Click the links in my review below for samples.
2/16/03 Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Set I
David Bowie -> Catapult -> David Bowie, Horn, Guyute, Round Room, Golden Lady > Poor Heart, Pebbles and Marbles
Set II
Down With Disease -> Seven Below -> Down With Disease > Anything But Me > Piper -> Makisupa Policeman, Character Zero
Encore
Friday
Vegas may have a reputation for bringing out the worst in Phish, thanks to a divisive third set during Halloween '98, a fan-least-favorite Vegas '04 run, and sloppy Trey solo performances ever since…but keep in mind that this same venue brought us the greatness of the fall '97 opener, and the two night stand during winter '03. I’ve yet to hear the 2/15 show in its entirety, but this 2/16 show is one for those who think that Phish has been over and done with since '97.
The first set opens with David Bowie. While I frequently find David Bowie to be a great but not very discussion worthy song, this one is a different story. A typical raging Bowie jam descends into a grinding, repetitive jam that Trey begins to sing Catapult over, before going back into the usual Bowie ending. Listen to the pre-Catapult jam here:http://www.sendspace.com/file/1iwz3x
After the band cool down with a poignant Horn and overplayed-but-fine Guyute, they get to cooking again with Round Room. This is definitely the first set highlight for me. This is a sumptuous, rhythmic, bouncing jam that is a joy to listen to over and over. There’s a video floating around on YouTube of almost the entire jam, but here’s a taste: http://www.sendspace.com/file/2ak5hy
Next, an ultra-rare and well played Golden Lady drops into a fun Poor Heart (a lot of love songs in this first set…well, songs that mention love in some way…). The set closes with a raging Pebbles and Marbles that serves as a kind of preface to the next set’s Disease opener.
As the band begin the Disease intro, Trey can be heard saying something like “he’s gunna fuck up!!..Fishman doesn’t know this song!!” Pretty humorous. This Disease/Seven Below sandwich is genius in my eyes. The Disease melts faces before dipping into some mellow space for mere moments before Trey starts to tease Seven Below. The band jump in, and soon we’re in the freezer. This Seven Below belongs almost entirely to Page, who plays masterfully throughout. The NYE Seven Below may have been a cool way to ring in the New Year, but this is truly where the song begins to come into its own. Even at a mere 9 and a half minutes, it manages to produce an interesting jam that hints at future possibilies before Trey brings the band back around to the melody, running through it a few times, and then seguing back into Disease. Tasty!! Give a listen to the jam into Seven Below here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/i6siwn
After an extended, wall-of-noise ending, the band drop into Anything But Me. I think that this is one of the best placed and best played ballads. I really feel like the band were into this one, and their solos at the end are beautiful. Sometimes Trey doesn’t put enough effort into the vocals of ballads and they sound god awful, but here it really works. Hate to bring it up, but it reminded me a lot of a heavy Dead second set jam that drops sweetly into a Jerry ballad.
A short, spacey outro jam from Anything leads us delicately into Piper. Though the playing and improvisation during the rest of the show is surely up to snuff, this Piper jam takes the proverbial cake. If flubbing a few parts of Guyute or The Divided Sky was the price we had to pay to get these post-hiatus jams, I’m more than happy to pay it. This Piper even has the good graces to move through a funky little jam section that features what you could call the '03 version of fall '97’s stop/start funk jams. Listen to this section here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3un1f4
Piper, which also has a Disease jam in it, winds down into Makisupa Policeman, who’s keyword is “spliff.” After a solid Character Zero set closer, the band bums everybody out with a single song Friday encore. Not a terrible song in my estimation, but to use it as the encore to such a monster show?? No dice!!