Live Phish

I am pretty excited about the release of the new ‘Live Phish’ series. For thoes of you who dont know, the band Phish play extensive shows all over the world, jamming for hours at a time. Now they are releasing some full shows for us all to enjoy. These wont be the first live albumns they have released, just the most recent.

So, do any of you dopers have any expectations for these albums? Will they be very good like Slip, Stitch, and Pass, or only mediocre like Hampton Comes Alive? Has anyone picked these up yet? While we’re on the topic, has anyone heard the Oysterhead cd yet?

peace,
JB

I pre-ordered “The Works”, and got the CDs (the first five sets, anyway) about two weeks ago. (The sixth one comes out next month, along with the ShowCase to keep them together in.)

I’m working on a longer review for my web page, but…they are fantastic. The sound quality is as good as “A Live One”. The 2000 shows (#3, #4, #5) have a lot of really out there jamming and are a great shot of what I think is one of their best tours ever. (And I don’t just say that because I saw six of the shows on it. :slight_smile: )

#2, however, is the best of the bunch, in spite of the hard-core Phans complaining that everybody already had the show. (I didn’t.) The second set starts out Antelope > Catapult > Antelope, Harpua > 2001 > Harpua, and the set transcends even the great setlist. This is Phish weirdness at it best.

The weird thing is that all these shows have good beginnings and endings, but the real magic happens in the middle, almost always coinciding with Disc Two. They should release a “sampler” collection consisting of just Disc 2 from each set.

All in all, I can’t find anything to complain about, except that it will be six months before they put out the next six shows. :slight_smile:

Dr. J

PS: I disagree about the relative merits of SSP and HCA–neither was fantastic, but I listen to HCA a lot more. SSP just never grabbed me.

I was surprised by the Fed Ex guy yesterday afternoon, who had a package for me from Phish Dry Goods–my pre-ordered Live Phish 7-12. They weren’t supposed to start shipping until Monday!

I’ve listened to 7 and 8 so far. 7 once again has most of the magic on the second disc, starting with a big 2001 -> Antelope medley (including Sparks, Walk Away, and Have Mercy) and ending with The Squirming Coil and Daniel Saw the Stone. The third disc has a pretty good YEM, but the real treat is the filler of Mike’s Song -> Great Gig in the Sky -> Weekapaug Groove, featuring the Electrolux canister vacuum of Jon Fishman on Great Gig.

8 is OK, with a pretty good Tweezer and Fluffehead in the second set. Overall, though, I wasn’t too excited about this one.

I know that 10 is a great show, since I had it on tape before I switched to CDs, and had almost worn that one out.

I’m still somewhat disappointed in the packaging–not the style, which I like (plastic sleeves in a specially-designed three-ring binder), but the sparseness of it. I didn’t expect a twenty-page book with each one, but they’re making the packaging of the Dick’s Picks series look excessive.

Any other geeks out there collecting the whole set? Anyone pick up one or two of them?

Oh, and it’s a months-old question at this point, but I have the Oysterhead album, and it rocks hard. It’s more Primus-weird than Phish-weird in most places. Anything that gets Stewart Copeland back behind a drum kit is OK by me. Don’t forget the Trey solo album that comes out April 30, available now for pre-order. (I think the hiatus is the best thing that ever happened to us Phish geeks.)

Dr. J

I was surprised by the Fed Ex guy yesterday afternoon, who had a package for me from Phish Dry Goods–my pre-ordered Live Phish 7-12. They weren’t supposed to start shipping until Monday!

I’ve listened to 7 and 8 so far. 7 once again has most of the magic on the second disc, starting with a big 2001 -> Antelope medley (including Sparks, Walk Away, and Have Mercy) and ending with The Squirming Coil and Daniel Saw the Stone. The third disc has a pretty good YEM, but the real treat is the filler of Mike’s Song -> Great Gig in the Sky -> Weekapaug Groove, featuring the Electrolux canister vacuum of Jon Fishman on Great Gig.

8 is OK, with a pretty good Tweezer and Fluffehead in the second set. Overall, though, I wasn’t too excited about this one.

I know that 10 is a great show, since I had it on tape before I switched to CDs, and had almost worn that one out.

I’m still somewhat disappointed in the packaging–not the style, which I like (plastic sleeves in a specially-designed three-ring binder), but the sparseness of it. I didn’t expect a twenty-page book with each one, but they’re making the packaging of the Dick’s Picks series look excessive.

Any other geeks out there collecting the whole set? Anyone pick up one or two of them?

Oh, and it’s a months-old question at this point, but I have the Oysterhead album, and it rocks hard. It’s more Primus-weird than Phish-weird in most places. Anything that gets Stewart Copeland back behind a drum kit is OK by me. Don’t forget the Trey solo album that comes out April 30, available now for pre-order. (I think the hiatus is the best thing that ever happened to us Phish geeks.)

Dr. J