phish can still take me into space,
scare me, thrill me, awe me - all in the same song! This one is hard
driving up until the 11:20 mark or so and then backs off the frenzied
fever pitch that had preceded it. Page is running things around 13
minutes and I'm thinking in the back of my mind, Jesus Left Chicago? Nope
- continuing w/ Melt, Trey and Page lock up around 14 minutes w/ Mike
providing a really nice sonic backround. During a jam that is SO FAR out
there as this one was, much respect goes out to CK5. He knows the band so
well that even this far into space he is still able to follow what is
going on and direct the mothership accordingly. Fantastic. 18 minutes
Fish and Trey decide to bring things back up to speed a bit. At almost 24
minutes segue into >

Free: This seque was so farking good that it honestly abou t brought me
to my knees. This kind of stuff is why I love this band so much. I am no
spring chicken to be sure, but while I have the opportunity to still do
so, I will travel far and wide for these guys because they still "take me
there." Yep. Free, my God this song is so appropriate in this spot.
Anytime i see this song I think how truly lucky I am to be able to do go
out and see Phish as often as I do. Mike just floors me w/ his bass solo
after the lyric outro - Bombs people! This Free does in fact smoke
although Trey's vocals are real flat for the ending section. Phish.net
says there is a segue into >

Friday. Seriously listen to this people and tell me if there is a segue
here?? They (Phish.net) are hitting the crack. There is a little jam that
I have not heard before a Friday before, but it definitely is not a
continuation of Free! C'mon! Anyway...
Friday, huh? I was bummed w/ the placement here, but not for long. Trey's
solo "Lifts me up and spins me around", gorgeous. When it was over I
didn't mind one bit.

Lizards: I called this after Friday was over. Chris gave me a funny look
that I think I won't ever forget. Makes me laugh everytime I think about
it! Big time goosebumps throughout - first Lizards since hiatus. Once
again this is a song we'd been waiting for all tour. Surrender to the
Phlow line gets a big reaction from everyone of course, me included!
Apparently the band must have been practicing this - it sounds like it
could have come straight out of 95! Both the Page and Trey solo's are
simply beautiful. Trey's solo pretty much put me on a different planet.

Walls: I was a little indifferent at the outset. That was not the case
when it was over though, good not great set closer I thought. This
is15-16 minutes of rock and roll pretty much, machine gun Trey at his
best. Really ripping it hard. Good stuff.

Encore:

Bouncin: Please don't be the only encore is what I'm thinking.

Frankenstein: Hell yeah! As always, a VERY visual Frankenstein thanks to
MR. C K5. I love the fact that they play a raging tune to end up a raging
evening. I mean you just cannot encore w/ Bouncin and let it stand alone
after such a great show so it was very cool to hear Frankenstein after
it.

Second set highlights: Monster SOAMELT > Free, Lizards. Just a flat out
rocking show with only one tune that really got spacy (Melt). I am going
out on a limb here and putting the Melt in my top five ever. Just pure
Phish sickness, this version puddled me. Great show and the best of the
Crick run for sure.

Tipton-o-meter: 8.5





peace,


et


Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 10:30:54 -0700
From: Michelle Bradley 
Subject: 7/22/03

Hey All... hope that you were able to make it to THA CRICK, but if not
here's the night you should be jealous of.  Every night was raging, but the
other two didn't come near the setlist for   this one and the result is
probably the best show of the tour so far.

Opening with PYITE was nice to get things going, they were very tight and
the energy seemed higher than normal (Foreshadowing)
This was my first BOMD in 30+ shows and I really enjoyed it after this the
nrg never died.
GUMBO-got my fuckin wish for this summer, they nailed it, better than any
version I've ever had.  From this point on Mike Gordon was the thing I was
listening to most.
The Divided Sky- Believe it or not this was my first sky in all my shows I
was going bonkers, unfortuanately I have nothing to compare it to.
Boogie-my other wish, I was calling this one all day and they took it and
had sooo much fun w it
Carini-another of 4 songs that I called.  I love this song when it's done
well and Trey is laughing thru the lyrics it was deep, dark and jammy.
Magilla- b-room break
Possum- maybe it was the break, but this was kind of a weak version to end
such an amazing set.
Break--DRANK THE TEA I MADE
SOAM- Appropriate considering how I was starting to feel. I was  peaking by
the end of this long dark SOAM, great opener energy returns, nice glowar.
Free- the best FREE I've ever heard live or on any album.  No valleys just
peaks, once again MIKE GORDON
Friday-didn's recognize it at first, but a really nice addition w a pretty
solo
LIZARDS- Called it, wanted it, got more than I asked for. This was better
than the version in POLARIS in the storm of 2000
Walls of the Cave- Called it wanted it more than any new song, couldn't
believe how much this song rocks as a closer.  Like the energy of an
antelope. What a way to close the best 2 sets of music I've heard in three
years.
Bouncing-liked this version.  Funny thing is I kinda missed this old simple
song.  Not that I'll ever say that about Caspian!
FRANKENSTEIN-Wanted it soooo bad but didn't think they would bust it out.  I
was so busy watching Gordo all night I forgot about Fishman.  This reminded
me. Hey CK5 will you come do the lights for my band when I get one? Dude
I'll buy beer!

What a lot, what a show, what a week.  Thanx boys, you made my summer!!

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:30:42 -0500
From: Brandon Kropp 
Subject: 7-22-03

I just can't stop thinking about this show, so I figure if I let some steam out
then maybe I can go home and take a nap.
 
First of all I never knew being completely sober for a show would be such a
positive/unique/not too painless experience. I urge people to try it out.
 
Anyways
 
PYITE was a good one to get the blood pumping, because this was a blood
pumping, hard rock extravaganza.
Gumbo was out of this world and if I was writing a setlist I would put
Gumbo>Jam. Gordon was using his bass as a weapon to do what he does best.
VIBRATE.
Divided sky was sheer bliss because the sky was divided between being dark and
being light. Trey at his best.
Boogie On was very cool because it was the only real fun danceable song of the
show really. A great follow-up to DS.
Carini got us back to the theme of the show. Dark rock and roll madness.
Magilla was oddly placed, the end was butchered. But I really did not care
because they have not played it in such a long time. Good soloing from Mike and
Fish though.
Possum was a little monotonous to me. The jam was like crescendo after
crescendo. Page was pounding on those keys in a Lovelightesqe fashion which
made the experience cool enough.
 
Break-The sobriety got to me here.
 
SOAM-Dark rock and roll madness with some break beats in there.
Free Oh my goodness
Friday What he said
Lizards I was turned off because trey was too busy getting off on page's solo
to pay attention to when they were supposed to start singing again. Mike was
standing there at the mike a good 2-3 seconds before Trey started walking
towards it. Then some annoying guy annoyed me.
Walls-The bomb. And what I mean is that there is not much to say about this set
in words.
Thanks for reading.
I'll shut up now.

Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 13:14:45 -0500
From: Thomas Laxson 
Subject: review of 7-22-03

I'll just mention the exceptional (good and bad) to keep it short.

Gumbo had great placement (it always seems to be the third song of the first 
set) and the jam was frickin' amazing.  Definitely the best Gumbo to date, 
and I'm not the only one to think that.  It wasn't extremely long, but it 
was fierce.  It just never slowed down.

Page had me jizzin' my drawers in the last minute of Divided Sky.  He was 
really quiet (may just be my positioning) and fairly sparse, but he was 
gorgeous.

Carini was also the best version ever.  Like Gumbo, it never slowed down, it 
never got quiet, it just tore the place apart.  Chris also did some really 
nice work during this.

Magilla was completely unexpected.  It was jammed for the first time that I 
know of.  It didn't go off and explore type II territory or anything, but 
they improvised within the jazz structure of the song, and it went on 
probably twice as long as usual.

Possum was a bit of disappointment.  It just didn't have the energy.

SOAM, once again, was the best version to date.  There was a glowring war in 
the lawn during the beginning of the jam, but they should have saved it, 
cause the boys really got going about halfway through.  Again, Chris did 
some amazing work here, and actually throughout the rest of the show.  This 
was at least twenty minutes and only mellowed out for the last minute or so. 
  About halfway through, they returned to the Split theme, and it seemed 
like it was over, but Trey insisted that they tear shit up before going on 
to another song.  I can't describe what was so great about it, but trust me 
that you have to get a copy of this!

Friday had a really passionate solo that almost had me in tears.  Luckily 
the band doesn't care that most of their fans don't like this song.  It had 
perfect placement.

Walls, continuing on the theme for the night, never mellowed out.  It was 
just pure raging rock and roll for about 16 minutes.  It seemed like a short 
set, so I was hoping for a Slave or a Golgi after this, but I was pleased 
anyway.

I hoped for a longer encore -- something like Guyute or Slave -- but they 
must be holding out for the third night, because it's going to be tough to 
top these first two.

Overall, the band avoided much of the spacy and mellow jamming that they 
have loved so much in recent years, opting instead for hard core, unceasing, 
fiery rock and roll.  I can't complain.

This show was much more solid than the night before, with a more fluid 
setlist, especially the second set.  It's definitely one of the best all 
around shows I've heard.

Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 00:11:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: d l 
Subject: Review of Deer Creek, second night, 7-22.  in body, and attachment

Email me after you read this review if you disagree or even agree with what I
am about to discribe about the 2nd night at Deer Creek!  Let^Òs discuss!    
siketcd@yahoo.com

Let me start by talking about the ticket situation.  I^Òve been mail ordering
since 95, and I got hooked up through mail order with lawn tickets for this
show.  So I bought an ebay ticket for pretty cheap, upper pavilion.  I thought
I stop by the will call house just to check it out, and sure enough, they had
released what they call ^Óband tickets,^Ô and I found myself purchasing a 2nd
row ticket. 

That^Òs right, 5:00 pm, day of the show, 2nd
row tickets on sale.

I won^Òt ever understand why this band won^Òt hook up ^Ófrequent flyers^Ô of
mail order with these types of tickets.  It just plain frustrating. I luckily
sold the ebay ticket I had for $35 as tickets were ALL OVER THE LOT.  As it got
closer to showtime, it was a chore just to GIVE a ticket away.  It^Òs
interesting to see this scene so much different than before the hiatus where
everywhere you walked it was: ^Ówho^Òs got my extra?^Ô  The phish ticket
situation has transformed (in a wonderful way) into an easy ticket.  Is it
because the dead is on tour?  The economy?  The unfriendless of round room to
the casual listener?  Anyone^Òs sociological guess will explain it, but the
fact is, tickets are everywhere!  IT tickets are being sold for fewer than
fifty bucks.

Set One:

Punch You in the Eye:  What more can you want from an opener.  Reminded me of
New Years 95 at MSG.  Trey^Òs guitar work on some of the structured chord
sections seemed a bit rusty, but my attitude about these types of things is
this:  These guys are only human.  Mistakes will happen, and what is the point
of over analyzing the flaws when you should really just be focused on having
fun, despite the mistakes.  If you^Òre the type of fan who nit-picks these
things, like the lyrical mistakes during cavern everytime, you need to have a
beer and lighten up.  They aren^Òt robots.

Beauty of My Dreams:  Cool.

Gumbo:  holy shit!!  I mean really.  Good choice.  I need to look up the last
time they played this.  You know what I^Òm talking about.  Oh yea, the jam was
spectacular.

The Divided Sky:  Just heard it at the KC show, but hey, this is one of the
first songs that got me into this band.  Oh yea, the jam was impressive.

Boogie On Reggae Woman:  My god.  When you^Òre lucky enough to be this close
you really get to see how much fun these guys have.  Smiles all around.

Carini:  Standard Carini: jamming.  Did I mention how loud it is up close?  I
saw one guy actually covering his ears!  I couldn^Òt believe it.

Magilla:  Cool.  Flawfull, but who cares!  They struggled through it anyway,
and had a good time doing it.  You can^Òt help but to giggle with them at their
own flaws.  I^Òm sure there will be other reviews that rip into this part of
the show because of the flaws, but who cares?  Just have fun.  Seriously.

Possum:  This was the make up for magilla.  They seemed to chat for a while
before it starting, trying to come up with something to make up the previous
song.  They delivered.  Oh yea, the jam was striking.

      Set 2:

Split Open and Melt > OK.  Great set opener.  This is why we see this band. 
The jam.  Wow.  You can^Òt describe it in one of these silly reviews!  Read the
book!

Free:  Do you ever get the feeling that the band makes eye contact with you? 
Well I must say that I looked at mike, and I knew they were thinking ^Ówhere
should we take that amazing SOAM?^Ô  Well I mouthed the word FREE, and mike
then did the same to trey, and kabloom.  This is at least one of my top 3
favorite tunes.  Check out the first version of this from Lowell, MA in 1995.

Friday:  I admit it, I went to the bathroom.  Cool song though.  It really
transforms into a great jam.

The Lizards:  OK, it seems to me they haven^Òt played this in a while.  Page^Òs
piano work, oh baby.  And Trey nailed the awesome awesome guitar solo that is
this song.

Walls of the Cave:  Kablamo.  MY dear God.  Just like possum to end the 1st
set, this was just what the doctor ordered.  It^Òs got it all.  Piano solo to
start, great vocals, and even a wonderful drum solo.  Did I mention the jam? 
It was remarkable.  Seriously.  Dude.

      Encore

Bouncing Around the Room: Hmmmm.  Well, you know, bouncing.  It^Òs cool to
watch Trey^Òs fingers for the guitar work at the end of the song.  Page was all
smiles as well.

Frankenstein:  You know what I mean!  This is how you end a show.  Trey^Òs
wah-wah, the lights, the loudness, the in-your-face awesomeness of Edgar C
Winter^Òs classic.  Great end.

The lot was raging as usual afterwords.  It sprinkled a little, and the food
was great.  Time to prepare for tomorrow.

Well, that went entirely way too long.  Sorry!  Email me to tell me I don^Òt
know what I^Òm talking about, or if you have some further thoughts or questions
or anything!


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