9-10-99 -- Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Washington

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 99 23:03:05 -0700
From: Craig Jefcoat cjrun@concentric.net
To: dws@archive.phish.net, dws@gadiel.com
Subject: Gorge 9/10/99 (Long)
 
The Gorge 9/10/99
Phish at the Columbia River Gorge:
Fresh from a fruitful stay at the Edgewater Inn, Troutdale, Oregon
The trip up to the beautiful Ampitheater, can be fairly numinous. You
reach a point where you realize that the only people out on the road are
going to the same place that you are...and as far as the local police,
they are there as well. You can count on a few van breakdowns and concert
would be's trying to hitch a ride in, but the real show is getting in to
the damn place. In 97 we hit days worth of traffic...not as bad as we
would later see at Oswego, but this time we get in pretty quick; we can
roughly acertain that it will not be as packed as it was back then. But
the issue was with the camping situation ;25 bucks a night seemed a
little bit much, but we are under the gun here...stay or go. Guess what
we were going to do!
 
Set up camp, mingle with your new neighbors, kick back for a bit, throw
back some beers and get ready for the ultimate in live music
performance...
 
We make our way in, and thank the high heavens that it is not nearly as
hot as it was the previous ventures up here. No it is quite comfortable,
as we walk the long walk up to the show. Up at the top of the
ampitheater, the view is more breathtaking than one could hope for. The
sky seems to stretch on forever, with water waaaaay down there and rocky
cliffs edging down toward the floor of the mighty Columbia River. Top of
the hill we get the opening strains of a Farmhouse, which people
seemingly regard as mere filler, it opens up a new dimension for me every
time I hear it. We are treated to a First Tube, a refugee fresh  from the
Trey solo tour. Not knowing the opening nights setlist makes it a little
difficult to narrow down which tunes you are going to hear that night,
but here we find that this Tube is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!
 
Twist is a surprise, needless to say it sounds as crisp as it did back in
97. This Twist dies down and I make a run for the port-o-sans...you
should never do that at the end of the song...DIVIDED!!!!!! AHHHH, hurry
up, get back. Much more powerful than the 97 first night Gorge version
and in roughly the same place in the setlist. Looong break waiting
for...THE NOTE...Trey holds his pause as the crowd screams and
screams...don't ya know people??? Hush and it will happen man, how many
times do I keep telling y'all.
 
Ginseng passes into the evening air as quickly as it arrives and Carini
takes his place in the show...pumps up the crowd. There is a pause and we
get asked our eternal question!!! What's The Use? I still get my Siket
Disk tunes mixed up, and forget the titles to the songs, but I write down
My Left Toe in my setlist because it's the only title I can think of at
the time and this is not Fish Bass or Quadrophonic Toppling. Another Trey
tour refugee, the Billy Preston tune...Circles. Nice little first set
closer...Okay.
 
First set reaction...not bad. Great DIVIDED and good solid jamming all
around.
 
Break up on the grass, looking for Mike...no go! Back down to the crowd
and grab a little spot Page's side (the only side that matters).
 
Freak out feedback time and well...can you say Down With Disease? Those
of us with long memories remember the DWD>Tweezer>DWD Reprise>Johnny B.
Goode run up here to open the same set here in 97, can this one be
topped? No way but it is nice...ends as it begins; feedback Freak out,
into MOMA Dance. Funky, funky MOMA what else and then into...Piper.
People are still raving about the 'wego Piper, but I always like the
short tight Pipers a little more. Nice treat in store now as Piper
is...short and tiiiiight, but as things end with that said...Fee.
Yippeee. First ever live Fee for me and quite frankly I am disapointed
that Trey dosen't bring out the megaphone anymore for this one. Still any
Fee is better than no Fee, I always say, and this one is nice, kind of
cool after the heavy treatment the other stuff gets and this goes right
before...yep, more solo Trey...Gotta Jiboo! Golly...love this song, sooo
funky Mike. And now...what the...? Yep that's the one, god I know they
have only played this a handful of times and I liked it the first time I
saw it, was slightly amused the second time I saw it, and quite frankly
thought I would never see it again...but...I Saw It Again!! Very neat
outro to this one as the band seems pretty happy with the melt-down near
the end...did I say Melt down. No Melt can be better than the 97 Gorge
Melt, in which I nearly ate my shoes my from my jaw being on the floor,
but a nice Melt. A long Melt, very spacy just like the other one, and
this one has a jaw dropping effect just like the other one, and you can
not mistake that Melt will get me every time. Damn. The only reaction
would be end of set...but...wait. We get a funked out jamming Cavern and
we can't go yet. Trey flubs a line in there, but it's all good. The
Nectar tunes are always good Dark Horses and this for sure signals end of
set. High-hats...lots of freaky lights...more high hats...ditto the
freaky lights. Bowie. Very long almost unforgivable intro to this one as
you can lose the intensity knowing this is up. But when that Bowie hits
ya...look out below. Could be the longest, pure Bowie ever (not including
Providence 94, but that was not a pure Bowie...too much other stuff going
on). Definetly the funkiest, freakiest Bowie I could think of. Trey
Unleaseahes the guitar part at the end and you know that this was his
night. Took a turn on the synth as Fish surely kept his eye straight on.
I can think of better Bowies but not one more intense, ending the long
wonderful set!
 
How can you end this one...prepare to be let down (see tomorrow night)
for encores some time...You just might get that Bouncin>Rocky Top that
everyone seemed to hate from Polaris this summer, so we hedge our bets
and are treated to Coil. Good Coil but I miss the Page solo at the end I
did not get at Oswego. But this Page solo is very nice, a bittersweet
ending. Just after he walks off stage, a glowsick hits the baby grand.
Kind of a shame. But I wont complain about this one. Like any good Phish
show I cannot speak.
 
Craigdog  "cjrun@concentric.net"
                   or
"http://www.concentric.net/~cjrun/"


Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 01:07:42 -0500
From: JASON GLASSMAN GD32392@worldnet.att.net
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: 9-10-99 Gorge review
 
I've been reading through all these reviews and I'm a bit confused about
the complaints surrounding the "long" pause in Divided Sky.  I gotta
believe Im not the only one who knows why Trey pauses and what he is
doing during that pause, and what I am usually doing and I guess a lot
of others are not.  There was an interview a few years back with Trey
that was conducted by Steve Silberman.  After I read this interview, I
was completely intrigued by the pause in Divided Sky.  Perhaps some of
you should read this.  It may change your opinion on the pause, and then
again it may not.  At the very least, you ought to find it interesting.
I searched around for it so I could quote it correctly and was able to
find it through Andy's page.  You can link to this interview by going to
Andy's "Article's and Interviews" Page.  Then, click on "lots of really
old interviews."  It is the 5th one down, I think.  The following is a
clip from the interview:
 
Steve: How did you start doing things like the big pauses during Divided
Sky? What do those moments feel like to you?
 
Trey: We had this bluegrass guy out on the road with us, the Reverend
Jeff Mosier, and we talked about this a lot. The reason he likes
acoustic bluegrass is that it's very, very personal. The way we've been
doing the bluegrass tunes - with that two-mic setup, instead of being
individually miked - is the most personal you can get. Jeff feels that
every step of the way, when you separate the players with individual
mikes, you're distancing the audience from the humanness. You're hiding
behind microphones.
 
Those things, like the pauses, developed from a general desire to merge
with the audience as much as possible. If a set's been going on for a
while, I might suddenly feel that we've got to make some really organic
connection again. Those a cappella things, when we go out front, are a
time to get the bearings straight again, really make eye contact with
people, see who's out there.
 
I had a really incredible experience once when we were playing in
Chicago. It was a really special night, and I was envisioning the music
flying around the room. You know the concept of being the tube, and the
music is flowing through you? I was really open, we were doing Divided
Sky, and I felt like the music was these sheets that were zinging across
the air in front of my ace. All I had to do to play was jump on one, and
let it do the playing.
 
I got to that section of Divided Sky where we usually do a pause, and I
realized that just because I wasn't playing notes with my hands didn't
mean I couldn't still be a vehicle for this music that was there. I
decided I was going to have the same feeling the music going through me
and coming out through the guitar, but without making any noticeable
sound. I started imagining the music zipping out through the middle of
my chest into the audience, and right when I started doing that, the
place erupted. No joke. It was the wildest thing. We were standing up
there for 45 seconds, motionless, with no sound, and I realized I could
continue jamming in silence. I did it, and the place went, "RAHHH." It
was the coolest. I was writing in my journal about it for a week.
 
Then we started doing this thing after that, when we would do Foam. I
would bring it down and down to the point my guitar was off, but I
was still playing the song in my mind. There's no sound coming out, but
I can hear what I'm playing in my mind, because I play enough to know
what it would sound like. So I keep the jam going, but in silence. And
then everybody started doing that.
 
It's a really intense moment, because people are hearing it get quieter
and quieter, and they're following the way the music is going, and
there's a line somewhere - for each person, it's probably a little bit
different - where it gets quieter than the threshold of their ability to
hear it. But I'm sure people are still hearing it, even after it crosses
the threshold. For me it's like, "Are they still hearing what I'm
playing in my mind, or are they making it up?" Because if they are
making it up, then that's the greatest thing of all, because you've got
a really creative audience going.
 
I hear music like that all day long. Whenever I'm walking down the
street, I'm always singing some tune. So by bringing it down like that,
it causes the people who are open to it to keep the music going in their
head. And I'm up there with my fingers moving. That moment has been a
great moment.
 
Steve: In my notes for this interview, I wrote, "The pauses - is Trey
feeling an organic pulse?" So that communicates itself. And the people
whose minds are really blown are the people who have the note in their
minds that you come back in on.
 
Trey: Definitely. If you're hooked up with it when it comes back in, all
the better. I believe in that stuff.
 
I hope some of you found this interesting.
Jay


Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 10:38:46 -0700
From: "Powers, Mike (MAV)" mike.powers@maverickrc.com
To: "'dws@www.phish.net'" dws@archive.phish.net,
     "'dws@gadiel.com.'" dws@gadiel.com
Subject: 9/10/99 GORGE REVIEW

9/10/99 The Gorge, George, WA
Just got back from the Vancouver > Gorge run...time to put up a review of
what i thought was the best show of the three...
 
We cruised into the Gorge at around 5 PM Friday nite..due to getting outta
British Columbia a little late and discovering that old state roads thru
Washington state are not necessarily the fastest method of travel in the
northwest.   The Gorge was packed!  I estimated 17,000 or so.  It seemed
like there was a larger crowd here this weeknd than summer '98.   The
temperature was PERFECT too...so much more comfortable than the 108 degree
days in '98.
 
Anyways, we walked into the ampitheater a little after 7:30...There was an
incredible sunset taking place behind the Columbia River and around the
Gorge.  Farmhouse was just getting started.  The boys went on exactly at
7:30 which caught most people off-guard.  Farmhouse suprised me as an
opener, but whatever...it's Phish at the Gorge.  First Tube (or is it Last
Tube???) kicked in next....saw it the nite before at Vancouver and
immediately had a flashback of how Phish pounded Moma Dance so early in the
summer tour in '98.   This tune is gonna be the same way.  Great
instrumental...very Santana-like.  Next up came a 1st set Twist Around!
Sounded great and got the place moving... Divided Sky followed and was
perfect with the sky erupting in shades of blue, yellow and purple!
Ginseng Sullivan was another 1st set treat, pretty appropriate with the
Columbia River flowing down behind the stage.  Carini rocked, I've seen
harder versions, but it was still a good one.  What's the Use
followed...good, but for some reason, i'm just not into this tune.   Circles
(or is this First Tube????) closed out the set...great song!   The Gorge was
jumping.
 
I moved down to the floor for set II....This was THE set!  The stars were
out in full force and it was just seemed so surreal watching Phish at the
Gorge in the middle of Washington state.. Down with Disease tore the Gorge
up!  It was like a drill, it just kept accelerating further and
further...real solid version.    The first Moma Dance of the tour kicked in
immediately after DwDisease finished and the boys brought the groove around
the Gorge.  Piper drew immediate cheers and continued the groove in the
crowd.  But here's where the set really tore it up....Next up was Fee, which
completely surprised most of the crowd, but ended up being one of the
biggest highlites of the evening.  The ending of Fee was unreal...the
instrumental ending just kept going on and on and on.  The BEST Fee ever in
my opinion, i never though Phish could jam out a Fee ending, but they
did....gotta hear this one on tape!  Next up was the "first ever Phish"
Jiboo.  Trey started it up and shortly after everyone was locked into the
beat.   Jiboo seemed to go on for awhile and the music flowed throughout the
Gorge.. I Saw it Again followed. Kuroda had the lights in full gear while I
Saw it Again flailed away. I know a lot of people are not fans of this song,
but it fit perfectly into the uniqueness of this set.   Here's where it all
came together:  Split Open and Melt.  AWESOME...They just got locked into
Split in a way I have never witnessed before.  It just kept going on and
on...I thought the set was gonna end after Split, but then Cavern emerged.
Trey stumbled on a couple of the lyrics, but it was cool....once again the
crowd thought that the set was over, but nope...   DAVID BOWIE.   A great
digital delay loop of sorts started things up. It went on for awhile, almost
comparable to the Bowie intro at Providence 12/29/94.   Solid Bowie, not a
quick show-ending version at all...this Bowie could have held it's own in a
middle of any set.   So Bowie closed things out and everyone was anxious for
an encore, which turned out to be Squirming Coil.    It kind of surprised
me, but it was an apporpriate way to close out a crazy nite in a calm way.
 
The crowd dispersed back into the campgrounds for some late nite partying.
The stars were magnificent in the sky all the way throught the early AM
hours and people were amped for another day of Phish at the Gorge,
 
Overall a very solid show...one of the weirdest second sets I have ever
seen, but outta this weirdness, I managed to catch my favorite Fee and Split
ever.  Trey really seemed to be leading the way at all of these northwest
shows ...gotta give my MVP of the northwest run to Fishman though...he kept
it all togther.. Once again, Phish is heading in some sort of new sonic
direction... Ok, it's back to work in the real world once-again, but San
Diego and Irvine are rapidly approaching!   Hope to see ya there.
 
-Mike Powers

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 14:48:01 -0400
From: "Donahue, Patrick T. (PaGes)" 
To: "'mike.powers@maverickrc.com'" 
Cc: "'dws@gadiel.com'" 
Subject: RE: gorge review

Mike,
Thanks for sending some intelligent thoughts out into the universe.
The reason I'm writing is to urge you to seek out the fee from europe 98.
Quite possibly my favorite thing I've heard phish do.
Really, it's ridiculous. Reminds me of the biscuits.
patrick 

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 21:44:27 -0500
From: Aaron J. Sheridan sherid25@pilot.msu.edu
To: dws@archive.phish.net

It is true what has been said.  Friday night the band was just not together.  
There were plenty of high points Divided Sky and a lot of the Trey solo
stuff.  Trey was trying to take over on Friday and I did not like it at all.  
I hated the pause before his solo in Divided...I totally forgot what it was
we were listening to. The Piper>Fee stands out as a highlight. It was also
very wierd how as we walked out of the Gorge the crowd was dead quiet as if
they had not a clue how to react.  People these guys are human!!!  Anyhow
one more Saturday night at the GOrge please!! The Tube got me smiling,
pleased with the FunkyBitch...but I could just feel the energy explode for
PYITE, I never can get sick of this song.  I heard it almost every other
show this summer, but each time I hear it it gets better. So much energy
packed into one song and MIke and Trey had the energy going on stage during
the Landlady jam!!!.  Nice Billy...but again another song that I hear it
seems like ever other show Guyute really got me feeling good.  Mike dropped
his wicked bass lines all over the stage to end a solid first set with free.  
I was with a couple of first-timers and they were entranced by the band and
the first set. A little bummed with Wolfmanz...I was in the beer garden and
missed the beggining, but they ain't jammin it like they used to do when
they dropped the phunk in summer 97.  Sand (if that is even the name...I
remember it as Symptom from the Trey tour) simply rocked...glad phish picked
it up.  The meatstick didn't SHOCK THE BRAIN of any one on the west coast.  
I enjoy the tune...saw it a lot this summer, but agree the dance is kinda
stupid.  They didn't really get into the dance so the whole explanation I
tried to give seemed foreign to some of the kids in the lot after the show.  
I thought maze was "2001" so felt a little let down, but Caspian rocked.  
Trey was a fuckin rock star up there as he is everytime they play Caspian.
It was his chance to go off and he did.  The "Hood" was simply good.  I
always feel good about hood.  Circus Encore needless to say a bummer.  
anyhow show rocked.  I will never forget the Gorge...first time ever there
and the experience was one to remember.  I can't wait for the midwest...see
ya in Iowa on through to Albany and NYE!!!!


Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 19:49:11 -0700
From: Dawn M Douglas dawndouglas@lightmail.com
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: GORGE 9-10-99

A quick qualifying statement:  I've seen 44 Phish shows since 1992, a
majority since 1996.  Simply put, the Gorge is out of this world!  I have
been to MANY venues and can honestly say the Gorge sound system was the
best I have ever heard.  The entire set up from the staggered lawn seating
to the breathtaking Columbia River view was SICK!!!!!  I can't believe I
missed the 97 and 98 shows here.  Anyhow, on to the show.
 
Trey took the stage and was singing before Fishman and Page ever sat down
on the opener Farmhouse.  Trey was here tonight on business.  First Tube
was next which set the tone for the rest of the evening.  This up tempo
dance number really got the crowd rocking and was well played, although it
was played last night. Next came a well played Twist Around, only to be
followed by a beautiful Divided Sky that sent shivers down my legs.  The
sun setting during the jam will be a lasting memory of this show. The wind
was picking up at this point and Mike got caught off guard putting a jacket
on while Ginseng Sullivan went a few extra measures before Mike sang.
Carini was next and this got the typical "heavy Zep" treatment with Trey
pounding out the power chords.  What's the Use was next and I simply love
anything off the Siket Disk.  This spacey instrumental gets the most play,
but I could hear this one every night.  The second Trey solo tour number
Circles was well played, but I didn't care for it on Trey tour and the same
goes for tonight.  I'm confused on the Trey solo stuff.  The only thing I
can think is that perhaps the boys asked/told Trey to let them give a crack
at those songs.  All in all, I'd give the 1st set a 8/10.  Very few
mistakes(if any?!)
 
 
The second set was very powerful.  The Disease opener SCREAMED!!!!!!   The
jam went full circle for about 15 min and they actually came to a complete
finish(rare these days).  My friends especially liked this one.  Moma Dance
again got the crowd dancing as Trey's guitar tone was perfect.  It was as
if we had a personal monitor in our living room.  Again. I can't say enough
about the sound at the Gorge.  Piper followed in fine fashion as some
people (OK, just me)feel Page should jam out on this one.  Piper was made
for Page!  A beautiful Fee was next and then came our 3rd Trey solo tour
song Gotta Jiboo.  This was a much better version than the solo tour as
Gordon directed this one with a driving backbeat. I've seen quite a few Saw
it Again's and tonight's was HEAVY.  I mean heavy.  Although a little
repetitious, I equate this as a Hendrix type jam.  The Split Open that
followed had a "meltdown at the ol' corral jam" that had my knees
buckling.  Incredible.  Cavern, however had mistake written all over it.
It started rough, the lyrics were botched and they skipped an entire
verse.  Their loss was our gain as Trey could not leave on a sour note.
Bowie would follow.  This was by far the longest intro I've ever seen.
Fishman worked his hi-hat into a frenzy until Trey gave the go ahead.  With
a surprising Coil encore(which included a sweet piano solo exodus by Page),
this show deserves a 9/10.  One of the top 5 Phish shows I've seen.
 
 
MIKE GAGS

Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 17:51:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ernie Melchiondo leshlush@yahoo.com
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: Gorge 9/10 review
 
Hi friends! Whoooa jimmy did I have a blast at
friday's show. heh--i'm still recovering. Awesome
venue, loose security and loose assholes! :)
on to the review:
 I: Farmhouse, First Tube, Twist Around, Divided Sky,
Ginseng Sullivan, Carini, What's The Use, Circles
II: Down With Disease, Moma Dance, Piper-> Fee, Gotta
Jiboo, I Saw It Again, Split Open and Melt, Cavern,
David Bowie
 E: Squirming Coil
I've been to every phish show in history, except 862
of them, and have some of phish (the rock band's)
concerts on cassette which i got from friends and
people on the internet that trade one concert for
another. I'm a little too dusted right now to do a
full review, but the shit from trey a.'s (phish's
guitar player and primary songwriter) solo concerts
blew me out of the water. "will it go round in
circles" is an incredible tune, and i was extremely
please to see that phish has decided to play that one
as well as gotta jiboo and 1st tube.
okay, well, hopefully somebody who's not as dusted as
i am right now will write a more comprehensive review.
aiight, see you in omaha! (oops, looks like i let a
secret out! :) )
love, ernie melchiondo
p.s. please check out my friend thad's website---there
are some kick ass trey photos on there from his solo
show in madison, wisconsin. http://www.thirsty.8m.com/


click here to return to the 1999 reviews page


hits (many)