From: Rich Fromm 05-Feb-1993 0203 
Subject: Providence setlist
Reply-To: fromm@rock.enet.dec.com
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 07:23:45 GMT

Phish
Providence Performing Arts Center
Thursday, February 4, 1993

Set I
=====
Axcilla
Foam
Bouncing
Maze
Fast Enough For You
All Things Reconsidered
Stash
Lizards
Sample In A Jar*
Glide
Antelope

Set II
======
Chalkdust
Wedge
Mike's Song ->
MWSIY ->
Avenu Malkenu ->
MWSIY ->
Weekapaug Groove (with a bit of a vocal jam)
Lawn Boy
Uncle Penn
Big Ball Jam
Lengthwise
Harry Hood
Cavern

Encore
======
Amazing Grace (a cappella)
Good Times/Bad Times

*first time played

some quick highlights:

love Page's baby grand piano; nice to hear Lizards and Harry Hood - don't
think i've heard either of those in a while; good Antelope to end the
first
set; cool variation on Mike's -> Groove - time to change the FAQ; Page
doing a
lounge singer imitation on Lawn Boy; Fish doing the normal Lengthwise into
a
reggae (sp?) version, then jumping all around the stage slapping hands
with
the front row like a deranged rock star afterwards; i finally got a chance
to
grab onto one of the big balls - i wanted to get it slowly going back and
forth in a motion reminiscent of the arm waving during Contact, but the
other
person who was grabbing on was more into shaking it violently; i really
like
Fast Enough For You; not sure what my opinion is about the new tunes -
i'll
have to listen to them again; the level of audience silence (or lack
thereof)
during Amazing Grace was pathetic; how come it was so quiet on NYE, but
they
can't seem to duplicate that in smaller venues?  saw 3 scalpers on my way
to
get in, but then got word that numerous people with extras (netters, not
scalpers) couldn't get rid of them at all, and had to "eat" their extras;
don't know if this is a good sign (that the demand has slackened and
scalpers
will stay away), or a bad sign (we hypothesized that there may have been a
number of counterfeits, since it was very packed inside, and the tickets
don't look like they would have been that hard to fake)

All in all, a good show, but not the most spectacular i've ever been too;
other than some little nitpicky things ("You can't bring that water in
here.",
"Could you please not sit on the back of the seat.", etc.) security wasn't
all
that bad.

2:20 am - it's time to get to bed...

see y'all at Roseland, and at the Stardust before the shows

still taking care of my shoes,
- rich
-----------------------------------------------
From: Joshua Rappaport 
Subject: Providence Comments
Reply-To: ST801423@brownvm.brown.edu
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 21:37:20 GMT

Hey pholks--
            I was reassured to see that other people felt like the PPAC
show
was a little bit inconsistent.  It had its moments, true-- Stash was
great, as
was the Mike's/TMWSIY/etc. but at the same time I found I wasn't really
gripped by the music in the same way I have been in the past.  Instead,
the
energy level seemed to ebb and flow, to the point that I SAT DOWN during
"Lawn Boy", the first time I have ever done so in 4+ years of Phishing...
            I'd have to agree about new songs, as well.  "Fast Enough" and
"The Wedge" (as well as "Sample in a Jar"?) are much more lyric-focused
than
the band has ever been-- I always felt like the lyrics and the music
played off
each other equally, even in narrative sequences like the Gamehenge
material.
Quite often, the words were just "stuff that sounded neat" (YEM,
Antelope).
In the new material, the words seem to justify the music, not the other
way
around...
           I remember coming out of the 3.13.92 Providence show last
Spring
(best show in recent memory) and feeling absolutely drained, like I had
reached
 a truly altered state just through the music, like the energy was THERE.
After PPAC, we all wandered around looking for something else to do, like
the
show hadn't been enough.  It left no particular impression on me, just a
sense
of "oh cool, we went to a phish show"
        I realize that I run the risk of sounding like one of those
annoying
individuals you meet at Dead shows who talk about "what it was like" at
the Fillmore East for the April '71 run, but in truth I feel like in the
post-
Nectar era the overall intensity of shows has been changing, with the
whole
thing being more song-focused and lacking in the sense of boundless
exhuberance
 which was present even a year ago.  Granted, I've heard great tapes from
the
summer and fall, but there's something missing...
      I hope for everybody that the rest of the tour proves me to be a
 gibbering idiot with no concept of reality and an overly cyinical nature.
Peace, and keep those DATs rolling...
                                     Joshua


----------------------------------------------
From: kurt@junta.ulowell.edu ()
Subject: Providence! *WOW*
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 16:12:58 GMT


Hello all!

        I just got to work (11:00am) after the Providence show last night.
WOWOWOW!  What a great show!  I didn't write down the set list, but 
some highlights:  HARRY HOOD!  I had never seen them play it live.
They opened with Axcilla, which i had never heard before.
Great job! Whew.  Also, Mike's Song was awesome!  One of the best things 
about the show was the ushers.  It must have been the ladies' auxillary
(sp?)
or something because most of them reminded me of my grandmother. :)
I walked in, gave my ticket to one of them: "Follow me, honey."  :)
What a great time!  They got a little nervous when people started dancing
on the seats, but they really didn't care (at least the ones near me).
I saw security hassle a few people, but these people were really screwing 
up (trying to open the fire doors, etc.).  I was standing next to one
of the ushers (ladies) during amazing grace, and she was singing along!
It was great!  The theatre was BEAUTIFUL!  (Definately worth the $.50 
restoration fee on my tix!)  Built in 1927 (I asked), and restored in
1957.  VERY hip place.  Great sound.  Great people.  Wow.
I was also able to find Jeff Maggard (don't ask me how), and he gave
me the Analog seed for the NYE tree. (tree is done, you'll hear from
me soon)  Thanks for that DAT too Jeff, It great!  My Silicon Graphics
LOVES Phish!  See you all later!


                                        peace out.

                                            kurt

v----  ooo!  nifty new .sig!
--------------------------------------------------
From: "st. stephen" 
Subject: Re: Providence show
Reply-To: ST402836@brownvm.brown.edu
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 19:02:59 GMT

Howdy,
   Attended last night's show at PPAC (a lovely place!).  Here are my
inpressions.
   I've never had such up and down impressions from a single show before.
There were times when I thought the music was just wonderful and then
others where it was completely pathetic.  It was really strange to move
from completely bored to completely engaged in just 2 mins.  I have
not listened to the Rift disc yet, but last night's glimpse doesn't
inspire me to run out and purchase it.  I thought the new songs almost
without
exception were boring, trite, formulistic and far too repetitive.  It's
not got anything to do with their performing abilities because I thought
that most of the show was really quite good.  Songs like Foam, Stash,
Glide,
Antelope etc were all done with amazing precision and insight.  I don't
have nearly the tape collection or live show experience that most netters
here do, my live collection being a snapshot from mid '90 (Co. shows).  As
such I was impressed to see that some (most) of these "older" songs
were given new arrangments, small changes to keep them alive.  I have no
idea how new some of these changes are, but it's a credit to the band's
vitality and musicality that they keep the songs alive by coming up with
new
arrangements.  I really dug the way Weekapaug Groove had the lyrics sung
in a surrealistic fashion at the end of the song (as opposed to the
catchy, pop-like rendition my live tapes have).
    But the new songs really can't compare.  Songs like Maze, Fast enough
for You, were nothing more than semi-heavy metal excusions into MTV arena
power songs.  They displayed none of the subtle interplay that i've come
to know and love about Phish.  The few solos Trey ventured on these songs
sounded just like any other metal/hard rock garage band, ie. predictable,
uninspired, mundane.  This is a huge contrast to the usual witty and
thoughtful solos i expect from him.  A very large defect of the new songs
is far too much repetition.  I think Phish's style leans heavily on
repetition anyway ( to do the very cool polyphonic stuff they do, ie.
bouncing, Foam, etc.) and so they must always be on guard for repetion
that dulls and bores the audience.  How many times do you need to hear
the line from Fast enough for You?  Certainly not the ad naseum we heard
last night.
   Along these same lines I felt the treatment of the songs could have
used some mixing up.  There were very few flat out solos in the music
last night, and almost none by Trey.  Instead there were alot of band-jams
that led to climaxes.  You know, the way they all get working on repeating
riffs and build the intensity and work up the chromatic scale and end with
some large climax.  this is very cool, and it seemed to me Trey was
leading
the band in a great deal of this sort of thing; really exploring the
texture of the music, skirting with the dissonances.  But you don't need
to do this all night long.  You need some contrast to help highlight what
you're doing.  They could have used a little more variety last night.
In this aspect second set was easier to handle what with Lawn Boy, the
bluegrassy song, the big ball jam , to mix things up.
   My second major gripe was the sound.  The sound was just awful.
Problem
number one was the volume.  I realize that this criticism will probably
fall on deaf ears since *all* rock concerts are far too loud, but you
simply
don't need to fill a hall with 120 dB's of sound.  I've listened to
unamplified chamber music in a hall that size and been perfectly able to
hear the subtleties of the music.  I simply not into the teenage hormone
need for power thru volume.  You don't need to have your ears shredded to
enjoy a band.  The result of excess volume is bad sound; first all the
hi end bounces around that beautiful domed ceiling and gets lost in a
wash of echoes.  There was so much echo on top of the music that sometimes
I couldn't tell if the Hammond was being played with the typical vibration
sound, or if it was just the piano bouncing around in the rafters.  Second
the bass ends up being felt rather than heard ( except towards the end of
the night when the bass over powered everything else - very poor mix).
Thirdly the vocals get lost amongst all that sound, which is exactly what
happened last night.  With all that volume, Trey's guitar was *still*
nearly inaudible for much of the show, which was very frustrating.  There
were times when my frustration with teh sound nearly overwelmed my
pleasure in the music ( we were sitting in the front row of the first
balcony all the way over to one side).
   If they're going to bring the grand piano on tour they've got to learn
how to mic it; it sounded like shit last night.  There was way too much
hi-end in it; the upper registers were distorted and unpleasant.  The
piano should be rich and full bodied not harsh and screechy.  In short,
if Phish is going to play halls the size of the PPAC they'd better invest
in a decent sound system and a competent sound crew.
   Phish has seemed to me to be a thinking person's rock band; lots
of interesting things going on that is still able to be appreciated
emotionally.  How many rock bands encorporate polyphony into their songs
(ala Foam)?  Phish's continued (musical) succes depends on composing
songs with the musical complexity to be interesting.  From last night's
presentation I don't think their new material cuts it.

-s
------------------------------------
From: justin@galaxia.network23.com (/dev/w2)
Subject: PPAC set list & review
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 17:19:59 GMT

Howdy,
 Wow. 

 set I
Axilla
Foam
Bouncing Around The Room
Maze
Fast Enough For You
All Things Reconsidered
Stash
Lizards
Sample In A Jar
Glide
Run Like An Antelope

 set II
Chalk Dust Torture
The Wedge
Mike's Groove
Lawn Boy
Uncle Pen
Big Ball Jam
Lengthwise
Harry Hood
Cavern

 Encore
Amazing Grace
Good Times, Bad Times

Over all the show rocked. Some of the best versions of songs I've ever
heard. I was glad/surpised to hear Uncle Pen. The new song, Sample In A
Jar,
was cool. Kinda slow. I have a question. During Mike's Groove, somewhere
between Mike's Song and Weekapaug Groove there was this section with
lyrics
that I'd never heard before. I don't know if they're supposed to be there
or
not. I always thought that I Am Hydrogen was an instrumental, but I could
be
wrong. If these lyrics are not normally part of this painfully amazing
triumverate (sp?) could someone help in identifying it please. Stash was
incredible! Even before Page had stopped singing "Maybe so and maybe not"
it
had already gone so far out jam-wise as to be unrecognisable from the
studio. I was very pleased that at the end when they start singing again,
they only repeated the line a few times. That has always been my least
favorite part of the song. Amazing Grace was way cool, even though they
couldn't get the assholes to shut up. One jerk yelled out his name. I
think
that whenever they do the a capella without microphones, they need to tell
the crowd to be quiet first, using the microphone. This worked at New
Years
with over 6000 people, yet 2000 wouldn't shut up last night. Harry Hood
rocked! As soon as I heard the opening notes I went nuts. I noticed at one
point Trey started playing Lengthwise. Speaking of Lengthwise, They
started
out with the a capella one, then the rest of the band snuck back on stage
and started playing along. Durning the beginning Tubbs goofed up. He said
"When you're gone... no, When you're there..." it was reaaly funny. Well,
I
just noticed how much I've babbled so I'll be going now.

                Justin Brierley

P.S. I WOULD SUCK THE BIG TOE OF SOMEONE WHO COULD GET ME A HIGH QUALITY
TAPE OF THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

------------------------------

From: justin@galaxia.network23.com (/dev/w2)
Subject: Re: PPAC set list & review
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 17:37:44 GMT

In article <1993Feb5.171959.17059@galaxia.network23.com>
justin@galaxia.network23.com (/dev/w2) writes:
>favorite part of the song. Amazing Grace was way cool, even though they
>couldn't get the assholes to shut up. One jerk yelled out his name. I
think
>that whenever they do the a capella without microphones, they need to
tell
>the crowd to be quiet first, using the microphone. This worked at New
Years
>with over 6000 people, yet 2000 wouldn't shut up last night. Harry Hood
>
>                Justin Brierley
>
>P.S. I WOULD SUCK THE BIG TOE OF SOMEONE WHO COULD GET ME A HIGH QUALITY
>TAPE OF THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howdy,
 Oops, I forgot something. On thing they might want to try is telling the
audience that if they don't shut up, they won't do the barbershop quartet.
I've seen TMBG do something similar. They said at the beginning of show
that
if they saw any moshing, they would stop the show, and guess what, there
was
no moshing! I don't particularly like the idea of having to threaten the
crowd, but it works.
                       Justin Brierley (again)

P.S. speaking of moshing, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love to
see a mosh pit during songs like Axilla, GT,BT, and Creature From Mars.
Especially if the people who wanted to mosh were cool about it and went to
the back (although not near the tapers). My only complaint about mosh pits
is that they tend to be towards the front which is a pain in the ass for
people who want to watch the show up close, but don't want to mosh.

-----------------------------------------------------
From: jg@titan.ucs.umass.edu (John Greene)
Subject: Re: PPAC set list & review
Date: 6 Feb 93 15:44:44 GMT

In article <1993Feb5.171959.17059@galaxia.network23.com>
justin@galaxia.network23.com (/dev/w2) writes:
>Howdy,
> Wow. 
>
[most of the list deleted]
>Mike's Groove
This was not the standard Mike's Groove... it was:
Mike's Song -> The Man who Stepped -> Avenu Malkenu -> Man who stepped ->
Weekapaug...... but I think this has been clarified already...
[rest of list...]

>Over all the show rocked. Some of the best versions of songs I've ever
>heard.

I don't want to flame, and of course, everyone's entitled to his own
opinion,
but the reviews on the net these days aren't as objective as they could
be.
If you see one show a tour... it might not be the best show ever, you
know?
Providence, while it had its highlights wasn't that amazing.  I mean,
granted,
Phish is the best band in the world, that goes without saying, but aside
of
Antelope, Good Times, and maybe Maze (which went on for too long IMHO),
the
show was about average.  Trey screwed up Bouncin' and Stash and one other
in
the first set... the jams were definitely weirder than most shows.  Things
were a bit out of whack in Mike's Song... didn't seem like anybody (even
Chris) knew where the changes were... I think the fact that they didn't
play
Hydrogen >might< be because they screwed up Mike's so bad.  The rockin'
Length-
wise was a definite highlight... you could tell it was completely
unplanned,
and that made it great.  The 2nd set was SHORT as was the Harry Hood
(listen
to Albany or Keswick from last tour for better Harry Hoods).  I agree with
just
about all of "st. stephens" post concerning the horrible sound problems
and
volume levels.  As far as the new album goes.... all I can say is I'm
going to
have to listen to it for a while before I comment....


>P.S. I WOULD SUCK THE BIG TOE OF SOMEONE WHO COULD GET ME A HIGH QUALITY
>TAPE OF THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

High quality?  From Providnce?  Sounds like an oxymoron...

-jg (jg@titan.ucs.umass.edu)

"Love, love, love, just love yourself, like no one else..."

--------------------------------------------
From: mlaurenc@world.std.com (Matt Laurence)
Subject: Re: Providence show
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 19:23:23 GMT

Regarding Stephen's mixed review of the Providence show, I must agree
that overall, it was a very uneven show with the lowest quality sound
of the first four - I hope that one wasnt the only one you saw! But 
regarding the high volume levels, he said that:

>*all* rock concerts are far too loud, but you simply
>don't need to fill a hall with 120 dB's of sound.

This is very true. However, there are a few considerations. First of
all, a concert HAS to be above a certain volume level or the 
visceral impact of the music is utterly lost. I've been to shows where
the music is too soft, and you just don't get drawn into the same
sphere that the artists are in. You simply have to achieve a certain
minimum volume level for that.

HOWEVER, I will agree that, for the most part, rock concerts are too
loud! Even Phish, very often (especially when you are stainding directly
in front of six HUGE woofers at Roseland and feeling every downbeat
erupt into your lung and heart, so to speak). That's why I carry a
pair of earplug with me, on my keyring, to every concert I go to or
that I play. Many people scoff at this and ask me what's the point of
going to a concert only to block out the music. But they are not only
sadly mistaken, they're missing a lot more than I am! The earplugs I
have are the soft foam kind that you can get at CVS for about $1.29 for
three pairs, and they cut out 29 db of sound. Which, in almost every case,
does not actually ruin the sound quality at all, it just cuts out 
ridiculous highs and boomy lows, and it makes for a much more
equalized sound. It IS a little bassier than usual, but for the most
part I enjoy seeing a show much more with them in - not only can I hear
each individual instrument if I want, but I can understand the lyrics that
normally get lost in the mid-range mush... AND I don't come out with
ringing ears. Now, maybe this is more of a problem for me because I'm
a musician and often subject myself to this kind of aural abuse - I'm
convcinced I've already lost some of my hearing - but this seems like
a perfect solution for anyone, and I think it's going to save my ears
in the long run.

Regarding the song mix, I don't think it was so bad, I just thought that
they played with a little less verve than usual. PLus they cut a few
things short and made many more mistakes than usual, but hey, it WAS
the second show of the tour, cut them some slack.

The new songs, I'll agree, are more mainstream than older ones, but
ballads are something they haven't had many of in the past, and it
almost seems like it's filling a niche. I'll admit, having as many
come out at once as they have is strange, but I think Phish does
the style with a lot more grace and dexterity than most other bands.
You mean to tell me you DON'T like Fast Enough? You'll hate Lifebuoy,
then - it's beautiful ;-).

No, overall, I will agree that providence wasn't the best show - Hell,
I had to eat $50 worth of tickets because everyone had extras and
people bagged out on me - but don't let a few new songs and one bad
show color your entire perception of the band. They have a lot more
going for them than just about any band out there now, and even if they
released a horrible next couple of albums, I'd give them the benefit
of the doubt and be back for the next.

Everyone has a bad day now and then, right?

Matt

P.S. Go ahead - buy Rift. It's worth it for The Wedge, Weigh and
Mound alone.


-----------------------------