Subject: St.Louis & Omaha review (long)
From: "Saul E. Wertheimer" 

On to Omaha... 1st of all, we saw this kid get beat down before the show.
See my other post w/subject "Cops beat up hippie in Omaha".  But anyway,
the show....

11/16/95
1: Poor Heart, DWD, Guyute, Gumbo, Rift, Free, My Old Home Place, Bowie,
Lawn Boy, Barkle, Frankenstein
2: La Grange, Runaway Jim > VOL/KUNG > Catapult > Mike & Trey Boogie! >
Axilla I, Hood, Suzie, A.Grace
E: We're An American Band

Highlights of the 1st set were the DWD, Guyute, Gumbo run.  Frankenstein
was great, as always.  The DWD was different than the recent versions of
this tune, being short & to the point.  I thought it was as intense as
4/6/94, but I'll need to hear the tapes to be sure.  I really love the
part in Guyute when it returns to the theme after the dissonant jam.  It
truly is amazing.  I always forget about how much I love this song, until
I hear it at a show.

Enough about the 1st set.  After smoking some crack during set break,
PHiSH opened with La Grange.  I was so excited to hear this live for the
1st time, that I started running up & down the aisle.  Woohoo!!  It was
awesome.  

Runaway went off into a pretty cool jam, & then Trey announced that the
Vibration of Life was 7 1/2 beats per second, & that it was written by
God. Funny, I don't remember learning about that in elementary school ;)
We were behind the stage, & we had a great view of the crowd, as well as
Trey's pedals. I like to watch Trey play with his toys.  This segued into
some Latin-type beat, & Mike walked to the front of the stage & chanted
Catapult. Trey was banging away on his drumkit, while running in place.
Then Mike started dancing with this cape that he was swinging by his
sides.  It looked like he was trying to avoid a bull.  This earned the
title of "Mike & Trey Boogie" in my setlist book. It was at this point in
the show that I caught on to the fact that they had been hitting the crack
pipe during setbreak.  

Axilla I was cool to hear, w/o technical difficulties, as at Champaign.
Harry Hood, was incredible as usual.  I think it had a little something
extra, though. 

The encore was kick-ass.  We were kinda hoping for a Bold As Love, but
this was classic.  No one that I spoke to after the show was aware of the
Grand Funk/PHiSH connection: the line in Harpua "We're coming to your
town, we'll help you party down" was taken from this song.  When Trey sang
"Saturday night in Omaha," the place erupted.  Someone informed me that
there was a recent Simpson's episode where Homer was driving around
listening to Grand Funk, & Bart was really embarrased.  At some other
point in the show, there was a flashback to Homer's youth, when he
approached a car of "cool kids", & they were listening to Frankenstein.  

On the Scott Jordan scale:
Set 1: 5.5
Set 2: 8.0
Overall: 6.75

The 2nd set may deserve an 8.5, because of its weirdness.  

Overall, another great weekend.  Thanks, PHiSH!!  See you all on Holiday
Tour.

Peace...
saul(happy because of PHiSH, but sad that I don't get to see them until
Dec.28, and disillusioned because of fucking pigs)dude.

saul e. wertheimer             *  "head busted, stomach cracked,
1130 church st. #4-4           *   feet splintered, i was bald, naked...
evanston, il 60201             *   quite lucky to be alive though."
847-492-1283                   *          - bob dylan
sauldude@merle.acns.nwu.edu    *

-------------------------------------------
From KaizrSoza@aol.com
Subject: Re: phish review

Hello once again.  Here's another review:  Kevin  KaizrSoza@aol.com

A review of 11/16/96, Omaha Nebraska
THE DRIVE:  The drive to omaha from boulder was a long and not very
pleasant trip.  Along the way, we saw around 25 semi's flipped over on the
side of the road and numerous cars flipped as well.  A few friends of ours
didn't make it due to the piss poor weather.  We slid off the road once as
well.  To sum it up, it was the worst conditions that I've ever driven a
car in, not to mention how damn cold it was.
THE SHOW:  We arrived on time so I managed to get up to the 10th row or
so. Pretty cool scene.  I was seperated from my friends while security
literally pushed us through the door so I met some cool cats who enjoyed a
great time with me and talked of sking before the show began.  Once the
show started, all of the worries of snow, ice, hail, wind and cold were
out of my mind. The show opened with a good Poor Heart that really got me
going.  Pretty long and energy filled.  Next was Down With Disease, which
was a great jam. That song just keeps sounding better and better every
time they play it. Guyute is next, which was the highlight of my show.  A
great jam, Trey was right on with the vocals, and the whole band really
came together.  Excellent!
Gumbo followed with a real nice Page solo at the end.  Page took over this
tune and it was real nice.  Rift followed with alot of energy but just
average. Free was next, good sound.  The drums that opened the song
sounded like HYHU was coming so when Free started I was a little let down.
Old Home Place was next.  Always like this one.  Good harmony and vocals.
DAVID BOWIE, one of my favorite live songs.  Played it really nice, good
transitions and a long spacy jam.  Very crisp on the guitar.  Lawnboy
followed with Page once again showing that he's the man.  Great vocals and
just an excellent song.  I loved it.  Sparkle followed, it was average.
That led into an incredible Frankenstein.  Jammin song to close the first
set.  Played real well.  A lot longer than older versions, a lot better in
my opinion too.
     Set break.  Very thirsty, can't find a water fountain but I find my
friends while looking. We sat down and rested for what seemed like a
pretty long 15 minuits once again.  La Grange was the last song that I
expected but was very happy to hear.  Mike sounded awesome and Fish was
right on.  The song was great, songs like this one made the shitty drive
well worth it. Runaway Jim followed.  Real long version that I didn't like
as well as others, but anyway they play it, it jams.  Rather drawn out at
omaha though.
 Vibrations of life>Kung>Catapolt followed.  Crazy part of the show.
 Vibrations of Life is real cool and I'm glad I finially got to see it.
Very spacy.  Axilla 1 followed which made me completely forget how tired I
was. I like this version the best of all, and it was great.  Harry Hood
followed, which ranks above D. Bowie on my favorite songs to see list.
The floor was just a wave of people going nuts and having a great time.  I
was one of them. Great tune.  That led right into an awesome Suzy G.  Very
long and jammy, Axilla and La Grange teases were thrown in there.  GREAT,
combo of Hood>Suzy.  I really enjoyed that and at that point my tired
brain couldn't talk my body into sitting down.  Amazing Grace closed the
show.  This song must inspire the 12 year old's to yell and scream so I
can't review it really. Please don't yell during this song.  I think in a
year or so Phish will no longer be able to do these type of songs.  Don't
blame me.  The encore was a song I'd never heard Phish perform before,
American Band.  They did a hell of a job, really summed up Omaha in that
song.  "We'll come into your town, We'll help you party down"  That's what
we did.  The Red Lion (our hotel 2 blocks away) was jumping all night and
the security man with a wedgie and his pants hiked up to his chest was
being as much of an asshole as possible to paying custumers.  Snow still
coming down, we decide to order food and "remember all the times".  have
fun Kevin Borst feel free to email me with show comments:
KaizrSoza@aol.com

------------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha
From: Newlin Todd B 

        The following is a short review of my experience at Omaha:

        We pulled out of Boulder at 5:30 a.m.  It snowed like hell the
entire way to Omaha. There were at least twenty cars up side down in the
ditch on the way there. I know of at least three people who didn't make
the show due to bad accidents (luckily no one was hurt). 

Highlights:

Down With Disease: Short, but definitely to the point. Very tight jam.

Guyute: Excellent as usual.  The lights made me feel like I was
hallucinating (unfortunately I wasn't).

Bowie: Great intro where Trey and Mike play around with different sounds.
I thought that this would end the set, but three more songs remained.

Lawnboy: Page walked around doing his best lounge singer imitation, then
he introduced Mike.  Mike had a relatively short but great solo.

Frankenstein:  One of my favorite closers.  the crwod was fired up, and I
couldn't wait for the second set.

Set II:

La Grange opener: Simply amazing.  Much more jammed out than the only
other La Grange I've heard (12/29/95). I knew that the second set was
going to be interesting.

Kung: Similar to last year's Kung in Lincoln. I like these two much better
than 12/30/95 because the band was screaming, seemingly much more into it.
t's always great to look arouns the Nebraska crowd during moments like
these where people have the "what the fuck is this" look on their face.

Axilla I: Interesting. I'm not a big Axilla fan, but I like this one
better than number two.

Harry Hood: One of my favorite ever.  Trey held one note for at least
three minutes, dancing the whole time as the rest of the band went off.
When he finally ended the note, the band was so tight. The jam leading
into " you can feel good" was intense. One of my happier moments at recent
Phish shows.

Suzy: Funky. I really enjoyed it. Trey teased La Grange and Axilla, and
Page pleased as usual. 

American Band: I recognized the song, but didn't realize it was Grand Funk
Railroad.  A fitting encore for an enjoyable show. 

        All in all, the show was a lot of fun. I think the band had more
fun than anyone else. The sound at the Civic Auditorium sucked. If I
turned my head I could here a horrible echo on the back wall (luckily this
didn't show up on my tapes). I leave with one final question: Why does the
band play so well in the midwest? St. Louis sounds amazing, and Omaha was
great. I had one of my best times last year in Lincoln. The crowds usually
suck, although Omaha wasn't too bad (exccept for the clapping during
songs. I hate that shit.) I hope every one had as much fun as I did. See
ya in the Bay Area.


----------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha great despite Violence
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1996 11:16:35 -0600
From: Ben Laskov 

First of all the show in Omaha was just wonderful,the band and the 
fans had a great time. Despite the very disappointing altercations 
between the Mightly Omaha Cops and some cold innocence fans. Me and 
about a hundard other fans were standing out front the Civic Center. I 
am not sure of the time but the show din't start until Fourty-five 
minutes later. There was a large sidewalk and then large stairs 
leading up to the venue. The street block in front of the place was 
blocked off and was filled with cops and all of their shit. There was 
also several (about 15) cops on horse back aswell. First of all I 
never understood the concept behind cops on horses. Anyway there was 
something going on to the left of the place were a huge group of cops 
in uniform and not, followed by cop on horses, they all tackled one or 
two fans and arrested them.  Few miutes after that, there were many 
people hanging out, some looking for tickets, I had an extra I was try 
to get rid of, that I end up giving it to a guy who look like he need 
it. The cops start coming toward the crowd, yelling (not very nicly at 
all) "get in side or get the hell out of here" They allowed people 
about five second before they started pushing people and running them 
over with there horses. There were looking down at people and yell at 
them the whole time. It seemed like a horse stepped on a few people 
and someone pushed the horse back the horse stepped back a few step, 
which cause the dickhead cops to attack the nearest group of people. 
one fan was tackled by about three huge-sized cops. I was almost ran 
over by a cop on a horse that barreled though a crowd of people to 
block them from the guy get arrested. It was horrible the cops truely 
acted like complete fools, trying very hard to start trouble. I went 
in side sortly after that I did what to see more, but I sure there was 
more trouble, because the cop had problem with people tring to stand  
for their rights. the fan were doing nothing and we were attacked by 
he cops. I hope I don't see this shit again at a Phish show,  anyone 
else who was there or others who heard about this please comment,

   Please, Ben
------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha Review :(
Date: 17 Nov 1996 16:27:17 GMT
From: Amrit Chauhan 

Hey Phisters...

I've never really posted much to this group, except for a trade here or 
there...but I thought I'd post this review of last night's show.

The Civic Center in Omaha was my 16th Phish show.  I really had a lot of 
respect for this band before I hit the seven-show run I've just completed, 
but this whole tour, I've had this really bad feeling about things.  Well, 
last night, all my fears were confirmed.  I don't think Phish gives a shit 
about us anymore...I think the money, power, glory has gotten to their
heads.

But I'm not some loser trying to pooh-pooh on Phish's parade.  They're a
hot band.  I gave them a lot of my time and a lot of my money.  I think
they're GREAT musicians.  But I refuse to elevate them to the status of Gods.  
They are not my idols.  

What won't come through on the bootleg of last night's show is the level
of control that Phish had on the audience.  Sure, the audience was just
loving it, I mean LOVING it when Phish rocked out last night.  But what
finally got me to realize that Phish isn't worthy of my loyalty or my
money was the "Vibration of Life" jam in the second set.  Trey announced
that the band was going to create this vibration, right, that was going to
vibrate at seven and a half beats per second...and that would be the
Vibration of Life.  Just before the band set off on this task, however,
Trey announces that "It comes straight from God."  So, now Trey wants to
be GOD.  Before you phlame me for this one, listen to the bootleg 'cause
it's EXACTLY what Trey wants and it's exactly the kind of power he was
feeding off of last night.

As the band stood up there with a few thousand loyal, hungry, yearning 
followers screaming at their feet, they created this really strange 
atmosphere in the place.  It felt like mass demogogary, just a huge and 
overwhelming surge of CONFORMITY overtook the crowd.  Among many of you, I 
guess that's something you would consider GREAT for a phish show..."Wow, a 
crowd that's really into the show?  How could that be bad?"  Well, it's
not that simple.  The crowd was more than just into the show, the crowd
was completely mesmerized and here were Phish, just loving that kind of
power and control over their audience.  Listen to those tapes and just
HEAR that mood that's set up.  As I looked around, most of the audience
had no idea what was going on, but contented themselves by following the
lead of whoever was standing next to them, who was following the lead of
the next person, who was....all the way up to Trey, Page, Fishman, and
Mike.  There's nothing original about this.

The other thing that I'm pretty sure is going on now is that cops at many
of the city shows are being paid off to just not bother with the scene.
Last night, I ran into two REALLY obvious narcs (if they were really
trying, they would have nailed me!)  Phish has garnished a space for
themselves where they can keep all of us "safe" while we're in the show,
have fun with us, use us, and then take off after the show leaving us the
mess in the city or the friend in jail or whatever serious illness we've
come down with because we've been on the road for so long (I KNOW there
are phans that feel this groove). $25 bucks later, looking back at my
memories of the show, I still feel pretty empty about the whole thing.

But it wasn't even the show that killed me in the end.  It was the fact
that Phish was heading up to the top floor of this HUGE hotel next to the
venue to just "pimp out" while all these loyal followers head out into the
terrible, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE weather to make it back home in time for
class or in time for work or whatever.  Sure, many of you are thinking
"All in the name of being on the road for phish."  But what gets me is how
little Phish seems to give a shit about its fans.  The roads were TERRIBLE
last night.  Most people probably missed class today, didn't make it to
work, etc...and yeah, you're right, so what?  They missed class or a day
of work...but we all know that phish tour is not just ONE day of ANYTHING.
It takes up a HUGE amount of our time as a generation of people compared
to anything else that we do AS A GENERATION.  Phish = Leaders, Our
Generation = Followers.  Power.  It's what it's about.

Prediction #1: Phish: Cover of Rolling Stones by the end of 1997.
(sooner?)

Phish is going to sell out all of you loyal folks that have been with this 
band from the start because there's a fiending culture that will support 
Phish long after those of you who have been here for years are gone.  This
is about record labels, producers, and making as much phucking money as 
possible.  This has NOTHING to do with you anymore, you the fans that is.
I don't believe in Phish anymore because they've betrayed me and my loyalty
to them.  And I'm not saying, PLEASE hear this: I am NOT saying that they 
betrayed me because they're popular.  I'm saying they betrayed me because 
they betrayed the ENTIRE phish following and what that following is
SUPPPOSED to stand for.  Isn't LOYALTY the key here?  But loyalty has got
to go both ways...I don't just cough mine up.  _My_ loyalty and _my_
dedication is worth something more than a $25 TICKETSTUB IN MY HAND, if
that ticket-stub means nothing more than membership to a culture that
isn't sustainable.

The city of Omaha was a mess last night.  There was a blizzard coming 
through, all these Phish phans were getting out of the shows just RECKED
on X or LSD or this or that pill, nitrous, whatever! right...so they're
fucked up as usual...AND they're hitting the city streets which are
completely overflowing with phan traffic and people walking everywhere,
snow coming down...etc...the same old Phish scene, right?  We've all seen
it.  We know it well.  Absolute pandomoniom and we love it, right?

Well, yeah, except for the fact that Phish was up in some hotel room
partying it out while phans were either stuck there or trying to brave it
through the storm, which was definitely a blizzard...DEFINITELY :)  I'm
not saying that they should have come down and given us all blankets and
some hot coco or anything, but I am saying that it is the height of
arrogance on their part to REVEL in their following like they did last
night.  They know we will ALL come back for more because we like being
"Phishy" and up to a point, that's fine, but I think Phish has gone too
far.  They've got a lot of power and control over us, CULTURALLY.  At a
show, they could almost do anything and with as many of us tripped out on
x or acid or whatever, we'd just go along without thinking about because
to not do so would be un-phishy.  That's the power of CONFORMITY and
that's the power that Phish has.

I think they're on this huge power trip, they're making A KILLING off
their fans, and they are exploiting a following that they know is loyal to
them. It's easy...and why stop now?  They've only got more money to make.
Why not try and go down as this generation's VOICE? Don't you think that's
what they're trying to do?

Remember at Red Rocks this summer how all those people up front made all 
those signs for songs?  Well, Phish didn't play any of those songs except
for NICU.  They played Tube later that tour (but not at Red Rocks) and taht
was one of the signs, right?  Well, what's changed since Red Rocks and this 
recent tour?  I witnessed TWO shows (Van Andel & Champagain) where Phish 
played songs JUST BECAUSE a phan had a sign and was waving it at them.  I 
thought that was one thing we all hated?  And I thought Phish did too.  So 
now, Trey's up there saying he's playing a "Tube" for the guy holding the 
sign at Champaign this past week?  What it looks like to me is that
they're just giving the fans what they need to feel like they count, but
only JUST ENOUGH, so that they love it when Trey wants to play god on
stage...does ANY of this ring true to ANYONE out there?

Take a step away from Phish, for a minute, and just listen to what I'm 
saying.  I know it's terrible shit to even want to see posted on the 
phish.net, BELIEVE ME, but after tonight's show I vowed never to go see a 
Phish show again.  I know that might sound a little extreme to all of you, 
but it's a personal choice that I don't think many of you will make or 
understand...at least not yet.

Phish's following/culture is made up of primarily white, middle-to-upper 
class teenagers and young adults (I am 22), right?  We can probably agree
on that.  Well, one of the phenomenon's that's going on in America today
among us youth of "Gen X" (or whatever) is a complete lack of leadership.
Family structures are being revolutionized and many of us kids are left
trying to figure out what exactly family means.  And I think Phish is
coming in here for many, many phans and picking up some of that slack.
That was all great for a while.  For many of us, giving up on family
problems or relationship problems or work problems or school problems are
all filled up with plenty of fun on the road with Phish.  But is that
entirely healthy for us if it means breaking over backwards to get to the
shows and then having Phish just jump to the top floor of a hotel while
we, the followers, are all out in the rain and snow trying to make it
home?  Phish is just crying out: "Follow Us...We'll Take You There".
Well, where's "there?"  Gamehenge?  And what is Gamehenge?  Phish's
playground...where they get to be ANYTHING they want to be and WE, THEY'RE
FOLLOWING allow them to be ANYTHING.  So, last night, Trey decided he
wanted to pretend to be God...so, like the loyal following we are, we LET
HIM feel like that, and we fell right into his hands.  Phish has built 
a following, alright, but I think they're ripping us off and they're
taking this power trip of their too far.

Prediction #2: Phish drops out of the top 100 by 2001.

I have to ask you, quite bluntly, why am I paying $25 to let Phish play
God on stage?  Is it because they're great musicians?  Well, even then, I
respect myself too much to say that it's okay if Trey wants to play god
over what he probably considers HIS audience.  The band doesn't own me.
And the minute they started treating me like some piece of pawnable
merchandise, I knew things had gone too far.

I know the shows are fun, but I also think they've become a false
replacement for that sense of belonging, that sense of FAMILY that we all
want to feel.  But Phish has created this culture out of thin
air...completely manufactured, right down to the antelope bumper stickers.
This is a big club, you're joining, if you join at all, and then you gotta
learn the rules or you're gonna get blacklisted on the phish phan club
list.  There are taper's rules, what to do at show rules, what not to do
at show rules, etc.  All of these "rules" have been made up by Phish
except for the taper's rules.  This is THEIR culture and by taking
membership in it we are completely conforming to what is not our own.
Playing around in Gamehenge and being a loyal part of phish culture is a
sacrifice of your own self-expression and ability to think for yourself.

Listen, people, I know I'm a really, really, really unpopular voice here 
saying what I've said.  I'm not saying that any one of you has to do 
anything...I'm simply offering up my opinion to you.  This is public space 
and this is where all the phish phans have gathered since it all began.  I 
don't know if I'm the first to voice this much discontent over what Phish
has become or is becoming but... 

I will never go to a Phish show again after what I saw last night.

That may very well be just because I'm Amrit and because THAT'S who I am,
I will not compromise one strand of what I believe in for this band.  What
do _I_ believe in?

I believe in Ani, and peace, and helping third-world countries that we've 
fucked over, and dealing with the Racism problem in this country
(something that the media is still in denial about), and fighting for
queer rights, and fighting for women's rights, and all in all, just
trying my best to make this world livable for more than just straight,
white, upper-class men.  If you take that defensively or you get mad at
me, then that's what you do...especially if you're straight, white, and a man.  BTW, I am gay,
brown, upper-class and most certainly 100% male.  So, don't peg me as
some crazy phreak who's out to take all your fun away...I'm a member of
the community out of which you come from too...I grew up in a town that
ain't all that different from yours.  Look it up: Bloomfield Hills, MI.

I guess the time has come for me to take a stand as a leader in my
generation and not a follower.  I don't want to sound cliche, but what
isn't cliche about Gamehenge?  It has all the ingredients of an
all-American FICTION complete with your rather sexist, damsel-in-distress
song Ester...same old Romeo-Juliet shit.  But, up to now, what's made it
excusable is the fun I've had at all the shows...and now, I don't care how
fun tour is 'cause I feel like a sucker for even putting 16 shows worth of
faith in this band.

So, maybe I'll get mailbombed, maybe I'll get a high-five, maybe I'll get 
shunned from the Phish community forever.  This is just my voice and I
raise it in difiance of Phish.  They had my following, LOYAL following,
but they've betrayed it.  Those of you who've been around following phish
for a long time probably have a better sense of what I'm saying than those
of you just joining the parade.

If this resonates with you, post a response or e-mail me your thoughts.
If you're a fan of Ani Difranco's and you're hanging around here, DEFINITELY 
e-mail me.  If you're wondering who she is, look her up...she won't ever
be on the front page of Rolling Stones.

un-oPhishily yours,

Amrit Chauhan

-*-*-@
Amrit Chauhan
achauhan@macalester.edu

"And generally my generation
Wouldn't be caught dead working for The Man
And generally I agree with them
Trouble is you've got to have an alternate plan."
                - Ani Difranco
----------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha set/comment
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 11:22:07 -0700
From: "John Skogstad, Jr." 


I know this has already been done, but it took me a couple days to get
myself rested!


The band was incredibally TIGHT.  This was my tenth show and I was amazed
at the quality of the playing and how both of these sets came off.  In my
opinion this was a two second set show!
Set I:
DWD was not as good as summer but nice, power jam
Guyute is my absolute favorite because it is sooo cool and such a treat.
I believe this was the 33rd time the song has ever been played.  I have
seen 28, 31, 33 and this one was real cool.  Better than rr.
Rift, free, old home place were all very cool.  Free is not 20min but it
was nice. I do not know which part of there asses they pulled the Bowie
and Frankenstein but the Bowie was beetr imho than the rr Bowie and that
was one of the better ones in a while. Lawn Boy was playful with Page
lounge walking the stage.  This set was sooo awesome I  did not even care
that they played Sparkle which I never care to hear!

setII:
The goofiness really gets going in set two.
La Grange to open with a tight as shit jam. The song clocked in about
7+min. 
Jim is a song I really like.  This version was 15 min and very
cool.  Led directly into Vib. of Life to a really enthusiastic Kung.  My
first Kung and it is better than any of my tape versions.
Catapult was real cool with lots of cowbell, etc. jammin by trey and
fishman.  Mike danced aroiund stage with a long silk scarf!  Hillarious
Axilla I was another first for me and it was tight also.  They start
saying all sorts of funny stuff at the end about Lee Fordham and other
crew guys.  This segues directly and amazingly smoothly to Harry! which is
a song I also could hear again and agian.  This is now ny favorite 
version since the Fox in Atlanta from 11-10-95. This one was 17 min.!
Suzie seems to get better and better these days.  Page is a psycho on this
version and trey teased La Grange and Axilla.  I was begining to think
they would play all night at this point but then remembered I was in small
town America. The show ended a little soft with Am Grace, but it had been
sooooo cool I was still exstatic.

Am. Band encore was cool, short, but appropriate given the Omaha
references.

This show gets an 8 on anyone's grading scale for me.  There were no
equipment troubles, few words forgotten, tons of fun being had by fans
and Phish, the lights were right on, my experience with security was that
they were being way cool.  We were never hassled. These tapes should be
heavily circulated so as to show people that despite what everyone 
seems to have decided, the band Phish HAS NOT SOLD OUT in the least!
John
---------------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha setlist, added details
Date: 20 Nov 1996 14:18:44 GMT
From: rrenken@unlinfo.unl.edu (roger renken)


Roger's additions to setlist footnotes:
*Actually, the Vibration of Life was introduced by Trey and then
 "played", with Kung then being added to the Vibe.  During the jam
 in Jim, Trey tried to get mike's attention and finally had to go over
and tap him on the shoulder.  He then talked to him as they played.  Jim
 came to a somewhat abrupt, strange close.  Trey then talks about the 
 energy levels associated with g.a. shows and then the vibration of 
 life.  He says something to the effect that the 7.5 cycles per second
 sound was a natural sound which can bring about a feeling of oneness.
 He stated the song/sound was not written by phish, but by god.  This
 "acknowledgement of the true composer" was expressed more than once.
**You could hear a faint Hood crowd response to Phish's first 
couple of Harrys.  The "Lee something" then replaced Harry a few times,
 confusing the crowd, pretty much ending the Hood response thing. 
 Near the end of HH, Trey sustained this note for a real long time (maybe
a couple of minutes) while the band played on.  He stood there kind of
bent over his guitar, pumping his right arm into the air, then bringing
his hand near the strings, but apparently not touching them, to then
return to pumping his arm.  Looked like he was having a blast.  The
sustain was wonderful.

*** Just before Page's first solo, Trey quotes La Grange.  But just before
 Page's second run over the ivory, Trey quotes Axilla pt 1.  So I got to
wondering what song just played this set he'd quote next.  This of course
detracted from listening to the music being played at the present moment,
so I tried to throw the analytical thoughts out of my head and just
enjoy the music as it happened. 

**** Very fitting tune considering it was played in Omaha, on a saturday
  night. 
-------------------------------------------------
Subject: Omaha show
Date: 18 Nov 1996 11:29:21 -0700
From: mcs0787@newsit2.mcdata.com (Mike Siefford)


Just thought I'd post a quick note on the Omaha show.  Very cool show.
The first set was simply amazing. They closed the first set with 
Frankenstien (very cool).  Opened the second with La Graunge.  Then
when I thought all the suprizes was over, they close with Grand Funks
Where in an American band.  Well worth the drive from Denver, though
ice, snow and rain.  If anybody has a copy of this show, please let
me know and I'd send blanks or anything off my list. 200hr dead, 100hr
Phish,
and other things.
                        Thanks, The Minkus
                           minkus@mcdata.com 
------------------------------------------------
Subject: thoughts on Omaha...
Date: 18 Nov 1996 17:27:26 GMT
From: "Chance DeLancey" 

Well, as a veteran of numerous shows since 1991 I can say that the last
run (11-13 - 11-17) was probably the best I'd ever seen. Omaha was
amazing. I'm sorry the person who posted the negative review had such an
awful time, but those who knew, KNEW.

Vibe>Kung>Catapult was amazing, as was a simply spectacular Hood. Trey
held a note for over THREE minutes!!! Before you pass judgement based on
that bad review, listen for yourself. you will HEAR the truth.

BTW..
Who the Hell is Lee Fordham?? Trey & Fish made several references to him &
his vacation to Cuba in the second set, even replacing the HARRY! line
with LEE!...

-- 
         Chance DeLancey
         chance@minn.net
http://www1.minn.net/~chance

-----------------------------------------------
From RNA001@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU Tue May 20 07:18:35 1997
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 08:11:33 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Omaha, NE 11-16-96 Footnotes


This show has been extensively reviewed, but I wish to footnote some things
about this show that were overlooked.

Personally, I missed the show two nights earier in Ames, IA due to an ice storm
and was miffed about blowing 25 bucks.  I was able to stay at my parents house in
Omaha not far from the Civic and so was generally unafected by the crappy weather,
and I also heard about the scuffles with the cops.  I was ashamed that that
happened in my home town.

Anyway, there is a very long, very negative review about this show (and the band
in general).  While I respect this person's opinion, I just wish to point out that
it is based on a misunderstanding.  The reviewer claims that Trey's comments before
the Vibration of Life indicate that he wants to play God, quoting Trey as saying
"this is coming from God,".  In fact, you can verify on the tape, what Trey says
is "This is written by God, we didn't write this one."  As Trey himself has said
repeadetdly, it's all about the music, which comes from outside of the band - 
they try to get their egos out of the way and just let it come through.  The
Vibration of Life, IMHO, is really about that, not about wanting to play God.

Now, about the songs:

The "Lee" thing actually begins at the end of Axilla I.  Lee Fordham (sp?) I read
somewhere is a lighting technician.  Anyway, that spooky ending of Axilla starts
and Trey says "Don't shine that thing in my face, man", per usual, but then belts
out "Kuroda!", Chris Kuroda (again, sp?) being the lighting director.  This then
develops into "Kuroda! Don't shine that thing in my face, man!"  To try to
summarize, they eventually start screaming at other members of the lighting crew
"Don't shine that fucking thing in my face, ashhole!"  Eventually, they mention
Lee Fordham and wind up screaming something that I'm pretty sure is "I wanna take
a trip to Cuba, man!  Take a trip to Cuba!  With Lee Fordham!!!!"  When I realized
what the hell they were screaming I laughed my arse off, thought you might too. =)

So yes, the crowd was doing some responses to "Harry, Harry"...on the tape it
sounds like "what?", which I think is even worse than if they were shouting "Hood".
To counter this they start singing Lee, Fordham...it was a briliant tactic. 
As has been mentioned, this Hood is very strong featuring a (no kidding) 2 1/2 to
3 minute sustain from Trey that draws 5 rises from the crowd.

Other highlights IMHO:

Fishman during Poor Heart, Page during Gumbo (you have to hear his ending - it
was great), Lawn Boy and Page again during Frankenstein.  Comments about Grand
Funk for the encore have already been made, but for those of you not in the know,
the line from the song is "All them chiquitas in Omaha..." (goes on to tell of
how some girls got to see the band after the show, to put it nicely).

This is a fun show, dispite some of the bad vibes about it.  I had a good time,
anyway.

-----------------------
Tim Wade
rna001@acad.drake.edu

"That's why I'm in the band."
       - Jon Fishman at the end of Harry Hood, Ian McClean's Farm 8-21-97