7-10-00 -- Deer Creek - Noblesville, Indiana

Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 14:55:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: ryan weekapaug_groove@email.com
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: 7/10/00 review
 
This was Deer Creek 7/10/00 the nicest place to see live Phish.
 
This was my first Phish show unforunately.  Had oportunities to see the Creek
and Rosemont last year, but missed out.  Brought a friend I consider to be a
newbie. I've been hooked on Phish for over a year, so I don't consider myself
one. The whole ride down to the Creek was great fun.  Took two cars to bring
my bro, friend, g/f, other friend ya da ya da.  Remember how pumped you are
for your first phish show?  Lot scene:  It's like a whole other society out
there isnt it?  Wow! Tons of fun.  On to the show.
 
Got in and found nice seats with other people from the old homeplace and
waited for about 5 minutes before the boys came on.
 
CARS TRUCKS BUSES:  We were all calling openers all day, noone ever mentioned
anything from Billy Breathes and this would have never been considered. Jumped
when Page's opening notes rang out.  Standard, very fun CTB with a stop/start
section in the middle.  Very groovy work by page that segued into....
 
WILSON:  Cool, cool.  Crowd was pumped up and the Wilson chants had everyone
smiling.  I still don't like the "heavy metal" jam in the middle.  It really
does just sound like a bunch of noise, but they get out if it ok and Trey
belts out the "can you still have fun?" line and holds it for quite a while.  
Rocking.  Nice version that leads into
 
IT'S ICE of all things.  Wow.  They are bringing this back and it sounded very
nice except for a small flub right before the middle jam.  Very groovy, cool.  
I love this song.  Wishing Mike was turned up a little more during this (hear
4/16/92). Still was fun as hell.  Pages voice sounds so good.  Once again we
get another segue.  this time in to
 
BATHTUB GIN.  Now we are talking.  This absolutely was the highlight of the
1st set if not the entire show.  A very very good GIN, is there ever a bad
gin?  Crowd was really into it and after about a 15 minute jam, returned to
the main riff and finished it off.  What next?
 
BUFFALO BILL:  There are certain songs you don't expect to see at your first
show. CTB, Ice, and then there are songs you never think you'll see.  But we
got it and Bill was awesome.  Thought it could be Makisupa at first.  Duh.  
Mike was phat.
 
MY MIND:   Nice bluegrass.
 
SOAM:  Fucking awesome song.  I like it even more now that i hear it on CD.
The a capella was great.  The last couple years it has sounded a little flat.  
Short but sweet.
 
SPARKLE:  Whatever.
 
FUNKY BITCH:  Not as rare as it once was, but it was great.  Sweet solos and
great singing by Mike.  Definitely a fan favorite.  Sweet.
 
DAVID BOWIE:  Spacey long intro.  Very cool for my first whow.  Excellent
version. Rocked.
 
1st Set wasn't what I expected.  But I was more than satisfied.
 
SETBREAK:  My situation sucked.  Looking foward to a second set.
 
GOTTA JIBOO:  To open?  It's alright I guess.  It is over played now.  To easy
of a prediction.  10 minutes, so it was short.  Led into...
 
SAND:  I like this song if it stays with in 10 or 11 minutes.  But this got
long and boring.  Trey, stick with the guitar.  The keyboards aren't
interesting. It just dragged on.  It was just kind of boring.  Just waiting
for it to end. Next came.
 
TWIST:  I liked this better than Alpine.  Twice in two nights?  Come on.  3
new songs in a row and not even that great of songs.  Still enjoying it
though. Decent version.
 
FEE:  Surprise!  Finally something.  Never really expected it.  Lots of fun
even though it's a newbiew fav.  "And though she was as small as a small
string bean..." It was nice.  After lifting the show up I thought they would
keep it up.  But I was wrong again.
 
WHAT'S THE USE?:  I heard this on the Siket Disc.  Didn't like it there and I
really didn't like it here.  Waste of 8 minutes.  This set is pretty dark with
a muddy Sand and What's the Use?  Whatever.  Really hoping for something to
lift us up.  YEM, Mike's, Simple, Didided Sky????, Piper, Ya Mar, Reba,
anything with a jam that was worth hearing!  Once again....
 
LIMB BY LIMB:  By this time it was getting a little beyond boredom.  The jam
was nice, but I really am not a fan of this song.  I was really going to be
pissed if this was it.  But thank got something salvaged a very average set.
 
LOVING CUP was huge!  It straight out rocked!  Great version that finally got
the crowd really going again.  The jam was nice and everyone knew it would end
the set.
 
The playing in this set was right on.  Perfect playing, but just boring songs
with exception of Fee and Loving Cup.  With such a subpar set, the crowd was
really expecting something big for an encore.  More than one song was
everyone's desire around me, including myself.  Let's see.
 
ANTELOPE:  Ok.  Don't get me wrong I love antelope.  But for one, they just
played it at Alpine for god's sake.  Another repeat?  As an encore?  And point
number two this is the fourth time in the last four years they've played it
here.  Come on!! Last years version was better.  It was a decent antelope as
far as antelopes go. And that was it.  I never thought I'd say I left
diappointed but I did.  I still had a hell of alot of fun.  These guys tour
endlessly and play there hearts out, so I have no right to critcize and I'm
not.  I am simply analyzing.  The playing at this show was very well executed.  
The setlist in the first set was alright. Funky Bitch, GIN, and Bowie were the
only real standouts and Buffalo Bill was rare and cool.  Other than that a
very very standard 1st set was satisfying.  But the 2nd set was just boring.  
These guys are gonna play what they play, and thats fine. Alpine was great
this year in comparison to last year at alpine and it also blew the first
night of deer creek out of the water. 1st night Deer Creek pales in comparison
to many other shows this summer.  2nd night more than made up for it though.  
Any comments?  Let me know.  Peace out.
 
Ryan


Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 19:32:39 -0400
From: Dan Rapp danrapp@one.net
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: show review: 7.10.00
 
What's the use?  That's the question.
 
The answer is, "stop asking stupid questions and listen to WHAT'S THE USE?"
 
On the Siket disk, this song feels very anthem-like.  It makes Phish sound
huge -- like the rock stars that they are.
 
Other highlights:  BUFFALO BILL and his FUNKY BITCH.  (Actually, the whole
show was hot, but I feel compelled to single out the songs that helped peak
the show...)


Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 12:00:42 -0700
From: Greg Peeler harpua13@theglobe.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Deer creek 1
 
Hi Dan, only three more to go after these two!  Thanks for posting!
 
 
7/10/00
 
Deer Creek
 
Words for the day (repeated ad nauseum for the rest of the week): "Any extras,
man?"
 
  Hello sportsfans, welcome to Indianapolis, home of...well auto racing and
Deer Creek are about I can think of...and corn, lots and lots of corn. I
usually manage to have a good time though, and with the exceptions of law
enforcement, the locals are extremely nice. But we aint here to speak of the
crops or the cops at this moment because the boyz are in town for three nights
and I havn't seen a show in a week! D'oh to me for missing Star Lake, because
I never did get that DSky I was Jonesing for (please guys, September?). I
think they made up for it though. Tonight was an actual milestone for me, my
100th show! I was glowing just to be there. After the heat of last year, we
went with the Ho-Tee this year, but I think I'm going back to the campgrounds
beacuse you miss so much of the Deer Creek experience (yeah, even the REAL
sketchy stuff) away from the campgrounds. Spent most of the afternoon
wandering around the lots getting nice and talking with some really cool
people, h! ad a great time but at 7:15 it is time to go get nutty.  Got hung
up at the bathroom waiting for people, and they hit the stage with CTB as we
make our way ad a great time but at 7:15 it is time to go get nutty.  Got hung
up at the bathroom waiting for people, and they hit the stage with CTB as we
make our way across that enormous lawn. Good choice as an opener although
beacuse we were getting our act together I didn't catch every nuance.  Wilson
as the second song was another surprise, usually (well, post Sept 95) you'd
figure those songs would be reversed hey, I have no problem with that though.
Wilson seems to have come down a bit from last Summer when they were
absolutely destroying it, but it still kicks it out nonetheless. Wilsom
finishes and slides into Ice, which was frankly short and sloppy but a lot of
kids hadn't heard it in a while, and I'm not gonna be mean about it here, I
prefer the Camden version, missed verse and all, though.  Ice winds into Gin
and IMHO from here on out the set takes off exponetially. There are no bad
Gins (none Ive ever heard anyway) and this one is about par for the Summer 2K
course, tight jam! ming and more upbeat improv, well worth a listen.  The kids
were grooving hard! After BTG they kick into a reggae beat that for a second
made me call "Makisupa" like an idiot (listen!) until I heard that distinctive
fill from Fishman. Hell, who'd call Buffalo fucking Bill in the first set? But
this is Deer Creek, and strange and wonderful things happen here, I immediatly
realized my error and was quite psyched to get my fourth Buffalo Bill (not bad
out of 8 times played:) ) excellent excellent song selection! The first
bustout (of many) of the last run. A little bluegrass from My Mind (probably
my fave BG Phish cover) got the crowd boogying again and when they followed up
with SOAM everbody was in full bore groove.  Not the best of the SOAMs they've
been doing, but that is an unfairly high standard to hold them to. Like most
of the jams from the first night it was tasty as hell, but not extending to
the full trottle insanity of a band on the brink, more like a pre-96 Melt in !
a lot of ways. I havn't heard Sparkle in a while (Wow, who ever thought I'd
say that!) so I wasn't unhappy at all to get one tonight, I love the energy on
display during that song. I thought Bitch might close the set, but when Fish
started up that HI-Hat it became a well placed Bitch and the boys moved into
an excellent Bowie (I love Bowie as a first set closer). Bowie was the tight
ball of energy they seem to be winding it into these days building to the
climax which may be my favorite Phish moment, it's like multiple orgasms I
suppose (or so Ive been told). Man what a nice set, good choices and
positioning all around I was quite happy with the start. After wandering down
to the front of the lawn during setbreak (had a real hard time finding people
the first tow nights) and rejuvenating a pipe in desperate need of help the
lights go down and were off again.
 
  Jiboo, Oh Joy! Nah, not really, it was almost funny. They really seem to
like this to open the second set it seems (well duh). Well, it wasn't Camden,
but I think that was an aberration. Massive glowstick war breaks out
immediately and because Im at the front instead of the back where I usually
am, I end up catching like four of them and distributing them to people who
want a dancing companion, including myself (no fear people a bonk on the head
with a glowstick is really no big deal, lighten up a little).  Jiboo drops
into Sand, evidently they're getting the new stuff out of the way early?  
Sand was as highlight, long and funky and focused, afer a period of
ambivilance, Im starting to really like this tune again. Wsn't in the mood for
a Twisty after that, but no reason to gripe.  Song just gets too spacy for me
to keep the groove, but they've managed to unload three Summer 2K standards in
a row, so it cleared the table for the next several sets and a half. After
that space! cadet workout, they dip us a treat FEE! FEE! FEE! As you can tell,
I was completely with the song selection and once again, who cares if Trey
forgot the words (don't you people have tapes? Trey is ALWAYS forgetting the
words to Fee (Cavern and Lizards too) ) It got 27000 people up and singing our
Phishy little heads off.  Fee wandered off and ended up in Whats the Use,
which was once again a little spacy for my mood, but WTF, it sure calmed the
crowd down though. LXL got everybody back up though, I had called it earlier
because I had heard a between song tease of it. This LXL was the start of a
magnificent run to close the show. Almost as good as Big Cypress and maybe
better some of the best jamming I've heard on this tune. Fish took an extended
drum break at the end while he ran through the words several extra times (This
stand appeared to be all about our little Jonny B. they were hooking him up
every night, Buffalo Bill his fave tonight, a little solo in LXL, and all the
M! oby madness and Terrapin the next night and CEP on the closer, all right
Fish!!!!!) LxL led into a ballistic Loving Cup that turned into a enormous
sing along as we all got down like the phiends we are even all the newspapers
in Indanapolis I read commented on it. A great choice to close out he first
night.  "OOOOOHHHHHH What a beautiful buzz!!!!!!" I doubt anybody called the
encore, being that Antelope was played in Alpine, and about 20,000 people were
there praying that Phil was coming out, for me his non-appearence to add his
tuneless voice and shabby bass playing to good songs was a good thing though.
As far as I'm concerned, they can play Antelope every damn night as long as it
has fire and passion, and this one had both in spades and sent everybody back
to the campgrounds and hotels happy, I LOOOOVE Antelope encores. This was a
good old show, they tossed down a couple of nuggets that made the night
worthwhile, but I commented to several people that it appeared that espec!
ially in the second set it appeared that they were holding back a little
something, not completely blowing themselves out on the first night. No
problems getting out of the venue, but Lord I know people who did, phriends,
watch your asses getting out of DC because Indiana bears definatly growl and
prowl on the roads seriously, Its been that way forever but people are really
waking up to it now. Scary shit, real scary shit. Gee, now how can they top
that the second night?
 
 


Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 11:59:15 -0500
From: HORVATH_BRIAN@Lilly.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: 7/10/00 deer creek
 
Please accept the following review of last night's show (7/10/00):
 
     Ive been to numerous shows over the last 12 years but this is my first
review.  No song by song stuff here, just my notes on the high and
lowlights.
     First set - The 'pre' opener was typically groovy stuff, Treys notes
were more perceptible to me than usual for Cars, Trucks but this tune is
played pretty straight usually and this was no exception.  The pavillion
wasn't quite full so this was actually a good selection since I wouldn't
regard it as a cant-be-missed song.  Wilson came in quickly and the show
was off.  The Gin jamming was excellent, as good as Hampton 98 and a bit
longer.  This was the highlight along with Funky Bitch, which Im usually
not a big fan of but this one was smoking and the crowd was down with it
for the last 3-4 minutes big time.  The pyschedelic lead in to Bowie was
supreme as the created-anticipation had many around me (and me) swelling up
just prior to the head of Bowie.  I was disappointed with the SOAM since
the band seemed to have a longer than normal discussion prior to it,
leading me to believe we were gonna get a nice treat.  The beginning went
well but as the jam wore on Trey could not latch into a grove and even
shook his head "no" about 7/8's the way through.  It missed but that's
life.  Sparkle as a song is weak, to me, but Kuroda recovered us here -
awesome 'rocket' light work behind the stage.  It was also nice to here Ice
which was played well and those in the know will, or may, think this is the
gem of the set since it is rare and it was played well, but the funk was
somewhat misplaced here.  Overall the first set was good, the Gin jam is
worth getting the tapes if you don't have an "A" Gin in your cabinets.
     Second Set - Dark.  Evil?  I tend to think if you see (Trey on keys)
in any setlist that set is bound to be dark, distorted, and stretched out
in unfortunate ways.  How about (Trey on guitar).  That's my opinion and Im
sticking to it.  Although this was my first show this tour, I felt for the
crowd who had to hear Jiboo for the 9th time or so in 15 shows.  You can
dance, but it's one of many songs and they are getting too hooked on
playing it.  Sand started off great......the middle segments were trivial
to a degree and even though I listen to countless hours of shows to find
jewels of 2-3 minutes of jamming this was flat and lame.  Trey broke out
into a jam after his key playing which was good but quickly went back to
loops and the band was hopelessly left to pick it up at the end with the
head riff.  The band is doing this alot these days, playing the song -
playing the jam...then playing the head riff for the last minute.....they
did this with Jiboo, Sand, and Twist..leading me to feel like for the first
time they were predictable.  Fee was welcome if not for nostalgia's sake,
but was played well with nice fills by Page.  The evil nature of the set
was highlighted by What's the Use, a purely evil song that Trey must have
written after a fight or argument or other.  Ill take that one some other
time.  Limb held it's own, but the jam is uneven and it was Limb - nuff
said.  Loving cup somewhat salvaged the set - I think the tapes are worth
this track as well - not that t it's my favorite - but this version was
crispy and the crowd was ready to dance after the hell they just endured.
Yet, any Phish set is good rock music - but this set is one for the history
shelf........Oh yeah, the encore....Antelope - didn't they just finish the
first set with this at Alpine?  Fair at best.
     I hope tonight is better.
 
Brian Horvath

 
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 21:28:27 PDT
From: Kevin Liska runawayfox@hotmail.com
To: dws@gadiel.com, dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Deer Creek (Show 1 ) review
 
Kevin Liska (PhreePhish)
Show Review
7/10/00 Deer Creek (Show 1)
 
 
A wonderful drive to Deer Creek as usual...
Camp Timber Ho turned out being wonderful as well.  About 3,000 of us there.
  What a party.  I could go on forever about it, but this is suppose to be a
show review.... so here it is....
 
The boys take the stage at 7:37....
 
 
Cars, Truck, Buses (4:35)- always a nice little opener.  Got us all grooving
in unison... (go Page!).
 
Wilson (7:15?)- a fairly standard (but always rockin') Wilson.  Always nice
to get early.
 
It's Ice (7:45)- Well, hello old friend, it's been a while!  a nice smokin'
version of this classic.  Fishman was dancing on his throne before the "ow!"
  We were all dancing the whole time!
 
Bathtub Gin (16:48)- We were all in together on this one! This jam is kinda
hard to remember at this point, but i remember it being more of a standard
stretched 15-16 set I Gins we've been getting lately that build to the usual
scale runs (which is always nice!)
 
Buffalo Bill (2:30)-  Whoa! no way!? a nice little one to pull out for the
happy campers (us).  Wish they stretched it more, but hey, we're lucky to
get it at all!
 
My Mind... (2:20+)- a smokin bluegrass classic (as usual) with Mike goin all
the way.  Standard and fun.  They paused for a while, finally deciding on..
 
Split Open & Melt (9:55)- Some great jammin' in this one. Lots of nice
peaks.  I looked at my watch when it was over, only 10 minutes? Seemed
longer than that (always a good sign).
 
Sparkle (3:47)- Finally they whip this one out! always a crowd pleaser!
 
Funky Bitch (6:45)- Ya give it to us Mike! Right in the right place when we
needed to hear it!
 
Bowie (14:40)- I knew it was due.  2 min. of space, and then they sock it to
us.  Some nice groovy jamming with some mixed up beats courtisy of Mr. Fish.
  We'll be right back.
 
 
38(?) minute set break (or so), and we're off again....
 
 
Gotta Jibboo (10:25)- Gee, Jibboo opening the second set? Woulda never
thought it! No complaints here though.  I'll take it anywhere.  Some great
jamming and fun glostick action out on the lawn.  Thanks guys!  The final
note fades and they start up....>
 
Sand (15:20+)-  Wonderful.  I thought this would get huge.  Trey just kept
playing with loops and his keyboards with Page adding to the ambience (and
of course the solid Mr. Gordon and Fish leading the way).  I thought they
would go into the usual guitar jam, but they stopped after 15 min. of this,
which was still cool. A long discussion on what to play then.  They then
choose..
 
Twist (8:40)- A very nice Twist, not much different from Alpine's.  Some
nice jamming of course.
 
Fee (7:45)- Sorry to my phriends who didn't make it to this show and wanted
to hear this.  It was great as usual.  A short spacey jam that lead (me by
surprise) into....>
 
What's The Use (8:??)- I love this one! It is so ... I-don't-know-what
sounding.  Floyd played by Zeppelin? I don't know, but very cool.
 
Limb X Limb (9:00)- Awww yaa... This is the jam i'm waiting for! very nice
and I believe Fish's ending solo is a bit extended! Very nice! Fish, you are
amazing!
 
Loving Cup (7:30)-  a good way to end the concert.  What a beatiful buzz....
 
 
Enchore:
Antelope (11:30)- No way!? I can see them repeating Twist, being on
Farmhouse and all, but Antelope!? That's unheard of! Well once you get over
this fact (which I quickly did), you will notice that this is a very nice
Antelope and a great enchore!
 
 
A nice first show.  some Alpine repeats, but who cares really!
..Baack to Timberho for partying, and then more....

Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 11:20:29 -0500
From: Michael Gagliano mgagliano@home.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: deer creek 7/10
 
Another great show!  Cars, Trucks is one of my favorite openers and to go
into It's Ice was sick!  Fishman is the force behind this song.  Give a good
listen to the drum beat throughout this song.  Wilson was pretty standard
with the heavy jam towards the end.  Bathtub also was your average kick-ass
jam.  I would say this Gin was no longer than 12 min. but meaty!  Buffalo
Bill was a complete shock.  Where did this come from? Awesome nonetheless.  I
can live without Mind of its Own, Sparkle and Bitch but the Split Open and
Bowie deserve a special comment. WOW!  This Split Open never let up.  It was
pure jam right out of the gate.  Trey definitely was leading this.  Bowie was
just as hot.  Best way to end a set if you ask me(maybe Halley's?).  Page and
Trey were locked in for sure.
 
The second set was cosmic.  The Jiboo>Sand were as if they were one long 30
min jam!  The keyboards by Trey were so loopy.  He had half the crowd
hypnotized.  I had hoped for this combo for some time and I got what I
wanted.  These songs have evolved exponentially.  I personally don't like the
new Twist especially two shows in a row, but this one was good I must admit.
Fee>What's the Use was simply magic.  To have the jazzy jam out of Fee go
directly into the heavy space of What's the Use was perfect.  Limb was your
everyday wicked jam.  Trey went on for about 10 min before Fishman drummed
out.  I think the Loving Cup ending and the repeat Antelope encore were OK.
They were well played, but to me they lacked energy towards the end of the
show.
 
Again another great show with 4 more to go!!!!!  Hey that rhymes.
 
Gags

Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 22:30:01 EDT
From: Doc470@aol.com
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: 7-3-00 review
 
the 10 dollar gooballs were better then the 5 dollar gooballs by far
the glass bowls were sick and some indian guy was sellin sick hacks
DanC is the man, ill tell you what.
 
mike trash

Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 19:06:08 GMT
From: Travis Vande Berg travisvb@hotmail.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net, rmp@archive.phish.net
Subject: 7/10/00 Deer Creek Review
 
My friend Brian and I headed out of Chicago around 2:45am Monday morning
bound for the Creek. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We'd miss the
majority of the Chicago and Indianapolis traffic and get to Timber Ho! in
time for a good amount of shut-eye before our pre-show preparations. That
simply was not to be as it was just too damn hot and humid to get any sleep
once we arrived. Cold beer, water, and some frisbee filled the void nicely
until we headed off on our 1 1/2 mile hike to the venue. Anyway, this was my
first time at Deer Creek and Brian's second Phish show so we were pretty
excited for the show to begin - heat and exhaustion or not.
 
SETLIST 7/10/00 DEER CREEK, NOBLESVILLE, IN
 
I: Cars Trucks Buses, Wilson, It's Ice, Bathtub Gin, Buffalo Bill, My Mind's
got a Mind of its Own, Split Open and Melt, Sparkle -> Funky Bitch, David
Bowie
 
II: Gotta Jiboo*, Sand**, Twist Around, Fee -> What's the Use, Limb by Limb,
Loving Cup
 
E: Antelope
 
* Glowstick war
** Trey on small keys
 
CARS TRUCKS BUSES: I thought this was a really nice, if surprising, opener.
I never would have picked it in a million years. Standard version but really
got the crowd moving early.
 
WILSON: Deer Creek went nuts at the revealing opening notes of Wilson.
Absolutely the most raging version that I have ever heard. (Of course,
admittedly they probably all are at the time. ;) They really rocked this one
out, and Trey held the first "Fuuuuuun!" for what seemed like an eternity.
 
IT'S ICE: To be honest, I don't really remember much about this one. I do
know that Page sounded fantastic and that the whole amphitheater was
grooving, but that's about it.
 
BATHTUB GIN: This is what I have written as a note next to this Gin on my
setlist card: "HUUUUGE!!!" (double underlined). And Huge it was! I was
thrilled to hear it after Trey teased it prior to Heavy Things at Alpine. It
started off as what sounded like a really good version, but it just got
crazy as the jam took off and became the most RAWKed out jam that I have
ever heard in a Gin. Crazy rock and roll meyhem! Just when it was rocking to
the point where I was almost tempted to forget they were playing Gin, the
band *amazingly* dropped right back into the Gin theme without missing a
step! Absolutely fantastic! This was the highlight of the first set for me
(although the Bowie runs a pretty close second).
 
BUFFALO BILL: Now I don't have any idea when the last time this was played
was, but I'm pretty certain that it hasn't been played in a while. Most
people around me didn't know what it was, but I had a nice smile on my face
as I took the opportunity to take a brief break from dancing and try to
recharge my batteries a little.
 
MMGAMOIO: Batteries as recharged as they were going to get, now it was time
for a little Mike, and he obliged with a My Mind's... that got me dancing
away again.
 
SOpenAM: Damn! Time to get down and dance again! The boys aren't giving me
any downtime this first set, but that's quite alright. Fairly standard
version to start with an absolutely gorgious and haunting acappella section.
After that, though, they took this Melt into rawk-land where the Wilson and
Gin had gone before it. Completely rocked out!
 
SPARKLE: As "so-so" as I am about this song, I have to say that this was
excellent placement in the first set. After the rocked out Melt, it was
definitely time for a fun crowd song, and Sparkle, as always, was just that.
It segued (Yes? No? Maybe?) into...
 
-> FUNKY BITCH: Hell yes! As far into rock and roll land as the band was in
this first set, I knew that we were going to get a Funky Bitch. I had
actually thought I heard Trey start into it before Melt, but Fish dropped
into the Melt drum beat instead. Again, rocked out! (Anyone sensing a theme
here? ;) Page and then Trey each wailed away their lead sections and the
whole crowd was moving and shaking in an effort to keep up. I was a little
worried that this might close the set, but the band had other ideas.
 
DAVID BOWIE: Yup! I had called one for tonight, and here it was. This was
one of the few songs that I really wanted to hear at Deer Creek so I was
really excited. On my setlist card, I wrote "Space jam -> David Bowie".
Generally, Bowies do seem to start with some spacy effects, but Fish
ususally keeps the Maze/Bowie intro during this. Tonight, though, I thought
that Fish deviated from this enough during the spacy segment to mark it as a
space jam -> but from the looks of other's setlists, maybe not. Anyway, on
to the Bowie. I was ready for a killer Bowie after the rawk treatment we
were getting in the first set, and I was not disappointed. The jamming in
this version was simply sick and the lights were nothing outside of
ridiculous. I have no idea how the hell CK does what he does, but my god am
I glad he does it.
 
As Bowie ended, I collapsed into a heap on the lawn secretly hoping for a
longer than average set break so I could try to summon some remaining energy
for the second set. After a decent set break, the band returned to stage.
 
GOTTA JIBOO: I was very pleased with this as the second set opener. Boogie
time! Jiboo provided a nice break from the all-out, balls-to-the-wall rawk
of the first set while still getting the whole amphitheater boogying down
like there was no tomorrow. Jiboo went into a sweet extended jam that gave
birth to the longest glowring war I have ever seen. CK started to use the
ring shaped lights as well which made it even cooler. It was Brian's first
glowring war, and he was obviously awestruck by it. Very cool.
 
SAND: It seemed overly stadard at first, and I was really worried that they
actually weren't going to jam out of it, but just when it sounded like they
were going to end it, the jam began. Another rawkless jam was a treat and
featured Trey on keys and then alternating between the keys and the 'doc.
For a while, he and Page were trading keyboard work while Mike and Fish held
down the jam. Near the end, the whole band worked into a little "loop" jam
that they repeated over and over. I thought there might be a segue here, but
it just kept repeating and repeating, getting very old. A lowlight to an
otherwise nice Sand. Finally, the loop jam and Sand ended. The band took a
long time to talk to each other and decide what to play. My mind was racing
at this point: Rarity? Breakout? Phil? What were they going to play? Then
they broke into...
 
TWIST AROUND: Huh? WTF? This Alpine repeat had me stunned and confused. All
that talk to repeat Twist? It was a fine version and all, but I had just
heard it two days before. I took the opportunity to conserve some energy.
Interestingly though, this Twist was the "other" arrangement - not the
"dark" version played at Alpine.
 
FEE: Fee? Fee! Hell, yea! Maybe this is what they had been talking about
during their long confrence. You could actually see the shock of the crowd
as they started into this. The shock was short-lived though and became
excitement as, smiles on our faces, we started grooving to Fee. Trey botched
a few lyrics here and there, but it was more than excusable. This was the
most fun song of the second set - nothing quite like 21,000 people bouncing
up and down and singing along with smiles on their faces. Really quite an
incredible couple of minutes.
 
-> WHAT'S THE USE: My first. I thought that it was kind of a strange
follow-up to Fee, but it was still very cool. Lots of people around me sat
down at this point.
 
LIMB BY LIMB: Wow! They have done some outstanding things with this song
since it's debut and this version does nothing but highlight that. Remember
that balls-to-the-wall rock and roll from the first set? Well, it's
baaaaack! Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy (did I say crazy) lights. I will
see these in my dreams for the rest of my life. At one point, I was actually
so enthralled by CK's work, that I simply had to stop dancing and just
*watch*. (My god. It's full of lights.) The end had an even more extended
Fishman ending than usual with him repeating "limb by limb by limb by..."
over and over as he increased the beat with his drumming. Finally, he just
couldn't keep up anymore and finished up with an overly dramatic "Limb
bahhhhhhh liiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmbbbb!"
 
LOVING CUP: Holy shit! All hail the return of rock! They simply tore this
entire song apart and then put it back together. I really can't describe how
amazing this song was. Get the tapes. The look on my friend Brian's face as
they (the band and CK) just tore up the entire amphitheater was simply
priceless and momentarily made me forget how exhausted I was.
 
The band wrapped it up and left the stage, leaving us pondering the encore.
No Phil yet. Would he be here for the encore? Personally, I didn't really
care one way or the next. I still in awe of the rock and roll show that I
had just be a part of. They came back out and started...
 
ANTELOPE: Whoa! Antelope? Another Alpine repeat. Being pretty sure that this
would be the only song of the encore, I have to admit to being disappointed
by this. Were there a couple of Simpsons teases in the intro? I swear there
were, but none of the setlists indicate them. Overall, it was probably a
better version than the Alpine Antelope. The beginning seemed
uncharacteristically mellow, but the band built it up well and rocked out
the ending nicely.
 
Tired but pleased, Brian and I headed back to camp for a well-deserved
grilled cheese and a good night's rest. Tonight's theme had been rock and
roll. It had definintely been the most "rock show" Phish show I have ever
been to, and I was extrememly happy with it. Night one had been great, but I
was already thinking about night two.
 
MEANINGLESS RATINGS:
Set I: 7/10 (Gin, Gin, Gin, Gin, Gin, Gin, Gin ;)
Set II: 7/10 (LxL, Cup)
E: 4/10
 
Coming soon to an email account near you - Day II!
 
:)Travis

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