1: Llama, Wolfman’s Brother, Punch You in the Eye, Quinn the Eskimo, Poor Heart, Roggae, Split Open and Melt*, The Squirming Coil > Loving Cup
2: Tweezer > On Your Way Down, Piper, You Enjoy Myself > Frankenstein, Waste
E: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Tweezer Reprise
This show was a special one for me, because I got to introduce Phish to a few friends, including one I’ve known for 10 years; and it was the first show I witnessed from 10 feet. This was my 8th show, which would make me fairly inexperienced by the standards of many phans, but I am studious, and know my Phish well.
Of course, with me at this show was my fiancee, Terri. This was her 7th show, having dragged me across the country to Oswego, Alpine Valley, and Iowa so far in ’99. She’s really the reason I see as many shows as I do. I can’t imagine experiencing Phish without her by my side.
But enough of that.
This being a hometown show for us, we managed to secure general admission floor tickets for the 5 of us that went. The other 3 were all first-timers, and the phans around us made sure to let them know just how lucky they were to have general admission floor tickets for their first show.
My friend Lundo was perturbed by the blue pre-show lights; personally, I thought they were dazzling. If I concentrated hard enough on the blue lights, I could forget I was standing in a basketball arena.
Set I
The show began with Llama, a great song for pumping up the crowd, not a great song for reviewing. This version was very high-energy, and well-executed.
Llama gave way to Wolfman’s Brother. A very slow and groovy version. The jam was typical Wolf-fare, nothing extra-special. Nice, slow, and groovy. Mostly Trey & Fish oriented.
The end of Wolf brough on the Shaft-esque Whok-a-Chikah intro of Punch You In The Eye. This version had a very long intro with Trey experimenting with the Heavy Things ‘beep’. It started to sound very 2001-ish before the initial ‘hey’ section. I hadn’t known before this show about the gay-man dance Mike and Trey during the Latin breakdown. My friends and I laughed our collective ass off.
Next up was Quinn The Eskimo. Terri and I couldn’t believe it. We’d shat at Oswego when it happened, and we shat again when it happened at the Target Center. Quinn rocked, by the way, as did every other song played this night. This is a great sing-along song.
After sweet Quinn, we were treated to Poor Heart and Roggae. Poor Heart was cool, I could have done without the Roggae.
Lunckily after these two songs, came Split Open and Melt. This was the jam tune of the set. This version was especially cool, because it dropped the SOAM groove fairly quickly, and while Page kept it in the background, Mike & Trey busted out. They were all over this jam. It sounded like it might not come back around for a while, but eventually Page triumphed, and the outro reared it’s head. They held the last chords like they were going to end the set, and Trey did intros for the band: Page as ‘Stumpy’, due to his injured ankle, Mike as ‘Cactus’, Fish as ‘Manny’, and himself as ‘The Good Lieutenant, and don’t you forget it’ (this refers to his Oswego introduction as ‘The Bad Lieutenant’, which in turn refers to a Harvey Keitel movie in which you can see his penis).
Instead of ending the set, they brought out The Squirming Coil (perhaps in reference to the aforementioned Harvey Keitel flick). This was Terri’s favorite Phish tune for a long time. She always loved Page’s beautiful piano solos at the end of the song. Unfortunately, at Oswego, we got no piano solo, but this night Page apologized with a long and gorgeous one; It wound and ground and sped, then slowed down. That led into Loving Cup! This was a combo I’ve been dreaming of hearing ever since I was introduced to this song. And since it’s a Stones song, I was sure Lundo (who had been appreciating the music thus far, but no real sparks had flown yet) would recognize it. However, he didn’t, but enjoyed the tune nonetheless.
Set I was a great set for good songs, but offered little in the jams department. Wolfman’s had a little, but nothing compared to what it’s shown before. Split Open and Melt raged, so what the hell am I talking about?
During setbreak, we moved a bit back and over by Page’s side of the stage. This was a mistake, but one of the persons with us was a wimp, and kept complaining about how tired she was, so we didn’t have much choice.
Set II
This is what I love, a good second set Tweezer opener. This one went in some nasty places (I mean that in a good way), and is a definite highlight for the show. I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if there hadn’t been some stupid hippy-chick in front of me wopping her stinky hair in my face. She was very inconsiderate. Luckily I have the CDR, so now I can enjoy the show.
Tweezer died down and segued into On Your Way Down. They had just broken this song out at the first Shoreline show, and we felt honored to get to hear it.
After OYWD, we were treated to a sweet Piper. This another of Terri’s favorites, and this version was killer. It featured a nice straight build to the chorus, after which Trey dove and the song rumbled, then Trey made it soar again. The jam raged for a good 3 minutes before the second chorus, which was very fast. Then it raged for another 5 minutes at least, before slowly dying down as Trey fell into a little 3-note riff; everyone pulsed and Trey quietly soloed.. eventually trey walked over to his little keyboard, and emulated his earlier 3-note riff. The jam quieted and followed Trey’s rhythm. The pace still raced, but much quieter than before, like a tip-toed footrace. Trey trilled, Page layered, Mike vibroed, Fish swung, fade… fade… and piper died like it birthed, just a few notes on the wind.
And then there was You Enjoy Myself. I felt very blessed to hear Tweezer and YEM in the same set, and excited about YEM, since I knew Lundo knew at least part of it. This version stands out for the extra long spacey part right after the intro; it even went silent for about 3 seconds (or it would have, if not for all that cheering). During the tramps jam, Page seemed to push at a Oye Como Va tease without quite getting there. The jam after the tramps section was all Mike and Page. Very funky. The vocal jam seemed a little tacked on. The song could’ve easily ended after the final WUDMTF, but they went for the vocal jam anyway. It was worth it; a very eerie version.
I don’t know where the segue on the setlist came from, you can’t really segue from a vocal jam into Frankenstein. Frankenstein rocked. A tiny flub in the beginning made it interesting. Lundo knew this one, too, so it was cool. Finally the sparks flew.
Waste was beautiful. This is going to be Terri & I’s song at our wedding. We were lucky enough to catch this tune twice in 99.
Encore
While My Guitar Gently Weeps. They seemed to be following a pattern of of cover-song-encores this tour. In Iowa, we got a Bold As Love, and then in Chicago, we got Son Seals and Sugar Blue. Okay, so the second one doesn’t technically count, but I stand by my theory. This was the first time I paid attention while listening to this song, and it’s now one of my favorite Beatles’ tunes. This is why bands should play covers; to expose their fans to new music.
Tweezer Reprise. I predict this one every time.
I was really hoping to hear a Led Zeppelin cover, since Lundo is such a big Zep fan, but alas, we didn’t get it. Lundo really enjoyed the show, and plans on attending Target Center 2000 with us, as well.
All in all, a great show; not a suprise why this one find it’s way into most people lists. The SOAM, Tweezer, and Piper are all great jams, and the rest is all played extremely well.