6-14-02 - Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 16:59:07 +0000
From: S.O. Holt sohcubed@hotmail.com
Subject: Review 6/14/02

The Thrill is Back.

This is a late submission I know, but I am a busy man these days.  A far cry 
from the 16 year old that stumbled into the Centrum on 12/31/93 embarking on 
what would be the start of a musical love affair with the sounds of  
Vermonts cosmic groove.

I am not going to cover the whole show as many of the reviews have done it a 
justice that I feel is accurately represented, and doesn't need to be turned 
into a redundancy.  I would however like to comment on how much I enjoyed 
Trey and his band this time around.   I took a break from Phish after the 
Lemon Wheel, feeling a bit dis-illusioned with the growing numbers of  
teeny-bopper know it alls, who were popping up seeming to think they had it 
all figured out because they wore North Face instead of Abercrombie.  
Perhaps I was partly annoyed with this scenario because I was no longer one 
of them, but that's another story.   Taking time off I submerged myself in 
various other kinds of music to expand my horizons, but to make a long story 
short I came back to the boys realizing that they were as good as it gets, 
and genuinely missing the whole experience.  I caught a couple shows in 
summer 2000 - barely a drip on my unquenchable thirst for live grooves, and 
POINTFUL guitar meanderings.  As we all know this was the last run for the 
boys, and I felt like I had cheated myself out of a few shows, and it really 
brought me down.  When I heard Trey was gearing up for a summer tour '01 I 
felt a sigh of relief, hoping that this would be the answer to my prayers 
some good ol big stage summer groovin for all to enjoy.   Well much to my 
chagrin I found the show at  Great Woods - (aka Tweeter Center-bluk) to be a 
bit flat.   Apologies to those of you who enjoyed it, but it just wasn't 
that good.  The band wasn't tight, and both sets (first tube closer in the 
1st excluded) kind of lacked energy.

This year when the opportunity came again to go I figured what the hell - it 
is Trey....possibly my favorite guitar player ever.....I'm in.  I went 
without lofty expectations, and boy was I pleasantly surprised.  This show 
rocked the house.  Tightly organized - great lights.....a full sound that 
blew the place up.  I was amazed at how much better they were this year than 
last.  It was spectacular!

The Encore deserves special recognition - Trey walks out followed by the 
glowing head of Mike, which was a vision in its own right.   I can honestly 
say I've never heard a sweeter Mikes>Weekapaugh.....simply beautiful.  The 
duel was fantastic, and to see the two of them on stage together exuded an 
energy that had been lost for me for two years.  One of the best concerts 
I've seen in a long time.  It was phenominal.

Hat's off to you Trey.  You've put together a brilliant band that is worthy 
of the price of admission.  I do look forward with great anticipation to the 
next chapter of the Phish saga, but will enjoy seeing your band at every 
opportunity until we are all reunited.

until then,

Cheers

S.O.  Holt

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 12:39:09 -0400
From: Mark Linnen mark@interdimensions.com
Subject: Review- Tweeter Center- light explanation

The reason that Trey isn't using the Alstars is probably cost-related.  I
remember from a Kuroda interview in late 2000 that Phish leases whatever the
latest model of Alstars when they go on tour- they don't own them and
they're not cheap.  So, with none of the shows being sold out and the band
being 4 times the size, I would guess that they decided that it would be
necessary to cut back on a few things.   Yet another reason to hope for
Phish's return.

Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 13:25:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: "bcb1200@yahoo.com" bcb1200@yahoo.com
Subject: Trey show Review at  Tweeter Center, 6/14


I don't think that I can say anything more about the music at this show.  Everyone here has pretty
much summed it up...it was amazing!  Truly amazing.  And what a great experience it was seeing
Mike and Trey playing during the encore.  That is a vision that will remain in my memory for a
long time.

Contrary to other reviews, most of my review will be about the lights.  Once again, Chris Kuroda
is running the lights for Trey this tour.  However, the main staple and signature light that made
Kuroda famous with Phish is not on this tour.

Phish and Kuroda's lights were made famous primarily because of the Altstar by Altman Lighting Co.  
These were the main multi-colored, moving lights that Phish has been using from the beginning.  
They are vastly different from most other lights in the industry.  Most moving multi-colored
lights have limited ranges of motion.  This is primarily due to the base of the light or a
restriction in the mirrors.  The Altstars, on the other hand, had a special two-mirror design that
allowed them to rotate 360 degrees in any axis.  Up, Down, Left, Right, diagonal, or any
combination thereof.

If you saw Phish during 1998-2000 you probably remember Kuroda ^Óspinning^Ô the lights round and
round in circles extremely fast.  This was the signature move that set the Altstar apart from the
other lights in the industry.  No other light can do this.

I have read that there were only 150 Altstars in existence, and Phish would typically use 60 of
them.  The others are used by Blues Traveler and a handful of other acts.  They are sort of like
the Ferrari of lights.  By far the best, but not many of them out there.

Imagine my surprise to see that there were no Altstars at the Tweeter Center on last Friday.  
Instead, Kuroda seems to be using the more common, industry-standard multi colored moving light
called the Vari-light (I think^ÅI could be wrong).

Don^Òt get me wrong^Å.the light show was still great^Åmuch better than any other band.  But it was
not ^Óas good as^Ô it usually is.

Vari-Lights are big and bulky, meaning they cannot move in 360 degrees in all axis.  They can only
spin 360 from left to right and 180 from front to back.  And they are SLOW!!

If anyone knows why the Altstars are not being used on this trip, please let me know.

Perhaps these new lights have some advantage over the Altstars.  Maybe they are easier to run, or
easier to program.

Visually, however, the Altstar's are far superior.

I hope Kuroda brings them back in the future.


Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 14:06:41 +0000
From: justin daniels jdaniels78@hotmail.com
Subject: trey review, tweeter center mansfield ma

I had been looking forward to this show for a while. Saw trey last summer 
and while it was fun the sound had some room for improvement. Like everyone 
has been saying, improve it did. this band is so much tighter than last 
year.

After many phish shows and countless other bands all over the east i have 
never wrote a review. but after friday night i felt compelled to say 
something. the traffic was a bitch coming from boston. once we hit the lots 
the rain was not gonna stop us from firing up the grill and throwing a few 
back. apparently it wasnt gonna stop the other ten thousand people either. 
we met up with some old high school buddies from vt and entered the show.

they added some seats to the lawn and basically cut the lawn in half. pretty 
much a worthless move. we used the old jedi mind trick on the security dudes 
and marched all 8 of us under the roof into some great seats. they came out 
and started rocking.

first set was great. sound was so good. trey was having the time of his 
life. i have never seen him have as much fun as he was having on the stage. 
every song was jammed out pretty well, i did catch a few miscues here and 
there but overall i was impressed. the crowd was also extremely lively. and 
i cant understand why more people arent attending these shows. at setbreak 
took a leak and picked up a seven dollar brew. second set was rocking just 
as hard as the first. so much energy. loved the mr. completely and last 
tube. there was a lot of chatter in my group people calling for first tube, 
sultans of swing, this and that. my buddy called an appearance by mike when 
we were driving in earlier. but no one was expecting it. sure enough i could 
see mikes hair glowing in kurodas lights on his way to the stage. the place 
erupted. crowd noise like i have never heard before. the mikes song was 
special maybe not the best, but icing on the cake. everyone got a little 
taste of that old phish feeling. but that wasnt it. the tramplolines made an 
appearance and so did weekapaug. the duel with trey and mike during that was 
spectacular. words cannot do it justice. i was blown away. we all got a 
special treat friday night.

go see this band. cyro on percussion is a sight himself, jenn is 
spectacular, and of course kuroda is on fire.

there will be a phish tour very soon. the vibe was in the air. trey on top 
of the world, loving the energy of the crowd, the trampolines, mike on the 
bass. it will happen no doubt in my mind.

Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 13:53:36 -0300
From: Andrew Rose andrewjrose@hotmail.com
Subject: Trey 6/14/02 Review

Whoah, been a while since i've written one of these .....

Let me put it this way to begin: the last time i saw Trey was Big Cypress, 
and I'm still much more likely to go on rants about 97 jams than Cayman 
Reviews ..... but for better or worse, this is my review.

Yeah so I hadn't seen Trey in over two years. That's the longest I have ever 
gone seeing him since we first crossed paths way back in 94.  I missed the 
guy. At any rate my expectations were low having not seen any real Trey 
shows and feeling less enthusiastic about Phish during their final couple 
tours than I had the years previous .....

I'll say this much, for the most part I don't like the actual songs as much 
as a lot of Phish ones ... instrumentals are an exception of course, and 
that's where i think this band shines. But I can do without the Acting the 
Devils, but that's just me.  Trey seems to like them.  And that's what this 
band is about really, Trey having a shitload of fun. And that fun is pretty 
contagious. I think's it's been said, but this is trey the conductor stuff, 
and when he really gets going some pretty incredible sounds come out from 
that stage. Highlights in the first set included a solid Cayman Review, a 
raging ML&C to close the set (didn't expect that from this tune ...) a 
gorgeous Mozambique (have laways like this one) and a Burlap Sac ... that 
went on forever. I don't know why I expected to hear album versions of these 
tunes when i showed up, "oh yeah ..." i thought to myself half through this 
one "trey likes JAMMING ....."

The Last Tube to open the second set was the highlight (encore excluded) for 
me.  Don't have much to compare it to, and if some thought it was dull, so 
be it, but it had me enthralled the whole way through. Experimental and 
still focused. That's one thing I noticed about trey on this night that had 
me very excited. He is making calculated moves--not wasting any 
notes--something you have to do when you're in charge of such a large band 
.... the result if and when Phish reunites should be very interesting.

I like Flock of Words, and it fit here. Now I'm not the hugest Mr. 
Completely fan ... it gets a little too messy for me sometimes. It started 
out that way here, but trey mellowed things out after a while and settled 
into a lovely groove. He'll get someone going solo on the horns out of 
nowhere in the middle of a jam and it'll just work and take things into 
outer space. That happened here a few times.  I have to say Jennifer 
Hartswick has some major chops. I mean she had me thinking Miles at times 
really .... any way, the jam into Way I Feel was smoo-hoothe ...... really 
funky, and Trey slow, and again, calculated notes here were something else 
.... i was very impressed.  Night Speaks had some solid moments too, must 
have been something for those in the front row that the horns played too 
directly without mics as they exited.  I won't forget the little dance Trey 
was doing as he exited. He moved around a lfew times on this night without 
his guitar in a way I've never seen before. Again, this was trey's party, 
and he was enjoying it.

So I was hoping we might get a guest for the encore. Not expecting, but 
hoping. It couldn't have gone any better than it did. I mean the place went 
nuts when Mike came out. I'll say this much: as great as the trey show was 
and I'm sure others have been, I miss Phish. I miss the familiarity of it. 
well i was one happy camper seeing mike come out. I missed him too. Now I 
did NOT expect to hear Mike's song ... imagine if you could the place going 
even MORE nuts when half way through the horn intro half of us realize Mike 
is about to sing. I don't know if I've ever enjoyed that first verse more
than I did then--not because it was the strongest (far from it ... ) but 
because of that little glimpse into the past and potential future. Anyway 
that was my sentiment. The Mike's was atypical as you could imagine. Once 
the jam segment was hit things got interesting. I don't remember much about 
the actual jam actually, I think I was just smiling really, really hard. 
What i do remember is saying "no way" when Weekapaug showed up .... hearing 
Mike throw out those bombs again (albeit shorter than usual ...) was nice.  
But the highlight of the encore followed all this when the horns left and 
the rhythm section chilled out to let trey and Mike duel for a solid bunch 
of minutes.  THIS was special. this was old friends doing something they 
hadn't done in a long time, and it was really, really good. Gorgeous. And 
they were toying with us too .... right before the horns came back out trey 
started doing one of his quintessential repitive riffs over Mike's line as 
if to say "remember this? we use to use this as a launch pad ... and we 
could do it right now if we wanted to ... maybe we will again sometime soon 
..."

i hope they do.

a.

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:17:40 EDT
From: EnigmaKing88@aol.com
Subject: Tweeter 2002

       The Tweeter. Or the Tweezer as I call it. Me and my dad went to the show. My first time
seeing Trey sine 9/9/00 at the Pepsi. We made the drive out to Mansfield. We were down about the
rain but by the time the band came on, both us and the band were shining. I was really excited
for the show. I commented to my dad that I was hoping for something special. But I was not
prepared.

       Set I.

       Simple Twist Up Dave-I had never heard this song before but from the first note I knew I
liked it. It has a slight David Bowie feel in the intro.

       Acting the Devil-In my view, the weakest song of the show but then again, it was brand new
to me.

       Cayman Review-Finally, a song I knew and loved from the album. Cyro and Trey dueled at the
end. I really think Cyro adds a unique sound to the bnad.

       Will It Go Around In Circles-Another song I didn't know. But I loved this song too. I
think this song showed me that the music would never stop.

       Burlap Sacks and Pumps-Another new song. By now, I didn't care if I knew it or not, I
danced anyway. I like the percussion breaks before the words.

       At the Gazebo-My least favorite song on the album. However, after the first 5 songs of the
show, my feet were ready for a break. A sweet song.

       Mozambique-One more I didn't know. A great song though. It got me moving after Gazebo
though.

       Money, Love, and Change-The song of the set. It was a song that we wanted to hear. But
this was an incredible version. It got me moving. Trey was really into it and the band did not
want to stop. After several endings, Trey said the band was just warming up. I didn't think they
could top that. Only they could prove me wrong.

       Set II.

       Last Tube-A nifty but weird song from the album. I must admit, I'm a tube fan. Tube and
First Tube are two of my top Phish songs. (I need to hear Vida Blue's tube song too.) This song
still needed some listening. At the end, it sequed sweetly into another song on our list.

       Flock of Words-A very sweet song off the album. It reminded me right away of If I Could
and seemed to fit right into Hoist. I could picture Phish playing it in the future.

       Mr. Completly-In my mind, this has Oysterhead or Tomorrow Never Knows written all over it.
But I love it. This was the probably the best band jam up to this point. The bass player did a
bass line I didn't recognize and it went into this.

       The Way I Feel-I had no clue what this was as I had never seen Trey on this tour before.
But the bassline felt to me like Breathe off of Dark Side of the Moon. This short song was the
last break of the night.

       Night Speaks To A Women-This is a great song off the album. I love it and it is another
song I wanted to sing. Just like Money, Love, and Change, this jam was intense but wonderful.
What a show.

       Encore-The band came back out, the band still playing. When Trey came out, my dad asked
who it was with him. But he already knew. So did the rest of the crowd. The Tweeter ERUPTED!!! I
have never heard such a sound as the sound of that many people yell at once that loud when Mike
Gordon came out with him. Yeah. I was one of them.
       When I had hoped for something special, I did not expect that. Maybe they would play a
Phish song, but I did not expect to see half of Phish play. At first, I didn't recognize the song
but some mystical force brought me to my feet and made me dance the whole thing. Then it hit me.
It was the Phish song I always wanted to hear. Mike's Song. And what a version. Then a fantastic
jam with Mike and Trey. Mike's intro to Weekapaug was incredible. Around this time, I realized
that I was seeing an incredible event. When the song ended, the cheers were just as loud if not
louder then when Mike came out with Trey. Trey and Mike hugged twice before getting off the
stage. Incredible show. I can't wait for my next.

                                   Mike's>Hydrogen>Weekapaug


Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 03:44:52 EDT
Subject: tweeter 6/14/02

I just walked in the door and feel compelled, and obligated to write a review for this show.
 Where do I begin.  The scene at Tweeter was pretty good for a chilly, rainy day.  Pretty much
the usual.  Trey hit the stage around 7:30 and got things smoking right off the start.

SET 1
Simple Twist up Dave- I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing it live before, so it was new to me.
 Got everybody moving if i remember correctly.  Very nice.

Actin the Devil- One of my favorites from the 2001 tour.  Pretty straight forward tune, nothing
complex, or improvisational about it..However, it is Damn Good.

Cayman- Oh sweet Cayman.  Nothing but pure funk on this one.  Trey extended the middle Jam part,
and did a real cool sequence of bending the hell out of his notes.  If you get the tape you'll
hear it.  Jam ended with a duet between Trey and Cyro on his metal vest thing (sorry i don't have
the proper term).  An altogether great Cayman.

Will it go round in Circles- Im going to be honest, this is not one of my favorite songs.  I had
difficulty getting into it.  Much rather have heard a moesha, or plasma, maybe sand perhaps.  But
I will certainly accept a Circles if thats what Trey wants to give me.

Burlap Sack and Pumps-  I think it started with a new Bass intro by the man in the chair Tony M.
 Very sweet, and got people very excited.

At the Gazebo- Very pretty song.

Mozambique- This is where the set really catapulted.  This mozambique was raging.  I loved every
second of it.

Money Love and Change- This in my opinion was the showstopper of the night (besides encore).
 Trey was absolutely eating this M,L,C up.  At several points putting down his guitar to display
dance moves I have never seen from him.  He'd then play conductor (brilliantly), and pick it back
up, and rock out to whole other level.  He did not want to let this go, and it featured many
false stops.  Treys smile and enthusiasm really made this jam shine.  I'd say it clocked in at
about 20+.

~set break~

Last Tube- Ahhh the one I have been waiting for.  But much to my dismay, I didn't enjoy it as
much as i wanted to.  It might have been the hangover from the amazing set 1 closer, but it
seemed kind of bland.  Now I realize Last Tube and bland have probably never seen the same
sentence before, but it had its usual highlights and nothing more.  I think the album version
rocked a whole lot more than this one.

Flock of Words- after noodling around with some water and birds sound effects they went into this
one.  Not bad at all, had a good feel to it.

Mr. Completely>The Way I Feel- This did to set 2 what m,l,c did for set 1.  Completely blew us
away.  Another long jam, featuring many different tempos, changes, etc..Trey once again played
conductor and brought everyone down to The Way I Feel.  Which is a good thing.

Night Speaks-  I didn't think they could take this one too far but I was proved wrong.  Went way
beyond my expectations and Trey rocked out the ending very very nicely.

ENCORE
My last Trey show was Aug 3rd 2001, at Jones Beach.  We were treated to Mr. Gordon sitting in on
the Encore.  I am now convinced that Mike is stalking me because he shows up again.  I have mixed
feelings about this encore.  

Mikes>Weekapaug (*with trampolines)- The horns come back on stage first, pretending like they
never stopped playing.  Then comes Trey side by side, with a profile that you cannot mistake.  It
is Mike and the crowd erupts.  I mean erupts. He's got his bass and we would then learn that he
brought his voice with him.  The horns did the intro for Mikes Song, which was a very welcome
surprise, a good combo of new and old.  Upon recognition everyone erupted yet again.  Pure shock.
 Now the Mikes was good, dont get me wrong.  But I would have liked to hear more of the band.
 Several times it would break down to a mellow duet between trey and mike, which was sick and
phenomenal to see dont get me wrong, but i wish instead of trey shushing his bandmates at some
points, he would encourage them to dive in with him.  I Had a vision of early 90's with Giant
Country Horns, but they didn't go that route and delivered a rather mellow mikes groove.  That
fortunately is my only complaint.  Oh wait one more complaint, Trey and Mike definitely forgot to
take their refresher course in trampoline synchronization.  They had the ups and downs good, but
none of the identical side to sides that weve grown to love.  Trey even jumped off the tramp,
leaving Mike bouncing by himself for a good 15 seconds.  A rather odd and unusual Mikes somehow
(not smoothly) segued into Weekapaug.  It started off without giving cactus his normal, ripping
bass solo, but then Trey called for a halt in the band to give Mike his opportunity to shine.  It
was like an old friend , seeing him for the first time in over a year.  Pretty good raging
Weekapaug, with it being like always, until Trey quieted the band and went for another duet.
 They finish it up, Hug twice and walk off.

I loved this show.  There is no other reason why Im up at 3:30 after just driving home 5 hrs to
write this review.  The Cayman, Mozambique, Money Love & Change, MR. Completely,Night Speaks and
Encore were extremely memorable.  And now that i give it a second thought, i shouldn't complain
about the encore, it was purely mind blowing. Way passed my bed time..Later kids.


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