7-17-03 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs, KS

please review the show, not the other reviews....

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 17:15:46 -0700
From: eric tipton 
Subject: Re: Phish 7/17/03 review


from Phish.net:

07/17/03 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Kansas City - Bonner Springs,
Kansas

Set 1: Chalkdust Torture, Wolfman's Brother, Maze, Dirt, Pebbels and
Marbles, Strange Design, Back on the Train, Divided Sky

Set 2: Tweezer > Makisupa Policeman*, Limb by Limb, Anything But Me, Horn
> Waves, Cavern, Run Like an Antelope

Encore: Contact > Tweezer Reprise

* w/ Dust in the Wind teases. Afterwards, Trey said the first person to
leave a message on Mike's "Inside In" Hotline naming the song just teased
would win a prize.

We got into the lot pretty early, no later than 4pm. I had an extra lawn
to get rid of so I went straight to the line of incoming cars. W/in 10
minutes I sold my extra lawn for 40 bucks. I felt really lucky to unload
it for basically face!

The lot scene was ok. I did see quite a few undercovers though. Also it
was quite hot! I did run into some friends from Denver who really ended
up helping our cause (thanks Meg!).

First set:
Chalkdust: Cool opener, cant complain! Around 5:05 Trey flubs a little.
Something I rarely hear but did tonight: Page in the wrong key at 7:23.
Still a pretty good, energetic Chalkdust opener.

Wolfmans: This Wolfmans's really bored me. By four minutes into the jam
it does nothing and continues to do so until it ends at 11 minutes.

Maze: Sloppy! Trey botches/forgets the lyrics at the "I try to reverse
the course that my tread had already traversed" part. More sloppiness at
7:55 when Trey is waaaay off key right before the climax to the jam.

Dirt: Very clean, concise version. I love Dirt.

Pebbles: Very good version that never meanders to far off the path.

Strange Design: Decent version but some of Page's vocals seem a little
stressed.

BOTT: Quite sloppy/tentative for the first 1.5 minutes. At 5:23 you can
hear Trey struggling on this.

Divided Sky: Page and Trey seem a little tentative fro the first 1.5
minutes here. At 3:08 Trey actually has to re-do a riff after botching
the original. However, after that; this Divided really takes off and
soars. There is a minor flub after the pause but it's gravy after that. I
was really impressed w/ this version after it seemed the band was a
little scared to play it in the first place for whatever reason.

Set break - first set highlights: Few and far between people. The only
highlight I can take from first set is the Divided Sky and that is only
if you can get thru a few flubs thru the pause.

Second set:

Tweezer: Easily the highlight of the night (maybe the longest Tweezer of
the tour??). This may well have been the best Tweezer of the tour right
here, a diamond in the rough. At 4:55, I swear Fishman speeds up his
drumbeat really quick and teases Brother and then drops back into typical
Tweezer mode! Can anyone confirm this? This Tweezer really rocks out hard
until 13 minutes. From there it gets pretty quiet and spacy. Really nice
segue at 22.5 >

Makisupa! Woo hoo - Key word: Spliff and: Trey saying - I can't believe
our head of security was arrested today or something like that. Anyone
know what for? Trey teases (tries to, I didn't really pick it up myself)
Dust in the Wind after the keyword.

LxL: Flawless version!

Anything But Me: mmkay, this is the second set fellas, why are you
playing this now? Momentum buh bye!

Horn: Again, what is the deal w/ the placement. I will B + P 10 discs to
the first person that can tell me when the last time Horn was played mid
second set in the last 6 years - seriously!!!

Waves: For me the set is ruined now. After those two sleepers they
played, it they are going to keep my attention; it best be a heavy
hitter. Waves IS NOT A HEAVY HITTER. For me. At least yet.

Cavern: Worst Cavern ever. If you want each section that Trey fucked up
email me. Otherwise I won't waste Leonard's bandwith w/ all the mistakes.
I was quite embarassed for Trey here. "Take it Page". Jesus H....

Antel ope: Little Cavern tease in the intro. From 6:00 til 7:40 Trey is
playing a them I just cannot place but it sounds oh so familiar. Anyway
this was quite the raging 'lope at just over 13 minutes. Too little to
late.

Encore:

Contact: We needed this one what w/ the shitty drive we faced going from
basically Kansas City to Milwaukee overnight. Ask Tony how convenient
rest areas are [wink.gif] . Good Contact that segued >

Tweezer Reprise: Anyone w/ half a brain could see this a mile away. Same
old same old.

As you can tell, I was not happy w/ this show nor the prospect of having
to drive all night to get to Alpine for the next day's show.

On the Tipton-o-meter, this show gets a 5.5. Easily my least favorite
show of tour.




peace,


et


Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:25:53 -0500
From: Absta A 
Subject: review 7-17

my hometown show after starting in san fran...
all i have to say i saw twenty of my friends, gave away candy in the lot and 
saw a security guy pop a wheelie (twice!).
i also enjoyed the show, esp one of my favorite songs i've never heard, 
strange design, but the energy that was all around the lot for the kansas city 
experience was amazing.
see y'all soon.

Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2003 13:10:55 -0500
From: Mark Lakin 
Subject: Bonner Springs, 7/17/03 Review

I am starting this by saying that this was my first show. I had been
listening to Phish very compassionately now for 2 1/2 years, but because of
the hiatus and me being out of the country for the New Years Run and
February tour, my time had finally come and my first of 5 shows this tour
was upon me. A couple of other little notes, the lot was pretty good, but it
was definitely a small venue and the fact that it wasn't sold out could be
seen. Around 7:50 or so the band took the stage and went straight into. ..

Chalkdust - Enjoyed this as an opener. Got the energy going right away and
got the smiles on everyone's faces right away. Good, rockin' jam that didn't
go anywhere special but did a great job getting the show kicked off. 

Wolfman's Brother - I knew it was going to be a good night as soon as I
heard Page hit the first chord on the grand to kick off the Wolfman's. Mike
got into a great funky groove early and held it down as usual. A really
tight groove was held up as Fish and Page complimented each other with some
really sick syncopated rhythms that evolved throughout the jam.
Unfortunately, however, for a few seconds I was disappointed that the song
had come to close until Fishman started up .. .

Maze - It was still light outside and my pretty good seats made it nice to
see some pretty sick Trey shredding. I was looking forward to the jam and
especially hearing the guitar work at the end, so the building groove and
page solos definitely started building up the anticipation. Trey's ending
solo started building tension slowly right away and as he kept building and
releasing, the whole jam was naturally building as a whole. Although this is
normal, around 7 1/2 minutes as the tension reached its peak, Trey took it
even higher into a place that just yanked on your soul harder and harder
until they let go around 8 1/2 minutes when I'm guessing the entire crowd
was in the same surreal state of musical madness that I was in and had no
idea what was going on in Bonner Springs, Kansas but knew that it was as
good as life can get. As the "never get out of this maze" vocals came back
in, I suddenly figured out what the hell was going. I was seeing Phish. The
tears came and didn't stop until the end of Dirt.

Dirt - Perfect placement of this song after an incredibly intense Maze. I
have always loved this song as a whole and especially Trey's solo which had
a huge infuence on me personally. Although I was able to physically
recompose myself after the Maze and catch my breath, it was tough to get
myself together mentally again, so I couldn't really find any words to say
bac to my friend sitting next to me when he asked if this was better than I
had expected. 

Pebbles and Marbles - I was able to recompose myself in between Dirt and
Pebbles. Definitely a solid version. Although it was only 10 minutes, it was
high intensity and again had some incredibly tight syncopated connections
between Fish and Page that definitely was held throughout the night.

Strange Design - Although I was excited to hear it, quite a few people
around me sat down. This is just an absolutely beautiful song and Page's
vocals were great.

Back on the Train - Hearing the opening chords to this definitely got the
crowd back up and groovin. I don't remember exactly what happened, but when
Fish came in Trey hesitated and stopped for a second and looked back at fish
really quickly then got back into the groove. Great jam. However, something
that went on all night (although I doubt it will show up on tape) was really
highlighted during this jam. There was an echo of some sorts coming from
behind us. It was coming mostly from fish's hi-hat but also a few other
cymbals as well. I had heard it before but it was really noticeable during
this tune. I was talkin to my friend after the show and we were trying to
figure out if it was bouncing off the lawn back into the pavillion or if
something was getting picked up from the stage by another mic and we were
hearing it from the lawn speakers only, which were behind us. Whatever was
the case, it was pretty prevalent but I manage to tune it out for the most
part, although it made some of the fills sound like shit even though I could
see what he was actually playing. Either way, this was a great jam that got
really funky. Somethin I thought was funny. .. at set break some guy behind
me was on a cell phone and he said, "ya man, back on the train is a horrible
song but this jam was really funky." I just kind of laughed at him to myself
and agreed with the latter half. 

Divided Sky - Divided Sky appropriately started right at sunset. Great
opening and great overall jam. When Trey paused Fish was a beat behind (no.
.. it wasn't the echo that time) but caught on quickly and joined the other
three in standing/sitting completely still and not moving a muscle for a
full minute and a hafl (although Trey did start rocking back and forth a
touch at the end). Chris obviously joined in by holding the spotlight on
Trey and not touching anything else. By then end of the jam it was dark
outside and Crhis started to shine and put on a hell of a light show. I've
seen him at work both on videos and with TAB several times in the last few
years, but the way he hooks up with Phish was just boggling my mind and
nothing I had seen before had matched the live Phish show. Divided Sky was a
great way to close one hell of a set. 

Set Break entertainment was provided by the guy sitting in front of us in
the VIP section who took too much of whatever he had taken. A nice dance
with him yelling strange noises while dancin to the tunes playing in the
background and rubbing himself up and down was followed quickly by a scream
of "oh shit" and then a sprint up the hill. However, his sprint didn't last
too long when it was ended by a jump head first into the seats that even
Superman would be proud of. When he got up and started looking around, a
warm applause for his valient efforts was given to him by sections 8 and 9.


Set II
Tweezer - After the amusing and relaxing set break, Tweezer started things
up again. Great jammin that came in at over 22 minutes. Great building work
by Mike and Trey that led into some rockin' soloing. A spacey jam followed
and then the awesome Tweezer was abrubtly ended by Trey who took it into
Makisupa Policeman.

Makisupa Policeman - "Woke up this morning. . .spliff. . .but also never
thought the day would come when our own head of security got arrested
tonight." Trey teased Dust in the Wind.  After the song ended Trey issued a
challenge to the crowd to call Mike's hotline and say what melody he had
just "poorly" played and explain its relevance. Kansas. . . 

Limb by Limb - Awesome and exploratory version. The sound during the vocal
harmonies was great in the ampitheatre was great and their voices were all
stellar. The jam then took off and was taken into new and untouched places.
Trey rode the Mike and Fish wave as paged danced on the ivory for an awesome
11 minutes.

Anything But Me - Good tune, nice guitar work by Trey in this one

Horn - A pleasant surprise for me. Standard version at less than 4 minutes

Waves - Great tune. Awesome jam with some great repetitive descending runs
from Trey.

Cavern - I was excited to hear this but i also thought they were ending the
set with it. Trey flubbed the lyrics and ended up saying "take it, page"
twice. Page had a funny look on his face like he either didn't want to or he
was lost in the lyrics too. It was a good and fun way to end the second set.
.but no

Antelope - YA!!!! I'ts not over, Antelope has arrived. As usual this song
was just insane and got everyone going crazy. Definitely a great way to end
the 2nd set.


Encore: Contact - Ahhh, what a wonderful way to start up the 2 song encore
that everyone knew was coming. Good, but short, funk jam with Mike just goin
nuts.

Tweezer Reprise - The perfect ending to any show that was already awesome
because they played Tweezer.



Overall this was a great, high intensity show. A great way for me to kick
off my 5 show mini-tour. I highly recommend getting this one on tape because
it's a keeper.


Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 14:24:04 -0500
From: Derek Hein 
Subject: bonner springs show review

First of all, thanks to Marnie for answering about 2398 phone calls from me
last night, i had fun relaying the information back here.

Lot scene was very, very cool, as it always is at Sandstone/Verizon
Wireless.  Pulled in about 4:30.  Met up with a fellow rmper Ryan Getz and a
few of my friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.  It was probably upper
90's yesterday, heat index 100+, but didn't get as hot as I thought,
probably because there was a steady breeze all afternoon.  But got to spend
a few hours in the lot hanging out with a few thousand of my closest
friends.

Very smooth security check on the way in, the guy pretty much just looked at
my pockets, didn't see any grenade launchers (boy was he wrong) and I was on
my way.  Found my seat and chilled with Ryan and an older couple.
Temperatures were dropping (a little) and then Bam!

Chalkdust Torture:  Very solid Chalkdust, Trey looked like he was having a
great time in his Circa 1988 tank top.  Bouncing up and down.  It was a
really, really solid version with great Fishman all the way through it.

Wolfman's Brother:  Another solid tune.  Great Mike.  The boys looked to be
having a great time.  Sandstone/Verizon Wireless is unusual in that there is
no roof over the pavillion, and the boys seemed to be enjoying a more
intimate connection to the audience.

Maze:  There we go.... this is what I had been waiting for, all I have to
say is: PAGE TOOK THIS OVER... Trey sat back and just watched him rip,
another solid tune, as this set was full of them.

Dirt:  Chill, have a smoke, good vocals, nice solo from Trey and then...

Pebbles and Marbles:  My personal favorite from Round Room.  As soon as Trey
hits that rocking chord going into the jam, the place went crazy, this is
probably the best P&M I've heard.  Again, excellent Page and Fishman
throughout.

Strange Design:  Some people don't seem to really enjoy this song for what
it is.  This set was clearly a Page set, and he sang it beautifully.
Everyone stayed standing and huge cheer at the end.

Back on the Train:  Now, is it just me or has this become the official song
of Bonner Springs?  Debuting between Horn and Maze at the 6/30/99 Sandstone
show (which by the way, both of those songs were Sandstone repeats as well).
Also being played at the 9/25/00 Sandstone show (following Tweezer, which
was also a repeat at this show).  Regardless, I enjoy hearing this song, I
think its gone beyond its original country feel to a nice grooving
funk/country song.  When Trey started the tune off, I don't think anyone
knew what he was playing, until he looked back at Fishman and started
strumming and mouthing the beat that he should be playing (the oom pa pa,
oom pa).  Great version though, Trey ripped all the way through it.

Divided Sky:  This was definitely, and obviously the highlight of the first
set.  The sun was setting around the venue, great color in the sky.  Trey
completely raged it.  I love it when the lights go down, no one on stage
moves a muscle, Trey is standing there in front of 15,000 people like a
golden god.  Great jamming, probably the best Sky I've heard post hiatus.

Setbreak:  Guy next to me bought me a $7 beer and I called Marnie and gave
her a mini-review of the first set.  And made my way down to my friends
seats in the 5th row, who had an extra seat where someone had left.  Chilled
during setbreak, and talked to some real cool people, some of which I hadn't
seen since Summer 2000 tour.  Then the lights went down and...

Tweezer:  Well...they're playing everything else they ALWAYS play at
Sandstone, why not play this? (not that I minded).  I honestly think that
this was the best Tweezer since the hiatus, topping the 2/28/03...easily...
I don't even remember hearing a Tweezer this good pre-hiatus.  If you're
even considering picking up this show from Livephish, do it simply for this
song.  It went way way way out, and then came back to reprise the main
Tweezer section, and then way back out again...I'm not sure what the timing
was on it...but, it had to have been 20+, and after my brain reassembled
itself...

Makisupa Policeman:  Always a fun tune, Trey teased "Dust in the Wind",
fittingly, us being in Kansas and all.  Flubbed the shit out of it.  He
looked over at Page a couple times with this ridiculous "What the fuck am I
doing?"  look.  Keyword, I believe was "Spliff" or something, I immediately
forgot, because following that he said "and, I can't believe our head of
security got arrested tonight", which apparently these rumors have been
circulating, although I'm not really sure what happened.  After the song,
Trey remarked "If anyone can figure out what that ridiculous, cultural song
is that I was just teasing there, then call Mike's hotline number and you'll
win a prize, like a date with Fish or something."

Limb By Limb:  This song never really leaves its Mixolydian structure, but
this one....went out for a bit, I believe into a brief Minor jam, where
there was definitely a Zeppelin tease, although I can't remember the name of
the tune, and a possible Sweet Child O Mine tease.  The song seemed to go on
a lot longer than usual.  Probably my favorite of the 15 or so that I've
seen.

Anything But Me:  I was calling Marnie on the phone and totally spaced what
song this was...argh.  But we got it figured out.  I really enjoy the
lyrics...and it was a nice breather after the amazing Limb.

Horn:  Do these guys ever look to see what they've played for this Kansas
crowd before they come here.  Horn is a song that I could go without, but I
do enjoy the sort of melodic key changing journey that the jam takes.  And
it's a lot more interesting from 5th row being able to watch Mike and Trey
closely.

Waves:  Another great one from Round Room.  I believe this is the 3rd one
from this tour, but as I've been told, probably the best.  I just really
wish the song ended a bit differently, after a great jam, the vocals just
seem distracting at the end.

Cavern:  Figured this would be the set closer.  The whole thing was solid
musically but...of course Trey forgot like 15% of the words, at one point he
says into the mic. "Take it Page" and Page sang a line, I thought for a
second Trey would just stop and be like "At some point, I'm going to
remember these fucking lyrics".  But they finished it very solid.   And
then...a sort of unnatural segue into...

Antelope:  Great Great Great Great Antelope.  Trey teased Stash in the
intro.  Not sure on the timing on this one, seemed pretty standard length,
but amazing Trey and Mike throughout.

Encore:  A quick run off stage, and a quick run back on for...

Contact:  Always a fun tune to hear.  Out of nowhere, my buddy with a VIP
pass shows up in the seat next to me.  This was one of the first Phish tunes
we ever saw together, so it was a nice moment.  Nothing atypical about the
tune, but like I said, I always enjoy a good Contact.  Into...

Tweezer Reprise:  Trey moved really close to Mike and was jumping up and
down like it was the last time he was going to play this song.  Always great
energy.

So the show was over and I made my way out to the lot, got myself a Fat Tire
and a French bread pizza and chilled with some friends.  Finally made my way
back here to Lawrence and partied all night with some old friends.

Overall, I had a great time.  It seemed like Phish was really finally "On
Stage" again... The other post hiatus shows that I've seen definitely didn't
have the energy that I saw last night.  Smiles all across the stage.

Thanks for reading and see everyone at IT.

Derek

Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 10:45:26 -0700
From: Richard Duke 
Subject: 7-17-03 KC Review

This review will be unlike any review you have read before because I can
only review what my experience with the Bonner Springs show was like. That
being said...

If you ever drive north to Kansas City from Little Rock, make sure that you
stay on Highway 71 and do not accidentally wind up on I-44. It is an easy
mistake if you are not careful, and you could drive all the way to
Springfield, Mo. before you realize your mistake, thus negating the entire
lot scene and much of the first set. Now to each of the songs...

Set I

CHALKDUST ^Ë It was at about this time that we were driving through Clinton,
Mo. We had taken an alternate route after getting to Springfield at 6 p.m.,
and the map looked promising. Maybe we would arrive in the lot before 8:15?

WOLFMAN'S ^Ë We are traveling on Highway 7, which is considered by law
officials safest and most enjoyable when driving at about 60 mph. We are
going 85 mph. We are invisible. We cannot be touched. We will be at the lot
in no time.

MAZE ^Ë Despite going 85 mph, we are still not to Kansas City yet. We have
moved back to Highway 71, and we think we can see the skyline in the
distance. If only the amphitheater was in the Southern part of town...

DIRT ^Ë The amphitheater is not on the southern part of town. In fact we have
to decide if it is easier to go into the city and cut across to the Western
part of town or to jump on the loop. The loop is the answer for us, but it
is the wrong answer. There is construction and a huge backup, so we make a
brave decision to cut though the suburban streets.

PEBBLES AND MARBLES ^Ë Finally a choice that pays off. We jump ahead of the
pack and find the Bonner Springs exit. Now, where is that damn amphitheater?

STRANGE DESIGN ^Ë We pull into the venue, and guess what? We don't have to
pay for parking! What a bonus! And we only missed six songs. This trip is
looking better by the minute. We park and grab what beer we can to drink
before we reach the front gate. We know since we are so late, there will be
a disgruntled person that could not sell his extras, and we can buy them off
him cheap.

BOTT ^Ë The lot is deserted, which means that there is no one to sell us
cheap tickets. We head to the box office, and fork over the full amount. We
are given three seats, dead center, 15th row. I tell the B.O. clerk that I
would like to father her children for the wonderful thing that she has just
done, and she replies with what can only be described as horror and a hint
of curiosity. We walk to our seats, shoo the wannabees away and look up to
hear...

DIVIDED SKY ^Ë You know what? It was worth it. All the crap, all the wrong
turns and missed signs and extra gas wasted ^Ë it was all worth it. I knew
that this would be great, and I would be getting another set. It's not like
arriving late at a Christina Aguilera concert where the only suspense
waiting is what item of clothing she will remove next. This was freaking
DIVDED SKY! Everything was right in the world again.

Set II:

TWEEZER ^Ë The last thing I'm going to do is complain....but...I was at the
Gorge, and I just heard this a few nights ago. So I was hoping for something
different...but...hey, you go with the flow, and this was a solid Tweezer,
rocking hard, then going soft and spacey, but then instead of flowing into
something else, they pull right out of it back into that familiar riff.

MAKISUPA ^Ë I have now been witness to probably the two most playful
Makisupa's in history ^Ë Deer Creek '99 with Kudora's birthday light solo,
Gordo's bass solo and Fishman stopping the song and yelling, "Chistopher.
You roll up a big spliff and don't pass it to no one!" ^Ë and this one, which
Trey highlights by telling the crowd that the head of security was arrested
that night. The band looked like they couldn't hold it together. Trey then
teased "Dust In The Wind" and asked the crowd if they knew the song, to call
Mike's Hotline and you could win a prize. Right...Mike doesn't have a
hotline...he does? What was that phone number again?

LIMB BY LIMB ^Ë Started out not entirely excited by this choice, but man,
they really wailed. I was very impressed with the continued tension and
tight playing in this number. Turned me around completely.

ANYTHING BUT ME ^Ë Hey, after the day we've had, I welcomed a chance to
recoup. Very pretty song.

HORN ^Ë Someone wrote in an earlier show "Horn is Horn." Is that a criticism?
Of Course Horn is Horn. It's a great song. It's not jammed out because it
doesn't need to be. It was my first Horn, and it rocked.

WAVES ^Ë Have to say I was a little disappointed by this particular version.
After hearing the Greensboro edition, this paled in comparison. The guys
looked at the end like they didn't know where the song was going, if they
were trying to keep it going or just ending it. Not a better effort, but I'm
still not complaining.

CAVERN ^Ë Apparently Trey doesn't ever have to sing the lyrics again. He
always forgets them, and this time he looked to Page for support even saying
"Take it away Page!" Page smiled back with a look that said, "Yeah, right.
I'm going to sing these goofy-ass lyrics? try again." Trey and Page got back
in sync for the final chorus, and the place went wild. Great closer...

ANTELOPE ^Ë Only it wasn't. Trey seemed to be really into this one, and the
crowd was rewarding the entire band for the extra song. This song can never
be butchered.

Encore:

CONTACT ^Ë Cactus front and center! Paraphrasing what they say on the Jim
Rome Show: "More of Mike and less of you is a good thing."

TWEEZER REPRISE ^Ë The up for hearing Tweezer twice within a week is hearing
Tweezer Reprise twice within a week. I have always envisioned this anthem to
be at the end of a Bond film as he is slowly walking away after killing the
bad guy, and we all know he is going to sleep with Halle Berry. Bond turns
ever so slightly and gives a wink and a nod as TR crecendo's into the
closing credits. Hell, I'd pay $7 for just that. I just paid $41 for one set
and one song of music, didn't I?

The experience was worth it. It was show #9 for
me........#9..........#9.........#9........with show ten coming next
Saturday in Atlanta. I love these guys. People that don't understand what
it's about, I'm sorry but I can't help you out. You can't just listen to
studio albums or bootlegs or even watch the Live DVD to understand the vibe
that occurs at these shows. It is truly special.

Well, three down...one to go.

Everyone else have a great tour, and remember to turn back left onto 71.
Don't just go down the same road you always have. I mean that literally, not
metaphorically. Alright, I meant it both ways. 

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