5-23-00 -- Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY

review submisions to me, dan schar at [email protected] or [email protected]

...for discussions on the issue of getting tickets for this show, and the events that transpired see bottom of this page...thanks...schar
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:08:34 -0400 From: Erin Cunningham [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland 5/23/00 I just wanted to say to everyone that we should all just remember how much fun we had at the concert if we went and my empathy to those who didn't make it in. Time to put away petty differences and just realize that what happened, happened. you can't change it now, so leave it alone. There's no need to argue about something if it's not going to change the outcome. Hope you all enjoyed the show and I'll see you at future shows. -Erin
Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2000 16:30:05 -0800 From: Montano Sokolow [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review of Roseland Ballroom 5/23/00 Here's an email Ted and I (Tano) wrote to our friend, Stu about this incredible show, the morning after. It's long, so I've tightened it up a bit. Some context: I flew out from LA, and Sean flew from San Francisco to meet our friends, Ted and Tracy, to have fun in NYC, and hopefully catch the Radio City shows. Right. None of us are stinking rich, so naturally we didn't make it in. But we are crazy-faithful, so we stood dutifully in line for 15 damn hours, like good little children. Actually, Tracy wasn't up for it, and had to work in the day, so Ted paid a friend $100 to stand in line for her. She snipped and retaped his wristband and it worked. It may be cheating, but we did have a guy stand in line the whole time, and none us cut in line or anything. Being from California, we only get a run of shows per year, so this was very exciting to see a show in May, and in such a gorgeous and small venue. For me this was my 21st show, since '94. For Sean, it was show number 2. Onward: Ted wrote: brain is still melting from the show last night. roseland. 3000 people. small club. exceptional. more than that. made all the better by having sean and tano here. wish you were with us. but we sent the love. did you feel it? the show was outstanding. we got our hands on some EXCELLENT molly and i had bags of shroomies that i ate and handed around to our group and anyone who looked friendly. we were very close. trey was so fucking happy. it was so clear and so wonderful. it was a little too crowded, but we were with a good group of dancers, particularly one girl who was very friendly and smoked us out and was free with the huggies. and it was pleasant because she was our age and helped us from feeling like the ancient fuckers we are (being surrounded by entitled phish phans who were there because they have an endless supply of money from mommy and daddy's checking account). SET I: (1 hour 40 minutes!! dude!!!!) AC/DC Bag (sean was not a big fan of this as the opener and it wasn't terrific, but i like the song and the jam worked well. Wilson (again...sean was not grooving to it but this is a tracy favorite and a definite crowd pleaser. this worked very very well IMHO) First Tube (this was just mind blowing. from this point on, they were on fire and never slowed down. GORGEOUS) Ya Mar (a fuck you to VH1. they were daring them to air it. it was real nice. my mind melted here. and those VH1 fuckers are gonna HAVE to air it, because it bled right into...) Mike's Song (wow. WOW! DOUBLE WOW!!! incredible version. astounding. no break into...) Simple (another tracy favorite. she was dancing up a storm in her sexy burning man frilly clothes. they went into a jam at the end which i have never heard, but sean says is on the "hampton" set. it was so gorgeous and the lightshow was astounding. it was really a highlight for me. again, this went into...) It's Ice (!!!!! dude...rocked. fan-fucking-tastic. GOOOOORRRRRGEEEOUUUUSSS) When The Circus Comes (is it hurting yet? because it should. i was hurting. and DAMN was this good. followed by a super version of...) Get Back On The Train (a very dead song. that's not necessarily a good thing, because i'm not a dead fan. i know, i know. a crime. i should be shot. but whatever. but this is a good dead-y song and was nice. Gotta Jibboo (bouncy. fun. happy. you knew they were gonna play this. and they did. and it was fun. so there.) Taste (this just kept going and going and getting more and more intense. sean and i were certain it was closing the set. it just had that feel. but surprise! like benny hinn at a mass healing, they weren't done with us yet!!! look what they followed up with...) Sleeping Monkey (awwww...how much fun is this song? sean kept screaming, "THAT'S MY MONKEY! WHY DID YOU PUT HIM ON THE TRAIN!! LEAVE MY MONKEY ALONE!!!" tracy was laughing so hard i thought she was gonna throw up. this ended the set and man did i have to piss. i was hurting at this point and getting to the head was like chopping your way through bamboo shoots in the 'nam. you remember those days in the shit, right stu? back when we were kicking ass and taking names? well, same deal. but i have to tell you, i almost orgasmed when i pissed because it felt so good. it was almost as profound as my life changing shit at the man last year. sean said that seems to be a recurring theme with me: get rid of whatever i'm holding on to and i find true happiness. i guess he's right. but whatever it was, as soon as the tubes were all cleared out, i was hit by this massive rush of ecstasy and shroomies...which must've been somewhat inhibited by my state. up until that point, i had told myself i was gonna eat a couple more bags of shroomies because i wasn't feeling stuff the way i wanted to. but it all kicked in in the most profound way and i started handing out everything i had to the people around me. i wasn't gonna need it and i'm probably gonna be pretty clean from here until the man. intentionally. plus, i love seeing people's faces when i give them a bag of goodies and they ask how much and i just stuff it in their hands. makes for a good time. we went back upstairs to find our places. but of course, it was a madhouse. remember saigon at the end when we were knocking people off the gates to keep them out? same thing. well, we gave up trying to get back where we were. it was quite clear all the people in the back had used the break to push to the front. and i was in no mood to fight to be ten feet closer to trey. so we stayed where we were, which was still EXCEPTIONALLY close. and we had that cute girl and her friends who were happy to dance with us. so what more do you want? and the second set started...) II: (1 hour 40 minutes again!!!!) Punch You In The Eye (as tano said, "oh boy! they're gonna kick our asses!" and boy did they ever. nice nice nice) Twist Around (when they first started playing this, we all thought they were actually playing "prince caspian" but then it kicked in. really nice) Waste (the absolute highlight of the show. the place collectively wept at the end. i mean, they just did an ASTOUNDING version of this song. it was INCREDIBLE. fucking gorgeous. and everyone stayed quiet for it, too, which was a nice treat. this will be the center piece of the VH1 show-- which apparently is to air on july 1st. set your vcrs now!!!) Piper (not as long as they usually do. but everyone wanted to get to the meat of the song. it was pretty fucking intense and real real real purty.) YEM (this was great. and it ended with the fucking best vocal jam i've ever heard them do on this song. tano kept marveling at what pros they are. incredible) Antelope (another tracy favorite. she was happy and running in place screaming "RUN LIKE AN ANTELOPE OUT OF CONTROL!!!!") Train Song (tracy was so happy, because this is one of her personal faves. she turned to me and said "they're singing this to me!!!") Bug (i really wanted to hear this, because this is one of my favorite songs on the new disc. it was sweet and man did they nail it. nice long version that kept getting bigger and better as they went along. they ended it on this, which surprised me. it seemed short to sean and me, but i realized later that the second set was just as long as the first. maybe it was all the munchy happiness i was on that was pumping through my body that totally erased any sense of time and place.) Encore: Boogie On (need i say more?) Cavern (also very nice. i wanted more but i ain't complaining. i wanted more because i'm a greedy lil' bastard.) luv, ted... tano sez: Well Stu, I never thought I would put myself through anything like the grueling experience of waiting in line that you and I went through [at Big Cypress], but actually the guys kind of talked me into it. Much like Big Cypress, I'm so glad I went, and I was so happy to be there, and I'm so glad it's over. 15 hours sitting in an alcove on Broadway, shoved in with filthy, irate hippies for hours on end, man, I'm getting too old for this. But, ya know, it was the only way to get in, and this was definitely an all-timer. I had fears it would be a truncated set, to accomodate VH-1, or maybe that there would be cameras blocking the band, and pushing fans out of the way. But the cameras were very discreet, except during Cavern, when they closed right in on Trey's face, and he forgot the lyrics to a song he's sung thousands of times. It was fucking hysterical, got big applause from the crowd. The venue was gorgeous, the size of the El Rey [in LA], maybe a little bigger, and with a balcony as well. Very pretty colors and lights on the walls, very intimate. I don't know if they oversold or what, I suspect that way too many people snuck in somehow, but the place was at about 1 1/2 times capacity. I have to say (especially for a NYC crowd) that it was mostly really cool people. Not a lot of rudeness or stupidity, but there were just too many people, and everyone was feeling the crush. That said, we were surrounded by really happy, dancing people, especially in the second set. Just before the show, this guy we had been in line with (for fucking 15 hours), who had showed up alone from Boston, and who I'd spent a long time talking with (just a really great human being), found us inside, and we all hugged. No one remembered his name, and we all said, "hey! corner-guy." He was really happy to see us, and then wandered off pretty quite. It left me with a nice feeling. Let's talk about the setlist, shall we? SET I: AC/DC Bag: Wasn't even thinking about this song, but it seemed a fine choice. I was predicting Farmhouse, and was kind of glad when they didn't play it at this show (same with Heavy Things, good song, but I've heard it). Crowd was so amped through the first two songs, that you almost couldn't hear the band all that well. Lots of extraneous noise, and they weren't quite gelling yet, but the vibe in the room was so strong and happy, it was just great to be there. Wilson: Awesome. Again, wasn't jammed out very long, but very high energy. I got the feeling early one that they weren't really going to go into deep space very much, just keep it happening fast and furious, but this didn't seem so much a concern about the VH-1 taping, as it was feeling the room. There was so much anticipation and urgency in the room, plus it was simply a NY audience, which has even less an attention span than an LA crowd, that the band could tell they needed to keep the train moving constantly. Wilson got up to a fever pitch that just drove everyone insane. This was when we all realized we were really here tonight. On a side note, not knowing how long the show would be, we all took our X and shrooms well before the show started, and we were all flying before the band even hit the stage. So we were good and ready for them to nail it. First Tube: I was so happy. This song's refrain has been buzzing in my head for days and days. I thought they would probably play this, maybe even open with it, even though they opened Radio City with it, 'cause I figured they would be pushing the new material. I heard them open with this twice last year, at the Gorge, and at Shoreline, and I liked it, but it didn't seem to have much room to develop. I was so wrong. The jam on this just got wild. Really high energy, and very dancable. Page had this shit-eating grin on his face at the end of it, like, "hey, that was really cool." I think they usually got back into the refrain at the end, but this time the jam just wound down to a very natural ending. From here on out it was all solid. Ya Mar: Love this song. And the first of two Mike-sung songs in a row. This is so happy, and can be so delicate. There was one I heard last year, I can't remember where, maybe even at Big Cypress, that just floored me with how light and beatiful Trey's solo was, and I suspect it will be a long time before I hear them top that, but this was nice. Don't remember much specifically, I was too "in the zone." Mike's Song: Fuck, ya. We're only at song four, and we get Mike's Song. Of course, nothing could top the Big Cypress Mike's Song, but you can't go in expecting that, you gotta appreciate what you're getting. The crowd was very pleased by this choice. Anyone who still thought they might be doing a VH-1 show, and not a Phish show, was satisfied. What can you say about this song, except that it delivers. And it never lets up. The lyric about "no nice guys" felt very poignant to me at the time, after a few days in NYC, feeling like such a soft, mellow California boy. This one was for me, is what I'm saying. Simple: No problem with that. I went from liking this song when I first heard it, to getting sick of it very fast, to hearing one that kicked my ass. Since then, I'm happy to hear it. And it works so well coming out of Mike's Song, you can't complain. When the got to the lines "we've got skyscrapers..." everyone freaked. I realized I had never heard this in an actual city with skyscrapers. And certainly not in New York damn-City. This was very exciting. And the jam did that thing where it slowly winds down, and Trey's solo line gets soft and introspective and light. Just beautiful. It's Ice: Hmm. What're they gonna play now? Weekapaug Groove? I am H2? How about one of the rarest songs in their repretoire. At about every show I've been to, I hear people screaming for this song, in vain. At the LA Greek Theater show, I was behind a group of teens who screamed, "Ice!" in between every single song. Naturally, they were very disappointed in the show. These are people who seem to go to the show to listen to all the songs the band is not playing, rather than just listening. I spurn them. In any case, this was cool to hear, since I've obviously never heard it, and it's a very impressive and intricate song from the Rift era. Needless to say, the crowd is fucking nuts. They are eating each other alive and smearing the blood on the walls. They are having group sex on top of the soundboard, and levitating at will. This song has cascading scales that don't exist in Western music, and are not actually possible to play on a guitar, and Trey's knocking them off perfectly while eating a sandwich and reading the newspaper. He's not human. And this song solidified the fact that until the end of time, all of us will have immediate clout with any Phishhead, once we mention that we saw this show. It's Ice. When The Circus Comes: A nice breather after a frenetic jam. I think this was kind of for VH-1, but I like the song a lot, particularly the lead in to the chorus, and the giutar solo. But also nice and short and tidy, fit for broadcast. Get Back On The Train: I fucking love this. And it was the best version I've heard. Crowd still very amped at this point, and clearly the fans have accepted this boppy tune immediately. It's very Grateful Dead, in that it has that jiggy rhythm that you can dance to at any point in the song. And a groove that you already know before you've heard it. Lots of smiles. Gotta Jibboo: Another good groove. And we've obviously still got lots of time in the first set, since they're not going to end on this. Very good version. There was one of the new songs, I can't remember if it was this or somewhere else, that got into a jam that wasn't quite working, and they plugged away for awhile, and then just gave up. No big deal, I was kind of glad when they decided to just move on, as apposed to, say, the Stash at Irvine, which (for me) just wasn't working, but they flailed away for 15 minutes, and never quite got it. But the song part of this song was quite nice. Taste: A good rocker, took me a while to figure out what it was. I liked, but don't remember too much. Sleeping Monkey: a surprise for me, being in the first set, but always welcome. Sean and Tracy were very happy about this, as Ted said, and I reminded Tracy that this was the song we had just been talking about the night before, the one that's exactly like Let It Be, but is great. Fishman is fucking hysterical (wearing the O-ring Mumu, btw). He doesn't have to be doing anything, even, he's just funny. A nice ending to a very generous set. II: Punch You In The Eye: Anytime I hear this (and they often open sets with it) I know the whole set will be fabulous. I love the song, and I listen for it, and hope they play it at every show. So it was kind of funny when I couldn't remember what the hell it was until well into the first verse. Very happy when I figured it out. It just has so many wonderful changes, and yet good, smooth flow, and every part of the song forces you to move. A sweet groove. And it was even better after hearing Wilson in the first set. The lyric, "oh, Wilson, someday I'll kill you til you die," always means a lot to me. Wilson always represents something different to me, but there's always a Wilson, and goddamn it, someday I will kill the bastard until he dies. Damn it. I felt very in sync with the crowd here, and I was really liking the people around us. Further back than the first set, but our crowd was all dancing, very accomodating of people's space, yet all deep into their trip. This is gonna be good. Twist Around: Loved it. Again, I don't remember too much. I think this was one of the songs where I was so deeply inside the music, that it was just flowing in and out of me. No judgement, no anxiety, just flow. And if I stop dancing, I will fuck up the band's groove, because they're watching everything I do, and I'm really making it work for them. Gosh, they're so lucky when I'm there for them like that. I hope the crowd appreciates it as much as the band does. Waste: Ya know, I don't think I've heard this live before, not in years anyway, and it's a sentimental song that I've really wanted to hear live, but only in a special moment. This was so it. All of us, Sean, Tracy, Ted, and I all knew that this was just for us, without saying why, and just spontaneously hugged each other and swayed to the music. It was so beautiful and simple, and honestly sung, and man, that's what we came here for. To New York, I mean. Just to waste some time together. This song has always been about the band for me, but tonight it was about the people I came with. This is a scary town, and I've found such warmth and comfort and love here, thanks to Ted and Tracy's undeniable awesomeness, and Sean's presence, of course, and this was our anthem. And, man, they actually kept a NY crowd that was packed in beyond reason, to shut up and listen to a little sentimental song. Piper: It's Piper. And though this song has kicked my ass repeatedly (I mean it's fucking Piper, for god's sake), this was where I finally gave in and said, Phish, kick my ass right here. Kick it good. It built up fast, but ya know, it just needed to. The crowd was ready a soon as it started, and the band felt it, and just pumped it right up. It didn't even last too long, but for about five solid minutes I was bouncing and jittering, my eyes rolled back in my skull, checking out the view in there, my tongue flopping out of my mouth, my face twisted up like a mongoloid, and in serious danger of swallowing my tongue, if not my teeth. In short, I looked like the tall guy behind Sean looked for the entire second set. It was transcendent and focused. I couldn't tell you what the band did, but it turned me into a drooling reptile. And I liked it. YEM: Yeah. How lucky am I at this moment? I have already sweated out all that I broughwith me, and now I will have to start sweating out of other people's pores. Fortunately, they are very obliging. Halfway through this song, I always remember that they do the trampoline thing, and I'm really happy, cause that's just pure showmanship, and they're just so fucking cool when they do that. And this time I crack up, knowing that VH-1 is going to have to struggle to find twenty straight minutes where they can air it, cause they have to get the trampolines in there. It's as glorious as YEMs are, and then some. (Can you tell, I'm running out of hyperboles?) I'm not sure, but I think there were a couple of places (notable during the big build up to the release into "Boy!" where they actually held it out an extra bar, and this really pumped the crowd. This definatel happend at one point where every looks at Fishman to hit the snare, and he waited an extra two beats. Mike played some wicked, gnarly bass shit during the jam, and the vocal jam is about as tight and fucking professional as I've heard. Now VH-1 absolutely has to air this. I don't know how to describe it, except that it very quickly evolved into a very consice, four-part harmony song, with every part in the right place, which had a notural ending. Unbelievable to just make up on the spot. And the lights were really cool. A rectangle of white spots surrounding the band, and twisting and turning in sync. An effect they hadn't used yet in the entire show. (The lights, in general, were just gorgeous. Deep colors, pretty, happy shapes. Good drugs. Antelope: Holy freaking shitbag! Antelope now!? After that YEM! I'm jigging around, working my bloody stumps into the floor, knowing what's coming up. The quiet intro section gives us exactly enough time for our new friend to borrow my pipe to smoke us and her friends out. Just exactly as she's had enough and so have I, I put my pipe away, she puts her bag away, and we look up, and Antelope explodes. Of course, this works so well because we both know the band very well. She told me so with her eyes about an hour ago. I've waited my whole life to hear an Antelope deep in the second set. I always thought they were afraid to do it. Not here. I think it's going to take them several months to reattach the roof back onto the Roseland Ballroom. Train Song: Now I was impressed when they shut up the crowd with Waste, but there was such reverance in the room right now. Mike is just so good and cute, and the song is such a gem. The crowd was just sweating silently and grinning. There was even a moment, one of those Moments, where the music breaks for a second, before a new verse, and during that second I was somehow watching the band intently, and also aware of some guy jostling me, going by with a couple of drinks, and also there's about 3500 hippies in this room, and yet there was dead silence. Everything literally froze, in deference to the music. Sublime. Also Tracy and I realized that we were right behind one of the cameras, and could see into the monitor, and it was right on Mike's face. So I could see him right up close. Tried not to focus on it, though, cause I wasn't there to watch TV. But if that makes it onto VH-1, I'll be able to tell you exactly where I was standing, in reference to the camera. Kinda cool. Bug: Sums it all up pretty damn well. It doesn't matter. (yeah, sure.) Felt right to me. I could've handled another song after this, but I'm not going to quibble with that set. And after hearing this at the end of Big Cypress, I knew this was a great way to end a show. It was. Encore: Boogie On: Cool. Better than usual (not that they topped last year's San Diego version), but very free and happy. And Mike picked up the ending jam with some phenomenal funky licks. Yay Mike! Thank god they have some Stevie in their repretoire. Cavern: Very good, as always. The highlight was difinitely Trey flubbing the lyrics. The crowd loved it. Big laughs. I bet it gets aired. And that's it. Legendary. Very cool. And thank god I can go somewhere to breathe now. Tracy actually nabbed a cab, right as we stepped out of the theater, so we were whisked away to comfort instantly. This town may be scary, but what a fucking lifestyle. Very good people, very good show. And to top it off, we also managed to do mailorder today, so we know we can do it again (and much easier) at Shoreline. (and Vegas?) Sometime in the second set, a very drugged out young hippie leaned to me and said, "this right here makes me so happy, cause now I know Phish didn't sell out." I said, "I don't really worry about that anymore." Wow, dude, did you even hear about Big Cypress? Sometimes I think these kids don't even know what they have. But I do. Peace out. -Tano
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:33:53 PDT From: Jake Cohen [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review for 5/23/00 For a while, I debated whether or not spending an extra 40 bucks, waiting in line for 10 straight hours, the last 5 of which were spent standing in one place, and sleeping on 8th ave. was worth one measly Phish ticket. I'm glad I chose to get one. There was definitely a common bond last night at the Roseland. Everyone there knew that everyone else there had gone thru the same thing to get tickets. These were all phans who were willing to wake up a little early, or just not sleep at all, to get one ticket that couldn't be sold or traded. NO scalpers got any, it was all true phans in there. There was such an exciting vibe going on - we were all actually in this theater, about to see Phish. And this was all before they came onstage. A coupla notes: The Roseland: By far the greatest place I have ever seen Phish. Not hard to do when I've only been seeing shows since they moved to arenas and amphitheaters. The Roseland is a small room, only 3 or 4 stories high, with the stage at one end and a large open space coming out from it. Soundboard in the middle. A small balcony and VIP section, but mostly we were all just crammed in, finding what little dancing space you could. The scene: No security - none. TV: We all knew it was being taped, but once the show started, it there was nothing different. There were two onstage cameramen, one Page-side and the other over near Trey. They never really walked out onstage and blocked anyone's view - mostly they stood to the side or near the front. There was one camera moving horiz. along the front row, an identical one in the front of the soundboard stage, and a big camera mounted on the soundboard stage. I also saw about 6 or 7 rigs going, so get these tapes!!! I was about 10 feet in front of the soundboard, maybe 20-30 feet back from the stage. I could see that Chris again had packed the ceiling to capacity with lights, some of which were directly over me. I knew it was gonna be good. The lights went down and the crowd went NUTS! Hysteria as I have never seen before at a show. People were just jumping up and down, screaming, waving, everything! When AC/DC opened, we could tell that they weren't dumbing this show down for TV, no way, they were giving us 100% pure Phish, uncut and uncensored. I was worried that we might hear only new songs, a short performance, no long jams, and that the cameras would interfere with the show. On every one of those points, I was oh so thankflly wrong. AC/DC clocked in at around 10 minutes, some nice type I by Trey, got everyone going. My buds and I had talked about hearing a Wilson, since they might want to get the chanting and other audience participation on TV. Sure enough, Wilson kicks in. First tube grooved hard core, and having not seen Sunday's show, I was psyched to get this one. Ya Mar is always nice, Trey didn't scream "Play it Leo", he just sorta said it. Then they took this jam away. Serious type II here, visiting theme upon theme upon theme that I was sure were composed. I thought they were going to bring it back into Ya Mar again, but instead we heard the opening notes of... MIKES!! YIKES!! Now we're talking here. As if the show wasn't already performing above and beyond my expectations, but we got a Mike's. Dissapointing jam (when I say dissapointing, I'm saying that musically it was simple with no real standout jamming from anyone, sounded like an exercise or something, BUT I was still loving every second of it, dancing my ass off). Closing chords kicked in right ontime, and I was hoping for a H2, but instead was treated to a Simple. Short and sweet, no long jams, again hoping for hydrogen, but then I got ICED! Oh yes!!! I knew they were going to resurrect good ol' It's Ice this year, but I had no idea I'd get to hear it! First Ice since fall '98. And they played it reallllly well too, they'd been practicing. I always love when they bring it back to that building theme after the jam. Circus was a nice break, and one of my favorite slow songs. Hmmmm, already two cover songs.... Even though I had heard it the night before, GBOTT was sooo smoooth. In a venue this small, the sound is excellent, and the vibe is even more so, and we all had the same grooving vibe going for this song. Everyone just gets plain silly and dances! Jibboo was awesome, hoped I would hear this with horns but oh well.... Taste was a nice surprise, and I couldn't believe they were still going. They kept on cranking out songs, none of which I thought would be the closer. Finally I got my first Monkey! I can't believe they did Monkey for TV. Fishman got up on his seat for his vocal solo, stick held high in the air, you'll see it on the show:-). What a set!! 1 hour and 45 minutes of non-stop, purely fun and exciting Phish. If they had just ended the show there, I would've been happy. I thought they were only going to play 2 hours of music, so I figured maybe they'd come out for a one song, YEM 2nd set that lasted only 20 minutes. But wait, there's more!... PYITE started it up on the right foot. Again with the audience participation (HEY!). Solid playing on this one, and wait, is that what I think it is?? Yes, yes! It's a smile on Mike Gordon's face!!! Very fun to see the Landlady dance that close up. Twist was again a nice song, some interesting type II leading out of it, but nothing spectacular to speak of. I was glad they were playing the Farmhouse songs I hadn't heard at Monday's Radio City show. Waste was great, I wanna be a rock star just like Trey! Piper was, as I'm told was the case on Sunday, short like on the album. Don't get me wrong, it still raged, and after something like Waste everyone was dancing up a storm again. It just didn't have the power or strength of some Pipers I've heard that last more than 10 minutes. Funny to see everyone singing the words along. And with a new ending, repeating the line "Piper, piper the red red worm" a few times. YEM was great, as it always is, but not close to the best it's been. Overall it lacked a bit of energy, as it sometimes does since it's difficult to play. But there were some highlights. The second shot at the note was held out all the way, and the build with scream was tight. Tramps was fun, and Mike was definitely the star of the evening. On this song, and on many others previously, Mike was seriously ripping shit up. During Twist(?) I think it was, Mike took this amazing bass solo, very Victor Wooten style, almost as though he was playing lead guitar with Trey comping on chords. It was very smooth, very mikly, very nice. The tightest vocal jam I've ever heard, with a distinct attempt at vocal percussion by Fish throughout. Being in a collegiate a cappella group, I'm always very critical of vocal jams. But their harmonies were dead-on, they had a beat, and they made sure it was realy tight and succinct. I thought this would close the show, but no, now comes the Antelope! Great Antelope, running so fast my feet didn't touch the ground! Trainsong took it down afterwards, and then Bug. Weird 2nd set closer. Encores: Boogie On was awesome, VERY well received. I looked up into the VIP section on this one and saw this girl grooving harder than I've ever seen anyone groove at a show before!! Man, I wish I had her energy! Cavern was fun, especially when Trey fucked up an entire verse! The he juist started singing his own words to it! Well, amazing song selection with a very weird and random placement for this show. YEM, Antelope, Trainsong, Bug to close the 2nd???? But when the music and the crowd and the vibe and the feeling are as good as they were last night, you forget about silly things like song selection. We heard so many older songs tonight, all were jammed out nicely. They took It's Ice out of retirement, and gave us so many big, huge, Phish-epitomizing songs (YEM, Antelope, PYITE, Bag, Mike's). At the end of the show, I realized how lucky I actually was to have seen this show, this spectacular gem of a show that made waiting in line for 10 hours seem desireable for just one more show. I never thought I could seen a show in this country at this type of venue. On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 11. Peace, Jake
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 05:55:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Andrew Farbstein [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 5/23/00 Roseland Review Hey everyone...Just wanted to give a quick review of Roseland. Well, I got out of the first night of radio city and decided that I wanted to go to Roseland. I went to dinner with my friend who had not gone in, and afterwards, we waited in line about six blocks from the Roseland box office. Sounds kind of hopeless, but luckily, people were walking by us who had done head counts, and we were told that we were around 1300. Up until 6am, things were great. I met a lot of cool people, and got to learn some new rules to Asshole. Then, 6am happened. I've read other comments about what happened, but basically, Hell would be the only good description. Oh well, I'm not going to dwell on the negative. At 11:15, I had bracelet in hand. After going to both Radio cities with low expectations, it was time for the high ones. I have never walked into a show with high expectations before, but this was different. After what we had been through, I am mad at myself, but I was expecting a fabulous show. And guess what, they did not disappoint me. After reading previous reviews, I am pleased to see such an outpouring of positive vibes. I feel this show was perfect. That's it. If I was just looking at the setlist I might not feel that way, but inside, life was awesome. I had a perfect seat in front of the soundboard, and the music was played with an intensity unmatched. The crowd was awesome, and the playing virtually flawless. I have never walked out of a show so satisfied. I feel bad for anyone who tried to get in but couldn't. I'm pretty sure that everyone who waited all night got through, but if not, that sucks. And for anyone who decided it wasn't worth waiting on line for, next time this type of opportunity comes up, take it, because you never know what you might miss. Peace!
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:07:44 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: roseland review First off: i am very very very indebted to the gods that allowed me to be at this show... on to my experience: it was amazing just to be there..i took pics of the marquee..and waited the hours till we got in...we had our wristbands and got let into the little lobby section to wait till they opened the doors...the doors opened and i took off to secure a good spot and i ended up right on the rail dead center in front of treys mic... the people around me were just as excited as i was and we kinda all bonded(cept for they guys yelling at the girls in the front center rail area about how they had waited for hours up all night in line and they just got to walk right in..well what can i say..sometimes you just have to be happy in the second row (Wahh)....the place was small..i dont know if any of you have been to the roseland or not but its a small small venue..kinda like a place youd see MMW in or something..the sign said it holds 3450 but i heard they only sold 2500 tickets((thats just what i heard of course and i could be wrong).....we got the 10 min. announcement from the VH1 camera guys which actually ended up being 20 mins. and then the 5 min. warning came and then they were out onto the music ...ac/dc bag, wilson..old school heaven..nice and tight jamming...like trey of old..my boyfriend coined it best when he said it was like going back in time to 1993 except for the new songs and new trey sounds...ya mar was nice and groovy...one of those repetitive waterfall like jams with trey playin a certain rif over and over..occcasionally changing it up..flowed RIGHT into mikes>simple...mikes...beautiful trey jamming..nice job by kuroda..i love this combo..it doesnt seem like a mikes if it doesnt go into simple.. its ice...wow..what can i say...i hadnt heard it in so long(never live till now) that i actually didnt connect with what it was for the first few bars of the song..then i realize WOW..its ICE!!!!(flashback to big cypress and the people walking by the ice piles)...mike seemed lost for a few bars in the middle..maybe its supposed to be that way..but i had heard he forgot how to play it..so perhaps this was one of those mind farts..also..fishman got up on his seat at one point in this song and danced..it was hilarious:)..circus..i love trey ballads (hey im a girl..hes cute..what can i say?) and seein him in the spotlight singin his heart out..so far so good..very tight jamming all around..so reminding me of the early years when i never got to see them..but heard a plenty on tape..i felt like i had stepped into a time capsule...back on the train..ahhh..i love this song..it grew on me in the summer..nice to hear it here..followed by jiboo...jiboo..i like this song..kinda repetative..but trey seems to get off on it..happy face...hope my pictures came out thats for sure..taste..beautiful..dont get to hear this enough..sleeping monkey..surprise surprise surprise set break...time to chill..talk to the neighbors..get the water bottles filled back up..i luckily was on the rail and pretty comfortable wise..i heard that it was pretty tight in there...but it wasnt too bad where i was..im not too small of a girl..so i usually can make room if i need it ;oP we get the 3 minute warning from the camera guys..and its time for set II: hell yea..punch...i LOVE this song...i normally focus on trey during the dance section, but due to camera being in the way i focused on mike, and boy he looks bored when doing the dance in the landlady part..twist..that new beginning that i had heard at RCMH a few nights earlier..still kinda strange to my ears but im betting it will evolve into something different by summer...waste...sorry..like i said earlier..im a lover of trey ballads..and this was beautiful as usual...piper..damn..and i thought the one at RCMH was good..this one maybe seemed a bit shorter..im not sure of the comparison of the times of the two...but it was just as crazy if not more..intense..and crazy..trey just going OFF...leading into..can i get another hell yea...YEM..i just cant believe they are still this tight..complete 180 from the summer...and even better than fall..im running out of adjectives for describing this show because it was just so tight and beautiful from begninng to end..antelope..KILLER KILLER jam..i cant wait to listen to this again and again...ssssssssssss....PPPP....ike...never knew anyone could turn a one syllable word into a 3 syllable one..train song..nice short and sweet..nothing more..nothing less..bug..i love this song..one of my faves of the new album..was happy to hear it again..as it closed out the show.. boogie on... what can i say..trey took the time during this jam to make eye contact with most the people up in front (which was in the majority girls..we like the girls in the front row..teehee)...and i luckily was one of them..and it just made my night..knowing that i in a way connected and shared energy with the guy playin the guitar.....cavern..mess up on the lyrics..trey screws em up pretty bad..LOL...inserts a line about putting it in a sock...and laughs...doesnt quite come out as good on tape as it did live..he did this funny hand gesture while trying to figure out wat the heck to sing..at the end he did the guitar thing he had done at rcmh...where he pulled his fingers away from the guitar and pressed on a pedal to make the feedback noise..if you couldnt see his foot moving it would have looked as tho he was pulling a string away from his guitar controlling the noise..then he got really silly and started diggin into his ear and pretending to pull something out of it..while pressing on the pedal to make the feedback noise..he looked very silly and i wished i had saved some film in my camera to take pictures of this...then..you cant hear it on tape..but he shook his fist at us with a big smile and mouthed thank you..not sure why he didnt say it into the mic..maybe he wasnt allowed to talk to the crowd?? but he definitely said thank you..and then they were gone... wow.. thanks phish!!!!!
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 18:10:04 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: roseland review First off I got to say that being shut out of Radio City was a bummer. It sucks to get shut out of your hometown show, but oh well. When I first arrived to the "line" at roseland there were about 200 peeps lined up. I saw my old tour friends and wanted to satdn on line next to them, but they were like no you can't, people will behind us will get angry, and its just not right...taking this lightheartedly, I agree and staked out our own little spot around the corner...but to my dismay, many peoples kept packing on to the line, pushign all of us waiting phans further back. This got messed up,,,to the point where I was once like No. 250 on line to like 900...and at 6PM many, many "cheaters" ran the line adn messed it up for all of us who had been waiting for over 10 hours...it was sad scene...but it was all good in the end... The show was great..really great, except it was way to packed...shoulder to shoulder smelly damp heat sticky style crammed...to get to the point with a brief review.. Bag was standard...Wilson was LOUDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!! The Yamar jam was outstanding, very rhythmic and pulsating and a nice segue into Mikes (which I called earlier) and then SImple, man you just got to love that jam that fades Simple...its so relaxing, rather splendid. and then it was like something out of the blue...It's Ice..the one song I havent herad live in over sixty shows...so rewarding and exciting..gotta love that jam, such a masterpiece and Page got to sing!!!!!!!! It was just wonderful, the rest of the set was top notch, I had to escape the mass crowd up front in Taste to get a beer and some air...Sleeping Monkey is always a great way to end...for some reason I thought that this was to be the end of the show, becasue the set was so long...but alas! more phish... Set two was amazing...highlight (for me) was YEM, man Mike really busted some raw shit out on this one..I love that funk jam that follows the last chorus of "Firenze"...so sweet, I also really enjoyed Waste and Train Song, being that it was in such a small place, it justifys thier beautiful song structures. The antelope had a slow building jam, it was nice but not as raging as it used to be (a la 92-94)..but sweet nonetheless...and Bug..what can I say.. finally got a good seat (on top of a couch) and just sat ther and gawked at Trey wailing away on such a anthem-like guitar solo in Bug...great set, now it was just plain HOT and SWEATY, pretty nasty, but jus the right atmosphere for a Stevie tune...since I heard that Dayton 97 tape, i feel in love with Phish's rendition of this great song, so bouncy and full of flavor...and to top it all off, on e of my top favs....Cavern!!!!!!! great, great show....well worth the LONG LONG wait....B
Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 23:04:48 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland review I would make this long, but I'm tired of telling everyone about the show. I went to Big Cypress and thought nothing would be better played by Phish for the rest of their career. Well, Roseland took me to school on that note. Get the tapes. And, it doesn't matter WHAT they play on VH1, it was ALL incredible. Best concert I've ever been to. -Howie Hood
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 13:14:36 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: (no subject) I wouldnt say Roseland was the best show i have ever been to ,but it definetly raged. the smallness was great and well worth my fifteen hour wait. As for the cutters I have no anger towards you im glad you got to see the show but just remember that greedy people arnt what makes our community work. I hope the show was worth all the bad kharma. No need for a set reveiw cause that seems to be the popular mood, I just wanna say thnks to all my brothers and sisters who i met in line for the great conversation and vibes. I hope everyone who went had an awsome time. And if you were one of the many that shared your good energy with me email me and if not ill see you soon summer tour is just around the corner!!!!!! peace to all (even the cutters) shawna
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 07:07:55 -0700 (PDT) From: j.c. Subject: ROSELAND BALLROOM 5-23-00 I just want to start off by saying that Tuesday night's show was such an honor to be appart of. I believe the band did this show for a reason, and it was for the die hards. I'm not going to go on and on about the show, because I know I never read long reviews, but as anybody can see from the sets, this was a special show. Right off the bat everybody knew we were in for a treat when they kicked into AC/DC. You can NEVER go wrong with that. I screamed It's Ice until the band played it, so If you were near me and I got annoying, I appologize, but it was well worth it. The first set was so tight, and they really didn't dumb it down for VH1. I'm not going to go into details, but I'll tell you that each version was tight, and song selection rocked! Set two was different from set one, It felt very mellow to me (Accept antelope Which words can't even describe), and I really enjoyed it. I was waiting to hear YEM only because it's one of their greatest songs, and most people in there deserved to see it up close, and it was crazy. I really enjoy start/stop funk, and they didn't hesitate. The encore was NUTTY!! Mike was just doing some crazy shit in Boogie on (along with the rest of the show), and Cavern was the icing on the cake. I've seen 42 shows now, all arena/ampitheater up until this one, and I'd have to say this was probably my favorite. I don't know how else to put it. As for the scene for the tickets, did you guys really think NOBODY was going to camp out till 6? Honestly, everybody and their mother wants to see Phish these days, and you really have to work for something like this. You can't just walk up the front of the line thinking that you'll get in because 1 web site said that people will be turned away. Use your heads. I skipped work to wait on line for 12.5 hours, and I had one of the best times doing it. I met a lot of cool people, and everybody just chilled. Next time, be more prepared. And to all those who pushed up during set break, thanks for making the second set so cluttered that I couldn't get down. In a venue like that, we all should have been honored to just be in the room. Learn how to respect those around you, and their space please. Let's not let the scene go to the shitter because of selfishness. See you this summer, hope everybody had a BOMB time, because I know I did. Peace J.
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:41:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Gregg K [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: roseland....amazing other than the cutters, which I must say "you suck", evrything about the roseland was great....no security, true phans only, the stlist was grate. It's ice....wow. trampolines. page on fire. there was a VH1 guy standing next to me in the crowd with a little video camera. so there will be shots from the crowd troo. anyone else hear that lizards tease...i wanted it so bad!....well keep the scene fun ~G
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 02:15:21 -0400 From: JEFFREY DIAMOND [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland Ballroom just a few more random notes about the show last night and the general scene at roseland the past few days. -Waiting in line for tickets/wristbands to this show was an experience in itself. Lined up along 8th ave for many blocks-most nycers were generally cool with the whole thing-we were even allowed to use the bathrooms in private buildings through the entire night. I am constantly amazed at the different musical scenes that phish comes up with-the summer festivals, new year runs, "regular" shows, now this nyc medium venue deal. Despite their massive and growing popularity, these guys are still able to maintain a fresh and vibrant scene. Anyway, all who got bands were extremely pysched for the upcoming experience they were about to have the next day, and the mood outside the roseland that morning was electric. -the music: Bag opener was nice. Then a rockin Wilson-2 gamehenge songs to start a show that is being flimed for VH1-statement? The other notables are the extended jam out of yamar, which sounded like it wanted to go into lizards, but rather sort of faded into Mike's. Intense. Sort of took a few seconds to realize the magnitude of the fact that they were playing a first set mike's here-how often do we get first set mike's? Went into simple, which was fine, and into...It's Ice. TIMMY! It was huge. The ballroom was rockin. This was the first show since a big renovation there as well and the place looked pretty good. Decent cool air circulation too, it never really got too hot considering how packed it was and how long the sets were. Otherwise, everything after ice was great, and the tension kept building for the anticipated Weekapaug. Sleeping Monkey to close the first set, which was about 1:45. Setbreak was impossible. -II: Solid punch opener-the energy from the first set was well maintained. Eventually got the YEMer that was so expected and wanted and it delivered nicely. The band at this point seemed to be enjoying the music as much as we were as the Antelope started up. Anyway, to close, everybody who got shut out of rcmh b/c it sold out so quick and the high cost of scalpers tickets was hooked up with this show. This is not only the best band in the world (despite the cavern lyrical trouble), but they continually seem to find ways to hook up their fans, as was the case with this show, announced a week beforhand and with the wierdest (though ultimately basically successful)"ticket" policy I've ever seen. Plus, they played a long, unique show (Ice breakout and first ever 1st set mike's/no weekapaug, to begin with...) at a place they packed in '93, and everybody was pysched. Three "train songs" to boot (nj)-didn't even matter that we missed the last train home. Who else saw the sick lightening following the show? -nordy
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:09:16 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland musings, 5-23-00 Sure, the ticket scene was a bit of a mess. But everyone i was with in the back of the line got tickets, and with it being a GA show, i don't feel the need to chastize those who pushed forward during the great rush. OK, some people were there at 2PM on Sunday for tickets that went on sale 16.5 hours later. Big Deal. Justice was served, and the NYPD deserve props for keeping order and not being harsh about the scene before hand. About the show...i'll let other people do the setlists and timings. All i know is that we were filed in (Again props to NYPD and CSS security for keeping things orderly) around 8:30, and the show started five minutes after we made our way to the middle of the front third of the GA audience. The best parts...well, the entire first set, which easily would've made a wonderful show on its own. The second set sits likewise. Any time Trey used his foot pedals to make it appear like he was drawing the sound out of his guitar, the air, or himself. Watching kids with fake wristbands get tossed off line when they'd waited for the same hour or so that we did in the rain on the day of the show. Page watching the audience more than his instruments, and hamming into the VH1 cameras. The smile on Mike's face when they would take a song and make it unusable for your average VH1 special by jamming it into the sunrise. Fishman at the microphone, at any time during the show. Our "Destiny Unrealized" before the second set. The fact that no one chanted "Cheesecake". Lowlights...if i can think of any, i'll do a second posting. For someone like me who only goes to area shows (NY tri-state) this was likely as good a concert as i'll ever witness from this band. Trey's flubbing the third verse of second encore (a much-appreciated Cavern) and making up a new third verse where he sings about sticking a bag in his sock was even really enjoyable. Just gave us an extra verse to enjoy the band and watch Trey laugh it up on stage. The show ended almost exactly at 1 AM. This was the smallest US Phish show in years. I'm very proud to have been part of something this special. Thanks to the boys and the phans for realizing how big this was, and making it such a friendly event, line-rushing or none. I hope that everyone gets the chance to see them put on a full-fledged, arena-worthy show in an environment that can scarcely handle the 3300 or so that were on the floor. Thanks so much for making it my best Phish experience. Peace, ~Colin K.
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:38:44 PDT From: The Wolfman [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Review of Roseland 5/23 I wish they would play the entire show on VH1. That way, the entire world would know exactly what fantastic Phish is all about, and could take them or leave them from there. This show was a monumental statement of everything that this band stands for...it truly had it all. The standout feature tonight was the blending of old and new, which is certainly something Phish has always been about. Seeing them play Mike's, Ice, Ya Mar, YEM, Antelope, Cavern, and openers Bag and Wilson for 2500 people was MAJOR throwback, and yet they still managed to play half of Farmouse. The jams tonight were high voltage, right there with last night. Don't let the 22 song setlist fool you, they rocked out every tune that calls for it, and first set topped a whopping 1:40. (That's longer than a 110 minute tape!) They opened 1st set with Bag, and thoughts of Gamehenge went out the window, which was fine with me. Gamehenge would be great to see, but this show had "legendary" written all over it from the day it was announced. It didn't need Gamehenge. Wilson is great VH1 material. First Tube, a techno song with real instruments, is something that the whole world should hear. I hope they play this on TV. I would much rather this song be the messenger of Phish to the world than Heavy Things, you know? Ya Mar was the best ever, with a superb, convincing jam that gave way to Mike's, and an unexpected key change for Page's solo ("play it in A Leo"). Seriously people, what band changes key in a composed section of their song for no other reason than it's funny and different? It was still another subtle but telling example of what Phish is all about. Ice really got people pumped...it had been a long time if ever for most people there. Great call. Circus was our first chance to cool off...eight songs into the set. Indeed, the circus had certainly come to NYC for 3 days, especially in line to get tickets for this show. Train and Jiboo are more good TV material, and even though they just played them we obviously have to let that go given the circumstances. Long after they could have ended the set, Monkey kicked in and we have a 5'4'' drummer in a dress standing up and singing falsetto. Do not adjust your TV set. Classic Phish. 2nd set opened with your standard Punch, which always gets the crowd going. Waste was a nice surprise. Piper was the only letdown of the entire show. Like Sunday, they again played it straight-up 4-minute album style, and the song loses a LOT of impact that way. It's one of those tunes that was never meant to be studio-ized. Anyhow, what better song than YEM to again remind us what Phish is all about. YEM stands for ingenious composition, a central Phish principle. The type I vocal jam was cohesive and different. Antelope maintained the energy, man the place was rompin'! Bug was a surprising closer. This tune really grows on you, especially the bridge between the verse and the chorus where Mike plays melody. Everyone called a Farmouse/Weekapaug encore, but if two people predict the same Phish song, it never happens. So they play Reggae Woman and Cavern, and presto, we have another Phish doctorate: sheer unpredictability. Even the VIP balcony was getting down to the encore. Well done boys! Put aside for a minute the TV cameras, the ticket fiasco, and the small venue. From a purely musical standpoint, this show was a perfect representation of Phish. The raw talent of soloing, the aquired talent of composition, the rehearsed talent of great jamming, the unpredictability, the variety, and the lighthearted twist of zaniness were all in full effect tonight. This show was an absolute smashing 10. Last year was a big change for the band, and that was difficult to swallow for a lot of people, which is perfectly understandable. But let this much be said: Based on Cypress and these performances in New York, it is safe to say that Phish is rocking hard into the new millenium. -Wolfman [email protected]
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 23:01:41 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: ROSELAND SHOW REVIEW WOW, well this show was honestly the best concert i have ever seen in my life, including my past 7 phish shows. The vibe at Roseland was intense, no scalpers, no security, no problems, and no HUGE crowds...basically a throwback to earlier Phish circa early 90's i would imagine. anyway onto the show. My friends and I had called a Farmhouse opener seeing as how they hadnt played it at Radio City and if this was going to be on TV then why not have tht tile track on the newest album right? Also YEM was going to figure in there somewhere as if Phish wanted to be showy might as well break out a landmark song with trampolines and vocal jam... So we were one of the first 65 poeple to get our wristbands after waiting on line the entire nite from 5pm onwards, and it was well worth it...The first set was SICK and so intense, highlights were the It's Ice, the Ya Mar Jam (very dark and funked out for a more "light" and happy song) and the Wilson because it was a tad unexpected and it got the crowd so ready for the rest of the show via WILLLLSSSONN...it was also delicious to hear the Jiboo (fastly becoming a favorite of mine)... many will notcie that the Mike's song had no corresponding Weekapaug which is damn strange but i thought it would close out the set. THE NEXT SET WAS A SHOW STOPPER...my FAVORITE song in teh whole world PYITE opened it up and teh YEM into Antelope into Train song was jsut plain extraordinary...that is some combination that the boys must have pulled out of the "odd but hell lets do it" part of their cortex. The Piper raged ridiculuosly, the jam was so fast and vibrant...the lights were Chris Kudora's normal wonders and teh Waste made me think of my Sarah up in Buffalo anxiously awaiting July 6th. There really isnt word to perfectly describe the show except the fact that Phish knew that the fans there were the ones who waited all night and deserved a reward, and boy did we get it. I will never forget it as long as i live. SEE YALL ON TOUR- July 4th and 6th. PEace and love Jeremy ([email protected])
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 15:14:51 -0700 From: "Sumption, Scott (Atlantic)" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: Roseland What a nice change to see Phish in such a small room.....My biggest complaint were the massive groups of clueless people pushing their way forward when there was obviously no where to go. If you were one of these people, use some common sense! If there is no room to get by as you get closer to the stage then it is time to retreat and go to the back of the room......People who are in the front most likely waited longer to get their space so show them some respect and don't try to weasel your way to the front!!!! Thank got Radio City had some civility....... Scott A. Sumption Atlantic Records Product Development 1290 Avenue of the Americas 24th Floor New York, New York 10104 [email protected] (P)212-707-2216 (F)212-405-5600
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:13:49 -0400 From: "Freundlich, Jordan" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: Roseland Review Roseland was right about my 50th show, and it didn"t disappoint. I feel that this concert was a good test for the band, and as far as I'm concerned, they passed with flying colors. Coming off of two Radio City shows into a show that is being taped for VH-1, I figured that we were going to get a poppy, VH-1 friendly show. Damn was I wrong. I could just see the executive producer of Hard Rock Live pulling out his hair as Phish jammed song after song, making it nearly impossible to put together a 45 minute show. The first set was non-stop, and it was so long, I thought that they were only going to play one set. I think it speaks volumes that the band did not even play "Heavy Things", the single that was sent to the radio stations. 50 shows in and Phish continues to impress. The show was overcrowded, but the music was so good, who cares? -Jordan
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 07:54:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Josh Monblatt [email protected] To: [email protected], [email protected] Subject: Roseland Review and Thoughts Hi phellow brothers and sisters. I just got back home from Roseland, it is now 4:15 am. So let me present this in a concise, point by point report, so i can get some fucking sleep because i had to stay up for 14 hours and then some to see this show- AND IT WAS WORTH IT!!! 1. There were tapers, actually quite a few. No worries, i was promised CDR's direct from DAT and I will circulate. 1.5. I: (1 hour 40 minutes!!) AC/DC Bag, Wilson, First Tube, Ya Mar > Mike's Song > Simple > It's Ice!, When The Circus Comes, Get Back On The Train, Gotta Jibboo, Taste, Sleeping Monkey II: (1 hour 40 minutes again) Punch You In The Eye, Twist Around, Waste, Piper, YEM, Antelope, Train Song, Bug Encore: Boogie On, Cavern 2. Here's a riddle: what do you get when you cross the fact that people got shut out of Radio City, thousands of kind faces camped out in an urban jungle for 14 hours (give or take a few), not seeing those people for a day, then coming back to wait in line all over again with them, and then seeing what could be the most intimate show we will ever get to see; the answer my phriends is a SENSE OF COMMUNITY. Good vibes all around, i have never felt more at home, and there was no ego from anyone, just pure love. and for those that line cut, or had some quarrels, that's ok, we love you too, you've had your turn, now think of others. 3. Be jealous, be very jealous if you didn't go, get the tapes 4. Phish presented more of an overall portrait of their work to the cameras and i do believe they surprised themselves with their raw talent. 5. Sound Check: Ginseng Sullivan, My Soul, Funky Bitch- maybe more, but the doors were shut and we could no longer hear them. I think they were shut because of a Matchbox 20 concert going on up the street and the street traffic was too much. Sidenote- Trey was mental-flossing at the end of Cavern. 6. God Damn I love Phish! 7. Now here's where you all have to help me(us) and spread the word. On July 1st, the assumed date of airing, we should have regional bashes. A gala if you will. Get all the heads in your area to show up at a small local venue to see a local band, then at midnight, a bigscreen of the broadcast, followed by another band. If this isn't feasible, make your own party at your house and invite at least 5 phans you don't know too well. It's all about community love and maintaining that. No one should have to sit at home alone and watch it, share the vibes! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE THIS WORK!!! A little communication and hospitality goes a long way in Phishland. 8. Don't be shy about emailing me for other questions or trades. And be good to each other. Just to make you drool, i was right up front in the center, 'twas a thing of beauty. Peace, Josh PS- If Will or Angel is out there, email me- you made my wait in line such a good experience.
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 05:12:01 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: No Subject This is a story like none other... I GOT IN ON KHARMA AND I SAW AND MET TREY AND MIKE AND GAVE KORDOA SOMTHING HE SAID HE WOULD GIVE TO TREY + jumped on their trampolines... if anyone has tried to get into a show without a ticket read on... I was at the Roseland on Monday for the tickit giveaway... And I might somewhat have to agree with john abuv me about the people who cut... I got thought about overnighting it... but I figured I'd wakeup at 5:00 and take the subway up from Brooklyn, there might be 1,500 people in line... I'd be in for sure to get in... after all it was ment to be... Well I got there at 6:00 any one remember me I had a hemp guitar case... and saw at least 6 people I know on the very front of the line... I taked to them and they said they had been there since 12:00 in the afternoon Sunday... one friend, and 4:00 the other... I asked if I could cut but they explained to me... how long all these people had been waiting and how primal and teritorial the people around were, I mean they had been there since... god dam along time... p.s. e-mail me if you can relate or if you recognized me... So I respectivley walked to end of the line thinking there was about 2,000 people in front of me... MAX THIS STORY GETS BETTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well to keep it short I waited and waited and waited... But I met some cool peope...Frank and the guy with the green hood and phone I just stood in line patiiently... we should have gotten tickets BUT as john at the top of this page said... So many people who only were thinking of themselvs.. cut the line... I now call these people Hippocritical Hippies it was rediculas I heard at least 500 to 1,000 throughout the day... I mean I might have done the same but I couldn't do that to the people behind me besides... and I had my guitar the cops would have picked me out... WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN../ So no ticket... but I knew some how by some cosmic force that I would get in... I Color copied the ticket from my friend... Bobby... thanx bobby... This gave me the color and the # code I was set it was perfect... Right? Almost perfect but there are no prizes for runner up and I waited on line I was good... I razor cut the holes and the razor cut pattern on the band and even the peripheration nibs on the side of the ticket I had 2 winners Braclets and 3 pretty close... one for me roomate one for me... super glue BAM we had vey authentic bands... we were in... at the show there were tons of fake.. but really bad fakes... I had the goods... not for sale ... never once sold one ... I couldn't do that to some one for money... I did hear one guy made 40 and sold them come on... welll it was a good idea if it worked.. 1st try: once in the front of the line our tickets were simply ripped... real tickets dont rip... sorry he said "its paper" FUCK... my roomate went home... THEN I MET THIS JAMACAN SECURITY GAURD IN BACK WHO ANY ONE OF THE 20 PEOPLE AROUND BACK WOULD KNOW... COOL GUY HE WAS SEPPERATE FROM THE WHOLE THING HE WAS JUST TRYIN TO HELP I MEAN HE EVEN ASLED IF I COULD WATCH FROM THE VH1 TRUCK HE LATER PLAYE A BIG PART.. IN GETTIN' ME IN I waited and sat by the back door... I had a transiption of all things reconsidered... all parts piano,, bass... man that was hard to figure out..***(see bottom) I am a Jazz major at the New School in manhatten... I always have and edge... a backup... a plan... I was gonna wait for some one WITH PHISH I could impress with my music of all things.. I met this crazy black dude who started going off about the meaning of life kind of shit but I meen heaveyme and all my problems in that situation and JAMES BOND I was JB... 2nd try: Make it so it cant rip FIRST BEGGED THE JAMAICAN GAURD TO GET ME IN HE WAS COOL BUT HE COULDN'T HELP... THERE WERE BIGGER MEANER GUYS AFTER HIM.. I went to kinkos were ther was 8 desprate heads trying to get it together I doubt any of them got in... I fixed the back with packaging tape... super glue... get to the front door... rip... NO RIP YES... but the glue wouldn't hold on the tape... he pealed it off... I ran out of hope but then I saw Bobby... and met this grat Head named JEFF from New Brunswick - if anyone knows this cat tell him to e-mail me I was inspired 3rd Try - the perfect band - Getting in I went back to KINKOS 24 hrs. one block away... They didn't care and buy they way they were very nice and helpful... cool huh one lady asked what I was doing... like she couldn't tell i told her anshe just kept trying to help... Jeff and I made the perfect tickets tape on back-no rip, and no tape on the # code and end of band to ensue glue dry-idge... YEEH ha RIGHT- not Quite.. Jeff and I talked about the meanintg of life while waiting for the just the right moment... BAM same guy at the door as busted me before... FUCK AGAIN double fuck... P.S. intermission just started now.... This ticket was flawless... If I had known earlier... I would have got in for sure gaurenteed the frist time... SO I went back to the Jamaican security guy I told him the whole story... what I had'nt yet told him before.. and he asked me if I had 40$ (reg. Addmision) and walked me to the other side of the VH1 vans out back... I met his Boss another kind black brother... whoe for $40 slipped me in the Back Door!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYESSSSSSS!!!! I'm in and its still intermission i got the whole sencond half 0f the show and it felt great and i deserved it. such a beutful venue so small, very packed though... Im sure the band made alot of money on this deal... actually that's what the jamaican guard told me.. any how after the show I gave Kris Kordoa my All things reconsidered transcription and he was blown away he said he would deffinatley pass it on to trey keep my fingers crossed... THEN OUT BACK we pulled out the trampolines and jumped on them till the security yelled at us ... this was way cool... we got at least 2 minutes of bouncing ecstacy... then mike and Trey come out... wow this was a treat... I talked to trey (4th time ever) and shook his hand... funny thing is when trey was wolking to his car and I started to aproach him... the security YELLED AT ME "HEY YOU GeT AWAY" like very strictly... but as they did this Trey walked straight towards me as if to make fun of the gaurds very cool... but he was non the less still in a rush.. as a Rockstar of his status should be... naturally... OVERALL nice show nice to see such a small venue... Sorry I dont have more to say about the setlist but I'm sure you'll get a million setlists it's not often you get a Crazy experience like this and Im sure many of you can relate... !!! PEACE and LOVE.... ARI J. ZUCKER ([email protected])
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 14:04:12 -0500 From: KiJung Kim [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: ari's karma ari zucker's little essay on how he scammed his way into the roseland made me sick. he said "i got in on karma..." yet what he actually did is lie, cheat, and steal to get into a very crowded show, thereby detracting from the overall quality of the experience for those who actually paid to get in. not to say that those who did pay got their tickets by fair means, but enough has been said on that already. the point is that SEEING PHISH IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. it doesn't matter if you've seen a hundred shows or ten or zero. many phish phans probably don't remember what happened on dead tour at deer creek in '95. thousands showed up without tickets, and hundreds of people rioted. people rushed the gates, stormed the back fence, tore down parts of the fence, threw rocks at police and security who were trying to maintain order, etc. it was disgusting. weren't these people there to share in the music, love, vibes of the grateful dead? apparently not. the dead cancelled the show the next night at deer creek, the only time they ever had to cancel a show. they also wrote a letter of reprimand to all deadheads, reminding us of the true spirit of community that supposedly brings us all together. i see the same damn thing starting to develop at phish shows, and if it keeps on this way, the result will be the same. it sucks getting shut out of shows, but the fact is that there are more people who want to see the show than there are tickets. if you get shut out, deal with it. it's not the end of the world. why not try to increase your karma a little and be happy that someone else may be seeing them for the first time? final notes to ari: you might do your karma a little favor and stop referring to people as "black dude" and "black brother". how about just "dude" and "brother"? AND you did not, in any conceivable sense of fairness, "deserve" to get in. that idea is fucking ridiculous and is exactly what is wrong with phish tour the past couple years. remember that it's about sharing in the music, which means sometimes you have to get shut out so others can enjoy. i know there are still many people out there who understand and celebrate the communal nature of the the phish scene. much love to all of you. peace, tim durbin
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 09:13:14 -0400 From: Drew Katz [email protected] Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland Without a doubt they harnessed the energy in that room from the first note of the first song and took us on a ride that lasted the whole show. What an experience... --drew
...reviews and comments related to the issues of gettin tickets for this show...
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 09:39:25 -0400 From: "Valiente, Maria" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: Roseland...Tickets Alright people...everybody needs to just move on. Yes I got on line a little before 9pm on Sunday night. I would say that approximately 1000-1500 people cut me at around 5:55 a.m. Sure it's bullshit, but life goes on. I got my ticket, and saw the best show of my life. For those who waited all night and didn't get tickets, well, life is unfair, and Phish is just another part of life. As for the guy (Ari?) who got in during intermission with the fake band...good for him! Now there is a dedicated fan who doesn't give up (I also jumped on the tramps!). For those complaining that it was too crowded, NOW THAT IS GREEDY!!! Be thankful that you were there at all! God forbid that you don't have a 4 by 4 space to do your hippie dance in. I wish more people could have gotten in! Roseland was such an incredible experience, I wish every Phish phan could have been there. More and more I am learning that Phishheads are resulting to be the most stuck up spoiled fan base out there. As for the guy in the olive suit, a 1000 people waited in line for 12+ hours and you just walked up and got your ticket just like that...that's great for you now shut up about it because nobody is going to respect you for it. And telling us who camped out that we were disrespecting the band is just plain dumb. I'm sure the boys were really upset with us, that's why they drove past the line in their tour buses @ 2 am beeping the horns in a carnival-like manner. Maria
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 03:13:54 -0500 From: David Suda [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland So we're all big "phans" and we all "share in the groove"...the fact is there are many more of us than can fit into a tiny venue like Roseland. I lined up early and people came late...they got tix before I did. If you didn't get in, you must've dropped the ball..it's that simple. Perhaps the Gods weren't on your side that day. Things don't always go as we'd like them to.That doesn't mean you have to spoil it for everyone else. The show was absolutely amazing and part of that can obviously be attributed to the intimacy we shared with the band. I feel sorry for no-one but Phish, who consistently have to deal with bitching and complaining no matter what nice gesture is bestowed upon us. ...you missed a great show...someone wanted to go more than you did-get a grip. Maybe next time I'll miss one. Until then, Pax D.R. SUDA
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:00:43 PDT From: Andrew Castro [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: cutting, counterfeiting, and lining up early We have a chance to see the greatest band in the world, many times a year, and some of you are intent on fucking up the entire scene for everybody else. Maybe you think that because you and a bunch of other phans lined up early, you have some new set of rules applying to you. You are wrong. You are no different than the guy who cuts in front of you. You both need to step back and see the potential for your actions. What happens the next time, when people cut and start pushing and cops come in to "put down" the uprising. The rules are there as a sense of fairness and safety. As the band grows in popularity, it will become increasingly harder to get tickets. DEAL WITH IT! That is the price of fame. If you act like idiots, all you are going to do is tarnish a scene many of us have worked hard at building. Whether you've been a fan since 1992 or since Big Cypress is inconsequential. If you are a fan and treat the entire scene ( the fans, the band's wishes, the security, the venue etc... ) with respect, everyone wins. Even if you don't get into this particular show. Do you really think this band, that works miracles for us musically, would want the chaos that is bound to follow if people don't start thinking in terms of respect FIRST and foremost? All it takes is one person to make a positive experience "look" bad. All it takes is one bad scene at a show, and all the rest of the shows that follow will have that incident fresh on their mind. Bands with this kind of following can't have people acting in strictly their own best interests. Cutting, lining up early, these are predecessors to rushing the gates and creating a free-for-all atmosphere. Mail order your tickets, wait in line at Ticketmaster, and do it with the band's wishes in mind. If you don't get in, get a tape from someone. There have been a lot of big shows that I haven't been able to get to, but I just think of the great ones I have seen and it makes me realize how lucky I've been. Oh yeah, counterfeiters...GET A LIFE! What happens when an arena with a capacity of 16,000 has 21,000 people in it? If enough people get this crazy idea, that they can just forge tickets at will, well figure out the consequences on your own. Stupid idea. As for the band...they continue to blow my mind and I hope they can keep this up for many, many years. This scene has been tremendous and I hope we can all do everything possible to keep it running smoothly. Kudos to all those who saw the NY run, I'm sure you had a better week than I did. Peace! Andrew
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:22:57 -0700 (PDT) From: dick johnson [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland I saw my first show over ten years ago and have racked up a hundred since. While I was lucky enough to catch both Radio City shows, I did not have the pleasure of catching Roseland. Why? Because people directly disobeyed the request of the band that was posted on their webpage. PLEASE DO NOT LINE UP BEFORE 6 AM. YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY. Kind of ironic considering how Trey was gushing about how solid the Phish community is on the first night of Radio City (remind you of Red Rocks '96?). I'm happy for the people who got in (seriously), but I think it's lame that they either camped or cut others who camped out. I checked the line after the 2nd Radio City show ended and it rapped around all four corners of the block at midnight. What was the point in waking up to get in line at 6 AM per the band's wishes? I didn't want to be a dick and cut like some people who considered themselves more worthy. I remember not going to Port Chester in November of 1992 because it was sold out. I didn't want to jeopordize the scene because I respected it so much. Where were most of you then? It'd be nice if others actually practiced the peace, love and happiness they preach. The show looked awesome. I'll have to what for the tapes.
Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 12:44:06 -0400 From: John Tringle [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Chaos..... How dare you rush the line. How dare you show up at 6am, 8 hours after everyone else and feel you need to run like the bulls......pushing, shoving....... chaos. How dare you. Tonight's roseland show will consist of 80% die hard fans and 20% undeserving bullies. How dare you. The people on line around the block were great....I showed up around 10pm the night before and my wife and son were waiting for me. We had a great time on the street partying with the great people around us. The the sun rose......chaos.....we heard people saying they were going to "rush the line" at 6am....and they did....my son freaked out, my wife cried, cops in riot gear got ready, and I sent my wife and son home....... You have some nerve cutting the line and causing a potentially violent scene. Not good people. Thanks, John Tringle
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 10:01:28 -0400 From: John Tringle [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Roseland 2000 It's me again. From the first post. How could I leave you all with that? I do suspect that the people who rushed the line were the same people yelling during the YEM vocal......please don't do that. I think we knew from the bag that this was going to be something really special. You could cut the anticipation with a knife. I'll leave the song by song review for some others but how could you not put this in the top 10 shows of all time? Todd, thank you so much for finding my wife's pocketbook. David, good luck on your test. Hatman, the smarties were perfect. I hope to see you all on the summer tour.....It's people like you that make the experience even better. People, we were floating on air....smiles all around. They were tight, happy........simply sensational from beginning to end. Was this not one of the greatest nights of our lives? And we relished the fact that VH-1 was there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you........ I would sleep on the street during a hurricaine to see you. Much peace and love to all of you. JT
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:31:44 -0400 From: DAVID MARTINEZ [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: My Story (No excuses) I've never posted anything on a site before, but I just have to respond to JT and speak up for the "cutters" who you all wish a slow and painful death upon (which, as I'm sure you know is not very phish-like). To anyone who didn't get in because of people like me, whether or not you are older or younger than me (I'm 28, saw my first show in 94, Roseland was about #35, and have been listening since 92) or are a "better" or "truer" "phan" than me, I don't really care if you waited on line for 24 hours ahead of time... THAT WAS WRONG TOO! Gadiel's specifically mentioned that no one was supposed to be on line before 6am. So, How dare you!? I don't know what any of the campers do for a living (I suspect many were lucky enough to still be in college) but I can no longer blow off a whole day just to get tickets. Many people like me work everyday. I used to camp out too, but just because I can't anymore don't think that means you deserve a spot over me. Sorry about your wife and child, but honestly, all's fair in love and tickets. By the way if anyone wants to personally blast me, go ahead. For the record, I was the guy in an olive suit and blue shirt who showed up around 5:45am and traded my morning sports section for a spot at the front. I avoided the phish-nazis by keeping my mouth shut, which is something not enough people do anymore. Nuff said, the show was great as can be expected. As a struggling musician myself, whenever I can see the fingers of Page, Mike and Trey I'm thankful for the opportunity to watch real masters at work.
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 15:42:20 -0400 From: John Tringle [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: To DMARTINEZ... I don't want to take up valuable space to keep going with this but I'll post what I responded to DMARTINEZ. It seems as if you were looking to justify what you did based only on the fact that roseland said "the line opens at 6am"... What about common human decency? What about the unspoken, unwritten rules of fairness? Do we just read the letter of the law and follow only that? The fans that camped out made their own rules and those rules were in the spirit of fairness. Those rules, in my opinion, *supercede* the rules of roseland. I am a Wall ST. stockbroker. While I was getting my band I missed work. But I go to work every single day, and when you pay your dues at work, sometimes you can take off or come in late for something special. We are supposed to exhibit *extra* kindness. Not the bare minimum. Thank you again.... John Tringle
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:31:41 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: DMartinez and Tringle, Roseland Tickets I just was in stitches reading the email spat between these two guys, great stuff. I just wanted to weigh in on Tringle's side, saying this: DMartinez I too work for a livng, 8 hours a day, five days a week, I also take college class, BUT I always see at least ten to fifteen shows a year. When do I see these shows? When the accident wills. If you like Phish and your getting Phish tickets by screwing over others who also like Phish, well then your just shitting in your own back yard. I mean, how can you enjoy a show when your place in the groove came through unscrupulous practices? If you want to cut lines to buy concert tickets there's about 4 billion Dave Mathews Band "fans" who will probably be too busy reading the Abercrombie catalog to even notice, cut them not the good people. Tringle, right on, don't take any shit from those swine. Peace
click here to return to the 2000 reviews page
hits (many)