7-27-03 - ALLTEL Pavilion at Walnut Creek, Raleigh, NC

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

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 17:25:36 -0700
From: eric tipton 
Subject: Re: Phish 7/27/03 review


From Phish.net:

07/27/03 - Alltel Pavilion @ Walnut Creek - Raleigh, North Carolina

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Ya Mar, Down With Disease, The Divided Sky, Sample in
a Jar, Discern, Anything But Me, Llama

Set 2: Ghost, Halley's Comet > Seven Below * #, Tube > Prince Caspian >
Also Sprach Zarathustra > Fire

Encore: Squirming Coil

* with 'Mozambique' tease. # - after the song, Trey said: "Please welcome
back Mike Gordon!" & preceded to play 'Charge!' substituting "Mike!" for
the word "Charge!"


Getting into Raleigh was as bad if not worse than getting into Charlotte.
Massive lines off of the interstate that held us up for upwards of two
hours. When we finally got to lot it was already 7pm. I chugged a couple
of beers and headed for my pavilion seat. We were in the 200 section on
Page side. I did have the pleasure of meeting phishmarisol18/John
pre-show in my seat (very nice to meet you bro). He was with his Dad, I
sure hope to take my Dad to a show someday but I kind of doubt I?ll be
able to talk him into it.

This was my first time to this venue and besides the ugly traffic scene
getting in, I really liked it. Phish has really thrown down here over the
years (95, 97, 98 ? w/ the exception of that ?00 show) so I was gearing
up for a great show. We had tons and tons of room to dance in our aisle
so I was pleased w/ that!

First Set:

Runaway Jim: Nice opener, relatively standard. Sounded good to my ears.

Yamar: This is where some strange on-stage vibes makes their way to me.
No scatting Yamar lyrics by Mike at all in this one. Matter of fact, most
of Mike?s lyrics are so soft and quiet, very unusual. Something just
seemed off to me after this and now listening to the soundboards I can
see what was going on. In between more than one song during first set you
can clearly hear the band expressing concerns in Mike?s direction. Trey
says something like, ?I don?t want to play if you can?t play.? This song
should be totally owned by Mike but it sure wasn?t tonight. Trey takes
over and lays down some blazing guitar licks to compensate towards the
end but I could feel something was off.

DWD: In between Yamar and DWD there is a Very long pause. Get the
soundboards so you can hear some disturbing banter between the band. Very
strange. Obviously we couldn?t hear this from the 200 section but again
there was clearly an odd vibe permeating the air. Trey to the crowd ?
?Sorry guys, just ironing out a couple of details before we (makes flying
motion) Take Off.? I love me some first set DWD, you cannot go wrong w/
it and if you get one in the first set than it?s probably going to be
short and ripping. Which this Disease definitely was. Trey rips this one
a new one, more than making up for Mike?s problems/lack of presence. Very
choppy at the 2 minute mark (Mike?). Trey really shines during the jam
segment.

Divided Sky: Sweet! I just love the fact that this is securely back in
the rotation. A beautiful version to go along w/ the impending sunset.
This is the perfect spot for Sky, middle first set. The pause is only
about 30 seconds or so which is nice. Very nice Divided!

Sample: It?s Sample.

Discern: Decent jam segment (very ambient laced), but for many it was
there first time seeing it and seemed to detract from the energy that was
brought forth by the DWD and Div Sky. Oh well, good Discern and this tune
has all kinds of jamming potential I think. Keep your eye on this one.

Anything But Me: God, please play Anything but This Song in this spot.
Awful placement and the energy just gets sucked right out of the joint.

Llama: Flat out raging! Very good way to end the set, especially after
two new tunes that managed to put many people into their seats.

Setbreak ? First set highlights: DWD, Divided Sky. Very uneven first set.
Again let me reiterate the strange vibes floating off the stage. ?Sup
Cactus?

Second set:

Ghost: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! Thank you! You k now it?s on now baby. I
love this song opening up the second set. The non-looped intro really
sneaks up on people and it?s fun looking around and seeing the growing
realization on people?s mugs, like: ?Oh hell yeah, it?s Ghost!? Hehehe!
The band is quite patient in building this Ghost, very solid, progressive
groove building. Mike sounds quite good as the backbone, viva Cactus! At
15 minutes the jam grows quite ambient w/ some Trey loops being thrown
into the mix, nothing overbearing though. This one peters out 3 minutes
later and ends.

Halley?s: Woo hoo!!! I don?t think they would have played this if Mike
wasn?t semi back to normal. This is such a typical song of Phish ?
totally goofy off the wall lyrics ? so much fun. ?Knock on my windows,
link up the chains, It's gotta be easy, no splinters no pain. It's
Cadillac rainbows and lots of spaghetti
And I love meatballs so you better be ready? ? you?ve just got to love
that! People that hate on Phish lyrics make me laugh ? it?s about having
fun people, get over it! Very short version: Just as this Halley?s is
getting down to business an absolutely fluid segue into >

7 Below: God that segue bowled me right over. So dang fluid. Loved it.
Ever since I first heard this on Round Room, I knew it would be a
favorite of mine for Trey?s licks in between lyrical segments. Soaring!
As the jam segment comes to life, there is some cool interplay between
Page and Trey. At 8 minutes the band departs from the original theme of
the song and takes it for a ride. At 10:35 I for thought I was hearing a
bit of a Sneakin Sally tease by Trey but it was not to be. Speaking of
teases, can anyone pin down exactly where the Mozambique tease came into
play? At 11:50 Trey is hitting on some really repetitive chords firing
the crowd up quite a bit. One minute later they return to the theme and
shortly thereafter it?s over before you know it. Excellent version!

Tube: I called this one big time after 7 Below was finished up. All tour
I?d been salivating over the prospe ct of just when we would get a Tube.
Finally, the long wait was over. On the audience copy you can hear some
fellows bellowing for Tube. ?An asteroid crashed and nothing burned?.
Yeah, I fucking flipped my lid at the onset of the lyrics. If you cannot
bust a groove to this song, then I honestly don?t know what to tell you.
Page lays the funk down early while Trey backs him up with some downright
sinister loops. All the while Mike is dropping bombs and Fishman laying
the brickwork behind it all. White boy cow funk at it?s finest! The band
just gels together so well. Trey leaves the funk behind at 4:45 and
starts burning it up. The return to the theme is a little sloppy but not
as bad as some people would lead you to believe! Nice Tube, nothing
really groundbreaking. But I will take a mellow Tube over a lot of the
rest of the catalogue that much is for sure! Sorta segue into >

Caspian: Noooooooooo! Time to hit the little boy?s room. I was back in
time to hear a bit of the wank fest, trailing into a very mellow, ambient
space. Sorta segue into >

2001: Yes (insert pic of Ed McMahon here please!). Climb aboard the
mothership y?all because it?s time to take a journey into outer space!
Nice long build ? they begin to blow minds at 2:45. I will never, ever be
able to get enough 2001, seriously folks. I don?t care how long or short
it is, it is ALWAYS a treat; at least to this Phishhead. Loops galore at
the end, Page leaning hard on the organ; Segue into >

Fire: Holy shit, what a sweet surprise! Can?t recall the last time I had
heard this played (possibly on 11/30/95)! It?s been awhile for me. Twas a
tad rusty but what can you expect? Great, great set closer! Phish is
always full of suprises ? this one flat out shocked me! Gotta love that
people.

Encore:

Squirming Coil: Cool contrast to the smoking end to that second set.
However, the playing in this Coil was nothing short of sad. Many a flub
by the red headed one unfortunately. Not a good way to end this show at
all. Coil typ ically is a really nice encore for me, especially after
having been pretty blown away by that second set. But it has to be
technically proficient for me to enjoy. Tonight the flubs were much to
apparent and auditory to get past. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh,
and to the dirtbag that hucked the glowstick that landed on Page?s piano:
karma will find you one of these days ? IDIOT! Seriously, I hope whomever
was close to this person gave them a piece of their mind. I?ve never
heard a louder bang come from one of these retarded glowsticks hitting a
piece of equipment. Disgusting to be sure.

Second set highlights: Ghost, the Halley?s > 7 Below segue, the 7 Below
itself, Tube and 2001 > Fire. Looking back at this show w/ a critical
eye, I believe it?s my least favorite of the SE run. Atlanta being top
dog and Charlotte over Raleigh by just a hair. I think Raleigh?s second
set was just a bit better than the second set in Charlotte. But the Gin
in the first set of Charlotte takes the first set in Raleigh, and the
encore in Charlotte puts a serious beat down on Raleigh's ? so that is my
reasoning.

Tipton-o-meter: 7.3

There was absolutely no lot scene on the way out thanks to the overly
aggressive Raleigh oinkers. Which was really to bad because I was really
starving coming out of this show. Oh well. Onto Pennsylvania!







peace,


et


Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 12:01:37 -0400
From: LumpBlock@aol.com
Subject: Raleigh review

first review comes two weeks later?  may say something about the quality of this show...

getting into the lot was as bad as Charolette, got right in line and heard the last bit
of a late soundcheck, doors open and check all merch sites for a poster to no avail...

First Set:

Jim and Ya Mar got me loosened up a bit and after a long pause for technical
difficulties DWD kicked in, but like the whole set, never went too far...

there seemed to be some odd energy onstage most of the first set (if not all night)...  
trey shooting glares at fish, crew member (couldn't see who) kept walking out to talk to
mike, LOTS of back and forth among the band but not in a good way...

I LOVE Anything but Me and Llama was nice, but the whole set just kind of sat there IMO,
not even DSky (while well played) really did it for me...

Set Two:  this was a bit more like it... Ghost was funky, but the Halley's while a treat
didn't head for the weeds at all...  -7 was *very* nice, but Tube while a treat didn't
head for the weeds... (detect a pattern?)... Caspian is amazing on Billy Breathes, not
so much live... 2001 was WAY funky but WAY too short... and Fire, frankly, disgusted me
for some reason... this set tried so hard and to close with Fire really bummed me out...
listened to Coil as I walked to my car and headed back to Chapel Hill...

not an AWFUL show... nothing to change how much I love those guys... I'd have rather
been there than most places... but if you weren't, you didn't miss much...


Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2003 18:02:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peter Bell 
Subject: Raleigh  7-27-03

Take your parents to see Phish!!! I did it and you
should too. Yes yes the lot full o Raleigh P.D. was a
drag. Especially when the situation escalates and
horses get pissed and your parents get scared. Finally
inside and buzzin with Dad. We all loved the show.Ma
Bell liked Divided Sky and Seven Below. Dad turned to
me at one point and screamed..."This is the real thing
Man!!!" Its all about the music. Have fun at IT.
-Pete

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:36:04 -0600
From: Richard Gebert 
Subject: Raleigh 7/27/03 review

07/27/03 - Alltel Pavilion - Raleigh, North Carolina
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Ya Mar, Down With Disease, The Divided Sky, Sample in a 
Jar, Discern, Anything But Me, Llama
Set 2: Ghost, Halley's Comet > Seven Below * #, Tube > Prince Caspian > Also 
Sprach Zarathustra > Fire
Encore: Squirming Coil

  * with 'Mozambique' tease. # - after the song, Trey said: "Please welcome 
back Mike Gordon!" & preceded to play 'Charge!' substituting "Mike!" for the 
word "Charge!"

I feel somewhat compelled to touch on whats been written already in some of 
the other reviews of the Raleigh show.  FYI,  I've seen 15 shows and 
listened to enough hours of Phish on disc to make me a qualified Phish dork. 
  For what its worth, the lot at Walnut Crek was chill but almost 
nonexistent.  There was hardly a "lot scene" and no lot food to be found 
whatsoever.  Thanks to the dude wo hooked me up with the free sausage! Also, 
the cops were a much stronger presence than in years past at the Creek.  
However, I can't blame anyone who gets busted by the undercovers in the lot 
here.  IF you look around and see four guys in plaid shirts off in the 
distance talking to each other like they don't belong there and overseeing 
everything that goes on, chances are these are cops.  Just an FYI for 
everyone out there.  Anywho, on to the show:

Whoever said Raleigh was on par with MSG '95 or Big Cypress, that b.s.  I'm 
glad you had a fantastic time, I did too.  But this was no where near those 
shows.  If you saw the last show at Walnut Creek(6/25/00) and were basing 
your opinion on that show, then I might be able to see where you were coming 
from.

So, with the disclaimers out of the way...we got in just as Runaway Jim was 
starting up.  Great opener but was pretty short and unremarkable for Jim 
from what I can remember.  Ya Mar is always a nice Summer Tour treat when 
you're on the lawn...it fits the mood perfectly I think.  I didn't notice 
the Ya Mar flubs cause I was distracted at the time but evidently Mike was 
having mad problems.  I did notice the long pause before DWD and wondered 
what was up.  On the LivePhish recordings people say you can hear Trey tell 
Mike "If you can't play, then I don't want to play" or something to that 
effect.  Damn, Mike must have had a serious hangover if he was still hurting 
from the night before from Col. Bruce.  Thats very un-Mike-like to be like 
that.  He also seemed to have trouble with the DWD intro...not as pronouned 
and forceful as it usually is.  A good, rocking jam came out of Disease but 
I'm guessing it wound up after about 10 min.

Then they bust out Divided Sky right before sunset...at this point I'm 
loving this setlist and thinking this could be a really strong show.  
Whoever said Divided Sky is always the same...I beg to differ.  It always 
sounds pretty much the same but some versions certainly jam more than 
others.  I noticed some definite Trey flubs in here...I think he even 
skipped one section after the silent part...but after the jam got underway 
they recovered and finished it out nicely.  I think they jammed out the end 
a little more than usual.  Maybe not as good as the 3/1/03 % Sky but still 
better than others.  Sample is however, pretty much always the same and 
always a crowd pleaser.

Then came Discern.  Beer break for me.  I could not get into this song 
whatsoever.  Luckily I was still in line during Anything But Me and didn't
hear it.  I can imagine the two of those together sucked out any energy that 
had been built up before that point.  However, Trey started up Llama and was 
rocking from the get-go.  Probably more so than usual.  This is definitely 
one of the strongest LLamas I've heard.

Set 2:

Ghost.  I've seen this more than any other song...it follows me wherever I 
go.  But I can't really complain cause many a sick jam have come out of 
Ghost.  This was no different...the jam was long and exploratory...visited 
many different themes...rock, space, funk...before winding down at about 15 
min. and we get...Halleys!!  Hell yes!  Everyone was going crazy.   Kuroda 
was on fire at this point...unfortunately there was no jam at the end of 
Halley's.  When they would normally turn from Halley's and start jamming, it 
was a straight > into the Seven Below theme.  My first time seeing this and 
it is sure to be a huge new jam vehicle.  This was THE jam of the night!  
Long and explored several different places.  I'm guessing 7 Below was about 
20 min. or so.  When Trey busted into Tube, you could tell this set was 
going to be on fire.   Unfortunately, the funk jam in the middle of Tube got 
cut short when Trey started playing the bluesy notes that go back into Tube 
at an odd point.  This seemed very forced and caught the other band members 
by surprise.  Too bad he cut it short for Caspian.  I don't mind this song 
on disc but its a total momentum killer live for me. Caspian meant a 
bathroom break for me so I have nothing to say about it.

Then the boys start up 2001 and Kuroda does his usual unreal eye-candy light 
show.  This too was fairly short once they starting hitting the multi-climax 
part of 2001.  Solid 2001 but probably no more than 10 min.  Then came one 
last bustout...Fire!!!  I wouldn't normally get to excited about this song 
but Trey tore it the fuck up.  They stretched this out there and wouldn't 
let it end.  Very nice way to end a hot second set.

Encore:  Coil.  Eh, not my favorite but whatever.  Page's solo was nice at 
the end.  A nice, mellow, pretty way to close out a great show, when out of 
nowhere...BAAAAAMMMM!... a glowstick lands right on top of his baby grand 
and crashes into the mic.  Everyone gasps and some boo. I wish I had been 
next to the dude who threw this so I could have punched him.  What the hell 
are you thinking throwing it AT the band?!?  Page ended his solo qickly 
after that and said some words which were unintelligble to me.

Overall, I'd give the show and 8 or 8.5 out of 10.  Good/great show but 
probably not as good as the 3/1 Greensboro show.  Thanks again to the 
asshole who threw the glowstick.  That was really cool.

Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 15:11:51 EDT
From: MESSAE@aol.com
Subject: raliegh 7-28- 03

great show with an exciting and entertaining 2nd set..... This review is being typed
for one reason, to deliever a message to the COWARDLY, IGNORANT, INAPROPRIATE, and
MARKED DEAD Son of a Bitch who threw a glowstick at page during the coil encore... I
FUCKIN DARE you to stand next to me next time, or any real PHAN for that matter. Im
suprised 20 people didnt beat your stupid little ass to death that night. SERIOUSLY,
send me an e mail, get in touch with me fucker. u dont deserve to hear the boys farting
in the tour bus, much less play for your enjoyment. Anyone who knows him\her\it or was
near him\her\it,   really... why isint he\she\it dead.  Just get in touch with me, u
gutless piece of shit. I talked to at least a 1000 people who feel just like me. WE
DARE U to speak up.
~mike~


Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 13:16:30 -0400
From: Brandon.Morris@bbandt.com
Subject: Raleigh Review


First of all I am going to try to keep this short and sweet.  I won't go
through each song, you can look at the setlist, I'll just tell you the
highlights for me.  This show seems to be getting a bad wrap around the
internet, and nothing could be further from the truth. I was at Charlotte a
couple of nights before which was good, but this show blew it away.  I thought
after the Greensboro show on 3-1-03 it couldn't get any better...well it did. 
Runaway Jim was a great way to start off the show, it got the energy going and
everyone was dancing...which is what you should be doing at a Phish show for
those of you who don't know, and you know who you are.  The Divided Sky playing
as the sunset was the most amazing thing I have experienced on the lawn.  As
good as that was, I would have to say DWD was the highlight of the first set
for me.  It was thick and bassy, and I just genuinely love that song.  It was
also fun to see all of the kids on the lawn go crazy when Trey says "A thousand
barefoot children outside dancin on my lawn".  A little side note about the
first set.  Anything But Me is a great song, and as for the people just
standing there and bashing the song while it is playing, that's f**cking rude
man.  I love Trey band, and it reminds me of Ether Sunday, and Drifting.  I've
said this before, people's minds that aren't open to new things are in for
severe disappointments, not only with Phish, but with life in general.  Anyway,
back to the review...

Me and my buddy talked about it all the way to Charlotte, and back up to
Raleigh how we wanted to hear a Ghost ( I called it as the  second set opener
while my buddy was talking smack about 3 Rock n Roll second set openers in a
row earlier this year.  You know I'm right)...well we got it.  It started a
little loose, but took off like a rocket.  It doesn't seem like they stopped
playing for the whole second set.  Comet was good, and the first one I have
heard live.  As good as Ghost was, the Seven Below jam was probably the best
jam I have ever heard the boys play.  I can only describe it as thick and
spacey.  It reminded me of the mind bending jam during Mango 9-17-00.  Tube was
a nice song to hear, it kind of brought us back to earth for a minute.  2001
was great as always, my only complaint is I wish they could play it for about
30 minutes...I love the way it builds.  Fire was a good set closer because they
were on Fire all night, and anyone who doesn't think so was definitely not at
the same show I was.  Lastly, I saw people bitching about everything in the
Charlotte reviews, and signing things "almost ex-phish phan".  I only have one
thing to say...just become an ex-phish fan!  You are taking up valuable air,
bandwidth, and most importantly tickets to shows.  If you have to bitch about
it everytime, why do you drive so far to see them????  We don't need to
negative energy here, just go away quietly.  The traffic has always been bad,
and the cops have always been asses, but the music has always been good, and
that's what we are there to see a band for right?  Last time I checked Phish
did play concerts, and hey they do pick the setlist.  So stop flapping your
gums, and you might hear some good music. 

The End

Brandon Morris 

PS so much for the short and sweet huh?

Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 02:00:54 -0400
From: Hunter Rogers 
Subject: Raleigh Show 

This Raleigh show was dank, everything worked out well and we got to the lot 
early because of a shortcut we used. The Lot was pretty lame though, I still 
haven't found any super funky nugs on Phish tour. Oh well. Definitely at IT. 
Now this show was incredible. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The First set could 
have been stronger but it had its high points, but alot of low points. The 
Second set was Killer. The encore was good enough.

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Ya Mar, Down With Disease, The Divided Sky, Sample in a 
Jar, Discern, Anything But Me, Llama

Set 2: Ghost, Halley's Comet > Seven Below * #, Tube > Prince Caspian > Also 
Sprach Zarathustra > Fire

Encore: Squirming Coil

Runaway Jim: This Runaway was nice, I liked it even though it would have 
been nice if it would have hit the 10 min. mark at least.

Ya Mar: This was a good version. The crowd was really enjoying this one.

DWD: This song is not a favorite at all of mine and this version didn't 
persuade me to like it anymore than I already do.

Divided Sky: Great song, great placement. I love Divided Sky, it was at a 
good point in the show too, the sun was just starting to set. The version 
was standard because all Divided Skys are similar.

Sample in a Jar: Good song, but short and not powerful enough.

Discern: A New song, that everyone has been complaining about. I would have 
to agree with there bitchings. This song was slow and had very little rhythm 
or beat to it.

Anything but me: These short songs are beginning to get on my nerve, where 
are all the bad ass jams?

Llama: Another one of the songs I wanted to hear, but I hoped they had 
jammed a little more on it, esp. since it will be the set closer.

Set 2:
Ghost: Ooooh yeah. lets get funky. Great opener for the second set. I love 
this song. One of my Favorites. This had a crazy jam on it, you gotta hear 
it to believe it.

Halley's Comet: Sweet. I liked this song, i have always wanted to hear this. 
But Wheres the Jam? The Jam is what makes the song. They cut this song way 
short for

Seven Below: This song was good. It seemed to go on forever but I enjoyed 
it. I would have rather had a shorter Seven Below and a funky jammed out 
Halleys though.

Tube: The song I was hoping to hear the most out of everything. It was 
sweet. I love this song so much. This was the first Phish song I actually 
loved. Dankness. It should and could have been longer though. But hey, At 
least they played tube.


Prince Caspian: Nice solid song, great version.

2001: Nice 2001, A little longer than some of the other ones but still could 
have been longer.

Fire: This Fire was on fire. I definitely didn't expect to hear this song. 
Good set closer.

KILLER SET, not a bad note played. Wonderful setlist. This had a lot of 
wonderful jamming and nice surprises. Might be my favorite 2nd set.

Encore:
Squirming Coil: Nice song, sweet Page, as always.

Overall this was a solid show. With the exeptions of a couple songs this was 
a classic show. I loved it, Not the best show of the southern shows but very 
dank indeed. Atlanta was just too good overall, while this show had some 
faults. I give this show an 8.3. Great second set and pretty nice 1st set.

Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 05:35:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Denver Shakes 
Subject: Phish Review, Raliegh

I have been to good amount of Phish shows since '94.  I've seen good shows and
bad shows.  Since I am no longer in College and cannot travel many places to
see them, I am forced to read the reviews on this site.  This is not a hasty
comment, I have been reading reviews on this site for about 5 years.  And I
finally had to ask this question to all of you....
How is it that virtually EVERY show that ever happens...EVERY show that is ever
reviewed is the "Best Phish Show Ever?"  It's true, about 90% of these reviews
are about how mind blowing each show was.  The sad thing is, I have been to
many of these shows that have been called the "best show ever" or the "best
version of this song ever" and I totally disagree.  I'm not trying to stir the
pot, it's just a real question that has been bugging me for sometime. 
 
Dennis

Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 14:23:24 -0400
From: "Blair, Paul" 
Subject: 7-27-03 review


i could not disagree more with these reviews. are you guys sure you were at
the show? as good as cypress??!?!!? the first set had no energy. jim was ok
and ya mar was about the same (minus the lyric flubbing). the dwd had more
mistakes from mike and stayed afloat thanks to trey. divided was nice but
nothing to write home about (i called this one) and i always dig sample but
discern and anything but me sucked the life out of the crowd. i could tell
discern was going nowhere from the start and anything but this is what it is.
llama was cool but it was apparent the band was ready to throw in the towel
and i don't blame them. it was ready to prepare for redemption. too bad it
never really came. ghost just fell flat and as great as halley's is to hear,
it went nowhere and the segue into 7 below seemed off or rushed or something.
i can't comment on the seven below. everyone i know seems to think this was
the highlight of the show and though i don't remember it being all that
great, i don't remember it being awful either. tube is a favorite and the jam
was ok, but the transition back into the bluesy portion of the song was
really sloppy. caspian seemed half hearted at the start (like noone really
knew what song trey was playing or just were ready to play it) and the jam
was uninspired to say the least. 2001 held a nice groove and fire absolutely
rocked. i had a feeling coil would encore after watching trey's frustration
all night, really felt bad for the guy after flubbing the climax. i don't
recall ever being at a show or hearing a show on tape that had as many long
pauses between songs as this one and i can only imagine what trey was talking
about when he welcomed mike back. i don't really know if i can say it was one
member of the band that was off. it seemed like none of the guys were
clicking. really really bad show. i can't complain too much after charlotte
and a stellar night in atlanta (unbelievable). for those singing the praises
of this show, i recomend listening to it again. i don't think i'm being
overly critical but i'll deffinately want to get a copy (an aud, not paying
to hear this one more than once) and check it out.
 
by the way, the lot sucked. enough with the nitrus!
 
paul blair
paulitical3@yahoo.com


Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:25:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bobby
Subject: 7-27-03

Grass lot is nice
The first set had some nice solid big songs up to Discern. Pretty page piano
solo at the beginning, I'm happy, but the jam was too saturated with trey's
effects and wails, too much noise and not enough direction for me. Still
though, I'd wish people would have paid the song more respect. Most everyone
just sat down or stood around talking through Discern. For a group that's
supposed to praise the fresh and improvised, I was sad to see stubborness
towards a new song. At least Llama got them up and dancing again.
Second set, Halley's Comet! I would have never expected it, perfect surprise,
so happy! Got everyone dancing. Even better however was Seven Below, this was
my first time hearing the round room song live, it was beautiful! Nice long jam
that eventually fell back to the seven below theme befo re a Funky Tube, Prince
Caspian, an amazing light show with 2001 and an energetic Fire to close a
stupendous set.
Squirming Coil was wonderful as well, with another beautiful solo from page,
sadly set back by some jerkass throwing a glowstick and hitting Page's piano,
making a loud noise over the speaker and while Page seemed to never miss a
note, the event hurt the mood. At least I got to hear a collective "boo" at the
jerkass from the other 18 thousand phans, shows the rest of us care :)
Great show!! Amazing second set! I was hoping for the fourth Water in the Sky
in a row at Raleigh, but who could be that greedy after Halley's Comet>Seven
Below, tube?
-a happy phan

Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 18:00:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Matthew B Sacks 
Subject: 7-27-03 Review

Just a quick note about what Trey said before Down w/ Disease:
Trey and Mike got together and were chatting and laughing, then going back
and forth to talk with Page and Jon; basically they were trying to decide
where to go.  After two minutes or so, Trey stepped up to the mic and said
something to the effect of "Sorry, we're just trying to get everything
together before we shoot off" and as he said shoot off, he made a little
clucking sound and motioned with his hand sort of like a rocket taking
off.
Too long and detailed an explanation of a meaningless interaction, but I
found it to be pretty damn funny at the time.  And Trey seemed to think so
too.

Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 17:18:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: HvnPhun420 
Subject: Raleigh show

The Raleigh Show.....

...look at the set list and take it all in your mind and times it by 50 and that
is a taste....just a little taste of what happened...

  my god i must say...and i've given a lot of thought about this...this is one
of the if not the BEST show phish has ever played!!!!!
  i'm talking about up there with 98 Hampton, 95 NYE and even Cypress....

really the setlist describes the action that took places but i'll share a few
hints of this monumental show...

Jim through Sample was flawless...not a beat missed and damn the band was soooo
fucking hot and on fire
  Trey even talked before DwD..said something along the lines that they were
"out there" and had to take a break and come back...i believe it..first 5 songs
were close, tight and so far gone it was amazing...

Discern- another Page intro song, it was light and kinda nice...trey sings and
then they go into a jam..Trey takes his guitar off and picks up his old one to
do these dive bomb licks...sorta like a ghost, bowie thing...then picks his
other one up and finishes the song

Anything But Me- another breather, but i like this song

Llama- what the hell..a raging llama closer...this was too much...the boys were
so on i'm really not lying...crazy you say....thats nothing...

Set II

Ghost-...ahhhhhhhh..what a ghost energy and everything going its way..not even
letting up..this was a crazy opener...this is a crazy show!!..

Halley's- oh shit!!..thats says it all

7 Below- wow what a take off and jam...awesome awesome awesome...then Trey talks
again and welcomes back Mike Gordon...pretty funny i guess...whats next

Tube-...too fucking much!!!!...a sick sick sick ass tube...page was ripping the
hell out of this jam..everything is going perfect..nobody has messed up a lick
and so on fire!!!

Caspian- a sorta kinda breather..but the jam was excellent...i dont like this
song that much but damn that jam was too much again...and then Fishman brought
the house down with his beat of...

2001- shit shit shit...crazy trey and booming mike brought everything they
had..its wasnt jammed out long long but it def got the job done!!! and into...

Fire- yes Phish was on FIRE the WHOLE NIGHT!!! i am not lying...fucking amazing
Fire too...going and going and gone!!!!! closed the show....now what is the
encore for a show like this....everything was so perfect and just killer!!!!

Coil- hahaha...yes that was the perfect closer...Trey flubs the last part right
before "it got away" and i was so glad...he is human...and during this show i
was wondering if anybody was human...Page makes up for the flub with a wonderful
stroking solo and even thanks the crowd saying what a great time they had tonite
and come see us again...

overall: i'm so glad to hear the members talk to us first off...everything was
set so perfect from the Jim opener to the cool breeze during the pause in
Divided Sky to Ghost->Halley's->7 Below and Tube...Fire and Coil...
  dont wanta turn any heads by saying that this IS the best show but i do feel
like it is def a top 5 if not a top 3 show...but i hope it only gets better from
here on out....after this show i hope that IT destorys this show because that
would be IT and there could be nothing more to top..... 

 
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:42:37 -0400 
From: Ryan Powell  Subject:
Raleigh review

Sunday night in Raleigh was a great show. Sure the lot scene was disrupted by
some undercover cops who had nothing else better to do than bust people for
drinking and drugs but once the concert got started you could tell that that
didn’t have any effect on the band.

Set I
Runaway Jim: always a good opener tight but short but got the crowd going

Ya Mar: always fun to hear with a little solo for Mike

DWD: great song and it got the crowd going. Solid version but nothing epic

Divided Sky: in my opinion it was beautifully played. There wasn’t the
long pause that you sometimes get but it was solid with few mistakes by trey if
any

Sample in a Jar: fun but nothing spectacular and it kept the crowd rockin

Discern: This song doesn’t do anything for me and it really sucks the
energy out of the crowd. This might be my least favorite of the new songs.

Anything But Me: Another slow song but this one is beautiful and has some
emotion behind it

Llama: this llama was raging. It was really up beat and got the crowd dancing
after a couple of slow songs. Excellent set closer.

I give this set a B- rating with the highlights being DWD, Divided Sky, and
Llama

Set II

This is where the show started.

Ghost: called this one and couldn’t have been more excited. Excellent set
opener. Funky and upbeat. Not terribly long but it was in my opinion one of the
highlights of the night. They took this song right into

Halley’s Comet: always fun and good to dance to.  Love to hear Mike with
his vocal bass during this song. Solid little jam that they took right into

Seven Below: WOW!! This was by far the best version of this song I have ever
heard. Not sure how long they jammed this song out but it had to be pushing 30
minutes. The whole band was really in sink. Trey was ripping it to shreads.
This song alone was worth the price of admissions.  After the song Trey was all
smiles and said “ Welcome back our bass player Mike Gordon” and
then he did the Charge chant. 

Tube: another one I called. Great song with a great jam you could really tell
they were enjoying themselves and so was the crowd. And the end of the jam they
slowed it down and for a second I thought they were going to play piper but
instead they started playing

Prince Caspian: usually I would say I was a big fan of this song but tonight
they rocked it out with Trey wailing away then they dropped it right into

2001: love this song and it was perfect placement. The lights were amazing.
 Solid version. They didn’t want to stop playing so they took into

Fire: excellent Jimi Hendrix cover song. The crowd was singing and dancing
along. Trey did his best Jimi impression and ripped it up

This set was everything I could ask for and more. This was the kind of set that
keeps me going to the shows. Highlights: THE WHOLE SET, excellent seven below

My rating A+!! In my opinion one of the better sets played that I have heard.
Get the tapes.

Encore:

After maybe a 45 second break they come right back out and play

Squiring Coil: I personally love this song especially when Page tickles the
ivory. Trey botches this song the 3 or 4 flubs during the composed part and as
song as they finish they all walk off the stage leave Page for his solo. This
is where I thought the crowd was disrespectful.  Too many people were talking
while Page was playing and then maybe 2 or 3 minutes into the solo some idiot
threw a glow stick that hit the top of the piano and the microphone. Which
caused the crowd to boo at that idiot and that distraction caused Page to rap
it up pretty quick.


Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:49:33 -0400
From: John Chescavage 
Subject: Raleigh Review

Phish
07/27/03, Raleigh, NC

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Ya Mar, Down With Disease, The Divided Sky, Sample in a 
Jar, Discern, Anything But Me, Llama

Set 2: Ghost, Halley's Comet > Seven Below * #, Tube > Prince Caspian > Also 
Sprach Zarathustra > Fire

Encore: Squirming Coil

* with 'Mozambique' tease. # - after the song, Trey said: "Please welcome 
back Mike Gordon!" & preceded to play 'Charge!' substituting "Mike!" for the 
word "Charge!"

For those that are interested, this was show number 60-something with the 
first being in the fall of 1995.  5th show post-hiatus, second this summer 
with Atlanta being the first...

Like Atlanta, this first set started up with a lot of potential and great 
song selection, only to fade into obscurity by the end of the set.  Then to 
be blown away by a far superior second set.

Runaway Jim - I was surprised to see this as the opener because I could have 
sworn it had just been played.  Not the Bag we wanted, but a good start.  
Good opener for the summer outdoor venues.  Nothing spectacular in this 
version.

YaMar - Another good summer first-set show.  Happy groovy song, although 
Mike fumbled with this one a bit.  Seems he got lost in some lyrics and I 
believe he repeated the second verse twice, much to the pleasure of the rest 
of the band as they got a little kick out of someone other than Trey fucking 
up the lyrics.

After this there was a stage conference with Trey and Mike speaking and 
laughing, and jumping around.  The crowd got a little restless and I do 
believe Trey got to the mic and apologized for the delay.

Disease came next and was such a surprise in this spot.  It is at this point 
when you think to yourself, "this could be the show of the tour if they are 
throwing down with Disease here!"  Solid Disease that kicked into high gear 
and rocked for about a 6-8 minute jam.  Comparable to 94-95 versions that 
just had a great type I jam that reminded you why you see rock and roll 
shows instead of hip-hop shows.

Divided Sky - Wow, this is four heavy-hitters right in a row to open the 
show.  The first three could have been, and have in the past been, second 
set openers.  Sky is just an all-time classic.  This was the first song that 
seemed a little loose to me.  The beginning was a little iffy, but the tune 
as a whole was very well played.

Sample - or as I like to call it, the decline....  Sample has its place and 
the middle of the first set isn't it.  Set closer maybe, even set opener 
works.  This kept the energy flowing, but seemed to pale in comparison to 
the first four.

Discern - The lowlight of this show.  This song begins with a Page piano
solo and some accompaniment by Trey.  When the music kicks in it has a P&M 
feeling to it.  This was obviously written with the same inspiration as the 
rest of Round Room because it has the same sounds and formula as many of 
those songs.  The song itself isn't bad, and could be enjoyable.  The 
problem was the jam.  It was garbage.  It was what everyone hated about 2000 
Phish.  It was noodling Trey over crashing symbols and splashy piano.  It 
was sloppy "ambience" for about 6 minutes.  It reminded me why I hardly ever 
listen to anything Phish played in 2000.  It killed momentum.

Anything But Me - After the energy-kill that was Discern, this song wasn't 
necessary, but it was very good.  I liked it, and it gave me some time to 
get over what they had just played.

Llama - At this point you knew they were just coming in for a soft landing.  
This Llama was particularly good.  Lots of pulsing strobes from Kuroda 
created a frenzy and the band played on.  This was better than most Llama's 
you hear with Trey playing really dark, nasty guitar.  Good set closer.

First set had four of Phish's better songs followed by four of Phish's 
mediocre to lame songs.  The four great songs were good to hear, but they 
were not notable for anything more than that they were played.  The other 
four were okay, but just a soft landing to a potentially hot set.

Set II

Ghost - This Ghost started off atypically with Mike not really kicking the 
bassline like he normally would.  There was not delay-loop build and it was 
tough to figure out what they were starting for the first 10-20 seconds.  
Then they hit the groove a little and you know it's gonna be story-time.  
This beginning was really loose and groovy, the sort of start that gets you 
in the mood to get down and groove.   The composed section was much better 
than my last Ghost (Vegas) and the jam was easily comparable if not 
superior.  Trey hit on some solid themes throughout this Ghost.  He was 
lockstep with Fishman this night and they created some solid grooves.  This 
Ghost did not rage, and it did not funk.  It was simply a gorgeous 
Phish-stlye jam with complimentary work all around.  The jam slows to a halt 
and...

Halley's Comet - Awesome.  Great to hear this song as always and I wondered 
if it was gonna be a jam vehicle or not.  Either would do for me.  From the 
beginning of the jam it could have gone either way.  Trey had his typical 
guitar jam going, but there was a point where it sound like they might 
launch.  Then Trey walked over to Mike about a minute into the jam segment 
and you could tell they wanted to shift gears.  The segue into...

Seven Below - was a true segue.  It wasn't as smooth as you could get, but 
the Seven Below didn't simply rise from ambience at the end of the Comet.  
They raged right into what has easily become my favorite tune from Round 
Room.  The guitar is anthemic at parts and the Fish/Mike groove is like an 
intravenous shot of "get down."  The jam sounded pretty standard to begin 
with but Trey started to hint at expansion.  Crosseyed and Painless teases 
surfaced in for a brief second at the beginning of the jam and faded 
quickly.  I didn't recognize the Mozambique tease that is noted in the 
setlist but it sounds about right from what I remember of the jam.  This was 
the highlight of the night.  It built, it grooved, it rocked, and Fish was 
the MVP.  Dropped back into the Seven theme and on to...

Another conference began on stage.  Mike was hopping around with is pants 
rolled up to his knees and his sleeves rolled up over his arms so it looked 
like a tank top.  Don't know what was meant by Trey's comments about Mike
"being back" but it was funny.

Tube - This is the point of the set where you can make or break it, and the 
band made it.  If you don't love this song you are crazy.  The jam segment 
was good and funky as you can expect.  A solid 4-5 minute groove proceeded 
with Trey getting a little whacky toward the end.  Out of the funk he 
started to pick up the pace until they awkwardly fell back into the song.  
Loved it.

There was no > into Caspian as the setlist says.  Caspian began slowly and 
built like it always does.  Because I haven't seen it in several years this 
Caspian didn't bother me until it started to drag toward the end.  It was 
not unbearably long, but I could have done without it.  All things 
considered, it was probably the most tolerable Caspian I have seen in many, 
many years.  And it faded down into....

2001 - BAM!  Phish kicks in with his drum and there was a sense of shock 
around the place.  People were startled.  Some were confused.  The rest of 
us just threw down.  From reading previous reviews that 2001 has been on the 
short side I think this probably compares nicely with other 2003 versions.  
The beginning was drawn out a bit but in general this was a short version.  
It was not short on intensity and I happen to like a good short 2001.

Fire - Didn't see that coming at all, but I didn't complain.  I thought a 
lot about what I would have rather seen at this point to end a terrific set 
and I concluded that this was just fine.  A ripping cover to shut the door 
on a really balanced and fantastic set of music.

Encore - Coil.  I hit the road.  Sorry, that's just not what I am looking 
for as an encore.

This was a pretty good show with a great second set.  First set probably 
gets a 6 out of 10 from me.  The four standard versions of great songs kept 
it afloat while the Discern hurt badly.
Second set is gonna pull in an 8.5 out of 10.  Fabulous Ghost, extremely fun 
Seven Below and a funktastick Tube.  Caspian was my usual blacksheep, 
otherwise it was another reason why I drive hundreds of miles for this fix.  
While I think Vegas 03 had better all-around show appeal, this second set 
sits right next to the second set for each of those nights as well.

Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 23:20:13 +0000
From: lhferree@comcast.net
Subject: 7-27-03 

     Raleigh was great; everything from the grass parking lot to the beautiful 
Page solo at the end of the concert was wonderful.  The show started off very 
well, picking up steam with Down With Disease.  I noticed that a lot of people 
who had just been standing around actually started to dance when DWD started.  
But the best was yet to come.  Divided Sky was good, it's always good.  But I 
was really pleased that they played Discern because I had yet to hear the 
song.  Overall I think it's a great song, but I got really angry at how people 
started to just sit down and talk during it because they didn't know it or 
didn't like it.  Have some respect for Phish and the rest of the phans, 
please.  Discern went into Anything But Me and the two were a good combination 
for easy listening.  And the last song of the first set, Llama, started to 
wake people up to prepare them for the second set to come.

     The second set opened with one of my favorites, Ghost, and Phish did a 
great job of jamming but keeping it under control.  But the happy moment was 
when Phish went into Halley's Comet, a very good surprise.  Lots of happy 
people dancing.  Seven Below was a good choice and that really brought out the 
balloons from the audience.  Prince Caspian was also great, like Halley's 
Comet it had a lot of people singing along.  It's always good when everyone 
joins in.  2001 was a great light show although I think Greensboro was better, 
but that might have to be because of the whole indoor versus outdoor dealie.  
Close with a cover, which I don't think I totally went with, but it was good.  
Fire.

     Finally, the encore.  And a slight rant.  Page is my favorite member of 
the band, his piano solos are always welcome for me.  Squirming Coil was a 
great end to the night and was the close of what I think was a concert in 
which Page was allowed to shine.  Discern had him show his stuff in a way I 
hadn't heard before while several other songs emphasized his great keyboarding 
abilities.  And so what better way than Squirming Coil to close it?  It was 
time to listen and enjoy the fact that Phish can perform in so many ways.  
That's why I was so angry when someone started throwing glowsticks at Page 
during the solo and one even hit the keyboard.  Not cool at all!

     I've noticed that there seem to be some people that are just rude to 
Phish.  People who sit and talk during soft and slow songs, for example.  
People who obviously are there not to enjoy Phish and who stand with their 
arms crossed and just create a bad atmosphere.  People that aim for the 
members of Phish when they throw beachballs.  And then people that throw 
glowsticks with the purpose of trying to hit one of the members.  That's not 
right at all.  The juxtaposition of Page pouring his heart out onto the 
keyboards for the phans and one ugly and rude person responding by trying to 
hit page was just something that made you think.  It was one of two bad 
moments of the night, the other being how rude people were during Discern.  
But overall, a great night.

--
Logan Ferree
President of People for the Ethical Treatment Of Phish (PETOP)

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