Winter '03 (rankings)

Phish Live Shows
#14

Worcester, Nassau, and Greensboro are clearly the three best shows. I think Nassau is overrated.

2/20/03 is a good show as well, great Jibboo.

#15

Meh…

[quote]

Now this is just insanity.

#16

I will argue until I die that Winter '03 is an underrated tour. I’ve only heard 2/16, 2/20, 2/26, and 2/28 but they all have something special and are almost completely different shows. Setting aside the SPAC two night stand, they also trump any show from summer '04 in my book. My ranking, and reasons:

  1. 2/26: If you don’t think the Nassau show is beatable, you haven’t heard this show. A quick glance at the setlist tells only half the story. Fantastically funky and Mike DOMINATED YEM opener(!!). The best Moma Dance ever; vibrant funky jam. One of the best if not the best post-hiatus Maze. Actually jammed out Stash. Ghost -> Low Rider Jam -> Makisupa Policeman -> Ya Mar. The rest of the show is rocking and well played, but nothing memorable.

  2. 2/28: Like the Worcester show, the Nassau show has a bit of everything: rarities, rare covers, great segues, and all time great jams. The first set is simply of the best ever, with the bustout Destiny, sick Gin, groovy Back On The Train, and a decent Walls closer. Second set isn’t quite as consistent as 2/26, but what it lacks in breadth it makes up for in depth. Tweezer > Soul Shakedown Party -> David Bowie is up there with some of the all time segments in Phish history. As with 2/26 and many other shows, things cool down and get into “well played but nothing memorable” territory for the rest of the show.

  3. 2/16: It baffles me that so many people who were on this tour didn’t think “they were back” until the Nassau show because the Vegas run is shit hot. This show starts off with a Bowie -> Catapult -> Bowie, has the best Round Room ever with a beautiful, bouncing, brilliant jam, a rare Golden Lady, and a decent Pebbles closer. Second set gets off the ground immediately and doesn’t let up until Character Zero. Disease -> Seven Below -> Disease > Anything But Me > Piper -> Makisupa Policeman. Aside from the Piper, none of these songs ALONE would qualify as best ever. But the way this set is paced, and the way the segues are done, is outstanding. As for the Piper, well, there’s full footage of it on YouTube somewhere, and you can see the band having a blast.

  4. 2/20: I, for one, often like the shows with very little flow but one or many show stopping stand alone jams. This show is criminally under-discussed for this very reason. The first set, which has a nice, enthusiastically sung Rock and Roll, doesn’t get good until Waves, which gets ambient for a few seconds before dropping into Simple. Why the HELL doesn’t anybody mention this Simple?? It’s a 18 minute beast that will have you thinking back to the heady days of '96 when this song actually jammed in an interesting way. Seriously the best Simple I’ve heard outside of '96!! After that you might be thinking, well that was a good set…but then they start Jibboo. Hold on to your hats for this Jibboo!! If you’ve ever lusted for a Jibboo that doesn’t get spacey or loopy, this is your guy. Trey rips and roars his way through this Jibboo. Second set is similarly defined by two big jams: the set opening Tweezer and the show stopping Seven Below. This Tweezer helps prove that 2/28/03 didn’t drop out of the sky. This Tweezer doesn’t have the same ecstatic peak and asteroid loop ending, but it is a NASTY, distorted beast that eventually drops smoothly into PYITE. The Seven Below is a masterclass in post-hiatus improvisation, and may just best the beloved Gorge '03 version.

#17

i like 2.16 a lot. the bowie opener, the dwd->7 below->dwd,
and piper are simply perfect. i always love when they reprise dwd. 2.28 was great also. (even if they didnt play the destiny)

#18

I don’t really like the second set of 2/28/03…should I relisten to the Tweezer?

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE: listen to that 2/20/03 Jibboo! the last ten minutes are SICK…

#19

This is one I haven’t got yet… :-[

#20

So 2/25/03 in philly is pretty much bunk?

#21

Its not bunk, really, but I’d take most of the other shows from that tour over it. I like the first Slave of the post-hiatus era, but otherwise that first set is kinda meh. The Bag and Cities to open set 2 are definitely worth a few listens, and the Theme From the Bottom is one of my favorite post-hiatus moments for sure.

edit: Neil, listen to that motherfucking moma dance right now. Turn it up really loud and listen to that freaking entire track. do it. report back.

#22

I think he was saying meh to your “jam of the tour” comment.

#23

Indeed.

Indeed I was.

#24

Yes, the Jibboo is fantastic, but the Tweezer is the best post-hiatus version ever. Hell, in my book it’s in the top ten Tweezers of ALL TIME.

#25

:o

#26

i’m about to shit a brick seeing everybody rank chicago over night 1 cincy

top 5

1.) 2.26
2.) 2.28
3. 2.22
4.) 3.1
5.) 2.21

they didn’t catch fire until after chicago

#27

you say that like it was your first show or something… ::slight_smile:

#28

no way the 2.20.03 Tweezer is top ten all time imho. No possible way.

Its not even in my top 5 post-hiatus.

#29

AGREED.
A

#30

Then what are the top-5 post-hiatus “Tweezer’s” if 2/20/03 is not included?

#31

2.28.03 is THE post-hiatus Tweezer, and it gets close to breaking my top 5 of all time, but that’s coming from somewhat of a post-hiatus apologist. Still, this jam is pretty freaking tight and unique. The composed section of this Tweez is my favorite EVER, though. It just has the perfectly gritty sound I like.

let’s see…

12.28.03 is a nice bluesy Tweezer I would easily put ahead of the Chicago version

I like 6.18.04 a lot.

I’m having trouble perusing all the summer '03 versions from memory. I do like 7.17.03, but all I can really remember is the sweet segue into Makisupa. All of the summer '03 tweezers (7.8, 7.12, 7.17, 7.21, 7.26) tend to meld into one for me…no version really stands out. I guess I’d take Chicago over most of these…

The thing I like most about the Chicago Tweezer is that last 4 or 5 minutes of the jam. Trey is absolutely shreading, and the seamless flow back into Tweezer really stands out for me.

I also really like the composed section of the last Tweezer, 8.11.04, but the jam segues into HYHU too quickly to be considered.

So, upon further inspection, 2.20.03 is probably my number 4 or 5 post-hiatus tweezer, with the first three I mentioned ahead of it.

#32

Guys, I hope you didn’t think I meant the 2/20 Tweezer was in my top 10. I meant the 2/28 one. The 2/20 Tweezer is pretty good, but nothing post-hiatus touches 2/28.

#33

::vomits all over thread::

a