Search - Phish :: Live Phish Vol. 3: 9/14/00, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien Center, New York

Good, but not their greatest

Moses Alexander | Alabama, USA | 12/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having seen Phish 20+ times live since the early 90s and having listened to 100s of hours of shows, I feel I have a pretty good handle on their stuff. The 9/14/00 show from Darien Lakes Performing Arts Center is pretty good stuff. For me, its what I expect from a Phish show: to be really solid. Disc one is quite strong despite a few flubbed notes in "Punch You In The Eye." "Reba" is really good, but not just mind-blowing like it can be. "Albequerque" is a really cool inclusion in that it provides a nice breather, and its a solid tune. The highlight song of disc one is "Carini." What a monster of a song that is, and this version particularly slams. The other main highlight of this disc is the so-called "Darien Jam #1" Disc two treats us to 2 covers, 2 unnamed jams and "Dog Faced Boy." In my opinion its the three unnamed jams that really make this show stand out (of course getting The Who's "Drowned" and the Talking Heads' "Crosseyed and Painless" thrown in the mix helps too.) The 25+ minute "Darien Jam #2" is why I go to Phish shows...total improv. This one is sweet too, it runs the gamut of emotions and basically rocks. There's lots of cool sparse stuff and some funky noisy stuff too. This disc is a must have.Disc three is where the whole show goes "so-so." "Caspian" is always a pleasure to hear and this particular version "goes off" nicely. "Loving Cup," "Driver," "Inlaw Josie Wales," and "Sample" are all great, but this is pretty standard stuff the rest of the way.In my book, disc three makes this is a four star show and not a five star show. Its definately worth the 25 bucks you'll pay for it, but know (and be pleased) that there are much better Phish shows out there (there are even better discs in the first six of this series.)"

Maybe you had to be there

My Uncle Stu | Boston | 08/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There was a period there during the early nineties when I caught as many Phish and Dead shows as I could. They were good times. No doubt I lost some precious IQ points, but I had a good time. I used to compare the Dead unfavorably to Phish at least in one respect: Phish didn't sandbag through the first set. They came out and played hard, and sometimes the first set was the better, more intense set, however it happened to work out, but they weren't pacing themselves. It seems so obvious to me now, but I'm not sure if I realized it at the time, but, of course Phish had more energy and gave more to their performances. They were a generation younger.



The third installment of the live Phish series shows us that, by 2000, Phish would be the old-timers, getting by on their reputation and the religious fervor of their uncritical fans. The first set here is measured, there are some moments, but the boys are sparing themselves for a bigger effort later in the night. I particularly like hearing Neil Young's "Albuquerque." Anyone who's spent any time in New Mexico understands why that song can't be played too slow or too leisurely. The second set does have some good jamming. It's a good Page show. Page remains the unsung hero of Phish. Pity the poor keyboardist, always with ten times the talent and just a fraction of the glory. The lead guitarists get to be the star, drummers have that visceral allure, and even bass players have at least that brooding mystique. But the man at the keys is the one we all know worked diligently at his piano lessons while his troglodytic neighbors played dodge ball in the streets. I heard Page say in an interview, I think on Bittersweet Motel (this probably only rated DVD bonus footage at that), that it is his job to listen to the other band members, to know exactly what every one is doing on their instruments at all times. And you can tell. He is the one who spices things up with subtle accents and creative chord voicings when they fall into a long slow jam, open space in search of a groove. He is the one who pulls them back together when they start stepping on each other's toes. His presence prevents Trey from completely spinning off with his reckless guitar gymnastics. What would Phish be like without him? Well, have you tried listening to Trey's solo work?



I like this series, the Live Phish series, but this wasn't one of my favorites, probably just because it represents Phish from an era when I was barely in touch, rarely caught a show. If you jumped on the bandwagon late in the game, this might appeal to you because these are the shows you saw. And, still, I'd rather listen to any Phish bootleg than just about anything on commercial radio, so it's all relative. I'd love to give it about 3.694 stars, but Amazon is partial to integers. So, four stars. Buy it, enjoy. It'd be cool to have all this whole series loaded in your i-pod, along with the Dick's Picks, all your comfort music right there in one handy place to be thieved on the MBTA.

"

Hittin' The Motherlode Of Jams

wharfrattx | Bridgeport, West Virginia | 09/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having heard only the first three volumes in this series, I can safely say that if 4-6 are half as good, then this collection is the Holy Grail of live releases. Phish has selected 6 shows, three from 2000 and three from the mid-nineties to kick off their vault series of 2 channel soundboard recordings, much like the Dead's Dick's Picks series. Volume Three is simply amazing from the "Punch You In The Eye" opener through the "Sample In A Jar" encore. In between you get some of the most inspired, intense jamming that Phish has offered up. There are some really diverse cover tunes such as Neil Young's "Albuquerque", The Who's "Drowned" and a MONSTER version of The Rolling Stone's "Loving Cup" to close the show. That one is worth the price of admission alone. However, the real meat of the show comes in what amounts to one long jam that takes up disc 2. Kicking off with Pete Townsend's "Drowned", the band embarks on a 45 minute no-holds-barred tour-de-force of music that comes up for air with David Byrne's Crosseyed and Painless, heads back to outer-space for a while, then lands calm and collected with Dog-Faced Boy. What can you say, it simply SMOKES! If you don't like heavy duty heartfelt extended jamming that cooks like the 4th of July, then stay away, this is not for you."