7-8-99 -- VA Beach Amp, Virginia Beach, VA

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:03:19 -0400
From: Andrew Barnett ahbarnet@runet.edu
To: dws@archive.phish.net

va beach 99 was just what I expected it to be.  After seeing the epic 97
and 98 show, I knew this show was doomed for failure.  The 97 lot scene
was great. The cops were just there to settle trafic violations.  The show
was marvelous.  The 98 lot scene was out of control with a lot more cops
than the year before.  I saw multiple drug bust, had the unpleasent
experience of being in a crowd that got sprayed by mase when a man and a
woman were being busted, and of course the miniature riot that occurred
when beer bottles were being thrown at a cop car.  I was able to get over
this because the show was great and they remebered the death of jerry with
an encore of terrapin station like only phish could do it.  the lot scene
in 99 was poor.  Cops flocked the lot (only arresting 108 people for the
75 that were on duty), the drum circle was sparse, and the show was
horrible. They were off all night.  I would have to say that the meatstick
was almost worth the poor show.  I loved their versions of trenchtown rock
and soul shakedown.  I was really pleased to hear a little reggea
influence in their music.  If you don't like the great performances given
at virginia beach I would suggest check out a hampton colliseum shows.  
The cops are non-existant, the showws are great because the sound is
trapped, and the vibe put off in this small venue is rad.  I was a little
dissapointed to hear that hampton comes alive is the 98 shows.  The 97
shows could have been the best ones that I have ever witnessed.


Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 20:06:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gary naturalG@webtv.net
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Va.Beach review 7-8-99

  Hey Phans,Wow what a drive to get to this show but at least i got to
sleep in my bed when i got to VB.We followed the tour buses all the way
in from Charlotte jamming to some Bela Flek and some Floyd.  Well First
of all to all of those who were saying how bad the lot was i guess you
weren't there last year.When there were over 175 arrests and you really
had to be careful. I knew what to expect this year so instead of going
to the lot early this year me and some friends had a BBQ.Living in VA
Beach gave me the option to be able to do other things rather than party
on lot.We knew how the cops would act remember history repeats
itself.But only 25 were arrested this year thats a much better number
than 175! You have to understand that VB. is a militaristic town so the
cops here are horrible.Well now for the show.   When we first got to the
lot we got a pretty good space luckily no $8 parking fee like in
Charlotte.We hooked up with our friends right awayand went in almost
immediately.As not to get harassed by the officers which were abundant.
We did toke in the lot though a couple of people came asking for some
dank but luckily we didn't have to we took care of that in Charlotte the
previous day. Since we did our drinking at the BBQ we were free to
cruise right in. After i picked the right gate to walk through one where
i knew i wouldn't be searched.So  got my glass piece in and its time to
hear some good music.I was expecting a really good show cause of the
previous ones here.The 7-21-97 tour opener and The 8-9-98 show last year
who many believe was the best show musically on the tour.Now for the
music we got settled into the seat section and were pleasently surprised
to have plenty of room and the show begins:
SET1
 *Julius:alot of people were disappointed at this opener but i like
julius.I think Trey and Page stayed traditional on the chords of this
song. *Fee: well here we go i was hopng for the megaphone but no such
luck.Then in the middle Trey and Page started playing together really
well into a kind of Ambient Jam.The song got really mellow and jammed  
out when this plane from Oceana naval Airfield flew overhead and the
crowd cheered loudly.The segue into the jam was excellent. *Guyute: one
of my favorite songs not one of my favorite versions though.First off
they had trouble getting it started i think they had sound problems.But
guyute is guyute so i enjoyed it. *Dirt: Fitting they play this since
the first time they played it on American soil was at this venue
7-21-97.I like the lyrics to this one *Nellie Cane: at first i swore it
was Ginseng but my buddy corrected me.The rifts of them are almost
identical.This is a short song. *Stash: cool i like the crowd
particpation,but this one didn't seem to be the same stash it was a
below average version. *Cavern: Always nice to visit the cavern this was
a good one to,but i still had the one from Hampton 11-20-98 fresh in my
mind with Carl Gerhard and a cavern is ALWAYS better with a horn! still
it was a good song.

  Thats was the end of set 1 we moved to the lawn and found a bunch of
friends for the second set. For some reason the first set seemed short
to me also. Time for SET2: *Birds Of A Feather: i usually don't like
this song much. They play it alot and its kinda commercial,but wow they
jammed it out so phat! and it was like over 20 minutes long.This guy
beside me leaned over and said listen they are playig that song from The
Wizard Of OZ.So i listened real closely and they kinda teased it cause i
could never hear the lyrics and They never realy went into it but it was
definately  *If I Only Had A Brain: it was unaudible but i cant wait to
hear it on tape to see. Especially when it segued into. *Prince Caspian:
okay song i thought it was good placement it had a good mellow jam at
the end trey was pretty tight on it then it segued into *Jesus Just Left
Chicago: OMG i can't believe they played it ths is the only time i've
heard it except Slip Stich and Pass.OOOO man Paige was singing it like
he really felt it too, and hs organ solo was sweet.Mikes bass lines kept
everyone on the lawn moving throughout the whole song absolutely
Awesome! *I Saw It Again: first time i've heard this one live. I didn't
think this song really went anywhere but after that JJLC anything woulda
been good enough *Sleep: a very mellow and very short tune gave us time
to recharge. *Meatstick: YES! i've heard nothing but good things About
this song so i was excited to hear it.Especially since my friend Danny
taught us the Meatstick at the BBQ(he learned it in atlanta) It has a
sorta reggae feel to it. Funny as hell to see Mike and Trey teaching it
to the masses. If anyone could see the screens over the lawn damn those
three girls in the front were really moving!!! I was like wow love to
meet those phans. bottom line i like the Meatstick. *Tube: man this is
always a jamming song everytime i hear it i start moving good version
cause it segued into..  

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:17:31 -0400
From: Adam Sandler 
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Va Beach review

I've seen 38 shows, this 99 Va BEach was the worst one i have ever seen. The
scene sucked, the sound sucked in the ampitheater sucked, and the band was
off, there were no highlights, and the encore wasa bad joke. Meatstick was
the only highlight of the show, i dig that song. see ya in Osweeeeeeego
-Adam  

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 15:26:00 EDT
From: Phish7Lax@aol.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Va Beach Review

Just a couple of observations on this show.  First off, this show left a
wierd taste in my mouth afterwards.  Not a bad taste, not a good one, but
just different.  This show was strange.  I'm surprised that no other reviews
really commented on the lot.  The lot in Va beach is outrageous.  Phish needs
to stop playing there.  I witnessed three drug busts, countless tickets given
for drinking (even to of-age fans), and I had to duck between cars to buy a
burrito.  Also, when mike was cruising in his cart, a lot of people were very
vocal about how bad the lot was.  I thought this was cool.  The band needs to
know when things are fucked up outside before thier shows.  And I think the
band knew how bad the lot was, and it showed in this show, especially the
second set.


Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 11:13:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: dfb3290@uncwil.edu
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Va beach...


        Virginia Beach was only my second Phish show.  My brother has
made it to about 15 shows and the other member of our entourage Declan had
made it to roughly 20 shows.  From what i gathered from them and the
attitude conveyed in the parking lot the Virginia Beach show was a
debacle.  Their was next to zero vending what so ever.  The police were
chasing people out of the walkway for dancing and loitering.  In general
the whole attitude in the parking lot was that we were not going to a show
in the united states but in Singapore or in old school Soviet Russia.
Virginia Beach is a militaristic town.  A massive Naval base is located in
its general area.  The whole attitude that the police had and that the
town had in general was that the Phish scene was not really welcome there.
I emplore whomever reads this to do what they can so that Phish plays a
different place on the summer tour next year than Virginia Beach.  A place   
where the band and its legions of fans are welcome by the city instead of
the attitude conveyed in Virginia Beach of "Let's get Phish and their fans
out of here as soon as possible."  A phish show brings in large
amounts of money to the local economies of which ever city they come to
due to the traveling "circus" that follows them around.  If a city doesn't
want to respect the people who pay for the sales of tickets, hotel rooms,
fast food, and various other monetary benefits their community gets from
having such a large population of people visiting their city, then they
don't deserve for us to come back(from the looks of most of the
housing and the city in general Va beach sure could use the money).  I
know this is not setlist related...  The show in general was just ok i
thought.  Maybe that is because my brother, declan and i were busy having
our crotches felt by VA Beach police when Julius was being played and that
sort of set of a negative attitude toward things(well and our seats
sucked) including the show.  It seemed the band had considerable pressure
on them to finish EXACTLY by 11:00 which was a stark contrast to Charlotte
where they jammed with the younger Trucks till past 11:30(GREAT SHOW 
BTW...).  Anyways..  I realize no matter where Phish goes there are going
to be arrests.  But what i saw at Virginia Beach was a prime example of
complete intollerance to the Phish scene.  ANd next year if they go back I
will stay in lovely wilmington, NC and pop in my tape from Virginia Beach
1998.  If Virginia Beach doesn't want to be a little tollerant of
what goes on at a Phish show they don't deserve to have the band come
back.  ANd i think that for the most part people who attended the 1999 VA
Beach show will agree with me.

thanks,
dan bowen 

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 10:36:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Diana Hamilton hamilton@alumni.umbc.edu
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: VA Beach 7/8/99: Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

[this was also posted to jam-reviews@onelist.com]

Soundcheck to add to previously-posted setlists: Magilla, Sleep (~2x),
Dirt (several times)

Just some notes on my only show for this summer's tour, not the
song-by-song kind of review. (Bogus "credentials": First show, same venue,
7/21/97; 10 shows under the belt now.)

Unfortunately for lovers of exploratory music like my husband Greg and me,
it may be that '98->'99 so far is not the great leap forward for Phish
that '96->'97 was. As Greg says, at VA Beach this year the band did not
really challenge either the audience or themselves. However, they did
appear to be having a whale of a fun time. Perhaps Meatstick, goofy dance 
and all, is the best marker of the moment.

One obvious change in the sound compared to last year is that Mike is
aggressively playing lead bass (with a stage position to match). But there
wasn't enough *following* into unknown territory. Typically, they
established a sonic mesh of repetitive units and waited for something to
arise, with Mike meanwhile poking up out of everything. Sometimes, nothing
much did happen and we were left with well-played but fairly average
versions of any given song.

When something did arise- notably, in the two high spots, the jams
post-Fee and post-BOAF- it made my hair stand on end. The Fee jam is the
reason you might want to seek out a copy of this show. I assumed
it was a whole separate instrumental piece, perhaps from the Siket Disc
(which we don't have yet). Midway through, my jaw dropped when I
recognized Trey's delicate, descending riff: They were playing with a jam
from the Amsterdam 7/1/97 Ghost, an all-time personal favorite show!! It
was that pretty section about 11 min into that Ghost (after the crooning,
"I think you know where you are"). This time, though, it was shaped into a
sonic attack, loud, with Mike very much forward. After that was all over,
I said, "OK, our tickets are paid for, we can go home now."

The Guyute that followed about proved me right. Why follow a go-anywhere
jam with a piece for which you can predict every single note? Although
technically probably perfect, it was a letdown for me, one example of the
uneveness of the evening. (By the looks of it, every other person in the
crowd must have disagreed with me, so YMMV.)

Other highlights: Stash, short and focused, controlled (as per Yoda's
comments about Atlanta); If I Only had a Brain jam, unexpected bit of
return to last year's Wizard of Oz homage, with a rising-from-murk
feeling; Tube's trancy keyboard groove, extremely danceable; finally,
Page's solo closer to Simple, alone on stage. 

After the perfectly quiet ending to Simple, Page bowed by himself and
said, "Thanks for having us back!" Also, they finished the encore right at
the exact stroke of 11 PM, the curfew they way overstepped with last
year's Terrapin Station. Perhaps they've warmed their welcome for next
year?

Diana Hamilton -- hamilton@umbc.edu -- Baltimore, MD USA
http://alumni.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shncirc.html  

Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 23:22:47 -0700
From: Seth REEvans@worldnet.att.net
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Va Beach 7/8/99 Review


This was only my second show ever (the other being Hampton 11/20/98),
but I've got a bunch of shows on tape/mp3, so I consider myself somewhat
versed in the music of Phish.  I went to Va Beach with VERY high
expectations after the show at Hampton last fall which was completely
amazing.  I met up with a friend from college who lives about 30 min
from the amphitheater and got to the venue about 5:30 or so.  The lot
scene was pretty chill where I was- I heard inside later that the cops
were being dicks, but we only saw a few.  We roamed around for awhile
and had a few beers before heading in about quarter to 7 and parked
ourselves about halfway up the lawn on Trey's side.  Split a pizza with  
my friend for dinner and suddenly realized I'd better go take a piss
after those aforementioned beers and hoped I had enough time before the
Phab Phor showed themselves.  Waited in a long-ass line, took my piss,
and walked out to the sounds of

JULIUS: Fuck!  I was definitely pissed (no pun intended) to have missed
the beginning, though it was pretty hip to weave in and out of a bunch
of wildly dancing heads in the walkway back up to my seats ;-).  Seemed
like a pretty standard version, with a nice Trey solo.  Plenty of
energy.

FEE:  Also pretty similar to other versions I've heard (for the
beginning anyway).  Would have been cool to see Trey use the megaphone
for singing, but whatever.  Moved into a nice mellow jam for a few
minutes before building intensity.  I seem to remember it dying down
again for a mellow ending but I'm not entirely sure.  This was my
favorite jam of the show, and a highlight in an otherwise lackluster  
first set, IMO.

GUYUTE:  Long break between Fee jam and this, I figured there was some
technical problem or something.  This is one of my favorites off SOTG,
and the live version was pretty faithful to the album.  The Irish jig
part was nice for dancin, and the big climax before the lyrics start
back up was breathtaking.  The whole song was quite impressive musically
though they didn't really improvise much of anything.

After that, the rest of the set was quite lame (for Phish), IMO.

DIRT: Ok, but nothing very special.  Not one of my favorites anyway.

NELLIE CANE:  Does this always have the same music as Ginseng Sullivan?
I'd never heard a recording of it before.  I would have preferred
SOAMule or My Sweet One if we had to listen to bluegrass. 

STASH:  I was excited about this one after seeing a mindblowing Stash
jam at Hampton, but I was VERY disappointed.  The jam never really
climaxed at all.  They just sort of got into a typical dissonant Stash
jam groove and then ended the song about where they ought to have built
it up to a frenzy.  Definitely not a good version.

CAVERN:  Blah.  Just your typical Cavern.  Can't say much for this as a
closer- it just doesn't really have a climax to it.  Another Hampton
repeat,  though it seemed a little funkier here.  Also no Carl Gearhart
here :-(

I'd give the first set a 3 out of 10.  Aside from the Fee jam, there
wasn't much of anything interesting about it.

So after being disappointed, I was hoping for a strong opener followed
by a badass second set to make up for it.  Unfortunately, I got 

BIRDS OF A FEATHER:  My least favorite song by Phish.   I've never liked
this one at all.  It was redeemed slightly by the jam that followed,
which was somewhat similar to the Fee jam in set 1.  This jam blended
into a tease of "If I only had a Brain,"  but I didn't know what it was
since I haven't watched Wizard of Oz in a very long time.  My friend
recognized it and pointed it out for me though.  Trey spoke some lyrics
during this section but I couldn't make out what he was saying.  This
went on into

PRINCE CASPIAN:  At first, I was unhappy with this song selection, but
it grew on me as they were playing it and I ended up liking it a lot.
The opening lyrics with Trey spotlighted were especially nice, but the
whole song was played well, IMO.  Also a relatively short jam at the end
(if I remember correctly) which segued into

JESUS JUST LEFT CHICAGO:  My favorite tune off of Slip Stitch & Pass, so
I was psyched to hear it.  Nice singing by Page throughout.  Also, a
cool solo by Page on some organ-sounding instrument instead of the piano
that he plays on SS&P (I don't know my keyboard instrument
terminology^Å).  I love Trey's solo on SS&P, so I was hoping for Trey to
make our jaws drop.  His solo was good, but not as good as on the album,
so I was a little disappointed, but not TOO much :-).  Still a good
rendition of one of my favorites.

SAW IT AGAIN:  I'd never heard this one before and I thought it was a
cover, since it doesn't sound like a typical Phish song, IMO.  I read
earlier that it was a reject from SOTG, so I guess that shows how much I
know :-).  Don't remember much except they sang "Saw it again" over and
over.  It was an ok song I guess.

SLEEP:  All I remember about this one was that it was really short.

MEATSTICK:  I'd been reading the rave reviews about this one from
Lakewood, so I'd been hoping to hear it.  Still took me awhile to  
realize that this was it.  This is a very cool song- very funky with
some nice effects by Page, if I remember right.  The chorus IS catchy!
:-)  It was also hilarious to see Trey and Mike get up and do the
Meatstick dance.

TUBE:  Another repeat for me- it'd be nice if I always got to see a Tube
at every concert I go to.  Pretty good version, but not jammed out very
much.

SIMPLE:  I figured this would probably finish things up and I was
right.  Not too different from most other Simples, except for the
Coil-esque Page solo at the end.  I wish he had kept going a little
longer, but it was still a great way to end the show.

I give the second set a 5.5 out of 10.  It was better than the first
set, but still average for Phish.  

Encore:

TERRAPIN: I was one of the lucky few to have witnessed "Getting Jiggy
Wit It" at Hampton, so I got really excited when Fish came out with his
vacuum.  I wasn't familiar with this one, but any Fishman feature is
always a treat.  The vacuum solo was very funky and a lot of fun.  After
he finished, they started up HYHU and Fish danced all over the stage
like a madman as the crowd went nuts.

CHARACTER 0:  I'm sure many were disappointed by this selection, but I
don't really mind it.  It's loud and full of energy, which seems like as
good a way to end a show as any.  Pretty much the same as every other
Char0 that's ever been played^Å

The encore gets a 7 due to Fish, and that gives the whole show somewhere
around a 5.                            


Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 21:36:18 -0700
From: Dee Mulligan firbolg@shentel.net
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: VA Beach 7/8/99:  I HATE COPS

I type two words a minute, so ill make this short and bitter...

After a pretty weak parking lot scene (thanks in large part to all those
assholes in blue unis), the show, when compared to the night before at
Charlotte the night after at Meariweather, and even last year at the
Beach, this show pretty much blew.  There seemed to be a deffinite lack
of energy, and enthusiasm in both the crowd and the lads, AND the volume
was too soft.

Did enjoy Fee jam, If I Only Had a brain bit, and especially Meatstick
and Terrapin , but felt that Birds and Jesus dragged a bit.  I blame the
sub-par performance completely on the fucking pigs, and hope that phish
can find a better place to play in VA for all us red-neck heads to enjoy
in the future.   

long live parking lot burritos, and death to all fuzz (except my
brother).

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 17:02:00 -0400
From: "Joe"  address withheald...
To: "'smtp: dws@www.phish.net'" dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: 7/8/99 VA Beach review
 
Hi all. This was my fifth show (tacked onto 11/22/95 and 12/28/97 in
USAir, 4/5/98 in Providence Civic Center, and 12/29/98 in MSG), but I've
been able to listen to a goodly number of sets on tape thanks to friends
and the grace of Sugarmegs. My newbie coworker friend and I got some
nice lawn seats.
 
I: Julius, Fee>Jam, Guyute, Dirt, Nellie Cane, Stash,
Cavern
II: Birds>Brain>Caspian>JJLC, saw it Again, Sleep, Meatstick,
Tube>Simple
E: Terrapin>HYHU, Zero
 
JULIUS: I thought this was just terrific. It showed some tentative steps
into the exploratory realms through Mike...I always enjoy it when Page
and Trey stay with the chords of the song and let Mike revolve around it
a little bit. Tons o' fun.
 
FEE: Good...good....the jam coming out of it was one of those
sweet-sounding, not-quite-ambient grooves, with Page and Trey
successfully playing off of each other in a series of descending chords
for the beginning portions. The beginning part of the  jam was
especially wonderful. A jet from the Naval base (the first of many) flew
overhead in a beautiful, non-violent (?) ark at just the right moment in
this serene part of the jam.  I thought this collapsed under its own
weight after a while. Though Page and Trey were absolutely in sync in
the beginning, the connection eventually dissolved.  I was anxious to
hear the next song...
 
GUYUTE: Trey was apparently having tech problems at the beginning of
this, and Jon played a drum roll that made many heads moan "BOAF." After
the stage hands got everything reset, Trey said "thanks, everyone," and
went into Guyute. I could hear Page starting to tentatively wander away
from the strictly composed song in a manner similar to the way all the
band members have successfully wandered away from the pre-funk first
half of YEM. Maybe Guyute is about to improvisationally break free from
its composed roots...? Anyway, Guyute was a hoot, as always.
 
DIRT: I loved this. Straightforward, but lovely.
 
NELLIE CANE: I thought this was Ginseng Sullivan at first...nice
bluegrass harmonies.
 
STASH: Not one of my favorites. The jam started with an excellent,
gorgeous lick from Mike that sounded like a Latinate interpretation of
the chessy ending bass line from "Someday Never Comes" by CCR. After
that, i thought it was nothing special. They ended up undulating on one
chord and going absolutely nowhere until Trey brought it to a close.
Seems like they're going to play one more song...
 
CAVERN: Somehow, I've learned to accept and enjoy this song. Rollicking
fun.
 
 
Set II
 
BOAF: Another fun rock song that eventually mutated into a pretty jam
that sounded *very much* like the first set Fee. I stood on the grass
thinking "it looks like the theme of the night is sweet-sounding,
Simple-like jams." Simple would turn up later, but anyway...
 
IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN: I would call this more of a tease than an actual
performance of the song. Trey played the opening line, and the other
boys (either accidentally or on purpose) played strange chords around it
that gave it an eerie feel. Then they went into what I would call a BS
space jam. Unfortunately, it was difficult to hear exactly what IIOHAB
lyrics were being (mis)quoted by the members of the band. "Stuffing" was
certainly a theme. I feel like Jon said something along the lines of "I
would not just a nuffing like a person I once was like John Bonham," but
I can't be sure. This segued nicely into.
 
PRINCE CASPIAN: Okay, this is not a fan favorite, but I thought they did
a decent job of keeping it varied. Jon and Trey added an especially nice
triplet fill at one point in the middle. In lieu of the closing part of
the jam, Trey went into...
 
JJLC: Lots of fun! Page was hamming it up, adding a progressively
cheesier "Hey hey" to the middle of each verse. I am always amazed at
the way the band repeatedly stops on a dime in this song. Page's organ
solo took a while, but eventually got going.
 
I SAW IT AGAIN: I didn't recognize this song until they started singing
the title that I had certainly seen on a few setlists on the web
(procrastination, anyone?). Interesting song, but didn't really do much
for me.
 
SLEEP: Another first for me. Very nice.
 
MEATSTICK: To say that this song is "reminiscent" of Fire on the
Mountain would be an egregious understatement. I thought it was tons of
fun. Page brought out the Moog. The boys taught a nice, Macerena-esque
dance, and laughed while the audience stumbled along. Hopefully, this
fun, exciting song won't turn into the song that it satirizes:
overplayed, boring, and painful. I expect to have the catchy chorus
stuck in my head for the next week.
 
TUBE: There it is. The "late-second-set-uber-jam-song." I enjoyed this a
lot, but I thought the crescendo could have gone farther. Picky, picky.
 
SIMPLE: This was fun, with a (mostly) standard sort of pretty jam at the
end. For a minute, I thought they might add an extra chorus about "We've
got meatsticks" a la the OJ show's "We've got OJ" hijinks. Thankfully,
they did not. The song petered out into a Coil-esque finish, with Page
sitting alone. I think he seemed a little tired. He didn't depart from
the chord progression in the way that Coil usually does. Nevertheless, a
wonderful way to close a set.
 
 
Encore:
 
TERRAPIN>HYHU: This was fun. It was my first live vacuum cleaner
experience. Certainly the funkiest vacuum solo I've heard.
 
CHARACTER ZERO: Honestly, I was too fatigued to really enjoy this.
Seemed well played, I suppose.
 
To tell the truth, I really was very fatigued and not quite into things
the whole night. I have a job working with kids, and it takes a lot out
of you. It was a fun show (especially Meatstick, which is simply a very
happy song). It did not reach the state on improvisational sublimity
that I've been spoiled with the past couple of show (4/5/98 Yamar,
12/29/98 Limb>2001). I will try to get the tapes for sentimental value,
but I don't think that anything besides novelty value really makes this
show special. I hope y'all enjoyed my first show review. Have a safe and
fun summer.

Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 11:03:37 -0700
From: Kevin Curry curry@ccpo.odu.edu
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: 7.8.99

This review is skewed by the fact that it's the only show I can catch
this summer : ^ (  so I would have been excited even if they got up
there and did Backstreet Boyz covers all night ; ^ )

I had a great pavilion seat in section 102 on the Mike/Page side.

Was it me, or did it take about 5 or 10 minutes before the crowd
*really* got into it?  My section didn't get off right away.  Maybe some
people are kind of apathetic about Julius - but they really kicked it in
and before I knew it, my section was mixin' it up in fine style.

GoalieBoy's review pretty much nails it, but I want to emphasize the
huuuge jams they did!  The whole show was a strange mix of songs people
love to bash (BOAF, Caspian, Julius) and incredible jams.  BTW:  I love
the aforementioned songs - Prince Caspian is one of my favorites.

I think the first two/three numbers must have lasted 40+ minutes.  They
even drew out Julius for a while and that was sweet.  The Fee jam was
incredible.  When they followed up with Guyute, I thought I would lose
it from exhaustion.  I agree that Dirt was perfect right were it was -
gave us time to relax a bit.  In fact, I listened to the end of it in
the beer line (which, for me, was *never* a line).

The second set was totally jam time.  It was breathtaking - *especially*
JJLC!  It was easily the best jam of the night.  Page wailed on the
church organ like there was no tomorrow.  But the BOAF and Prince
Caspian jams also really rocked.

I really loved the Meatstick and accompanying dance - phooey on anyone
who takes it too seriously.  But I can't seem to work out the conflict
in my brain caused by a really cool song that's about processed    
meat-like products (I'm not a vegetarian - it's just odd).  Tube was
phat.  I feel like I could go without seeing Simple for a while.  There
was a run there for a while when they seemed to always play Mike's
> Simple > Weekapaug.

Just a couple/few items for discussion:
1)  It looked, to me, like Trey was talking into a thermos mug - as if
there were a crew mic *inside* of it??
2)  Most of you have probably read about the little keyboard Trey has
been playing.  It looked, to me, like he was actually playing his guitar
through the keyboard and/or the other way around.
3)  It's clear that they still like to experiment (which is great) - see
2) and Mike had some sort of drum pedal that he used to keep time in one
of the jams - it sounded like bottles clinking together or something.

Props to Jason and Jacob from Clemson for being cool - have fun on the
rest of your tour.        

KMC

--
Kevin M. Curry
Research Associate, Virtual Environments Lab
Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography
Old Dominion University Research Foundation   

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 11:20:27 EDT
From: GoalieBoy3@aol.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: 7/8/98 VA BEACH Review
 
Here is MY setlist:
 
I: Julius, Fee>Jam (sped up Ambient Jam), Guyute, Dirt, Nellie Cane, Stash,
Cavern
II: Birds>Brain>Caspian>JJLC, saw it Again, Sleep, Meatstick, Tube>Simple
E: Terrapin>HYHU, Zero
 
Julius: Called this one. I'm getting proud of myself for being able to call
at least one set opener a show. Oh well...it's not my favorite song, but it
rocked the house.  Lots of energy coming from the stage.
 
Fee:  As soon as I heard the opening drum beat, I was a little dissapointed,
but this was not your ordinary Fee.  This Fee completely left the theme and
segued into a beautiful FIRST SET JAM!  I was in heaven. I thought maybe it
was one of those Siket Disc songs, but I'm glad it wasn't. it was just Phish
at their improvisational best.
 
Guyute: YES! Now, hear is a song that Phish will butcher live, but this was
played flawlessly! easliy the best Guyute I've heard based on technicallity.
 
Dirt:  People always complain about how this song has bad placement in sets,
but I thought it was a good breather after a raging Guyute. I love the lyrics
to this pretty song.
 
Nellie Cane: Another treat; the boys don't seem to play Nellie Cane as much
as the other bluegrass tunes. Always love it when Mike steps up to belt out a
song.
 
Stash: Whoa.....the jam in stash was not your typical jam. it started out
with much Page, and Trey doing lots of feedback stuff, and eventually got to
the point where they were sitting on a D chord, reminiscent of the end of a
Free or Theme jam.  Great! Only criticism is that Trey ended the song too
early; it could have been potential disaster, but the band members caught on,
and nailed it.
 
Cavern: Good funk to end the set.. Just your typical Cavern, except some guy
collapsed in front of my face as it was ending. He was just chillin, so at
least he didn't die which would have put a damper on the evening.
 
Setbreak: I saw the cops haul out scores of people (ok, about 3 or 4), and
the line from the lawn to the concessions were ridiculous.  About 40 minutes.
 Got back on the lawn as the boys took the stage, front and center.
 
Birds of a Feather: Man do I wish people would stop bashing this song. It
got
an OVERWHELMING response from the crowd (at least where I was), and the jam
out of Birds was beautiful. It went away from the theme, then back, then away
again to the point where I thought they would segue into Simple...but
no...Trey starting teasing the lick to.
 
IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN!!! Are you kidding me???? The band members did not
really pick up on the chord progression changes, but instead just sat on the
F-chord jam and let Trey do the lick.  It was pheonomal with Trey and Mike
talking about "stuffing" and said something that sounded like "vagina." but
who knows.
 
This segued (sorry Phish.net there was a seuge here I thought) into..
 
PRINCE CASPIAN! Oh yeah. another song people seem to enjoy to hate. WHY?
nothing hit me more during this show then when the boys wailed the last
chorus (WHOAAAAA to be Prince Caspian). It hit me, completely.     I guess
Caspain is hit or miss, but I've seen two "hits". It never got boring.  My
friend who I was with kept saying "they're going to segue into JLC." I was
like hell no, but eventually it got bluesy, and my friend made the call of
the night (better than my Julius opener).
 
JESUS LEFT CHICAGO!  The people loved this, as did I.  I am not gay, but page
is a stud when he does the "hey, hey" part. He can sing! Page was also all
over the keys in the beginning part of the jam, which eventually got LOUD AND
WAILING as Trey ripped it up.  Good god! Will they mellow out now after such
an invigorating JLC?
No...
 
I Saw it Again... Now when I first heard this on the Ghost outtakes tape, I
was like this sucks ass.. but hearing it live, I realized it is a heavy song,
but the boys put 100 % energy into it. They appeared to enjoy playing this,
so I enjoyed it with them.
 
Sleep..Don't remember too much about it. I saw it before on 12/28/98, but it
didn't do too much for me.. it is a pretty song though.
 
Meatstick: As soon as they played the first chord, I knew it was TIME FOR THE
MEATSTICK! This made my day!  Mike was slappin away on the bass, and
eventually, he and Trey taught the crowd the Meatstick Dance. This got rave
reviews and grumbles from the crowd. Lighten up people, it's not like it's
gonna be the next Macarena where 10 billion people are going to be doing it!
It's just fun audience participation. Of course it's cheezy, that's what
makes it so fun. DO THE MEATSTICK DANCE!!!!
 
Tube: Sweet, sweet. The funk was heavy, and if it went longer, I thought
maybe it would rival some of the giants, but it ended too quickly. still
nice, and segued into
 
Simple: The crowd loved this, as did I, as a set closer.  I thought they
would go into Coil and let Page end the night, but they did it out of Simple.
Fine! Nothing better than Page serenading us to end the best summer show so
far.
Encore
 
Terrapin: How fitting after Terrapin Station last year! Nahh...just that Fish
was quiet all night, and he needed this!  Gotta love a good vaccum solo,
especially as an encore.
 
HYHU: Oh my god. total pandamonium! Fish was doing laps around the stage,
bending over, and then throwing his hands up in the air! Climbing onto Page's
keyboard! just basking in the limelight! He's so funny, and so damn good
too.
 
Character Zero: A rocking closer to an amazing show. I can't decide yet if
it's my favorite show, but goddamn, it's up there.
 
Peace.
Dave

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 02:21:56 -0400
From: Bob Silver rsilver@gate.net
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: Virginia Bch De'ja-vue

Anybody see the similarity between this years show and last years show?
Wizard of Ozz teases, Terrapins as encores????
 
Anal Cops!!!!
 
But,
What a show!!!!!!
 
Good Night
See everyone in MD
 
Peace
Boca Bob in Va.

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