From: -name removed-
Subject: 12/15/95 review

What better place to play a show on the 204th anniversary of the signing
of the Bill of Rights then Philadelphia? 

Getting to the Spectrum was an absolute breeze...we made it in under 3
hours from Long Island - during rush hour! Getting into the parking lot
was even easier...there were scores of attendants and rent-a-cops to
direct everyone exactly where to go. The lot was HUGE, and even with the
ticketless, I'd say it wasn't even half full. The scene was lame...there
was a cool drum circle where we were, but besides that the only thing we
were offered was beer and many different types of drugs. I couldn't even
find a grilled cheese sandwhich, let alone a cool tee-shirt. We entered to
Rectum - whoops: Spectrum at around 6:50 - there was nothing else to do!

The interior of the Spectrum is beautiful. I can't believe they play
hockey in that place! Every single seat was dark red velvet, the air was
cool, clear and smoke free, and the place just sparkled. It looked like a
huge broadway theatre, not a hockey arena. The antithesis of New Haven.
NICE!

Security was pretty tight - no one without a ticket was allowed to enter
the lower level, and getting on the floor would have been quite a chore.
The show started around 7:55 with the increasingly complex chess game
move...

Chalkdust was a nice start - for some reason unexpected. This version
was very tight and and not too long, and had the whole place screaming. A
very fitting opener. After the ending, Fishman did a short little drum
roll that at first sounded like Peaches to me, but was really...

HARRY! The version wins my "what the FUCK??!!" award for the tour. I
don't think anyone in the entire arena expected it. The solo was kinda
ruined for me because we got kicked out of our seats (who shows up in the
middle of the hood solo??), but I was still able to enjoy it. Trey was
pretty "quiet" during a lot of the jam, and was playing around a lot with
the closing chord appeggio thing...real nice. This one did end (thank
God), but after the last "you can feel good" the band held out the final
note for and extra long time, as if it was the end of the show. Trey then
started to "du-du.....du-du", which could only mean...

Wilson. Nice choice. The crowd was as loud as i've ever heard (louder
then MSG last year), and Trey definitly got a kick out of it. Besides that
it was pretty much standard, and segued right into...

Maze! What the hell is going on here?! I thought this was the first set!
This Maze, like the 3 songs before it was nice and tight and they jammed
it well. Another mammoth Page solo which feature some nice complimentary
guitar work. At one point I though they were going to throw the whole
"Page solo, Trey solo" thing out the window, but it didn't happen. I have
a feeling this will be the next "30 minute jam" song. Maybe next tour.

After that Trey clued us in as to why the opening of the show had been
so great. He said he saw his first ever concert at the Spectrum: Jethro
Tull. Cool.

Ha Ha Ha folowed. This was my first, and I really enjoyed it - a VERY
danceable tune.

Next, Trey took over on drums and jammed with the boys for a little
while as Fishman ran to get his Elvis costume for Suspicious Minds.
Another first for me. This was a pretty crazy version, with the band doing
a nice speed up thing a la Sparkle. I can never get into the Fishman
tunes, though, but at least this one was in the first set and didn't break
up the second.

Before Fishman and Trey were able to make the switch back, Page started
pounding out the opening line to Cars, Trucks, & Busses - yet another
first. This song is really cool, but seems like it's missing something
that I can't quite put my finger on. It's a N.E.T. song - Not Enough Trey.

After Bouncing provided us with a rest, Trey started with the opeing
chord to Free, which is now offically WAY overplayed. Once again, Trey
went over to the drum kit right at the begining of the jam. At least HE
seems to enjoy it. I long for those summer days when Trey actually used to
play guitar during this song...ahhh. Anyway, after Free we were treated to
a cool 3 minute space jam which I though would become Bowie. Low and
behold, what shows up but...

Possum. Cool...I love Possum as a closer. This version was not as
intense as New Haven's, but just as good. They did the old "Oom-pah-pah,
Oom-pah-pah" waltz signal in the opening, as well as the Simpsons and All
Fall Down. I have no idea how many people fell down and frankly couldn't
care less. The jam was good and left everyone with a good taste in their
mouths for set II. This set started out great, but lost some steam towards
the end. 

My friend and I decided to head back to our assigned seats for the
second set - we had gotten so pushed around by security during the first
that I was almost ready to just forget about seating altogether and head
for the nice open space of the upper deck! But alas, that didn't happen,
and when we returned to our real seats we were very unhappy to find two
rather large (sorry if I offended anyone) illegal tapers next to us who
weren't going anywhere. joy. The crushs in the hallways during setbreak
were horrible, BTW. People - If you're gonna talk to your friends, either
goto your seats or stand on the SIDE of the corridors - not in the MIDDLE!

When Trey started pounding out the chords to Tweezer I was confused at
first - I knew the song had been played the night before and thought I was
hearing things. I then realized that it was Reprise and I was psyched. I
still like it better as a closer (see GTBT), but it was still fun, and
much better then a Sample!

Next came Runaway Jim, which was kinda dissappointing for me since I'd
seen this one at my two previous '95 shows. Plus, I was really hoping
they'd dive right into the jam song and just take us away. But you can't
really argue against Jim, and this was no exception. Nothing exceptional,
but nice nonetheless.

It's Ice was a real treat! This is one of my 5 favorite Phish songs, and
is probably my most favorite to dance to. Unfortunatly, this version
wasn't very tight at all. In fact, they almost lost it when Fish and Trey
got off-synch during the falling note thing before the space jam. Luckily,
they recovered (sort of :)). The jam was pretty unique - not really spacey
at all. Trey hooked onto a couple of chords and I believe Fish even
provided a beat! Then the jam theme returned completely out of nowhere,
and a relatively short Ice was concluded. I was waiting for the opening
notes to Mike's to chime out, but instead got...

Bathtub Gin. I must admitt that I was dissappointed at first, but I then
remembered the awesome 10/11 Compton Terrace Gin and got real excited.
This version never got near as good as that one, but wasn't an allout
flop. The jam was pretty long, but it never strayed too far for the main
Gin theme. After a while it kinda disintergrated into a sparkling,
beautiful Page solo, with the rest of the band leaving the stage. After
the chairman had shown us his stuff, two spotlights rose on Trey and Mike
acoustic in fornt of Fish's drums. My friend and I had no idea they were
there, and it was a very erie effect. The acoustic duet was very soft and
quiet, and was definitly NOT Acoustic Army. After a few minutes of this,
the spots went down on the right side of the stage and up on Fishman in
front of Pages keys with the Vacuum. He really didn't do much playing -
just sucked on a really long note. It somehow fit the erie mood very well.

Now things started to get interesting. The lights went up with Page on
Bass, Mike on Guitar, Trey on Drums, and Fish on Keys. They caught a grove
early on and stuck with it - it sounded a lot like Pink Floyd's "Us and
Them" (Dark Side). I was very surprised Mike was able to handle Trey's
Guitar so well - that thing's supposed to be a monster. Page seemed to be
struggling on Bass a bit, but managed to keep it together (even though he
dragged!:)). But by far the most surprising of them all was Fish - he's
pretty good! Definitly Floyd influenced. After a while, the band left Fish
alone to do a solo piano thing. Wow, he's really good! Nice voice, too.
This is the kinder, gentler Fishman that we never get to see - too bad the
song was extremely boring. 

After about a minute of solo Fishman people started to get ancy - this
weird exploritory stuff had gone on for long enough, and we were all ready
to see Trey pick up that white guitar of his and rock us back home - which
he did. 2001 rekindled the first set fire. This version was especially
spacey and drawn out, but still just as intense. Then came...

Bowie!! Yes...nothing better then a 2nd set Bowie closer (witness
11/2/90!). This was no exception. These are so great because the band
knows they are almost home and can really jam out, but they also can't go
too far out because of time restraints. What results is a nice, tight,
rockin Bowie, and it was great. Highlight of the show for me. The ending
was especially intense and great fun!!
Wooo-hooo!

It took them forever to come back out for the encore, which made me
think something was up. I scratched that when GTBT srarted. At least they
didn't Rocky Top us! Little did I know that this would be one of the best
encores I've ever heard! The jam got SOO intense and then out of nowhere
Fish changes the beat around and out pops TweePrise!! No, they didn't
sing, but the energy was ALL there! Great way to leave a show. Overall a
strange second set that could have been a disaster but rebounded late in
the game.

The lot scene had not improved much after the show (still no Grilled
Chese or shirts), so we just decided to make a getaway. Getting out of the
lot was easier then getting in, and we were back at our New Jersey hotel
room at 12:00!! Nice.

Overall, Philly was a very nice experience. I noticed that people are a
lot more approachable and nice INSIDE the show, and I have pretty much
given up with the pre-show lot scene. It's not so much the ticketless and
the beggars that get me down - it's the cruel looking people that give me
a dirty look when I walk by them that annoy me. You're at a show - be
KIND!



Sorry this took so long to finish - I returned home on Saturday and
almost instantly became terribly sick and have been ever since. Thank God
for Robitussin!

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12/15/95  The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA (Charlie Dirksen)

	Some of you didn't like this show, but damn it, Harry Hood is the
second song in the FIRST set and the Possum that closes the first is
pretty damn good imo.   The Bathtub Gin-> JAM in the second does get
pretty lame, I'll admit (it is very WHAT THE..?), but the David Bowie is
up there with 12/29/94 and other SERIOUS versions of Bowie.  It blows
12/11 away, imo, and numerous other '95 Bowies.  The GTBT-> Tweezerreprise
Jam encore is pretty cool, too, imo.  At least HEAR this second set if you
have the extra blank..