4-17-04 - Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV

please review the show, not the other reviews....

Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:58:50 -0700
From: geoff ecker
Subject: Phish 4-17-04 show review

ami the only person at this show that thought trey was incredibly f'ked
up?  i mean, didn't anyone else see him FALL off the trampolines while
trying to do the bouncing routine with mike?  and that his
acknowledgement of it is what led into the ever-so-repeititious meatstick
debacle? 
 
don't get me wrong, there were definitely some great points in these
shows, but when you're too wasted to jump up and down on a trampoline
(like you've been doing for 20 years!)...?
 
maybe they'll come back to the west coast again before 2005 and i can try
to give them another opportunity to blow my mind like they've been doing
for me for 10 years....

Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 01:23:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: -name removed-
Subject: Phish Review 4/17/04

04/17/04 Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, NV
      1: Soul Shakedown Party, Halley's Comet >
Tweezer, Ginseng
      Sullivan, Horn, Sample in a Jar, Piper ->
Frankenstein, David Bowie
      2: Meatstick, Pebbles and Marbles > Prince
Caspian -> Simple >
      Friday, Ghost, You Enjoy Myself -> Tweezer
Reprise
      E: Wolfman's Brother, The Squirming Coil

41st show for me, caught the last two nights in vegas.
i was about twenty feet in front of the board and in
the middle. The 
soul shakedown -was my first and set the tone for the
concert. people were excited and ready to get down.
the 
halleys- started off standard and then had a pretty
awesome jam that was very tight. it  seemed to be
flowing well but trey cut it off into...    
tweezer-the beginning of this jam was ultra funky and
had trey/mike interplay that really got the crowd
goin. after the rather mellow tweezer jam and little
discussion the band rocked
ginseng sullivan-everything sounded good with this
song, trey was really movin
horn- love this song, one of my favorite ballads and
trey nailed the solo, which i was pretty happy about
Sample in a jar-kind of an odd placement but raged
nonetheless. really built the tension.
piper-built up very fast and had a little spacey
section and raged again..trey brought it shakily>
frankenstein-i'm not sure if they wanted to play this
faster adn this is the only song i really could have
used kurodas lights. 
Bowie-nice bowie. jam segment was excellent, they
really veared off and had a couple nice little
melodies but brought the energy back up for the
endjam. 

Security at T&m was generally very lax. they cut off
the area to the floor about 15 minutes before second
set so you had to hurry back if you wanted floor.
Meatstick-they looked like they were having fun, mike
was really thumping away and they didn't really jam on
it long. 
Pebbles and marbles-they really jammed this one unlike
any other pebbles and marbles. a very nice jam segment
led by trey and then ended by page. got spacey>
Prince Caspian-trey was noodling around in this rather
standard caspian(didnt really understand choice since
it relied so heavily on treys strained voice) but then
noodled into
simple- pretty short standard simple 
Friday-i thought this was the most poorly played song
of the night. some missed changes in the
composed(which this song relies on) and i thought the
jam hung too much on the chord changes and trey wasnt
getting very creative. 
Ghost-a nice jam, nothing too special, they got it
back into the ghost theme at the end which was pretty
cool. 
YEM-strange version, they were definetly having fun.
composed section was played decently and the tramps
segment saw trey jumping all around. the jam was
ridden with meatstick dances and breakdowns. it ended
in a real spacey jam that segued loosley into
Tweeprise- with trey saying "step into the meatstick"
and other meatstick references you could tell they
were having a blast. they seemed a little lost
initially but found there way together eventually.
E:
Wolfmans-this was a pretty funky version, got a little
out on the jam and then back into main wolfmans theme.
the crowd was raging at this point....
Squirming coil-nice closer, didn't hear too many flubs
(on a song treys flubbed since 94) and the jam was
great, the interplay with the band and pages solo was
just long enough and then they let page took over who
really brought the crowd down and extremeley thankful.

-BJ-


Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 16:48:58 +0000
From: Abe Philip
Subject: Phish show review 04-17-04

OK, i first wanted to say that i heard a lot of people complaining about
the absence of Kuroda. Well, i know i was there for the music. Dont get me
wrong, i do NOT take Kuroda's magic for granted. There were times during
the show where i could definetly witness the need for him, but im glad
DMB's light guy filled in and the music was wonderful. This has been a
long step forward from thier after hiatus tour in Feb. Ok, Soul Shakedown
was a great opener for the last night of the run. it got everyone in a
great mood.

And Halley's Comet is always good to hear. And they jammed out Sample in a
Jar wonderfully. David Bowie, now i know there are a lot of triumphant
fluid crazy versions of Bowie out there (like 10-05-00 and many others)
but this one was such an improvement since even the summer Gorge Bowie.
this had a long jam and the intense stop start ending was very enjoyable.
(this was one moment i wished for Kuroda.)

Here we go second set. Meatstick is a very fun and chill song to see and
hear. i for one was glad they played it. it really gets the crowd
involved. Pebbles and Marbles as well is a good song to hear and see live.
they did a nice flowey jam to it. and Simple is definetly a favorite, (as
almost every mike song is.) but oh Friday? man, i wished that they played
Two Versions Of Me, if they wanted a newer slower song. Friday is
definetly bathroom time. But they seemed to love this song because they
did a nice length jam at the end, but i cannot get into the vibe of this
song. Oh well, small part of a great show. Everyone around me was calling
for Ghost and they got it. A very ambience feel throughout the song also,
very nice. And then YEM, absolutly wonderful.

Phish seemed to be having so much fun during the song also. During the
trampoline part Trey seemed to have a blast. and i loved the NEVER ENDING
MEATSTICK. it was fun and unexpected and really got everyone grooving as
one again. man, and Fishman is such an amazing drummer, one of the best
currently out there. and Mike, well what can i say, i havent got enough
good things to say about him, (the Boogie from the night before, man Mike
grooved it.)  and the tweezer reprise with the "wont you step into the
meatstick" was hilarious. a great show. and the encore had a pretty good
Wolfmans, not the best ive seen but good.  and then, yes!

Squirming Coil. oh how wonderful. and after a blistering mind propelling
version, Page and his brilliance as an artistic piano player eased
everyone into the night. i could not stop hugging my beautiful girl and
all the nice people around me. thanks guys for bringing elevation and
happiness to the much in need town of Vegas. And thank you to all the kind
wonderful people we met in line and in the lot and on the strip. you were
all wonderful.  much love and kindness from us both.
                                                                             
                                    AandD


Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:05:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Raymond Brown 
Subject: Phish show 4/17

4/17 was the only show of the run and I can't tell you how excited I was
to see it.  The lot was chill, the crowd was chill, even the personel was
chill.  I was set for an epic night.  The opening of Soul Shakedown caught
me offguard and the vibe felt right on.  But somehow it got lost after
that.  All of a sudden I became aware about how much I missed Chris at the
lights.  It was a song by song show.  I realized there was no segues, no
rhythms, and no groove.  It began to feel like the whole night was a
struggle.  Reading the setlist is deceiving.  It reads like a powerful
show driven by the scene that Vegas provides, but don't kid yourselves.  
It's a decent display with brief examples of what Phish can do musically,
but this is not a good show, not talentwise, nor visually.


Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 13:39:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: patrick omalley 
Subject: Vegas Reiview 4/17/04


Saturday night the venue filled up very early. This may have been due to
the cold wind and sporadic rain in the lot or maybe people were really
excited to see what they were going to play after the previous night's
experiment. By the time the lights went down the crowd was energized and
ready for fun. Soul Shakedown was a great way to kick off the final night
of the run. Halley's was a first for me so of course I enjoyed it. The
tweezer was uninspired but Sample rocked harder that ever! Probably the
best played song fom the two shows I saw. The crowd was into Piper and
having fun with a ton of glowsticks but the lighting guy ruined the mood
by keeping the lights on the stage. With the mood ruined the band kept
the jam short. Trey fudged the beginning of Bowie but recovered in a big
way. The true sign of a good player. The setbreak seemed like it lasted 2
hours with section 104 dancing the Meatsick. Second set opened with the
Meatstick and I wish that would have been the end of that. Pebbles took a
whlie to get going but eventually took off. It's Simple, it's not Friday
because it's saturday. Page was really feelin' Ghost and I finally got a
YEM after 17 shows. Trey switched into goofball mode when the trampolines
hit the stage. Then it was Meatstick, Meatstick, Meatckick. Why don't you
step into the Meatstick, do the Meatstick, time for the Meatstick... to
go away. You know, I was originally down with the Meatstick, but enought
already. The encore was super. Wolfman's was solid and Squirming Coil was
a perfect resolution to the weekend. Overall I thought they were
entertaining and had a few gems. We learned that the band is not Phish
without Chris and that he has to return as soon as he can. Thanks for a
fun weekend Pholks.

P.J. O'Malley


Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:55:54 EDT
From: Amyadeleincali
Subject: Phish show review

04/17/04 Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, NV
      1: Soul Shakedown Party, Halley's Comet > Tweezer, Ginseng
      Sullivan, Horn, Sample in a Jar, Piper -> Frankenstein, David Bowie
      2: Meatstick, Pebbles and Marbles > Prince Caspian -> Simple >
      Friday, Ghost, You Enjoy Myself -> Tweezer Reprise
      E: Wolfman's Brother, The Squirming Coil

 
 
    The T&M was firing on Saturday night, ready for the action.  Everyone
waiting in line for the show was screaming in advance and running around
the inside of the venue> trying not to slip and fall as all the spilled
beer/water on the floor created a slippery scene.  I found out the first
few nights that you could do ANYTHING you really wanted to do in the
place.  NoOne really cared. 
     Lights down a reggae vibe commenced, but it took awhile for us to
figure out that it was a Soul Shakedown.  We were ready for something
special.  The Halley's Commet>Tweezer was really hot.  At one point Mike
was stomping on the stage and I was sure IT was gonna happen.
     A little slower into the Ginseng, and the Horn brought everything to
a stop.  The Sample was solid, as was the PiPer>Frankenstien.  I even
enjoyed the Bowie as Trey was wanking it pretty hard at that point.   
This set was by far the best set of the three days and we were all ready
to explode during the second set.  There was an unusually long setbreak.
 
    I am not a fan of the whole Meatstick thing so I will not go into
it.  I went and bought a few beers and went to the bathroom.  It really
does not shock my brain, and it kinda reminds me of a bad song that is in
the background of a slim jim commercial.  I guess I really just have a
hard time stepping into IT. 
     The Pebbles and Marbles was a little spacy and still building to
something BIG.  Caspian was also well played>Simple everything was still
on schedule until the FRIDAY.  I have no Idea why they played this song
at this point but it was completely out of place and ruined the vibe.  It
was really hard to get back into the Ghost after being abused by the
Friday.  The YEM>TweezeRepreeze was an effort to save the show but to no
avail.  The constant Meatstick reminder was annoying.
E:  Wolfmans, Coil really didn't do anything for me and we were already
headed to the Casino.
 
    I am still very disappointed about all three of these shows and have
lost a lot of respect for this band.  I am sorry I don't remember his
name, but the DMB light guy picked it up alittle on this night.  I liked
how he used the spotlights, especially how he had four pointing straight
down into the audience about twelve feet back from the rail.  I also
liked how he looked out for those of us who were behind the stage for the
majority of the show.  He used the backs of the amps and the box that
contained Fisman's "music suit" to project spiraling images onto.
   It really wouldn't have taken much for the band to up the ante and
make some magic but it just never happened.  They were definitely on
point this night, but I think that the choice of tunes that was played
was just wrong for Vegas.  After having been lost in six or eight
Casinos, I really can't believe that they never played a MAZE during the
whole weekend.


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:53:56 -0500
From: O'Malley Ryan 
Subject: 4/16 & 4/17 Review

Just returned from the Vegas shows.  This review isn't a song by song,
but more a general analysis of the weekend.  First and foremost, these
shows should be considered an ode to Chris Kuroda.  While the DMB guy did
an okay job, these shows were testament to how important Kuroda is to not
only the fans, but to the band as well.  The band was CLEARLY limited by
what they could and couldn't do, and in addition to the limitations, the
lights even messed them up more than a few times.

Saturday 4/17:
This night was MUCH better than last night.  It still wasn't on par with
most good Phish shows, but it was a definitely improvement.  The first
set was pretty good.  Starting off with the Soul Shakedown definitely
helped.  The song selection seemed to have a bit more flow to it, and the
lights weren't even close to Kuroda, but they were definitely a little
more in sync.  The highlight of this night was probably the Sample. 
Again, I never thought that a Twist or Sample would be the highlights
from a Vegas run, but so is the case.  Sample was just rocking, and being
that it is a more well-known Phish tune, I think the DMB light guy knew
it a little better than the others.  Two LONG sets though.  The whole
Meatstick teases through the second set were a little over-done, but it
was fun.  YEM was good, but the Meatstick teases made it old quick.  The
transition to the Reprise was abrupt too, and the Meatstick vocals in
there were TOTALLY un-needed, but whatever.  It was a fun weekend.  Coil
encore was nice and flawless, which is an oddity these days. 

Overall, the weekend was fun, but I wouldn't even get the downloads. 
Maybe Saturday night, but definitely not Friday.  Trey was in TOTAL
rockstar mode the whole weekend.  Friday night, he was all over the
place, and Saturday night he calmed down a bit, but was still on fire as
far as dancing and wailing are concerned.  So, there's my analysis. 

What I want to be known though is that Chris Kuroda is just as important
to that band as any one of the musical members.  They were clearly
playing without a member of the band this weekend.  So, hopefully
whatever kept Chris away from this weekend will be resolved and he'll be
back with them next time.  It's just not even close to the same without
him. 

Ryan M. O'Malley



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