07-12-99 Great Woods

Phish Live Shows
#1

07-12-99 Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

Soundcheck: My Best Friend’s Girlfriend (The Cars), Centerfold (J. Giels Band), Dream On (Aerosmith), Rift

1:Foreplay/Long Time* -> Down with Disease, Get Back on the Train, What’s the Use, Split Open and Melt, Water in the Sky, Character Zero (1:12)

2: Twist, The Moma Dance, Makisupa Policeman** -> David Bowie, Lizards, Guyute# (1:14)

E: Rock and Roll (0:08)

*Electric. **Keyword was “stink kind”; Trey on small keyboard. #Followed by band introductions (Mike: “Michael ‘Soft G’ Jordan”); Mike broke a string at the beginning of the song.

#2

What is a better way to kick off a two-night stand in Massachusetts then a Boston tune, that had been performed before but never electric. There are some definite missteps from Trey at some major parts, but those can be quickly forgotten as he gets back on the horse and carries it out. A very disjointed DWD that lasted about 20 minutes, I feel it never really got a steady theme going through it. However the return to the DWD ending has the crowd in an absolute uproar, hard not to sing along with those guitar notes firing on all cylinders. The rest of the set is very solid, with Melt really going out there for an interesting jam. I’m still a bit confused by how much What’s the Use? is being played, and each time it starts from nothing. Not my cup of tea, but oh well.

Second set is definitely the stronger of the two, with not a down moment through the entire thing. The Twist and David Bowie are the jamming highlights for me, but nothing in this set will disappoint. The Guyute to close up the set is one of the strongest I have heard as well, definitely a must listen for the closing section alone. And a high energy Rock and Roll to encore could not have been a finer choice. Great encore selection, something I can’t say too often.

This band is just getting better and better as the year goes on.