Step Into The Freezer
Rosemont 2000 (Unk)
Nine years ago today we were in Chicago – the Rosemont Horizon turned Allstate Arena, to be exact – for the conclusion of a two-night stand in Chicago. Fall tour started in Albany back on September 8th and wove its way around the east for the first ten shows. This beginning stretch of tour contained some of the best playing of the entire fall, but there was one thing missing. We were almost halfway through what we thought could be the last tour ever, and the band hadn’t dropped a ‘Tweezer.” Phish created impressive jams from many other vehicles – but with the absence of those crunching “Tweezer” grooves, there was a certain Phishiness that was missing.
As shows passed, we continued to believe that each subsequent night would certainly contain the all-of-a-sudden elusive throwdown. Great Woods, Darien, Hershey, Merriweather, Cleveland…no “Tweezer.” Once we got to the Windy City, we expected that over the two nights, the band would unshelve their epic. But a blistering first night never flirted with the song, and when the second set of the second night opened with “Birds,” we wondered if we were wrong.
Vegas -Fall 2000 (M.Mitchell)
Then- as the closing hits of “Birds” bounced off the concrete surroundings – out roared “Tweezer.” You can hear the pent up enthusiasm of the crowd on the recordings as the band dropped their exploratory piece for the first time all tour. As the freezer door opened, the band dove into a driving beat, taking command of the ride without allowing time to settle. Moving through beefy but straight-forward “Tweezer” territory, Phish used the guitar-led build to get the crowd jacked before reaching more engaging improv.
Phish settled the initial music into a less-forceful groove in which Trey unleashed dissonant growls, drawing the band further and further outwards. Both Mike and Page responded with spacey , and stage two of the jam took off. While exploring this murkier texture, Mike took the lead with a strapping bass line that Trey locked onto instantly. Moving into an effect-laden, yet, percussive canvas, the band created some engaging music through this section. Phish eventually slid back together into their original “Tweezer” groove once their musical trek finished.
Albany - Fall 2000 (Unk)
Was it a show highlight- definitely. Was it a musical masterpiece to be remembered for the ages- definitely not; but sometimes that just doesn’t matter. When I am living each note – one by one – fully immersed in a jam, it’s the experience that I remember. That feeling of utter joy, oneness with the universe, raging the Phish in a hyper-aware dream state. When we think back on our Phish careers, our memories are made of feelings more than anything else. Sure, we then listen back, analyze, and have fun with it all- but it’s those feelings that Phish is all about. I wouldn’t be writing this article and you wouldn’t be reading if it were not for those feelings that blossom inside us during Phish jams. And on this night, my enduring memory is the shot of psychedelic adrenaline that flooded my mind throughout the first “Tweezer” of Fall. And no recording, re-listen, or analysis can ever re-create that or take it away. But, hey, it’s always fun to listen back – just click play.
[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/04-Tweezer-9.23.00.mp3]
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Jam of the Day:
[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ph99-12-31d2t01.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ph99-12-31d2t02.mp3]The clear highlight of the afternoon set, the Cypress “Split” should need no introduction.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
8.14.96 Hershey Park, PA < Torrent
8.14.96 Hershey Park, PA < Megaupload
1996 Summer Tour T-Shirt (Pollock)
Here we have an underrated show from an underrated summer tour. Squeezed between the higher key escapades of Deer Creek and The Clifford Ball, this Hershey show often gets glossed over as unworthy. I beg to differ. From the opening “Wilson” jam which morphed into “Disease,” through the dark-horse “Tweezer” deep in set two, this show has quite a bit to offer. Great times in Chocolate City!
I: Wilson > Down With Disease, Fee, Poor Heart, Reba, The Mango Song, Gumbo, Stash, Hello My Baby
II: Runaway Jim, You Enjoy Myself, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Cars Trucks Buses, Tweezer > Theme From the Bottom, HYHU > Cracklin’ Rosie > HYHU, Sample In a Jar, Tweezer Reprise
E: Julius
Source: Schoeps CMC6/mk4 > Sonosax > D10 Pro II > DAP1 (m)
Tags: 2000, Jams, Songs
Great post Miner. Hershey was the show we skipped on our way up to the Clifford Ball. We caught a ride after Deer Creek to Pittsburgh and had to hitchhike the rest of the way to Plattsburgh. I don’t think that I’ve ever actually listened to the one show I missed from that summer tour.
Does anyone remember the Santana Rumor that was floating around Deer Creek. Rumor was that he was to play with them at Hershey?
@ butter
not a problem. I weaned off of them for the last 5 years or so too. Mostly just because I haven’t seen them live in 5 years, but coming across that 95 show not too long ago in addition to the Radiolarians set and they are now back in regular rotation. Sometimes there’s nothing like a good jazz experience.
any volunteers GET BASSED last night?
Hi all, just read Miner’s post for the day and it got me thinking about those moments of pure “feeling” that Phish has provided for me over the years. 1 moments stands out in my mind and I wanted to share with this great Phish community. There are many more, this is just the 1st one I thought of.
11-9-98- 1st show, smoked some dank before…Opened with Llama (which I wasn’t too familiar with at the time). Horn started, the composed jam comes, pure bliss. I had never felt that oneness with a crowd or band before. I was hooked 🙂
I’m a rare poster here, I enjoy everyone’s thoughts and reading Miner’s posts. Thanks for making my day at work that much better.
Fat Bastard,
It would have been funny if someone said “my deer creek for your hershey highway”
A friend of ours was offering her three holes for your extra at Hampton and we all laughed a lot. Maybe some of you saw her.
Her three holes at once? Did she get in?
Blk Jks music:
http://tinyurl.com/mfrlxa
(free/legally circulating mp3s)
Blk Jks tour dates:
http://pollstar.com/resultsArtist.aspx?ID=197929&SortBy=Date&SearchBy=blk%20jks
I will definitely go to the Portland show next month.
Jay, I believe the real question is whether anybody got in her.
that’s incredibly degrading and depressing
Neemor, i agree with your statement about Bruce haha! whole heartedly! after Roo, I had nightmares for weeks, he looked super angry and then super happy onstage. more power to tha boss tho! represent tha Jerz!
*groan* why stop there? she’s got two free hands. she can handle 5 at a time … maybe 6. set her up at one of the back alley motels, hang pictures of jesus all over the room and turn the wooks loose on her. charge $50 a head and we could make a grand a day, maybe two. shit man, she’s strong, she can handle her own.
(i hope you all recognize that’s a literary reference)
yeah, I feel bad even poking fun here. I hope she didn’t actually have to resort to that sort of thing.
Blk Jks music:
http://tinyurl.com/mfrlxa
(free/legally circulating mp3s)
Blk Jks tour dates:
http://tinyurl.com/kvjthb
Psyched they’re coming to portland
@Mitch: Thanks for the Phish/Lost website link.
So I will be back east in a few weeks…the question I have is get bassed in burlington vt … or BLK JKS in Boston…both are on the same nights….JFJO is with Mike Gordon that night…while BLK JKS will be a shorter drive…
Coin Flip or what?
Mitch:
I think I did unfortunately did run into your friend at Hampton on the long path from the venue toward the hotels. I only say unfortunate because I was a bit depressed at the VERY serious proposition she made me. It was borderline harassment. She never had a chance – The Hampton shows were much better than sex! I hope she got in without having to give it up. Another example of why the Phish lot is one of the only true free marketplaces left. Supply and demand, indeed…
@halcyon – apparently you need a clone – which would be appropriate
There was a Bisco (or maybe it was Kimock… whatever) show the night before Hampton and we were walking across the street from the crowd there, I got offered a BJ for the case of brew I was carrying… we thought it was kinda funny at first, but then it turned kinda disturbing because she was dead serious. It was almost as if her male companion was soliciting her… an odd scene to say the least, especially with the hundreds of people who were within shouting distance.
“cold and rainy outside….scorchin’ hot inside
the night before…TUBE > REBA > GHOST > WEDGE > CIRCUS > MEATSTICK > ANTELOPE.
holy guacamole!!”
HOLY GUACAMOLE IS RIGHT! I wanna hear that set soon.
I think I’ll start highlighting all the shows I wanna hear and all the ones I’ve read about or have downloaded from this site in my Phish Companion because I run across 5 shows a day that I wanna go back to and forget them all.
“Wheres the beer”
“Oh, dudes, so yeah I gave it away…you’ll totally never guess what I got for it”
I would hate to be that guy
mmmmm guacamole
There wasn’t a show this summer I saw (12) that didn’t have a crazy amount of glowsticks and I’ve heard the same for all the shows I wasn’t at.
I’m with you guys tho, they don’t seem to be as good as they used to be. The Ghost at IT has the best I’ve ever seen and most people can attest to that.
Sorry I went back to page 1 for a while. SHE WAS ONLY JOKING!! she wasn’t gonna actually give 3 holes. It was all in fun for the random read-icculus offers people were making.
Unfortunately she didn’t make it in that night.
‘my box for your fox’
and
‘fuck for an extra, or for a fuck’
both win in my book!