7-17-01 - Red Rocks, Morrison, CO

Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 14:30:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: Penina Frager [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7-17-01 Red Rocks
 
Alrighty...I've been going to Phish for about 8 or so
years now and after seeing 60% of the summer '99
shows, I have been a little burnt out on the whole
thing.  I certainly believe that it's all about the
music, but I often feel there is alot of dishonesty
and sketchiness going down in the lot and it kind of
hinders my experiences.  And I don't think it's a
place for children or 6 week old puppies either, but
that besides the point.
On to the review of the show and other happenings...I
didn't really know what to expect.  When Trey walked
out, it was kind of a wierd feeling, like seeing an
old friend again, and I wasn't quite sure how I felt
about him being with a different group of people.
Lately I get really tired and feel like an old geezer
at shows and I wasn't sure if this one would rev me
up, but Trey really got me groovin.  There was a song
in the first set (the names and melodies of these
songs really aren't sticking in my brain the way Phish
tunes do) that totally sounded like a polka and I just
kinda stood there watching the few people that were
bopping around to it, but other than that I didn't sit
down once.
And okay, some other people's reviews are kinda unsure
about this song, but I LOVE MOESHA!!!!!  It's 3 days
later and I still can't stop thinking about it and
talking about it.  I absolutely love this song.  The
lyrics are hysterical and it's a pretty jumpin tune.
I didn't really dance to it, but I think I enjoyed it
the most out of any of the songs.  Push on til the day
is also really great.
One thing, though, I'm not too much of a lyrics gal, I
like to listen to the music more than the words,
however I did notice (and maybe I'm wrong) that alot
of the songs had like, one repeating line, over and
over and over and over......and it got kinda wierd.
Overall, it was tight, dance-able (which is apparently
what Trey is shooting for), and new.
So here is the downer:  I get back to my car after the
show and my car was broken into.  Some sheisty fucks
broke my window and scavenged thru my car and threw my
shit all over the place. The scary thing is that the
assholes who did it only took the one thing they were
looking for and knew exactly which window to break to
find it, meaning they either saw us put it in the car
or followed us after we bought it.  They left our 7-18
tickets, my cd player, my cd book, sweaters, etc, and
just took the one thing they wanted and a backpack to
put it in.  $290 down the fucking drain and I'm left
with glass all over my car and a $150 bill to fix the
window.  Sorry, but I'm pretty sure this bummed me out
for good and I don't think I will be going back
anytime soon.  I really wish the scene didn't overtake
the music, but i don't feel safe there anymore.  We
sold our tickets for 7-18 and I had to go to the
denver p.d. to file a report (i live in boulder)
because supposedly some kids were caught, but they are
totally giving me the runaround and don't care, so I
don't know what the hell is going on.
I hope others had a better time than I did after the
show, and please, just be a human being and not a dick
head.  Also, I don't mean to bum anyone out, there are
alot of nice people around, but the bad ones suck.
The show was good   :)   The end.  And I want Moesha
on cd.
-Penina Frager

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 12:47:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: gregory weiss [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: red rocks 7/17/01 late review
 
not too many reviews posted for this one so i thought
i would chime in...
I went into this show with no expectations and no
hopes of any special guest appearances or phish song
breakouts.  I took trey at face value and assumed i
would hear lots of new material and minimal phish
tunes.  My last trey solo show was in may 1999 at the
fillmore in denver, and i hadnt listened to any of the
recent trey shows so i was really looking forward to
hearing the new material.
It was a beautiful sunny day at red rocks, and my
buddy and i got to the lots early and drank a lot of
beer, threw the frisbee and took in the sights and
smells of the lot scene.  We went in @630pm and ended
up in the middle of the amphitheater @ row 30.  I have
to admit i was really fired up and kind of nervous
about what i would hear and how the audience would
react.  I read some negative reviews of previous
shows, and saw a lot of postings wishing for phish
song bust outs and phish special guests.  i got the
feeling that many people were just going to these
shows to see a phish show and that they would be
pretty disappointed.
I was not diappointed with what i heard...On the other
hand, what i heard did not get me excited enough to
want to jump on the tour and see the rest of the
shows..
Burlap sack and pumps is a rockin opener and got the
crowd moving..other highlights of the first set for me
included Quantegy, Come on baby lets go down town and
a rockin 1st tube set closer.
I enjoyed set two although fewer songs stuck out in my
mind with the exception of push on til the day, which
may have been my favorite song of the show.  The band
seemed pretty tight and I loved the horns.  Ray had a
few bright moments on keys and i thought trey seemed
consistent all night.  I am reading lots of comments
on tony's repetitive bass lines and i remember
noticing that in 99, but i am on the side that
believes that the songs were written that way to allow
other musicians to fill in the spaces and work around
them.  But i do remeber thinking to myself, "god, mike
must be bored playing the same lines over and over
again" when i saw phish play sand 1st tube and jiboo.
One disappointment was at the gazebo as an encore...
as mentioned in other reviews a cold wind kicked up
and the last thing this concertgoer needed was a slow
boring song to end the night.  kind of a bummer.
Overall I had fun and enjoyed what i heard.  As a long
time phish phan, i am always open to new things from
the boys even if it is not in the traditional phish
format.  I am curious to see if trey will stick to his
format of playing mostly the same songs each night and
staying away from phish songs(other than jiboo, sand
and 1st tube)or if he will begin to dip into selected
phish songs to keep the crowd interested.  I am
writing this on the 19th and heard he did an acoustic
bathtub gin last night(yeah, i sold my 2nd nite red
rocks ticket due to a heavy work schedule, and yeah i
am bummed i didnt catch the windora bug bathtub gin,
but what can you do?)
I guess the bottom line is for those of you hoping to
recreate the phish summer tour glory days of the past,
you may be a little disappointed with the trey band
tour.  For those of you looking to hear some quality
new music from an excellent group of musicians, this
just might be the right ticket for you.
Peace,
Greg Weiss
[email protected]


Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:40:21 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7-17-01 Red Rocks
 
I went home 'sick' from work in Albuquerque yesterday in order to drive up
and see the show at Red Rocks last night.  While my illness was feigned, I
spent the six-hour drive up wracked by anxiety pangs.  I felt like I was
headed to meet my best friend's new girlfriend -- he's in love, he wants us
to like her, we want to like her, but what if we don't?  In nine months since
I saw the last Phish show, I've cried over the absence of their live music in
my life.  Hearing shows from the spring tour on cd, I knew they had the
potential to do it for me, but recent reviews had me wondering, Are they
really repeating half their setlist every night?  Arriving in the lot,
meeting friends from Aspen, New Mexico, and Denver, plus many tour
acquaintances from Japan last year, we talked about everything except the
question on our minds, Will these guys get us off?
 
I moved around between friends in the second row center and in the
twenty-fifth row Trey side, noticing crowd reactions as well as dancing as I
was motivated.  The first set I watched the horns almost exclusively, except
as they left the stage in Alive Again when Trey played some more typical
loopy solos over the groove.  There is great interaction between the horns
internal to their section, mixing up solos and obviously having fun with
dance steps and side-banter.
 
There's a lot of talk about Tony Markellis and his style.  Tony plays
ritualistic bass lines; they're repetetive not because he doesn't have the
talent to mix it up, but because that's how he and Trey have written the
groove songs.  The bass and drums don't change, in songs like Last Tube,
Alive Again, Mr. Completely, and Drifting, so that the horns can maneuver in
an open space overhead.  Trey's skill at orchestration is apparent in these
arrangements, creating a volcanic ambiance with layers of looping guitar
effects and noodling solos bubbling and stirring, with bursts of horns and
keys.  The groove jams fill an entire spectrum of sound that's heavily rooted
and sometimes chaotically expansive.  First Tube is an incredible stand-out
of this type of music, and the Cmon Baby Let's Go Downtown > First Tube combo
to close the set was a terrific choice to close the inaugural Red Rocks set.
Alternatively, Push on till the Day has been re-structured in the jam
section.  Instead of the big groove jam that achieved epic Wall of Sound
proportions during the spring tour, last night it was played in
through-composed style, with more flavor in the horn riffs but never
departing the song tonality.
 
I think this band reaches its potential in jams like the groove songs I
mentioned above, all of which were highlights of last nights show.  Ray
dialed up several solos of 'playitLeo' caliber both early in the first set
(Last Tube had a good clavinet solo), and in the second set he and Trey fed
off each other in Mr. Completely.  Trey's energy blends with the horns very
well and numerous times in the show he danced and lunged with the downbeats
in response to trumpet solos or horn fills.
 
During At the Gazebo, with the winds blowing hard enough to knock over
Jennifer's music stand and toss the horns' music books to the ground, I
imagined a scene of twilight after the apocalypse.  It was a fitting serenade
to be played over a decimated landscape,  a nuclear breeze buffeting the
walls of buildings as they crumble to the ground.  Surreal, the horns played
on, stoic amidst the chaos, like the string quartet sending out a lullaby
from the deck of the heaving Titanic.

Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:14:36 -0600
From: Dan Walsh [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7-17-01 Review of Red Rocks
 
I went into this show totally ready to like what I heard, but the truth of
the matter is, it just didn't do it for me.  There are some cool rhythms and
beats (reminiscent of Bitches Brew, M.Davis), but I never caught the groove,
or felt like dancing on my own accord.  By the looks of most everybody around
me, they were seeing the same show I was.  There were a couple of moments
that rocked, but all in all, the new songs have a cheesiness to them that
just don't get me off, like Alive Again for example.  In the first set it was
all horns, and the only time Trey did any soloing, it was just his
screeching, whaling soloing, that I can usually do without, anyway.  Now the
second set did feature alot more Trey soloing, but even his greatness doesn't
sound as good without, Mike, Jon, & Page vamping behind him.  And I have to
agree with some previous posts, that the Bass Player really needs to change
up his bass lines.  I mean come on, we are all dancing to the bass, and this
guy plays the same 3 or 4 notes, in the same manner the whole song without
change. On several occasions I would listen to him distinctly, and it never
ever changes.  It's enough to drive one crazy sometimes.  I even tried to
put into context this band, I thought to myself, alright just consider this a
new band, and don't put all your expectations of Phish into it, and I still
came to the same conclusion, it just ain't that good.  I was riding that fine
line of liking it and hating it all night, and the bottom line is, if Im even
near that line, there is something wrong.  Ok, now I will tell you what I did
like . . . in the second set I enjoyed the Mr. Completely(some actually cool
words, at least what I could make out of them) and the Push on till day had
some nice moments.  By the end of the second set the Colorado wind was really
starting to pick up, and the Horns sheet music was blowing all over the
place, but they still got by and there was even some nice exchanges between
trey and the chick on horns. (sorry I don't know your name, yet)  But what
really got me was the encore . . .  By this time the wind is blowing so hard
you can hear it rustling in the microphones, and then they come out and trey
picks up an acoustic?   Im thinking, is this really the time for a quiet
acoustic song, when the wind is louder than the guitar?  Anyway they go into
At the Gazebo, which put the whole place to sleep, literally, and that was
it, Trey waves and its over.  I was surprised at how little Trey spoke.  Then
on my way out of the venue the security guys hold us up right in front of the
tour buses, and everybody is like what the f**k, then all of a sudden a van
escorted by cops comes down and all these chicks get out of it and start
filling into the tour buses, then another car comes down, and like half the
band gets out, and jumps in the tour bus, mind you there are like 3000 people
just standing here looking at them being held up by the cops.  We're all
startin to think, we don't care who you are, but we want to get back to our
cars.  I still can't figure out what the big rush was, do they not spend
anytime backstage enjoying themselves before they go, or is this all
business.
 
Sorry if my review upsets anybody, but this is just the way I see it . . . If
you see it differently, then by all means, post your own review.
BTW . . . anybody need a ticket for Red Rocks 7/18 cause I'm selling mine.

Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 17:37:09
From: Steven Kaehly [email protected]
Subject: Review Red Rocks 7.17.01
 
First off I want to thank you so very much for the information you have
gathered and displayed for us all over the years... Now on the to Red
Rocks!!
 
THIS IS RED ROCKS!!!! THIS IS THE EDGE!!!! And you can believe me this show
was absolutely lived up to it^� amazing! The first set was a funk filled
brass based madness that makes you wonder why Trey has not shot off on his
own until now. Don't get me wrong here I can^�t wait till Phish gets back
together but this is a wonderful change and was much needed over a year ago.
If I had to pin point it, the peak of the first set had to be Quantegy, a
very groove-a-listic jam that rocked the house.
The second set simply just spoke to me. With the new beats Trey has put
together like Noodle Rave, Push On Till the Day and Money Love and Change
which says it all about this summers tour, you could not have asked for a
better experience. As fireworks were bursting overhead during the second
set, the band just jammed on... Right on!!!
 
I loved At the Gazebo^� a perfect end to a perfect show^� Thanks Trey!!!!
 
SAK

these are reviews of other reviews more so then reviews of the show

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 08:43:09 -0500
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 7-17-01 Reviews
 
I honestly cannot believe how stupid some of these reviews are.  I went to
the first four shows of the tour and loved every minute of it.  I want to
make something clear to everyone that has seen a show...
 
THIS IS NOT PHISH!!!
 
All of this talk about Bass lines not jamming enough, or playing the same
songs every night has led me to believe that you all expect a Phish show.
The style of music that Trey is playing now is not very similar to Phish at
all, (which I believe is great since they really had not done anything new
for the last 4 years), and should not be seen as the same.  I think a lot of
the people who come are definitely expecting that and bitch when they don't
see phish-style songs.
 
As I have come across time after time, Phishheads, or those who deeply are
moved by the music of Phish, seem to be some of the most musically
close-minded people I have ever seen.  The audience lives only off Phish,
some standards, and the mentioned direct influences on Phish.  As Trey has
even said, this tour is to get people up and moving and having a good time.
I constantly saw buttons at the shows about "17 more years" and such... Come
on... Do we really want another Grateful Dead?  Playing the same shit for 35
years or what have you... You have to know Trey thinks about that constantly,
the connotations that he is Jerry Garcia, and what happened with that.  The
quality of the music should not, ( and now is not), be dropped in order to
"keep the party going on".  So... if you want to challenge me on this
subject, drop me a line at [email protected]  I really hope I get some mail
saying, "Fuck you dude, you have no idea".  Please send me one of those
someone!!!

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 10:39:02 -0700
From: Jeffrey Klein [email protected]
To: [email protected]
 
I just want  to respond to the guy who said we are all dancing to the
bassline, and it gets boring.  Try dancing to the guitar, or horn
arrangements when they are there.  Trey is doing enough different shit up
there where if you dance to what he is doing, you won't get bored.


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