, attached to 2000-09-20

Review by The__Van

The__Van I'll be honest, this one is a step down from the last show.

I love CTB in the opening spot. It opened my first show so I do have a bias. Wolfman's has a stretched out jam that's at once funky and rocking. Extra mustard and all that. Jibboo also has some great HOSE despite it's short run time. Mike's is played fine but the transition to Simple is kind of whiffed. The -> from Simple to TMWSIY is nicely executed. Weekapaug has some energy to it as does WMGGW.

If it seems like I sped through that set it's because I really didn't find much passion in the playing. The jam in Wolfman's is fine but it's just that: fine. Jibboo is the only song that really felt like it had some real life to it. The rest of the set felt to me like they were going through the motions. I think this is what Fall '00 has it's reputation for. Not necessarily bad playing but lack of passion and creative energy. Unfortunately I have similar feelings about the 2nd set.

First Tube kicks off the momentum strong setting the stage for a good set. LxL follows and it seems like they want to take it out for a walk but they can't quite make it work. Dirt comes oddly early in the set. However it's played well with some feeling to it. It's Ice is surprisingly the "big" jam of the night. It's actually pretty nice. At this point, Phish were masters at creating soundscapes as evidenced by how easily it comes to them here. Take a listen. What little momentum was picked up with Ice is ground to a halt by Wading. Sand attempts to restart the fire but once again they cant really connect with much. Sand in 1.0 didn't lend itself to breaking out of it's shell and the consequences are clear here. Guyute's performance is decidedly ok. At this point in the show I think the band was frustrated. BBFCM blasts out of the gates to blow off a little steam. Mike really stresses his vocal chords. Drowned feels like an attempt to finish the show off at least somewhat passionately and the result isn't bad. Cavern is Cavern.

Folks, this show made me kind of bored. It has a few good moments but I do think it commits the worst sin of a Phish show: it's forgettable. Hopefully things are better next show.


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