Opinions from someone in attendance
Owen Renn | Oxford, MS United States | 10/30/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"7/8/00 was my first show at Alpine Valley, famed ampitheater that is home to many great Phish and Grateful Dead shows. I was glad to finally make it for my first show which opened up with a really nice PYITE (Punch You In The Eye for those who don't speak Phish), followed by a really nice NICU. The first set has a really nice, mellow Wolfman's Brother. The Antelope that closes the first set is classic. It was my favorite of the three I saw that summer. The second disc, starts off slowly with a Heavy Things, but goes into one of the better Piper's I have heard seguing into Rock And Roll, a great Velvet Underground cover. An extremely nice and mellow Tweezer segues into what was my first Walk Away, and makes for a nice ending of disc 2. Disc 3 starts of with yet another one of my personal favorites, Twist which gives way to The Horse > Silent in the Morning, and Possum. A rare, and nice Suzy Greenberg (my first in 4 years)makes an appearance in the encore and gives way to Tweezer Reprise to close out the show and 3 disc set. As far as Phish shows from 2000 are concerned, this ranks high on my list, if you like this disc, also check out 6-14-00, another Live Phish release."
DON'T walk away from this one....
D. Jones | State College, PA United States | 12/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I stayed away from this show for a long time since so many fans seemed lukewarm about it. I finally bought it, and am so glad I did. I think this release is an example of why the band doesn't always see eye to eye with the fans. Rumor had it that Trey was really happy with this show, and thus it ended up in the first 6 live releases. Hearing it, you can understand why. It is a solid/tight show! There are few mistakes, and the set-list just flows very smoothly. There are also some great versions of some of their big numbers:
Tweezer-one of my favorite versions. Interesting unique features, such as Trey putting an interesting variation on the key riff in the beginning, and the mellow follow-up to Uncle Ebeneezer (in contrast to the typically cacophony).
Antelope-a very gradual build up until Trey puts himself stuck into an interesting robotic sounding loop that repeats and then KICKS into the final jam (with nice coordination from Fishman).
Piper-one of the best versions I've heard
First Tube-Smoking version of this relatively rare song. When I saw the setlist I wondered how this would ever fit into the middle of a set (seems like a good opener or closer), but the positioning before Llama is perfect-the songs seem to fit together somehow.
And the rest of the show is just solid around these highpoints. I bought the Island tour discs around the same time I got this show. The fans love the Island tour, because of the many highpoints and great jams. In general, those shows are much sloppier than this show, though (since the guys barely rehearsed and hadn't been on tour). This is a nice contrast to those-a very tight live performance with a nice setlist. I can totally understand why the band considered this one of their favorite shows of 2000.
"
They did it again!!!
EK | Champaign, IL | 10/16/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This show from Wisconsin is excellent. All of the jams are stellar. My favorite tracks are First Tube and Guyute, both which feature the band's later 'mature' style of jams (not just high octane guitar solos, but a full band effort.) Phish really clicked at this concert and it is definately my favorite of the series."