7-24-99 -- Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 17:19:00 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Review of Alpine show

Here is a quick song by song review of the show.  A few comments before.
This is my second Alpine show.  It is a great and beautiful venue in the
nice rolling hills of Wisconsin.  If you can ever make it out here, I
would highly recomend seeing them here.

Guyute:  What??  A very strange opener.  When Trey hit the opening chords
a huge smile just came onto my face.  I love Guyute.  It was good, a few
flubs here and there.  But hey, its Guyute.

Fluffhead & Jam:  A good Fluff.  The crowd was really into the song, so
was Trey.  The jam that followed was incredible.  This is what Phish is
all about.  It kept building and rebuilding, and everyone got a chance to
strut their stuff.

TMWSIY-Avenu-TMWSIY:  A basic version.  There is nothing better than Mike
singing Hebrew.  I honestly thought this would end the set.

Wedge:  Wow!! This song just rocks.  It was well played, and a nice jam
that followed.

Character Zero:  My second, (first New World 97).  I love this song.  
This version was the best that I have ever heard.  At the end Trey was
waving his guitar around to produce an awesome feedback.  It was kind of
eery in a way. What a way to end the set though.

The first set was good.  There was a lot of variety.  Zero and the Wedge
made the set for and an awesome 34 minute jam.  There was a good hour
before they came back on.

Tweezer:  Nice.  Who doesn't love a good Tweezer?  During Tweezer, they
sang Catapult, and it was a very nice treat actually.

Mango Song:  My first.  This song is ok.  I was not really expecting it.
The solo was very well played during this song, and I think that it made
it.

The Happy Whip and Dung Song:  Did not really here this one.  I had to
piss. I drank too much water.

Waste:  Just in time!  What a great song.  Very well played.  Page and
Trey's solos were awesome.  I just love this song.

Chalkdust Torture:  When Trey hit the opening chords, the whole theater
eruppted.  This version was the most intense version that I have ever
heard. At the end, Trey was waving his guitar around to produce that
awesome feedback.  I couldn't really see, but I think Trey fell down
during the end, and just got right back up, and produced the feedback.  
Awesome way to close the set.

Encore:

Glide:  I love Glide.  I think they were telling us that they "were glad
that we were alive, and arrived."  I thought to myself that I was glad
they were alive and arrived.  :)

Camel Walk:  What?  A lot of people didn't know what this song was.  I
honestly got it on tape a week before this show.  Nothing better than a
Camel Walk.  I thought that they would go into Reprise, but...

Alumni Blues:  Im going to admitt that I did not know what this song was.
A great version.  I think Trey was "alright".  What a great song.  I can't
wait to get it on tape.

Tweezer Reprise:  Very intense.  I honestly like Reprise better than the
regular Tweezer.  Very well played.  It was a great way to end the show

Overall I would give this show an 8 out of 10.  It wasn't as good as last
years show, but it was still an amazing show.  The encore really made up
for the first half of the second set.  It was 100 degrees outside, and the
show made us forget how hot it was.  Simply awesome, and I cant wait to
get it on tape.

Peace-
David

Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 16:51:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ryan David Blitstein [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24/99 Quick Review
 
 
A quick song-by-song review for those considering getting this on
tape,DAT, or CD.
In case you care, I've been to about 20 shows since '96.
I went to 3 shows this tour, and i've heard 6 of this tour on tape.
 
Guyute:
Kind of a weird opener, but played straight and crisp.  You could see the
smile on trey's face as he hit the opening chords.  The whole band was
ready for a great show.
 
Fluffhead -> Jam*:
Quite a good fluff, nothing incredible. The jam afterwards was really
good, but started to drag during the last minute or so before...
 
- > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday >
Avenu Malkenu> The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday >:
Standard versions.  As this was my first TMWSIY, I was psyched, but people
didn't seem to be that into it.
 
> Wedge:
The whole time I was thinking "Man, what a great song."  Well played, with
a rocking little jam.
 
Character
Zer0:
For some reason, every time I hear this I like it more, even though it's
basically the same thing every time.  Really, just a great 1st set closer.
I was a bit annoyed by Trey throwing his guitar around and making weird
noises.  They could've played another song during that time.  But
whatever.  Phish is phish.
 
First set... 6 out of 10.  Well played, good song selection as first sets
go.
 
II: Tweezer ->:
The intense drum beats from Fishman got the crowd ready for a pretty
intense set.
 
Catapult->:
I've wanted to see this for a long time.  Weird monotone singing followed
by amazing harmonies.  A nice treat, although played at Oswego very
recently.
 
Tweezer:
great reentrance and jamming.
 
Mango Song:
Trey kept messing up on the chords.  He might have been very fucked up,
but maybe he just was a bit out of practice on this one.  He would screw
up, then try to redeem himself by improv-ing a bit on the little riffs
during the chorus.  Then he'd screw up again.  The harmonies were a bit
off as well, probably because they were trying too hard. At some point
near the beginning of the jam, Trey pretty much said to himself: "Fuck it,
I played that terribly.  I'm just going to play one of the most ripping
Mango solos _ever_."  So he did.  The solo was reminiscent of the
Franklin's intro solo the 2nd night of Phil & Friends.  Vintage staccato
Trey soloing, nectar-style, with little bits of singing guitar.  I can see
why people like the everybody-jams-at-once style, but sometimes Trey needs
to take control.  Page's piano in the background during the jam was also
very pretty.
 
The Happy Whip and Dung Song:
pretty worthless, IMO.
 
Waste:
A beautiful song, very well played.
 
Chalk Dust Torture:
I'm really sick of this song, but the solo got pretty intense.  Again,
throwing of the guitar by Trey.
 
Set II...7 out of 10.  The solo on Mango pretty much made the set for me.
Very short set though.
 
Encore
Glide:
I fucking love Glide.  They were a bit rusty, but who cares?  They played
it.
 
Camel Walk:
A lot of people were pretty clueless as to what this and Alumni were.  You
could really tell who was into phish and who wasn't during those two
songs.  Really cool jamming, kind of updated for '99.
 
Alumni Blues:
A great version of this song.  When phish dusts off old stuff, you really
notice how much better they've gotten as a group year by year.
 
Tweezer Reprise:
Intensely pleasing as always.
 
Encore...9.5 out of 10.  I can't think of too many encores that have been
better than this one.
 
Overall, 7 out of 10.  A better than average show, but not amazing.
Again, by far the best Mango solo ever played by Trey, IMO.
As soon as I get my DA-20 I'll B&P this for anyone who wants it.
wait until september.
[email protected]


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 03:32:09 CDT
From: Steve Coleman [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Review (summary--WOW!)

OK...first off, decent lot...very laid back, we had lots of cool pholks by
us, but some cocks too who made us depart for our seats a little early. Oh
well.  Highlight of the lot--I met Mike!!  He drove right past my car on
his cart (I was parked on an end) and when I got to him, not too many
people were around him...I quickly shook his hand, said I loved his stuff.  
Then a crowd came...he seemed very cautious/nervous, very very quiet, etc.  
It was kinda weird---I don't know.  Got two pictures and he was on his
way...neato!!!  On to the show--- 

ONSTAGE AT 8:20 PM 

Guyute--nice way to open a show, nice long composed peice, so it's a good
warmup tune for the guys...but to get into a show, it's difficult if you
don't really like it.  I was glad to hear it, unique placement, so it was
different...I was thinking how Guyute and Fluff were so alike because they
are both 10 mins. plus and long composed segements, so on paper, they are
quite similar...funny that FLUFFHEAD---comes next!!  So weird---how often
have you seen Guyute to open a show then Fluff to follow it?  Not
often...out of the other two Fluffs I've seen (Alpine 98 and Kohl 98) this
one seemed to have the most energy of them all.  Trey (as he was all night)
was just jumping around stage, he was SUCH a madman tonight...like nothing
I've ever seen or witnessed before. Right after the FLUFFHEAD! Release point
is when it got interesting...i kept on waiting for them to bring it back to
the beginning part to close it, but they just NEVER did...words really can't
describe it.  This jam is ultimately the definition of the word JAM.  All of
the guys had their respective parts, if one was absent it wouldn't be right.  
It kept evolving, not like an old Tweezer (like A Live One) with lots of
weird transitional segments, it just kept on morphing and changing and the
guys made it look so easy.  Trey did lots of loops and effects, Mike was
phat as hell, Page was really really in the mix well tonight, and Fish laid
down a very solid beat.
  I thought they'd do a Guyute, Fluffhead-->Jam first set and end it!  
And because it segued into TMWSIY, don't think it was all Ambient
either....this was heavy, deep GOOEY phunk...Phunk phunk and more phunk.  
Almost a hip-hop beat between mike and fish...very very nice.  
Eventually, it did come to an end and went Ambient style---the whole Fluff
sequence was 33 minutes long...or 33 mins. short.  Right into
TMWSIY---Awesome, just such a beautiful peice.  Avenu had such a nice
calypso beat to it at first, I really liked what Fish was doing with it.
Back into TMWSIY, brief post ambience, and Fish kicks in a drumbeat...Trey
is noodling, wait...could it be??? WEDGE!!!--YAY!!!  On my setlist, it's a
-->Wedge, very nice (but short...) transition.  Nice wedge, 7 mins all
together, but it was nice to finally get one.  Finally, after 55 mins. of
playing the guys stop to take a 2 second break before starting- Char.
0---I figured this would close the set, and it worked out well.  It ended
up being about 9 mins. long, awesome work by trey.  At the end he swung
his guitar around creating eery distortion, like I said, he was a mad man
tonight...he jumped or was running around playing his guitar on about
every song too...unlike him to be THAT energetic.  Setbreak...Offstage at
9:30, a 70 min. first set...setbreak music included Manteca (the original
by Dizzy, right???) very neat!

Set II---a 52 min. setbreak...ok, let's get a keeper!  (not that the first
set was a let down!) Open with Tweezer--OK, another unique opener, usually
you see a smaller song or a 2001 into Tweezer to open a set, I figured
this would either be a huge Tweez or they'd do something really funky with
it...and they did.  The jam was going pretty nicely, at the 14 min. mark,
Trey walks over to Mike, both step up the their mics and resite
CATAPULT...a weird version, it was really hard to hear over the music,
took me a few lines to actually confirm that it was Catapult...always a
treat!! Post Catapult Jam--they jammed it for 3 minutes after Catapult, so
total Tweezer-->Catapult-->Jam was 17 mins.  Tweezer dissolved and out of
that came...

Mango!!!--Yippe!  First wedge in first set now a Mango?  And after a 33
min Fluff, TMWSIY and a first set Wedge, a
Tweezer-->Catapult-->tweez-->Mango capped it off...the Mango was really
excellent and some guy to the left of the soundboard must have unleashed
about 100 green glowrings, which spurred a glowring/stick war...the fans
were well behaved and when the jam was over, the war stopped.  None for
the rest of the show...THANK YOU!!!  That's how it should be!  Nice Mango!

Some confusion---out of Mango and into Waste, a definite jam or other tune
was played...very short, like 1-2 mins. if that, but dark and heavy.  It
really fit more with Waste than Mango, and I just didn't like it at all.
That was the musical downside to my show...and hell, when you can say
something like that is your downside, it's an awesome show.

Waste was a nice cooldown song, and the crowd really got into it during
Page's and Trey's solos.  The end dissolved into Trey ripping a speedy

Chalkdust---and the place erupts.  Trey is so pumped for this, he must
have that Fish couldn't even keep up, and once Trey got so far ahead of
everyone else he started laughing, he was that pumped.  The man was so
energetic, I just can't get over that.  Trey ripped Chalkdust apart, it
built, back built, rebuilt, multiple times...and trey hit THE note a few
times, all in all a beautiful Chalkdust...at the end, Trey sat down and
rolled onto his back and played the guitar on his back, it was getting
nuts!  But that's the set...so so short, about 58 mins...I was mad, but I
told myself that if they did a phat encore, that would make up for
it...they did more than a phat encore.

A 20 min. encore.  4 songs.  Wow.  First, Glide.  In my opinion, I think
the guys actually meant "And we're glad.....that you're alive." because
I'm really getting the impression that they love Alpine.  A nice
rendition, and a rare treat.  Camel Walk...What???  I didn't even know at
first, and I heard Trey belt out CAMEL WALK!  and I almost did a flip.  
No way...no way!!!  Well, they did...and it was nice too.  Nice bluesy
jam, I was expecting this to go right into Tweezerprise, But wait, there's
more! Shut up...no way in hell...after a 100 degree day and all that
energy from Trey, no way...not a 4 song encore, and definitely not Glide,
Camel and Alumni...that's enough to make a show right there, let alone
back to back to back!  Alumni was sweet, me and the guy in front of me
were just goin' apeshit as most others were somewhat lost at first...but
Trey ripped this too, the lyrics were perfect, I saw him do it at the
Oscar Mayer Theater on his acoustic tour and this just blew that
away...what a treat.  It was almost like three sets!  Then the inevitable
Tweezerprise came, but hell, after Glide Camel and Alumni, Tweezerprise
was bumpin'!  This again, was filled with emotion and just capped off the
night so well....There is so much I missed I'm sure but it's late and I
leave for Deer Creek in 3 hours, so I need some shut eye...


Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 16:26:01 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley 7-24-99

After reading 20 pages of reviews about Alpine Valley '99, I was able to
gleen about 3 pages of worthwhile review. Simply stated, it was a great
show filled with it's bad points.

1. Enough has been said about the first set, which was really fantactic!
The only other thing to add is that this was the best first set I have
ever seen any group do, including my beloved Grateful Dead.

2. 2nd set song list looks impressive, but was actually weak in spots. (It
ws also a short set coming off of a 50-60 minute intermission. Bummer.) I
think one chap said it best when he said "Finish a song." Songs just
fizzled vs ending w/ a massive kick, and/or the transitions into other
songs were weak. This holds true especially for Tweezer and Chalkdust
(which lagged in the middle). Fine versions, but not nearly as exciting as
those I'm fortunate enough to have on tape.

For better or worse, I do hope to have this on tape because it was a good
show...the 4 song encore being the deciding factor.

About the scene, it was great to see the lack of cops. T'was nice to
experience a bit of summertime freedom. Regrettably, almost all the hired
folks (vendors/ushers) I spoke with seemed unhappy or uneasy, and had the
attitude that the phans were all messed up, rude, or both. (Some phans
were, perhaps due in part to the heat.) The phans have got to stay cool if
they want this scene to continue. Thankfully, the phans I met were
peaceful and loving. For the younger generation, I pray it stays that way.
"Peace, love and groovy" will always be en vogue.

This is Paul and that says it all.

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 16:42:47 -0500
From: "Behling, Ryan (BSMG FRB)" [email protected]
To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected]
Subject: Alpine

This was my 9th Phish show and 1st review. For those who thought the show
sucked, I think you may have been too close. From the lawn, everything was
beautiful.  The band, the set, the people, the hills ... the vibe.  
Thanks Phish, I will never forget that night Peace, Henderson Inches


Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 04:08:35 -0400
From: Westley Warren [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24/99 Alpine by Adam Gee
 
Today is 8-3, and i have now the time to post MY review of the AWESOME
show that occured sat-week in east troy.  i picked up tour in atlanta w/
tickets for only 7/4 and 7/7, a pocket full of cash, and a few cases of
good ole h20.  i made enough each show from beer and water to
comfortably travel, and i of course got into every single show i tried.
i skipped 1st great woods, and 1st pnc for financial reasons.  well,
anyhow, on with the show...
After raging the lot for a few hours, i had enough cash to find a ticket
with.  i went to the gates about six thirty, quarter till seven, and
held my finger in the air.  patiently asking, "i need a ticket for
tonight, please.  i even have money;~)"  after ten minutes of pacing,
and a small puddle later, i was approached by a very attractive blonde
female, who asked me if i needed a ticket.  FUCK YES, i needed a
ticket.  i had the coolest vibe going on, and this day had already been
a special one for me.  i replied yes.  she then hands me a ticket,
saying,"here, this is for you."  a miracle!!!! i thanked her with as
much feeling as my stunned ass could muster, and freaked openly as i ran
back to the photo van we drove to tell my buddies the wonderful news.
oh yeah, this is a pavillion ticket.
so here i am, on row U (you?) seat 109, maybe the sixth row of elevated
seats.  the place is ABSOLUTELY BUZZING with electricity.  historical
vibes hummed all over.  turns out i'm sitting with people on the guest
list, after show passes and all, alas the aforementioned angel is
nowhere to be found.
the band energetically walks out to their insraments, and i come to the
glorious realization that i am at eye level slightly to the left of
Trey, maybe a step or so to Fish's side.  they strum up Guyute, and at
first i am pissed.  toronto was enough for me.  this shit of a feeling
is so fleeting, however, that i am already having trouble writing the
last few letters of the title on my setlist.  the sound is awesome,
fitting for the size of the venue.  a few feedback problems are
remedied, and the band settles into a nice feel.  then, holy SHIT,
another Fluffhead!?!!??  hmmmmm...
it is at this point when i feel that some weird, wild shit is starting
to go down.  i begin a communication with the band through sight and
action that i have experienced truly at quite a few shows that i have
been up close at.  i mean, c'mon, eye contact is an undeniable thing,
man.
so phish is playing fluffhead as the 2nd song, i begin freaking, and
then they lead us into space.  these two songs lasted roughly 45
minutes, but were as intense as all get out.  i mean, this was turning
into the stuff of legends.  really.  then trey begins TMWSIY.  Mike has
been going completely APESHIT thus far, and by this i am bestowing my
highest complements upon our dear bassist.  avenu is bone shattering
fun.  i am ecstatic by this point in time, understandably so.  then fish
drops another bombshell, and begins the Wedge.  if any of you phans
doubt musical quality of this show, give this Wedge a listen.  Fucking
Amazing.  the sound they created during this song is unprecedented.
easily the best version of this song ever.  props to paul r. languedoc.
MAD PROPS, my good man.  anyhow, the cool dude behind me who was about
to go to law school, thanks for the puffs, my man, he saw how much i was
getting down.  you are one cool dude, good luck in school.  character
zero was absolutely no let down.  RAGING by Trey, rock star tricks, all
that crazy shit.  best version i've seen, only other one that comes
close is 10/31/96.
wow.
tweezer, well, please her.  the spacey, Loud ending is awesome, then
another Catapult that sounded like it was from outer space.  eerie as
fuck.  this leads us into...The Mango Song.
now, my favorite songs are fluff, wedge, tmwsiy, mangoes, glide and
camel walk.
hmmmmm...
waste was powerful still, but an insanely rocking chalkdust blows me
away!  best since 7/23/97.   trey was the most psyched i have ever seen
him, just going CRAZY.  wild, wild shit.
the encore was the capping of the most wonderful concert i have ever
seen.  page and trey were just grinning at me, yes, i am serious, during
the first verse of Glide, and bless 'em, they told me that they were
glad that i am alive.  camel walk?  damn fucking right, my friends.
so this is my forum to thank the precious lady who miracled me into the
best seat of the venue for what turned out to be the phish show of my
dreams.  if i could have scripted it, it may not have even been as grand
as it was, and still is.  thank you phish, for the best summer of my
life, and for the present you gave me at Alpine Valley.  don't listen to
the ridiculous criticisms of some of these reviews.  a dream come true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~peAce~~~~~~~~~~~~~
adam gee@[email protected].

Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 14:28:38 -0600
From: Justin Metz [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24/99 Alpine Valley Review
 
7/24/99 Alpine Valley (what a dank show!)
 
It's 8/1/99, (exactly a year since Alpine 98) a week and a day after
Alpine 99.  I've had a week to gather my thoughts and reflect on the 7
shows I saw on the Summer 99 tour (Nashville>Atlanta,
Columbus>Alpine>Deer Creek), and one thing stands out - ALPINE VALLEY!
7/24/99 was my 3rd trip to the Valley. I missed 1997 because my first
son was born on that VERY day (Second anniversary of Jerry's Death).  I
saw 96, 98 (jerry's Bday : ) and as i sat on the lawn in 99 i knew Phish
was about to rage.
 
I'm not gonna bother to post the setlist, just check phish.net (it's a
sick list).   The show opened with Guyute.  Guyute is probably the most
over-played song in the last 3 tours, but i still love it.  This one was
good, but not as good as TN.  The early parts were a little shaky, but i
knew they were just warming up.  The last 5 minutes of the song were
perfect.  Fluffhead came up next. This was my 3rd fluffhead in 23 shows,
each one has been at Alpine Valley.  The composed section was 99%
perfect, except one minor Trey flub in the middle.  When they got to the
jam ending, it wasn't as powerful as last years fluff, but then they
just let it soften and melt into a huge jam.  This jam was so perfect.
It just kept melting through different phases, and switching paces.
Trey would lead, then follow and Mike was dominant the whole time.  It
was sick.  They came on stage between 8:15 and 8:20, when i looked at my
watch and it was 9:00 PM, I knew i was at another SICK Alpine show.
The jam eventually melted into The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday.  HELL
YEA!  My first.  It was well played.  Avenu malkenu was sick as hell,
Mike was loving it.  This was just the first bust-out of MANY to come
that night.  TMWSIY followed up Avenu Malkenu like it usually does, but
then they dropped it into about a 5 minute ambient spacy jam.  It was
nice.  Then Fishman just popped in The Wedge and i freaked.  What a
Jam!! In the first set no Less.  This was the Second Wedge of the tour.
My first Wedge was in Atlanta!! I was stoked to hear it again, this was
better than Atlanta.  A rocking Character Zero Closed set 1.  Sure
Character Zero is a standard set closer and encore, but hey this one
Rocked!  It just left me wanting a sick jam in set 2.
And i got it.
Tweezer>>Catapult!!  YEA!!  After about 2 minutes of waiting after they
got to the stage for the second set Trey ripped out Tweezer.  It was
well done. Tweezer wasn't overplayed this tour either, so it was good to
hear it.  Whenever you hear Tweezer you know it's going into something
else, but not before it jams for a good while.  That's what so dank
about it.  The jam was nicely done, not as long as fluffhead, but that's
because once the jam got a little more loose and free, Trey and Mike
come in singing Catapult!  I just looked at my friends and said
"Bad-ass."  The best word to describe how this Catapult sounded is
GOLDEN.  I didn't really catch much Tweezer after Catapult, just sort of
a slow jam, and eventually popped up Mango Song.  This is where ALL the
complaining about Trey being Slack and Fucked up is coming from.  They
didn't have much of a problem with the lyrics (i've heard worse flubs in
the words to Mango than Alpine) but That Little Dank Riff Trey plays
after the Chorus "You're hands and feet are Mangoes, You're gonna be a
genius any day" pretty much sucked!  I mean he couldn't hit but like 3
of the notes each time.  I was kind of disappointed because this was my
first Mango live.  But then when i thought it would go down as the worst
Mango ever, They get to the jam where Page usually does about 3 minutes
of work and they just end it, and Trey just Started Ripping it.  It was
almost like he said to us, "I'm sorry I fucked up so bad during that
Mango, here have this" and they jammed Mango Song for at Least 12 or 15
minutes!   Despite the Flubs, this Mango Song truly is evolutionary.
Phish has opened up in 99, Listen to some of these jams like Mango Song
here.  Listen to how open and free they are, and how they just keep
going in different directions, Out of Mango song, and Fluffhead!  Their
Creative Intuition blows me away.
The rest of the set was sort of a let down.  I didn't know the 3 minute
instrumental was The Happy Whip and Dung song, because i still haven't
heard the Siket Disc, but i kinda guessed it was off that disc.  I've
heard What's the Use, and this didn't sound like what's the use.  It was
Ok, nothing tremendous.  Waste is a cool song.  The whole Lawn was
alight with lighters, which is always a cool sight at Alpine Valley.
But i don't really like to hear Waste Late in Set 2 like that, because
every time i have, the set has never fully recovered.  It's a great
first set song, but an energy let down in set 2.  I still like Waste
though, and this one was good.  The Chalk Dust was my 8th and it's up
there at the top of those i've heard.  It was long and went on for a
while in a few directions.  But i was disappointed as they closed the
set with that.  IT had only been a 56 minute set.  That left me wanting
a dank Encore.
And i got it.
Of the 23 i've seen, this goes down as THE PHATTEST Encore i have been
blessed with.
GLIDE, CAMEL WALK, ALUMNI BLUES, TWEEZER REPRISE.
Clocking in at just over Half an Hour, this completely made up for the
slack end to set 2.  Glide was just a sick way to kick it off, then
Camel Walk!   Yea!  Give me that funk!  Then when they kicked into
Alumni Blues, i lost my shit.  This show was allready full of songs i
wanted to hear for the first time - TMWSIY, AVENU MALKENU, CATAPULT,
MANGO, CAMEL WALK, and Now ALUMNI BLUES!  I like Alumni Blues MUCH MORE
than i Like Destiny Unbound.  Destiny is a cool song, but Alumni's Got
that funk that Destiny lacks.  And Alumni is also a song they played
back in the day, before most of these songs we hear now. Destiny was
played 5 or 6 times between 90-91.  This was the First Alumni Blues in
426 shows, First in 5 years!  I'm so glad i heard it! It was SOOO GOOD!
Then Tweezereprise, no matter how many times i hear this close a show, i
will never get sick of it.  It's pure Rock and Roll, and my only
Quadruple Encore!
 
I've never walked out of Alpine Valley dissapointed. I thought i might
after the second set, but i just couldn't after the encore.  All the
negativity about this show is unwarranted.  Yea, Trey flubbed a little
bit, but anyone who has seen a few shows knows that Phish is Human, and
they will make mistakes.  If you've seen a show on this tour, you know
they made a few mistakes, but nothing that really ruined the tour.  They
took 6 months off of Phish and worked on seperate projects, then for the
first time in 3 years they came back and did a US tour, without a Europe
Tour to warm up.  Give the boys some credit.  They may have been
slightly rusty, BUT THEY RAGED!  Fall tour will kick ass!
peace phriends, i hope you had as much fun as i did on Summer Tour!
see you in the fall
justin metz
[email protected]



Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 21:28:36 -0700
From: Harry McQuillen [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24/99 Alpine Review
 
 
I really don't make a habit of reading folks reviews of the
shows, but in checking for Japan setlists I managed to stumble
into the Alpine review section.
 
I wasn't too into the first set of this show primarily because
of my enviornment. I had great seats, 8th row left side but
was fairly miserable due to number of people trying to scam into
the section. Now I rarely sit in my seat, often dance in the
aisles (feel free to criticize me for being in the way) but
these folks were for the most part just plain rude, jumping
over chairs, pushing and shoving, and totally trying to invade
my space. The wedge got me going though, I always like that tune.
 
I noticed that trey screwed some stuff up, like TMWSIY, and
the beginning of Mango, but for the all the people who tally such
things I was sober and I've been to over 80 phish shows since
1992. This wasn't anywhere near the worst. Sloppy at moments,
uninspired in others, yes, but there were some high points to
this show. Most notably the jam out of Mango! That was awesome,
with trey building the jam up and up, pushing through to new
levels. Also, though I was dissapointed with the ending song
selection, the encore more than made up for it for me, especially
Alumni blues which I had only heard half of at the Beacon
in 94!
 
Secondly, it bums me out when people rag on Trey for being
wasted. From my 8th row seats I had a pretty clear view
of him and he didn't seem particularly impaired. In fact he
was rather energetic with all of his lightsaber guitar and
rolling around on the floor rock star stuff (which I found
a bit annoying myself). I mean, we really have no real idea
what drugs Trey does each night, I remember back in 1992
there were all these Mike on Heroin rumors which seemed like
total B.S., especially in retrospect. And whatever he does, if
he does it, doesn't seem like my business especially if we get
excellent shows like 2nd night Great Woods, Oswego, and Deer
Creek.
 
-Harry


Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 14:49:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jedd Marcus [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Show
 
        This summer I was lucky enough to see 12 shows, I started in Great
Woods and went all the way to Deer Creek.  I have now seen 32 Phish shows.
After seeing so many shows this summer I have learned a lot about the band
and the audience.  The band definately knows when to throw down. Alpine was
definately a throw down show.  Me and my friends drove many miles out of
the way to make it to this show.  This was one of my very favorite shows of
the tour along with second night Great Woods, first night Oswego, and first
night Deer Creek.
  I loved this show so much because of the great seats that I had in the
pavilion and all of the great classic phish songs that I was lucky enough
to hear.  Sure, Trey did flub some lyrics, but his playing,  as well as the
playong of the rest of the band was RIGHT ON!   I am not going to go
through step by step analysis of the show.  This is how I viewed it :
         Best Fluffhead I've ever heard, my first Man Who stepped>Avenu
Malkenu> first Wedge> and a rocking character zero, this is not a standard
first set, more like a second set,  REMARKABLE!!   Tweezer was awesome, had
a very techno like Jam that I got way deep into , the lights were the best
I'd seen all tour during this jam, CAtapult was all good, very psychadelic,
first Mango, great song, trey flubbed a lyric (big deal) he more than made
up for it in his transcendental solo, best mango i've ever heard, he was
floating on that end jam for quite a while, this was one of my highlights
from the entire tour, WHY didn't anyone mention this in the negative
reviews I've read so far, even if you did not GET INTO the Show, you must
have recognozed the beauty of this SOLO!  I'll admit that waste and
chalkdust was not how I wanted this set to end, but I do not make the
setlists, Waste served as a good cool down song, and chalkdust ROCKED HARD,
Way BETTER than the PNC version, more on, the PNC version was very sloppy,
I knew that this Chalkdust would close the set, PEAKED HARD.
         AFTER THE ENCORE I WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY, THIS IS THE BEST
ENCORE I'VE EVER SEEN, NEXT TO THE CARINI>BEK>SALLY>FRANKENSTEIN FROM
12/30/97  Only the most jaded fan could walk away from this show
unfullfilled.  This show was very special for me and many of my friends who
I traveled with this summer.  Many points during this show, I had
goosebumps through the music.  SURRENDER TO THE PHLOW!!  Peace out, My 2
cents
                                        JEDD

Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 16:14:42 -0500
From: Eric Haugee [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: alpine valley
 
In the two months prior to going to Alpine Valley, I became the epitome of a
Phan.  I had figured it was about time to give in. Granted, I had only seen
them two times prior, even though I had first been moved by the sounds
seven years ago.  I had recently converted my wife (she's from France and
had never even heard of the band), and she was almost as excited and
anxious as I was. We tracked the tour setlists, and begun to get info about
tape trading. The enjoyable slide into Phishdom had begun.
 
When my wife and I arrived at the parking lot, we were both facsinated and
excited by the scene, where the stories of veggie burritos and grilled
cheese  sandwiches were becoming true! Only had 2 more hours to wait!
 
When they opened up with Guyute, I was shocked--this was/is currently my
favorite song--so I knew this was a good omen, despite the slow and  awkward
start of the song. (Although I would have half expected them to play  it
later, being the long and jam-oriented song that it is.)  Fluffhead is
always  good to hear, and I appreciated it a lot more since my last
rendevous with  the band in november of 1996--especially when it's 34
minutes long! I only  knew TMWSIY from the story, and had never heard it. I
wish I would have  known. Can't wait to hear the tape!  Character Zero was a
great way to end  the first set--a great rock song for a great rock show
venue.
 
After the way-too-long set break I was so ready to hear Tweezer (although I
missed Catapult--maybe sitting way back on the lawn it didn't travel there
or  maybe the freak waving his arms and pouring water on his head distracted
me?).  When they ripped into Mango, I was thinking, they're playing half of
Picture--which is the one tape (as opposed to a cd) that I have in my car.
This was reiterated when they closed the 2nd set with Chalkdust Torture.
What an amazing experience, and the encore starting with Glide (another
Nectar song?!) was great.
 
The only down side to the whole show for me was the rest of the encore--not
because it sucked--it didn't--but because I couldn't appreciate Camel Walk
(sooooo funky!) or Alumni Blues.  I didn't know either of these, but I could
tell  by the people sitting around me that I was witnessing history in the
making.
 
What a great experience (did I say that yet?!). Before this show, I half-
scawffed at people who toured with the band, but walking back to my car I
soooo wish I had had tickets to Deer Creek and could afford to leave my job
for awhile and go Phishing.  Thanks to all the pholks who helped make this a
great life altering experience. And if anyone wants to help a slight newbie
with the start of his tape collection, I would love to get this show.  Also,
if  that kid from Chicago who stayed at Big Foot Beach and was selling the
tshirts with the fish on the turntable has any left and reads this, please
get in  touch me.


Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 22:32:55 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley

Dear to Whom it may concern:
    I feel that Alpine valley was the beginning of the end for Phish. I've
seen a lot of shows and done my share of following them.  But Trey's
performance this night was GARBAGE.  The first set was OK, then the
tweezer started out OK, but I was sitting third row for this show and I
saw some things that gave me incredibly bad vibes.  First of all.  I don't
know exactly what drugs trey was on this night but it sure didn't help his
playing.  I seriously thought he was going to fall down during mango.  He
didn't get one-note right and never sang in th right key.  Actually Trey
hardly played his guitar the whole set.  I watched the monitor board guy
on the side and even he was shaking his head in disgust.  Trey looked like
he was tripping face the whole set.  He abruptly ended the set after a
lackluster chalkdust and he ran off stage with the help of others.  I
didn't even think they would come out for an encore.  When they did
finally come, I guess after they sobered him up a little, they came out
and played songs that they never do.  I knew this was to make up for the
embarrassing second set. I can't believe that Trey could be like this. Too
much LSD, Too much MDMA, and Too much 2C-B, you'll hear of it soon.  I
thought I would never be able to see them again.  He did somehow regain my
confidence by playing a phat show in Deer Creek the next night, I still
think it was to make up for Alpine.  That's just my two-cents.  I just
want to say to people out there reading this, that it's about the music
not the drugs.  People enjoy the show 'cause they're on drugs.  Most
people don't really LISTEN.  Go back and listen to this set and tell me
I'm wrong.  Anyone who thinks this set was good wasn't listening.


Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 19:38:33 PDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24 Alpine Review
 
Lets face it, everyone has a bad day once in a while, and Saturday night was
an off night for the band.
 
Having been to all of the Alpine performances in my approx 12 Phish shows, I
had very strong concerns upon completion of the second set, which I will
call a poor performance at best.  I was hoping that they would come out with
a stellar encore to make up for this, and for the most part they did. The
only other slightly positive points were Avenu Milkenu (my first), and a
nice Mango.
 
Looking back on the experience, I was wondering if I was getting too old for
this stuff, or if others had similar opinions.  I am relieved to see that I
am not the only one that knows these guys can't be perfect every night, and
that there will be future opportunities to see the typically excellent show
that Phish is capable of.  I only wish my friend felt the same way, he later
decided that it would be his last show.
 
D

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 20:33:12 -0400
From: John Edens [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Review
 
Normally I just read the reviews and keep my opinions to myself, but since I
was in Apline Valley (38th show)I feel compelled to lend you, the reader, a
hand.  It is hard to describe with words the feelings that I feel at phish
shows.  They are so damn good at playing what is in the air.  As Trey
describes it, its like they become a filter and awesome amounts of energy
flow through them, becoming music in the process.  In Alpine Valley, the
vibe was phenomenal.  I saw ten shows this tour, and every night I made an
effort to respark my love for seeing them play, because it is simply human
nature to adapt to your surroundings, and not get as excited as you were the
first show of the tour.  With that in mind, I also realized that I shouldn't
be disappointed if I saw the same songs numerous times.  This mindframe
enabled me to have an great time this summer, and Alpine was no exception.
        As I said earlier, they came out and really played what was in the
air. When Trey came speedwalking out on stage, you could tell in his body
language he was Phuckin ready to go, not wasted, as people said earlier.
Guyute was brisk, and I cannot even begin to describe the feelings inside of
me that were being ripped around inside my body from Fluffhead all the way
through TMWStepped.  The lights were the frosting on the cake, and IT was
definitely happening.  I know that is such a vague way to describe it, but
for those of you who know what I'm talking about, EVERYTHING WAS LOCKED IN
AND IT WAS DEFINITELY HAPPENING.  For those of you who have no idea what I
am talking about, I truly hope someday you will.  Because that feeling is
the best feeling in the world, even better than sex, I swear to God.
        The second set was ruined by the assholes who thought it would be
cool to fire glowrings at the band and the equipment.  When you get the
tapes, you'll see for yourself.  When the glowrings came out during Mango,
the vibe in the air, the bands desire and ability to play, and the equipment
were thrashed.  You can probably hear the speakers being pommeled on tape.
        The encore was great, yes, but it was during the first set that my
was thoroughly manipulated.

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 12:38:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mark Mcavoy [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley
 
First set rocked; jammed from beginning to end.  Page took the first solo in
the middle of Fluffhead and Trey followed with a good one at the end. The
set continued that way with the three bad boys hitting solos and passing the
lead around.
 
Set two fizzled in the middle of Tweezer, although the Mango, was decent
even though Trey couldn't find a note on guitar. The Waste and Glide were
both well played but real typical. The weird song with two names was
interesting, but needs work. Everything else was lame.
 
Overall, not bad. Phish is getting there. It's not that they're sounding
more deadish, it's just the natural sound of rock that everyone has in
they're heads. I know what Phish has in their heads because I'm the same age
as them (ok, a liitle bit younger) and saw and felt the same things they saw
and felt years ago, before he stopped playing, then stopped singing, then
keeled over and died.
 
The crowd was real nice and polite especially after the first set with
everyone
smiling.
 
Watch out for ROTATING BLOB.
 
Mark McAvoy


Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 12:56:01 -0600
From: "Gagliano, Michael (Cahners - CHI)" [email protected]
To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected]
Subject: alpine 99
 
There seems to be quite a few reviews of this show already, so I'll be
direct.  The Guyute>Fluffhead>JAM was simply magic.  About 45 min of
perfection.  There is no way anyone can dispute this.  I know they didn't
officially finish the song, but who cares.  I thought it was the BOMB!  The
Avenu jam was good as was Wedge.  The set closer Character 0 was epic arena
rock.  Sure, Trey got a little over indulgent at the end but I'll remember
this Zero for that exact zanies.  I'd give the 1st set a 8.5/10.  Awesome!
 
The 2nd set however was a little different.  Tweezer started off great, but
similar to last years version, there was some emptiness within the jam.
Catapult had my friends and I looking around like "what the fuck?".  I would
agree with most of the other reviewers about Mango.  It lacked energy, BUT
the jam that followed SMOKED!  Yes, Trey was a little off tonight, but he
has along way to go to reach Jerry proportions(as mentioned in a prior
review).  I sat 8th row, 20 feet from Trey and yes during the Tweezer jam,
he looked as if he didn't know his own name.  But have we not seem him look
goofy many times in the past?(that stupid open-mouth look into space)   The
Waste that followed confirms my statement.  He pulled this one off perfectly
with the pressure and the spotlight on him.  Chalkdust was a complete
compliment of the 1st set closer Zero.  Total excessive Trey in the jamming
and the theatrics, but again I'll remember my dad(sitting next to me) just
laughing as the set came to a somewhat short conclusion.
 
My dad and I were giving the 2nd set 6/10 until the encores.  As everyone
can see, the 4 encores RIPPED!   Glide>Camel>Alumni>Tweezerprise.  Again I
found the similarity in the close of a "set".  Tweezerprise just got louder
and faster until the roof came down.  Total show score:  8/10.  In summary
Alpine was a good show that I think Phans who have seen too many consecutive
shows have ripped unfairly.  We all need a day off now and then.
 
Mike Gags

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 16:29:40 -0500
From: Peter Katai [email protected]
To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley
 
This was my 14th show, 4th Alpine show, and I have been listening them
actively since 1992.  I have about 400 hours of tape. Alpine shows have
historically been their better shows.  They are all in my top seven and I
have seen some great and historic shows like New Years 94 in Boston.
 
Anyways, I want to back up Mark Maynard who said it best.  Start spacing
your shows out.  These guys have been playing together for 15 years or so.
When Jerry and his boys started in the mid 60's by the time the 80's were
around, they were not playing as well. But let's take this in stride.  They
are still a good, solid band.
 
The last Phish show I saw was in November at the UIC Pavillon in Chicago and
it was like a Story of the Ghost release party.  They played about 7-8 songs
off the new album. I was a little disappointed so I was looking forward to
this show.
 
Guyute and Fluffhead was a solid one-two punch and the highlight of the
first set.  Alvenu was a nice surprise.
Wedge and Character Zero were solid ways to end the first set.  I loved
Trey's guitar antics also.
 
Tweezer was a solid opening and they needed to live up to it because they
open with Wilson on each of the last three show at Alpine. 2nd song, 2nd set
last year.  Waste was great also.  Two songs that did not sound good 2nd set
was Chalkdust, probably the worst I have heard from them.  That was my fifth
Chalkdust. Mango, which is rare, also did not sound good.  But the encore,
with Alumni Blues, Glide and Camelwalk, was excellent.
 
Looking to get into some taping again.  Email me at [email protected]
 
See everyone at the Horizon in October.

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 18:41:52 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Review
 
I feel something has been overlooked about the Alpine show in the numerous
negative reviews online.

Having been at the Columbus show the night before (a frightening and
immensely entertaining experience) and having made the 9 hour drive from
Columbus, I more than expected the band to be as drained as I was.
Standing in the front row on Trey's side, I watched as the band pushed their
way through one song to the next. The impression I got was that they were
setting the stage for something.

The jams on Fluffhead and Avenu were weird, messed up, but still a cool trip
into the world of weird sound. Wedge got me going, if only because of the
lyrics (by the time it was over I had crossed into the supercrowded center
stage pit). By the time Character Zero rolled around I was ready for a
break. To expect the band, and especially Trey, to play balls out for an
entire show with two long nights at Deer Creek coming up is a pipe dream.
They rocked out Tweezer anyway, though I'll agree that Trey seemed off in
his own world (haven't you ever been a little out of it at a Phish show?).
Whoever was still listening to Trey for their musical stimulation was
definitely ignoring Fishman and Mike, who were having a blast up there while
Trey was busy messing with people's heads. The bass heavy Mango made the
show worth it for me, a lyric lover.

Now I'll agree that Waste was kind of a waste, but I thought it was Trey's
way of being ironic. I had come to the show and met up with my best friend
Jon, who was too fried to talk to me at the Ohio show despite the fact that
I hadn't seen him since Atlanta on the 4th. So Waste, lyrically, seemed to
capture the way I felt about chilling with Jon at that point, and I thank
the band for that. Chalkdust had opened the first two Phish shows I attended
(Denver, 98 1st show- sick 2001, if you have the tape let me know. I also
need both Atlanta's badly) so I wasn't exactly surprised by it... still much
appreciated given my current situation. Whatever is said about the show, let
it be known that Camel Walk was phat, made even better by the two cuties
dancing in front of me. It was a much appreciated change from the fat
bastard whose ass kept hitting me all night- a little note to the hefty in a
crowded place- watch your ass because everyone else has to. I still have
bruises from the dude pinning me against a chair during Glide.

Alumni Blues was nice- reminded me of my need to get a degree so that I
could have a fun time like Trey was doing and still be "Alright." The
Tweezer Reprise made up for the previous night's abrupt end, (which had more
to do with weather than with the band's desire not to play any more cheese
songs for the audience). All in all, the shows set the stage for the band's
first night at Deer Creek. But that's another story altogether.


Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 12:22:36 -0500
From: 2519 DaysInn [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: phish review from bigjake


this review is for the fans that still thinks phish rocks. i was at the
alpine show and at first on the long walk back to my ride i felt i was
screwed out of a good show. well two days after i saw the show i realized
that the show was great. maybe i'm still new to the scene because this is
my sixth show but people have got to know that phish is human and they put
their pants on the same way we do. of course i was stunned that they
played fluffhead again thats the third head i have seen in six times.
maybe it's something to do with wisconsin, i saw them at madison(cause we
got it simple) and alpine valley(the way they rambeled on into the first
set and was caught stealing the encore) last year which is the best show i
have ever seen. the only thing i found wrong with the show is the length i
felt i was short by two or three songs and if i could have my way they
would play four or five hour shows all the time. i understood that the
setting was right for them to play fluffhead again and they followed it up
with some fabulous songs that i have never seen like the man who stepped
into yesterday,that volcano song,mango song,my first waste (shout out to
annaconda!!!),alumni blues,glide,camel walk and the best chaulkdust i have
ever seen.who in their right minds would bitch about these songs. maybe if
you could do what they do night after night you would realize how tough it
is up there. all i can say really is that i am looking forward to the
target center show cause you got to represent where you live,and the iowa
show to make it into a mini-tour then i have to work on the money for the
florida show for new year's(what up scott get me a bed ready).maybe people
should lighten up and enjoy every thing they do. people should live in the
moment because evey song they do is great. sure they get tired i would
also, sometimes their not into it all the time, hell show after show sould
make them tired. my opinionis that every show i go to i will like untill i
don't like going and that will be my last show. so people have thier
opinions and thats great this site is for voicing those ideas so keep them
coming and so will i. peace BIG JAKE
 

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 12:38:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mark Mcavoy [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley
 
First set rocked; jammed from beginning to end.  Page took the first solo in
the middle of Fluffhead and Trey followed with a good one at the end. The
set continued that way with the three bad boys hitting solos and passing the
lead around.
 
Set two fizzled in the middle of Tweezer, although the Mango, was decent
even though Trey couldn't find a note on guitar. The Waste and Glide were
both well played but real typical. The weird song with two names was
interesting, but needs work. Everything else was lame.
 
Overall, not bad. Phish is getting there. It's not that they're sounding
more deadish, it's just the natural sound of rock that everyone has in
they're heads. I know what Phish has in their heads because I'm the same age
as them (ok, a liitle bit younger) and saw and felt the same things they saw
and felt years ago, before he stopped playing, then stopped singing, then
keeled over and died.
 
The crowd was real nice and polite especially after the first set with
everyone
smiling.
 
Watch out for ROTATING BLOB.
 
Mark McAvoy

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 11:17:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matt Walker [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley
 
 
Hey all--
 
I just wanted to make a quick comment about Trey's playing on Saturday
at Alpine Valley. Now, most of the time, I try not to pass too much
judgement on how "good" a jam may or may not be, because different
people like different things about Phish. However, in a case like this,
there really is a right and wrong. Trey's performance at Alpine was
simply sloppy as hell-- cases in point: TMWSIY, Mango, Waste, and
Chalkdust. Now the first two I would let slide-- it's been awhile since
he's played either one. But Waste? It's only a few chords! And it was
during that song that I really noticed how shot his vocals were. And
the outro of the Chalkdust solo was just not even close. (The encore,
however, was amazing; even Glide was pretty tight.)
        This was the first time that I've ever felt the feelings of concern
and embarrassment for Trey as I did for Garcia during some later GD
performances. I can only assume he was shitfaced that night, because
the next two nights he was more than "on" both guitar-wise and vocally.
And sure, everyone has an off night-- I just feel the need to write
about it because it worries me that people don't care whether Trey
fucks up all night or not. We should care-- I mean, Trey has always
said that they appreciate the critical nature of their fanbase. And
frankly, even though I had a great time, his performance at Alpine was
scary to me. I'm just glad he shaped up for the encore and for Deer
Creek, and finished the tour on a high note.
 
Thanks for reading and sorry about the negativity.
 
--Matt Walker

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 14:18:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Scott Thornburg [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine 7/24

Alpine rocked!  You folks who are complaining need to cut the band a
little slack.  Trey made a couple mistakes, but the band was on fire.  
Nice setlist variety, the MONSTER jam after Fluffhead, the Alumni
bust-out, and the rest of the encore...  I even enjoyed Waste, and I'm not
a big fan of slow songs late in the second set unless Jerry's singing 8^)
This was a spectacular show, perhaps the favorite of all I've attended
(first show 12/7/92).  When you hear the tapes, you'll know this was a
special night.

-Scott


Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 03:57:26 GMT
From: Travis Vande Berg [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 07/24 Alpine

Just a few quick thoughts on Alpine (all IMHO, of course):

1. TMWSIY -> Avenu -> TMWSIY: 2nd biggest surprise for me of the night
(after Alumni) and very much appreciated. I really expected (and honestly
hoped for) 2001 or even Ghost to come out of the Fluff-jam so this kind of
caught me off guard but I was more than happy to hear it as I thought it
really brought the whole Fluffhead -> jam full circle.

2. Camel Walk: I have loved this song since I heard it on a tape of
7/2/95, and I have been lucky enough to hear it at two of my last four
shows (7/24/99 & 7/28/98).

3. Alumni Blues: Well, it's Alumni Blues!!! Biggest surprise of the night.
426 shows!!! In the last two years I've heard this and Lengthwise. Destiny 
for the fall tour? :)

4. The glowstick war: nicely done during the jam in Mango. I have heard
some real horror stories of wars past, but I've never had a bad one and
this was no exception. Kudos to all involved.

5. Trey: From where I was in the lawn, I couldn't see a lick of what was
going on on stage (ie Trey's "guitar god" antics), but I could definitely
hear that he was "off" most of the show (with the exception, IMHO, of
TMWSIY -> Avenu -> TMWSIY, Waste, and the encore.) I think that Guyute is
an odd opener to get "on" with in the first place, but it didn't seem to
suffer much. The "off" seemed to me to begin with Trey's amp and/or mic
(?) cutting out during the beginning of Fluffhead. It really seemed to
throw him for the rest of the night, but, hey, everyone has an off day at
whatever they do, and "off" for Trey is *way* better than a lot of other
guitarists best "on's".

6. Page: While Trey might have been "off," Page was definitely "on." It
was apparent to me in Guyute that this was going to be a great Page night
so I really zoned in on him for the rest of the show and was not at all
disappointed. That's what I really find great about Phish in the end, I
guess. Even when a member of the band just isn't "on" on a particular
night, the group is made up of four outstanding musicians and chances are
excellent that one of the others is, as I thought was the case at Alpine.
Along with Page, I thought that Mike and Fish did their part to more than
make up for Trey's absence and make it a great show. I was dancin the
whole time and lovin every minute of it.

If anyone's got this show or this summer's Sandstone and is up for a
trade, please drop me a line. Thanks!!!

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 19:38:33 PDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7/24 Alpine Review
 
Lets face it, everyone has a bad day once in a while, and Saturday night was
an off night for the band.
 
Having been to all of the Alpine performances in my approx 12 Phish shows, I
had very strong concerns upon completion of the second set, which I will
call a poor performance at best.  I was hoping that they would come out with
a stellar encore to make up for this, and for the most part they did. The
only other slightly positive points were Avenu Milkenu (my first), and a
nice Mango.
 
Looking back on the experience, I was wondering if I was getting too old for
this stuff, or if others had similar opinions.  I am relieved to see that I
am not the only one that knows these guys can't be perfect every night, and
that there will be future opportunities to see the typically excellent show
that Phish is capable of.  I only wish my friend felt the same way, he later
decided that it would be his last show.
 
D

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 22:51:18 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: alpine review

Alright, i am not going to be repetitive so i will just say a few strong
opinions i had.  Like others have said first set almost seemed like the
norm second set.  But, the fluff jam was vary good, mike carring it the
entire way.  When it got a little to out there, mike would bust some hard
grooves to keep it from running away.

On to the second set.  Tweezer was an ok opener.  A lot of people really
dig this tune, it is so so to me, but was very pleased to see it go into
an interesting catapult.  I also thought this would weave in and out of
some crazy shit, maybe a halleys, N20, but it ended.  Now i dig mango
song. But to be completey honest, last nights version was terrible.  The
band as a whole wasnt together, and trey was off.  I think the lack of
playtime this song gets is hurting it

But yes the encore is unforggetable.  Alumni, Camelwalk, what more can i
say?
 I don't know, but after they did camwalk, alumni, i knew tweprise was on
the way but would that have been something if they thru destiny in to?

I guess first set was a good, tight set, but maybe missplaced.  On the
other hand, i thought the second set was pretty weak.  but i guess the
encore saved the show.


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 18:30:52 -0500
From: Matthew D. Tabaka
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine valley review
 
Well, I left Minneapolis with my friend and our 3 pairs of tickets, for
the rest of the tour.  Now I'm back in minneapolis and phish should be
starting to play within an hour or so.  Yesterday the heat was brutal,
punishing, and downright disturbing.  We had severe( sorta since I made
it back with out having a mechanic involved) car problems, sputtering
killing etc.  We knew at around 6:00, our situation was sad, we wouldn't
push the car to noblesville and end up further from home. Our hope was
just to get to alpine on time.  We pulled in miraculously at 7:15.  Sold
some beer, and ran in staked a great spot at the front and center of the
lawn.  It was still bloody hot.  Guyute:  is a fine song, containing
very interesting compositions, but I did not groove to it as an opener.
It tends to be overplayed as well.  Fluffhead: Is one of my favorites,
and in this my 11th show, the 4th time I've seen it(3 in wisconsin)This
was good, I feel slightly similar so early in the set.  My mind changed
when at the coda section of fluff, mike started releasing powerful
grooves and seemingly forced a new examination of the song.  34 minutes
total.  Nice improvisation all around, this>tmwsiy>avenu>tmwsiy:  I
song  I never expect, but have always wanted to hear, very beautiful,
malkenu featured an amazing bass solo from mike.  Wedge: my 4th time
hearing this, and although when I first got Rift years ago, and declared
it to be the most annoying song I had ever heard, have now came to
appreciate this song, character 0:  A nice "rocker" enough said.
overall, very interesting set, but I guess 34 minutes of improv are
meant for second sets, with high energy(pyite, nicu, runaway, BOAF
etc)songs  taking place in the first.  An extremely long set
break(understandable dur to the climate) where I met an extremely nice,
interesting, intelligent man named Don from Philly.  noodling gave way
to tweezer: Played in the same set as last year and was good, but It
dragged, Mike and Page provided beautiful improv>catapult:very nice
choice(my first time) added some necessary surrealness to the show>mango
song(another 1st time) was a perfect set placement, I agree though with
other reviews(Trey is not paying attention, Siket disc song:either
what's the use(saw in kc and swaer they played the happy whip and dung
song last nite) or the dung song.  Poor placement, they seem to be
struggling with the posistioning of these songs. Waste was great, 3
years ago I would have puked, but now I am wiser, Trey actually hit all
the lyrics!, Chalkdust: is a wonderful anthemic, pop rocker.  I feel it
should be left that way, no mor ethe n 6 or 7 minutes please.  Trey's
guitar worship dance was extremely self indulgent, and amusing at the
time, but in retrospect weirds me out.
The encore made up for an extremely short set.  3 rareties and reprise
were solid, alumni holding a special place in my heart because Iwill
have a degree within 6 monthes!  sANDSTONE was a much better show,
longer, setlists, jams etc.  ALso the midwest is really becoming a
boring place for me and my friend to see phish at. Although I wish I
could catch the other shows this summer, I realized that deer creek is
tremendously overated.  The state is sweltering, and rather hickish.  5
years in row, 4 years at apline.  Mix it up, the music and the muse will
improve.  Nothing can take away my memories of the darien Ny>MAine run
of 97.  ever since I have been stuck in the midwest going to 'sconee,
illinois, indiana and Kansas. Yeah I'll see them again in Iowa and
Minnesota, which will somehow be full circle for me(1st show 11-13-96).
The band needs a break, this tour took place in sweltering july,  rest
well boys it shows.  The fall will most likely be an amazing tour, pt II
of fall will be a winter run throughthe good ol'east.  New years, does
not interest me in the least.  My opinion is that Phish not play in
florida, but hang with their families instead.  It is going to be too
much for mister anastasio to deal with.  I love the man, but ever wonder
why he's such a freak?  "the crowd intrudes all day, until I'm finally
swept away"  Also, I don't know what drugs he does, but forgetting
lyrics is a huge turnoff.  I love a great jam, and I get annoyed when
people don't understand how I like songs with very little words, but
Trey is beat, he needs rest and they as a band need to refocus. Mike
Gordon is the man as always, and I would really like to see him sing
Trey. Mike and Page carry the band now and.  1997 was such a creative
positive thought provoking time. In 98 the "ambient jam" surfaced, and I
am sorry but they are not indicative of good playing, they are
indicative of large bank accounts and access to high tech music stuff.
        Note, I do not want to hear 97 over again, that would be lame.  I
find the setlists to be more diverse now rather than back in 97, this is
good.  Trey please get off the fuckinf E, it's draining all your serotonin,
soon you;ll run out.  Try to remember the words and lose the "i hold the
guitar" attitude.  Fans, quit expecting so much(sound hypocritical, but
isn't, I had no expectations and had no disapointment with the show)from the
band, they are not gods, and treating them as such is causing trey to fall
off the banana boat. who knows, maybe Trey wants to be just like jerry and
die because of horrible drug induced health. I feel I have the right to
opinion because i put alot of time into mailordering and driving.  I would
appreciate loonger sets, and a sense that Trey gave a shit.  Take a complete
year off boys and relax mellow your minds.


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 18:46:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ernie Melchiondo [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Phish Alpine Valley Review (7/24)
 
hi! Well, this is my second review, sixth show, and I have about 240 hours
on tape (pre 1996). I must admit I had very high hopes for this concert, but
on w/ the review...
God damn, it was fucking hot as hell outside. I was debating whether or not
to even go due to the heat. It cooled down to a tolerable level after the
sun went down, so it was all good. The lot scene was really chill... i
didn't come across too many vendors or cops or anything. we scored some
angel dust and a bass ale "reba" shirt from a dude. we decided to hit the
venue at around 5:45 and gain a good position on the lawn. if you haven't
been to alpine, you're missing out :-) the place is incredible. in the
middle of nowhere and really beatiful. i hear the same said about the gorge,
but alpine is the shit. holds about 45,000 people more or less yet it feels
like a much smaller venue. it sucked having it so hot and no shade with a
few hours to kill, so my friend johner gave me a quick hot karl and we mixed
in that dust w/ the nugs we got at polaris and this girl who had obvious
severe problems spilled water on me as a joke. the scene has changed... on
to the show-- phish came on stage (no, not what you're thinking) at around
8:15 and went right into...
GUYUTE- bizarre choice for an opener seeing as its length and all but it was
pretty slick. there were a few flubs here and there, but where it mattered
(that peak in the jam) it was flawless. following the guyute, i was
expecting some shorter numbers, but my expectations are usually wrong, and
we got a
FLUFFHEAD- awesome!! i've heard this live a lot, but i never tire of it.
they extended the beginning out for a little while, but it was a pretty
standard version. the ending was pretty normal, but they kept going, and
they were just grooving along and they teased a ton of shit, like "boogie on
reggae woman" but not too much. this took a lot of energy to listen to, but
that's not bad. the jam was not unlike the "gumbo" jam at tinley park, il in
1997, except a little mellower. this slowed down and went into the 1994
phish stylings of
TMWSIY-->ALVENO-->TMWSIY- pretty cool, my first live, you've all heard it
before. so after that, i'm kind of sitting there wondering what's up next.
the previous shows i'd been to were pretty formulaic, but this was pretty
fucking out there. i was hoping for an AC/DC bag, a cover of "the glory of
love" by Peter Cetera, or maybe an ultra-rare "Meatstick." instead, happily,
we got
THE WEDGE- great choice, great version, jammed out more than usual.not much
more to say, except it was nice. next came
CHARACTER ZERO [or should i be a cheeseball and spell it out CHARACTER 0?]-
This was a rocker. it found trey a. (from phish) in guitar god mode and he
fucking wailed. at the end of the tune, he takes his guitar and starts
trying to get feedback sounds while the rest of the band was in that end of
the set noise thing. end of set, about 70 minutes.
So...... i don't think i was really on the right wavelength for this set.
the energy that last year's alpine show posessed was lacking. HOWEVER, it
was really good, i just didn't really dig it too much. I could see how one
could view it as amazing, it just didn't get to me that much. guyute and
character zero were phenomenal, as well as PARTS of the fluffhead jam.
setbreak was long. i got big laughs from the section of the lawn that i was
in by "decanting" myself and serving up some sammy smith's oatmeal stout
"big ern style." thanks mark for that catheter-- w/o you it wouldn't have
been possible!! second set was about to begin-- would phish take it into the
stratosphere of legendariness or bring it down to mediocrity? ahh, fuck the
suspense, it was pretty good.
TWEEZER- started things off. this one was slooooow and funky. really cool,
and i never complain about a tweezer. i was suprised to see this one go so
short (oh, btw, it went into catapault mid jam) and un-teasing. a tweezer
opener on a night like this sent signals of a second set not unlike the
dallas 1994 bomb factory show. i thought they would have gone in and out of
it all set w/ some wicked teases. oh before i forget the HIGHLIGHT of the
entire night was this little my bloody valentine-esque white noise blast
with throbbing strobes for about 15 seconds right before the last verse.
outta sight! oh well, like mick jagger says "goodbye ruby tuesday" (!). So
we go into
MANGO SONG- never real familiar w/ this tune. people say its "rare." okay,
but what's really rare is the level of intensity this one was played with.
god damn, the jam kept seeing trey a. (from phish) take it to new levels w/
every go round. it reminded me of the old harry hoods and possums where you
think the jam is ended, and then they hit you even harder-- well this mango
did that 6 or seven times. this was a gem, and kind of overlooked at least
w/ the crew i went with. now, phish seem like smart people, but then they
bust out
WASTE- and ruin the whole night. i don't even want to talk about it. it was
simply idiotic. then
CHALKDUST TORTURE- somehow i knew this would end the set, but it rocked, and
at the end, trey shouted something into the microphone and then took a dive
on the stage before doing the same feedback thing he did at the end of set
I. really bizarre-- in fact, i've never seen trey act so "zany" during a
show before. he reminded me of a rock star version of funnyman dave coulier.
anyways, that's the set. had it's phenom monents, had some really shitty
ones too. okay, so all of you have seen the setlist, and this is getting
long, so in summary-- the ENCORE was terrific. FOUR songs (GLIDE, CAMEL
WALK, ALUMNI, and TWEEZER REPRISE). it kept going and going and was really
good. if only they could have done the whole show in reverse order so i
wasn't ready to collapse w/ exhaustion during the most energetic point of
the night. oh well...

so in all, good show, could have been better really easily, and could have
been a lot worse. pick up the tapes and dissct the complexity that was
alpine 99. i'm sure you'll be rewarded. allright folks. and thanks for
reading. love, ernie melchiondo p.s. if you like phish, you should really
check out this band called widespread panic.


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 20:55:55 -0000
From: Mark Maynard [email protected]
To: [email protected]

I love to hear people complaining about hearing a song twice in one week
or even twice in a row.  Some quotes from some people on this board:
"the first set was ok but it was misplaced....."   Misplaced?  So you are
the expert on when Phish should play certain songs now??  Maybe you
should apply for a job with the band so that you can make sure they dont
play anything out of order.

Another quote:  "I thought they might play some sort of sell-out set with
DWD....know what I mean......"  I wont name who said this but you can
read his name on the reviews.  You are a fool........  DWD is a great
song.  Why people label this song, which was released as a video on MTV,
a "sell out" song is beyond me.  Take your head out of your ass.

It seems to me that people who are seeing phish for the first time or
perhaps those people who see the occasional show are the ones that arn't
bitching.  And do you know why????  Maybe because phish is a rock and
roll band and when you see a band for 2 months straight things might get
boring.      There is no band that can perform at their best every night
no matter how bad you want them to.  Phish does not live to respond to
the tour-heads every beck and call.  You fuck'in losers that go to every
show and then bitch about 80% of them, get a job and see phish once in a
while, you will learn to appreciate them.  Grow up and lighten up.  What
is happening to the phish scene?????

Bring on your rants fools.  I am sure that I left tons of open ends in my
comments.  But unlike a lot of you I have other things to do except think
about phish.  And oh yeah I gotta get up early to work tommorrow.  That
is the word for today JOB.  "J...O....B"   Get one...

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 17:52:19 CDT
From: Not A. Chance [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Review
 
Alright, let me start out with a disclaimer, since I am sure that there are
many of you out there that will completely discount my interpretation of
last night's show. This WAS my 1st live show, but I have 150+ hours of tape,
so I hope I will get a little credibility here.
 
Positives first- The lot scene was really cool with (as far as I could tell)
no cops (and I was there from 3:30-6:30), and tons of friendly, if
dehydrated pholks.
 
OK- I have read the other reviews of last nights show, and with the
exception of [email protected]'s review, I have to wonder if I went to the
same show. I admit, the Gyute, FluffHead->Jam opener was right on the money
with plenty of laid back funk, and the first set overall was good. But the
second  set seemed to lead downhill from there. From the middle of Tweezer
on they didnt seem to want to, or be capable of ending a song. They just let
them spread out into nothingness until somebody (thank god for Fish leading
that drum break into Mango to get something going) uneasily led into
something else. Also, where was Trey last night? It seemed to me as if he
was attempting to make up for his botched vocals and guitar playing with
theatrics, totally unlike him.
 
Also, two other points of contention. Why start so late when you know you
are playing to a HUUUGGGE sold out crowd? Add to the late start a massive
setbreak- I honestly thought my watch was broken at one point. What was the
deal? Second, even though in fairness I must say that the encore was almost
Herculean, I would have preferred that they extended the first or second
sets and played a standard encore (I realize that for one reason or another
that may not have been possible). Is this just me?
 
Please dont take this as disparaging the band in general, they are still by
far my favorite on plastic and now live, but it seems that something is
different this tour, and judging by the reviews of every show I have looked
at on this tour, I am not the only one.


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 17:35:46 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: review 7/24

Wow, this was an intensely weird but satisfying show to see.  First of all,
the weather was sooo hot out that it was kinda unbelievable.  Hot as it was,
Alpine was a friendly place to be.  Everybody was glad when the sun set over
the back hill, giving us some shade. . . Since Alpine's so huge, I guessed
the guys were going to do some crowd-pleasing, sell-out type of set, maybe a
Down With Disease, know what I mean?  To tell the truth I wouldn't have
minded, cuz I don't see many of their shows.  Like the others say here,
though, Phish was in a very sparkly mood that night.  From Trey's constant
guitar-samurai swordsmanship to the bizzarely cool Fluffhead jam-out, there
was no denying that this was meant to be a meaningful and unique show.  Did
anybody mention that before the show there was a MASSIVE jumbo marshmellow
fight?  It was fun, and gross.  You can all see the setlist, and to be
honest I didn't know a couple of them, like Alumni.  But really, there was
no predicting anything about this show.  Some of the groove-heavy stuff
almost seemed like they were sapping the crowd's energy away, but really
that just served as contrast for the next intensity ^� like the ambient
stuff before the clean, mellow Waste followed by a crazy Chalkdust.  Maybe I
felt cheated out of a huge second set, but that was the price we paid for
the energy the band was dishing out, and the "specialness" of the set
configuration with that extra-long encore.  Overall, a great night, killer
lights, "always-on" performance (get tapes), clean warm sound, and a setlist
nobody could figure out, and that's good, right?


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 17:20:24 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Valley
 
        Call me critical, but after seeing every Phish show at alpine and
basically all of the shows in the midwest in the past four years, I couldn't
help but be disappointed in the show in East Troy last night. First set was
pretty solid, ( despite the shortness and the epic 50+ min. set break) but
the second set was a disappointment. I have never heard Trey be so blatantly
off for so many tunes. Songs that Trey penned and could usually play in his
sleep, were sloppy, unfocused, and just plain wrong.
         Now don't get me wrong to me any Phish show is a good show simply
because they are the best out there at what they do, but when you know what
they are capable of..it kind of hurts to hear the things we did. At this
point some of you may be saying "Fuck you, who are you to say what's good
and what is not" and you know what, I can't. But I can say that I have been
exposed to what has previously left me in awe and that is what I missed from
this show, especially the second set. this show, especially the second set.
        Page,Mike, and Fishman were wonderful. They basically held
everything together.( Plus, Page's sound was a lot fuller. After the first
three or four songs in Polaris, he was hardly audible). They were
accurate,creative, and tight. Trey, on the other hand, was no were to be
found. The largest response he got the whole night was during the "wave your
guitar around like a broken light sabre to make people scream" bullshit. It
was disheartening. It really hit me during...
         Mango when Trey couldn't find the guitar melody anywhere. Even at
the modulation in the last part, he wasn't close and didn't seem to care.
The jam was long, with little ups and downs.
        He sang  Waste( what he could remember) at least a half a step flat
while trying to plug out the chords to no avail.
        Chalkdust was simply a mess. What used to be so fascinating about
the jams was the way the song evolved and morphed around a similar tonic
that each member of the band grew with until some kind of peak was acheived
together. Lately, it's been the Trey show without Trey. As opposed to a jam,
it was " how high can Trey play? and for how long can he hold it". Then
he'll jump around and pump his fist or play with his effects trying to get a
mystery sound that never seemed to appear. No musical traveling. It just
didn't seem right. Think about Alpine three years ago: Do you remember the
AC/DC, Reba, the Hood?!. I never expect any certain songs, but I have grown
accustomed to hearing quality.
        Thank the lord for the encore. An equally disturbed phish head
nearby yelled " Apology excepted !!" after the exciting and spine tingling
opening to Alumni, definetly the show highlight for me.
        Has Trey lost it? Does he not care? Does he think that they have
already acheived what they were capable of? I know that evolutiuon is a
strong part of where the band has come from and what they have reached in
the past 12 years of touring and recording, but is this where the bus stops?
Trey, please come back from wherever you are!! There may be a sea of people
in front of you, but slacking off doesn't make anything easier. It just
hurts. I could just be paranoid, and still down about being pulled over
three times in the past three days in three different states, but I miss it.
I don't know. Maybe the answer is in Noblesville. Drive safe everybody. See
you there


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:05:38 -0500
From: Faith Russell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: alpine thoughts

Alpine thoughts . . .
Fun lot scene, everyone was very chill and friendly.  The band came on a
little after 8:00, maybe even 40 min. late (not that it's a big deal at
all; I was having fun) and opened with Guyute.   Played last year, but
the crowd responded very well and the band made the composed sections
seem effortless.  Great opener.
The show continued with Fluffhead, making two composed epics in a row.
At the ending of the song when Trey finally hits those release notes, he
just didn't stop.  Fluffhead went into a very, very cool jam--just
drawing it out and out.  Then the jam went into a section that seemed
composed itself--it had a couple different sections to it, all of which
were very easy to dance to, and combined with the Fluffhead made the
whole thing about 30 min.long.
Without much noodling the jam went right into TMWSIY -> Avenu ->
TMWSIY.  Great choice.  Mike drops some serious bombs during Avenu.
Then  THE WEDGE!  What a sweet tune.  Power chords. Yeah.  Character
Zero closed the set, a very energetic version.  Trey went completely
apeshit at the end, waving his guitar over his head, between his legs,
behind his back, etc.  Must be fun to be a rock god.
 
A very sweet first set.  The Fluffhead -> Jam was the highlight for me
(got to hear those tapes) and The Wedge, because it is THE WEDGE.  A
fairly long setbreak followed, giving us much needed rest.  Pretty damn
psyched for set 2 at this point.
 
TWEEZER!  The band seemed really on during this rendition.  I need to
hear the tapes, but I think this version was much better than last
years.  Other than that, I have no idea.
After the jam went on for about 15 min., Trey and Mike started chanting
the lyrics to Catapult, which was quite strange.  It was hard to hear
what they were doing, but whatever.
The Mango Song was a nice treat, especially with the glowring war in the
middle.  Just like Fluffhead, the ending jam was quite extended.  Mango
must have been over 12 min., and they never got to the "real" ending.
What's the Use was kind of pretty, I thought.  Not much more to say.
Waste, ditto.  First time seeing this one for me, so it was all good
vibes.
CHALKDUST, yeah!  I love, love, love this song no matter how many times
I see Phish play it, and last night's was ripping.  Trey's playing was
great throughout the song, which was very very fast and intense.  The
jam was longer than the normal Chalkdust, probably 7 or 8 min. for the
jam alone before they came back to the song.  Again, Trey goes crazy
with his guitar, rubbing it against the microphone, pointing it in all
directions like a laser or something.  This guy.
Anyway, that was the end of set 2.   A little shorter than I'd like, but
the playing was excellant.
 
4 song encore?  This was great, completely making up for the short set
2.  Glide just put a huge  permagrin on my face, and Camel Walk had the
serious funk.  Two rarieties in a row, so I figured that was it.  But
ALUMNI *@%&in' BLUES??!!!
What an encore.  Finally, finally the Tweezer Reprise we all knew was
coming.  A ripping version it was.  The energy level during the end of
the encore was ridiculous, just a beautiful thing to be a part of.   I
was so damn tired after the show, my legs could hardly support me.
 
Finally, what  is up with the Alpine Valley parking lot?  Every year I
remember landmarks, lot numbers, etc.  Every year it takes at LEAST 45
min to find the car.  Oh well.
See you next time.
Jamis


Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 23:09:21 -0500
From: Dennis Berkovic [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine Review
 
Has everyone lost their minds?  Were people at the same show I was? I've
seen and listened to phish quite a bit, but last night's show was by far
the worst.  It seems that everyone just accepts a bad show and reasons
it out to be good.   The Fluffhead jam was so boring I thought I would
slip into a coma.  It seems that Trey is just way more into tapdancing
with his pedals than he is with actually playing.  Maybe he was just
trying to cover up how bad he was last night.  When they finally busted
out Mango, Page, Fish and Mike were fine.  Trey seemed to be in a
different part of the song at all times.  One other thing.  FINISH a
song!  Every tune would just become noise and every jam had to become
spacey.  This is a trend the band has fallen into.  I do appreciate them
trying to do play new things, but space isn't the where they should be
heading.

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 12:24:10 PDT
From: Kevin Liska [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alpine review

First time doing a review!! (its about phucking time) Anyway, just so you
know: my 7th show, phish is my life, 41 shows on tape, im a phish-stat
phreak. You may also better know me as PhreePhish in chat rooms. There. I
said it.  Anyway...
 
Trip from Tinley Park to East Troy was pleasant.  Took northen route and go
in fast.  Hit the lawn about 6:15.
 
Why is it that whenever I read reviews of concerts, they always hit the
stage at 7:50 or 8:00, and whenever i go to a concert they always hit the
stage at 8:10 to 8:15?  (Thus proving our point Lumpy!)
 
anyway 8:15:  (im calling a Misty Mountain Hop opener since they played that
recently and i thought they might kkep w/ the Alpine/Zeppelin opener theme.
Guess not)
 
(also a side note.  If you ever meet me in the lawn, im the phreak who times
EVERY song.  Ya, i know im nuts.  Times listed should be fairly accurate (15
seconds at most)
 
Guyute (11:55): Played it last year, but still i dont mind.  This was
absolutely nailed.  A superb opener.  A great choice and I believed showed a
lot of ggod times to come.
 
Fluffhead (32:50): An interesting choice to say the least. Both for the fact
that it was the second song and we always get it here. (Alpine '96, '98,
Kohl Center).  The whole intricate song part was about perfect.  Only the
most minorist (is that a word?) of flubs (they did seem to be a bit buzzed
tonight).  The jam section was unbelievable (The length says it all).  Lots
of phunky/spacey jamming here.  Trey even goes to his keyboard aat one
point.  At this point I realize I HAVE to find these tapes!! Anyway there
may have bben teases, but I cant remember now.  It more or less died down
and entually segued into .....>
 
TMWSIY>Avene Malkenu>TMWSIY (11:05):  We got this at UIC 3rd night, but I
dont mind AT ALL!!!!  You've got to love this tune! (its almost like you
have no choice)! Why dont they play this more often (well besides the fact
that they used to and the whole jewish thing.  Guess i answered my own
question)?  Anyway, it was absolutely nailed and Mike's little bass-solo in
the middle was mind-blowing.  The ending of TMWSIY then segued (more or
less) into.....>
 
The Wedge (6:42):  Perfect placement here.  Always a groovy little tune and
perfectly played tonight (the boys are on!)
 
Character Zer0 (8:55):  Always a blast for a set closer.  It was due.  Trey
went nuts at the end and was rubbing his guitar against his microphone!
 
An epic set to say the least!  72 min., and only 5 songs!!!
Now I was expecting a short set break, given that they always throw huge
shows at Alpine and they started late.  However a 52 minute se break is what
we got!!  Ya, i guess i needed the rest (and i did buy some cool bumped
stickers from a guy!), but come on! we were looking at an hour long set II
at Alpine! What is that? I think the (estimated) 43,000 of us deserved
better!! anyway...
 
Tweezer (14:50)> :  Another interesting set opener (played it last year once
again) but nice none the less.  A litte more experimental than last year's;
especially when Mike and Trey started singing.....>
 
Catapult>Tweezzer Jam> (4:00):  They lyrics to Catapult were sung
(harmonized) over the Tweezer jam.  This was rather cool.
Strange...Catapult is a rarety, but the played it just 4 concerts ago in
Oswego.  Anyway, another > (I think) into....>
 
Mango Song>(Happy Whip & Dung Song??) (17:15)> :  Wow what a great one!
Yes, maybe the beginning and singing was a little off(just in the beginning
though), but wow!  During the Page and Trey solos in the middle a huge
glowstick war erupted!!  It was a happy glowstick/ring war though (none hit
the stage) as Carini turned down the lights for it.  And then for the first
time (I think?) they jammed out the ending.  Wow, what a happy jam. This was
a great, joyful jam that just felt so good!!  Best mango ever....>
 
They little dark groovy thing (2:10..included in the 17:15 time listing from
Mango) after was different.  I liked it.  Sort of heavy.  Anyway that faded
and....>
 
Waste (6:55):  A perfect version of this one.  They decided not to really
jam it out (which surprised me, they did it to every other song this
concert), which was nice, giving us more time for...
 
Chalkdust (12:30):  A fast oe to pick us up!  The solos were absolutely
incredible, but once i realsized they were taking this way past the normal
7-8 min range it gets, i knew this was the closer.  Yes it was great, but
cant help to be a little disappointed at this point.
 
Alpine Valley.  Largest amphitheater in the counrty and they close with a 55
min. set.  A shame.  Last year sets were I: 72 II: 83 E; 8.  Well, thats
what happenes when you start late and have a 52 min set-break.  Oh well.
 
PHORTUNATELY, thet might have haggled for more time back-stage (or just gone
over) because we got one ripping enchore!!
 
Glide (4:40):  What a gem.  Vocals were perfect, and i knew there was more
to come...
 
Camel Walk (5:02):  I love this tune! what can i say?  a great one, and
again, they wouldnt end on a phunky note like this so i knew there was
more....
 
Alumni Blues (6:55):  YOUVE GOT TO BR SHITTING ME!!! I recognized the
riff/lyrics instantly,  To bring this song back after so long is just
unbelievable.  I wonder if this will become a regular again?  Anyway, the
ultimate way to end a concert.  But......
 
Tweezer Reprise (4:00):  They played Tweezer!? Oh ya! Beginning of set II.
How stupid of me.  Anyway this just afferms (spelling?) my alliegance to
that of Phish.  Always willing to do anything (going overtime) for the
phans.  God I love em...
 
 
Anyway, 149 min show (not bad, but i expected more from Alpine),
unbelievable jams, a great time all together.  The short set II kinda put my
stomach in knots, but you salvaged me with the incredible 4 song enchore
 
Can't wait till Deer Creek!!
later

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 02:58:34 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: (no subject)

Several comments from a fan of "numerous" shows who has been seing the
band since 1991.  This show (especially the encore(s)) was an attempt by
the band to satiate the fans who have complained recently about the lack
of variety in the setlists.  You want the band to mix it up a little bit
more?  Are you sick of hearing the same songs?  How about a four-song
encore with Glide, Camel Walk, Alumni Blues!!!, and a Tweeprise!  Wow!  
Also of note was the spectacular jam out of Fluffhead.  I can't wait to
hear the tape.  All in all, good crowd, no traffic problems, no cop
problems.  How about two nights next year guys?


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