The O.G. Live Phish Series In Review - Vol. 3: 9/14/00 Darien, NY

 Continuing on with OG Live Phish Vol. 3!

9/14/00 Darien

I'm very excited to play this! This was one of the first shows I got into when becoming a fan. My first show that converted me was 12/31/95 and I wanted all the Punch You In The Eyes and Rebas I could get my hands on! How perfect then that those very two songs open this set!

As far as being a new fan gravitating towards shows because I simply liked the song selection, this was one of those.

I've played it 3 or 4 times and always thought it was supremely underrated. Glad to properly review it finally! Also, it's nice to play some 2000 for a change. I've heard the whole Japan tour twice, I've played the Roseland Ballroom show a number of times (another early favorite) and then the three Live Phish shows several times a piece.

That being said, I remember as a new fan enjoying the show a ton and then in the last year or two when I played it again - being all wise and all knowing now, haha - I remember the show letting me down!!! Picking up on things that I wouldn't as a new fan and all that jazz. I really hope this listen is different because on paper this show is a mother-effer!!!!

Anywho, on to the music!!


9/14/00 Darien

Set 1 -

Punch You In The Eye - Not the most perfect version ever played (Trey totally botches the first run through of the "riff-HEY!" part). Actually, Trey is pretty sloppy on the whole for this version which kinda sucks the wind out of my sails as a listener before the show has even begun!! It's not bad like a 2018 Punch or anything, but oh baby is it flubtastic, haha. It also sounds slightly lacking in energy (not just tempo). If this was 2018, you would call this a GREAT Punch, lol. Let's put it like that!

>Reba - And immediately we launch into Reba at light speed. No matter how many times I've heard the song and no matter the fact that I know the lyrics, I can't physically sing them. My mouth just becomes jumbled! For what it's worth, the composed section of this song is pretty rough from Trey. It sounds, again, like an ok-but-not-great 2018 rendition (I love 2018 I swear!!!). Or a, dare I say, 2004 version at times! Just sloppy! The notes are being hit but none of it is smooth. It's all choppy and unsure with the occasional blatant FLUB. Compositionally, this is NOT a good Reba. Trey's playing in the composed section is pretty atrocious on the whole. Bummer! Skip directly to 6 minutes for the jam/solo portion. Throw the song portion directly in the garbage pile. YUCK. Up to 10 minutes on Reba. On .NET everyone is RAVING about this Reba. So far it's a major disappointment and the jamming isn't doing anything remotely noteworthy. Not even Page or Mike are picking up the slack. It's just pure - and it pains me to say this - mediocrity. By 11 minutes the rest of the bad has been steadily ramping up the intensity to the expected peak, but Trey is in la-la land like it's 2004. No I'm not kidding. THIS SUCKS!!! What the hell....I WANT THIS TO BE GREAT AND THIS IS THE BIGGEST LET-DOWN I'VE MAYBE EVER HAD AS A PHISH LISTENER SO FAR!!!! Finally around 12:30 things begin to click but by this point there is only one minute left so...What's The Use?!

I cannot in good conscience list that Reba as a highlight. That was one of the most DISAPPOINTING things I've ever heard.



Albuquerque - Thankfully, this is actually very, very nice!!! And the flow is great coming after the Reba non-peak! I still remember my first listen - we were driving north in our 2001 Kenworth tractor trailer, from Laredo to Dallas. We were going through San Antonio and the sun was shining - it was a beautiful day in the east Texas panhandle!!! And this came on like sweet nectar!!! I'm the weird Neil Young fan that has listened to his oddball 80s and 90s albums way more than the classic 70s stuff, so it took me a few minutes before realizing what it was. Shame on me I know, but funny to think about! @EgaBog

Carini - Aw yea!!!!!! Now my head's a-bobbin' and my toes a-tappin'!!!! I know one reason Trey picked this show is because he thought this was the best Carini ever to that point (likely wrong, haha and entirely debatable). That being said, it's absolutely one of the GNARLIEST, most trippy, most black-hole-sonic-noize-destruction things I've ever heard!!!! This would fit right at home alongside that Camden 2004 Scents and Subtle Sounds - that's a major compliment!!!! This sucker is only 11 minutes but it's all about Trey in the best way. Just dark, ugly, NASTINESS of the BEST variety!!!! I mean, Trey is just STRANGLING his guitar!!!! Memories of the 12/6/97 Tweezerbella guitar-rape abound!!!! Oh the humanity! Won't someone put this poor guitar out of it's misery?! It's literally crying and pleading for the sweet release of death from this audio torture hellscape!!! For the sake of not making this review entirely about Trey, I love the work Fishman is doing from about 7 minutes onwards. He is adding cool "1-2!" fills into the Carini rhythm. Adding extra accent beats or something like that. You'll know what I'm talking about when you listen. It's very cool!!! Around 9 minutes it sounds like Trey has turned on all of his backwards delays and filters and is just playing every note on the fretboard all at once. Page has pretty much sat this jam out besides his piano pounding - his jaw was probably on the floor and he was probably confused as to what the hell he could contribute to this insanity! I know I'd be confused, haha. At 10 minutes Trey leads us back into the Carini riff and brings this sucker to a close....

Holy frickin' hell. If you haven't heard this, make sure you are sitting down first. I don't think that was the best Carini ever played (12/30/12 sends this one running, imo) but good lord this is still MUST-HEAR. Definitely maybe a top 15 or 20 Carini of all time though!!!! And that's a MASSIVE compliment!

The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony - Shockingly well-performed considering the near-trainwreck Reba and slopfest Punch!!!! Wow, this actually sounds downright good! Also big points for rarity and the segue into....

Suzy Greenberg - A 21 minute Suzy Greenberg! How about that, eh?! Around 4 minutes, Trey drops out and lets Gordo take a lengthy bass solo. This is a right party, yo!!! Foreshadowing of "Welcome to Page's House!" from 2011, lol. Page is really laying back so far, just doing some textural type soloing on the, what is that a Fender Rhodes or something? Using his wah pedal tastefully!!!! Was Page "down and out" in 2000 or is this just an "off" show for him? Maybe I'm too used to 3.0, but good lord I haven't heard a show with so LITTLE Page in it maybe ever! By 6:30 Trey is till MIA. Page is front and center (well, kind of. He's still playing quiet and hard-to-get). At 6:47 there is a weird stereo shift and his keys go to the right ear for a few seconds before reverting back - tape issue??? Finally at 7:30 Trey rejoins off - think he was off to get a "bump" or a shot, haha? At 8 minutes he leads them back into Suzy once more. The song "dies" properly at 9:19, but IMMEDIATELY they launch back into a funk jam almost as if Trey had Crosseyed and Painless already on his mind to be played later!!!!! That was like the 12/7/97 Tube>Jam except without the countoff. And Trey lets Page have it again, content to vamp on his wah pedal for a while while Page toodles around on the keys. Is it just a mix issue? I swear Page is "quiet" tonight like he's not hitting the keys hard enough or something. But maybe it's just a raw-audio-source-related issue??? Is this a multitrack or a soundboard? At 2:29 into "Darien Jam #1", Trey turns on the whale siren we all know and love. But by 3:15 he starts tastefully doing melodic lead lines on top of it. Page is still all over his own wah pedal!!! The guys are riding this wave chill and slow. Funking out minimally like it's 1997 again, lol. Just endless "vamping"-style jamming. And it's terrific!! You just get sucked into the groove and just want to move your feet and dance along!!!! Love it at 5 minutes into DJ#1 where Page starts adding piano back in alongside his keys. Trey picks up on this and they slowly start transitioning back into a "classic rock"/Suzy-proper jam once more. The intensity is slowly building back up and leading us into Rockville USA once more!!! By 6 minutes into DJ#1, Page is full-on back on the piano and Trey is doing lots of chordal riffing before tossing in the hot leads once more. We are back into a proper Suzy Greenberg rock jam by this point. At 7 minutes Fishman starts doing some cymbal crashes which signal another notch up the intensity latter!!! Slowly still, Trey is introducing melodic lead shredding back into the jam. Fishman is killing it with those cymbal crashes and the whole things is just heading for Peakville. This is like a runaway car - move out of the way or you are going to be flattenned!!!! We still have 4 minutes to go and by 8 minutes we are approaching Hose Land!!!! From here on out the thing is like a steam locomotive about to have a boiler explosion!!! THE PRESSURE AND HEAT JUST KEEP BUILDING!!!! HOLY CRAP HOSE EXPLOSION!!!!! Eventually the jam "cools off" nicely and Trey gives the "set break, don't go away" speech and with that this monstrous Suzy Greenberg comes to a close....


All in all...wow!! Set one had a horrible start with the ok-but-lackluster Punch and the most frown-inducing 1.0 Reba I've ever heard. Thankfully all hope was not lost. From Albuquerque onwards it was a total smash!!!! Carini is MUST HEAR as well as this 21 minute (!!!!) Suzy Greenberg extravaganza!!!

Certainly a unique set - grab the highlights PRONTO!!!

 Set 2

Drowned - First a 21 minute Suzy and now a 32 minute Drowned?!?!? Only in 1.0! I know it was pouring rain at this gig so it's appropriate this is what they opened set 2 with. The Type I rages as expected and then around 7 minutes things take a turn for the darker and more mysterious! Darien Jam #2 (oh how I loathe "separated" jams....) begins with Trey and Page linking up, doing some fast-paced Birds of a Feather-style vamping. But within 30 seconds things dissolve into pure dark ambience!!! Trey lays back, Fishman is riding the cymbals, there is no drum beat, and Page is back on his wah pedal once more. 2 minutes in and the guys hit upon a major-key, more "blissful" direction.
Slowly the drums are being reintroduced and we are returning from the edge of space. Everyone is playing together and slowly BUILDING this thing....Page back on the piano, just lovely. By 4 minutes, Trey just sounds like he's unsure what to do (either that or he's high as F and just being self-indulgent - I'm going with this) and Fishman starts to "steer" the jam a little more by changing up his drum fills and patterns constantly. Things have a building intensity to them, but they are tactfully restrained. Quiet heat. Very much "late-night" vibes!!!!
By 6 minutes things are progressing slightly "sideways". Trey is doing wah-pedal "lurches" and Page is alternating between piano and keys. Fishman is doing his Neil Peart fill-a-palooza stuff and Gordo is just carefully placing notes for the most impact, lol. They keep drifting seamlessly out of "solos" into "full band jamming" and back again. Very cool. Basically, everyone (ahem, Trey), is OUT THERE in their own little world, leaving this jam constantly feeling on the brink of collapse, yet also still being tight enough to not fall apart completely.
I complained about the 2003 "IT" Chalkdust Torture being "nothing jamming" done wrong. This is "nothing jamming" done right. Things are a claustrophobic mess, together JUST enough to not be a trainwreck!!! At 9 minutes into DJ#2, the drums and rhythm completely drop out - Trey does some feedback squeals and turns on his ambient loopers. It's just him and Page pounding aimlessly on the piano for a bit. Free Jazz Phish. Gordo and Fishman selectively reintroduce themselves in "spurts" of activity. They sound unsure of what to do and I can't say I blame them.
Everybody sounds confused as hell - as if they are going "yea, we don't know what the hell is going on but we are trying to make you think we know what's going on!!!". They think they are pulling a fast one on us - you can't get anything past us, Phish By 11 minutes Gordo is doing some interesting "circular" patterns and Fishman is going Jazz-Fill-happy. Page is pounding the piano and for the last few minutes Trey has again been in La La Land just doing Birds Of a Feather-style wah-pedal "scratching".
This is loony. On another day I might say this is terrible! This is definitely not "accessible" Phish at all. Hell, the Fukuoka ambience is "easier" listening than this!!! This is like that Miami 1989 Dark Star where everyone is playing everything at once, all crashing into each other in a noisy mess. I can't say I want to hear this every day, but it certainly is, um, interesting!!!!
By 13 minutes Trey is STILL doing his wah-scratching (I think at this point I'm realizing he set it on his looper....). At 13:40 he starts slowly adding in some grindy-sounding guitar feedback ambience. Everyone else is slowly ramping up the intensity once more. The "random" stop-start stylings of crashing cymbal mania and piano pounding is evolving. We are heading for a full-blown Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention noise explosion!!!!
By 15 minutes this is all still happenning, slowly getting more and more dark! Fishman starts to introduce to cowbell to change things up. At 15:31 there is a keyboard sound like a UFO taking off - is that Trey on his weird little keyboard? The guitar-feedback squalls are still going strong over on the looper. This jam is giving me anxiety. It's actually NOT super "dark". It's just very ATONAL sounding.
By 16:30 the feedback looper hell is still occuring and Trey is definitely plonking away at his stupid little keyboard. Fishman introduces a cool "breakneck" kind of fast rhythm and the jam very slowly begins to solidify into music once more! Page is still trying to "survive" over on the piano, but Gordo sounds surprisingly "coherent" in his choice of notes, playing along with Fishmans re-established drumming.
By 18 minutes, Trey is AWOL again, but Page, Gordo and Fishman all link up and we head for a legitimate musical jam once more!!!! Fishman doing his "play everything on the kit" thing, with Gordo and Page hanging along for the ride. WHERE DID TREY GO?! HAVING ANOTHER SNORT, I PRESUME?!?!??!! Oh no, nevermind. He's back on his stupid keys (I think, haha).
By 19:30, feedback looper still going strong, Fishman breakneck continuing, Page jumps over to synths and Gordo starts to become the one to hold down the rhythm fort. This is actually a really great jam for listening to Mike and Fishman, without too much Page and very little Trey to cloud up what they are doing!!!! Very cool!!! By 21 minutes we are in outer space. Again, this isn't DARK. It's just WEIRD. Like something you'd hear as bumper music for Coast To Coast AM with Art Bell SPACE JAZZ!!!!
And then somehow around 23:30 the jam morphs out of nowhere into a blissful ambient soundscape like we are up in 2012 again, lol. And after a few more keyboard touches and tom-tom rolls, this weird-ass piece of music comes to a close.


I don't know what to think of this. I can't say I will purposefully seek this jam out again, but it's definitely a Must-Hear-At-Least-Once piece of music!!!!! Very "wtf", haha.


>Crosseyed and Painless - And perfectly, we launch into the Crosseyed foreshadowed back in that Suzy Greenberg!!!! And boy golly is it a relief to have actual "music" after the noisy cacophony of that Drowned!!!! Set flow for the win!!! Around 2 minutes, Trey does a freaking AWESOME feedback solo harkening back to the Carini!!!! As expected, as the Type I jam develops, Trey just wipes the floor with his shredding. But then at some point the mood SHIFTS and gets dark!!!! As Darien Jam #3 begins, there are shades of the evil Carini lingering on the outskirts of the sound. Fishman is again going ballistic with fills and little bell chimes, etc. Page is all over the Clavinet with his wah and Trey is alternating between vamping and ripping leads. At about a minute in Page jumps back to piano and we return to a more Type I Crosseyed jam once more. Just Rock and Roll explosiveness. I don't get why this jam was separated from the song - unlike Suzy and Drowned, this is just a Type I Crosseyed extravaganza. Face-melting in every way!!! 10/10 A+ guitar annihilation!!! I mean, the final 2 minutes break down into some cool dark ambience, but other than that this is a full-on, boiler-explosion Crosseyed!


And from here, the final 37 minutes of show look like "filler". I mean, how the F do you top all that came before?! Anything else will be a let-down, haha.


Dog Faced Boy - Points for rarity. Not my favorite song but we are due for a cool-off and the vocals are on-point!!! Great little version!!

Prince Caspian - Love the slow build-up intro out of DFB like this is Piper or something!!!! VERY COOL!!! This opening jam lasts almost two full minutes before the first proper chords of Caspian. Longest PC intro ever? Very cool Caspian! One of the most out-there versions I've ever heard. Trey is playing with his effects, giving this a slightly spacey and unique vibe!!! VERY COOL! It builds some serious hose-peaking and is just a guitar meltdown 1997 would be proud of. Holy hell, a destructive Caspian. Any other versions this FIERY?! Fantastic!!!

>Loving Cup - Oh wow, talk about a perfect song choice!!! Really great version in line with that Caspian. The only downside is that it feels like the perfect show closer and it's kind of a bust having it only end the set.

Driver - Is Driver. Great to hear. Terrible as an encore, imo.

The Inlaw Josie Wales - Possibly my least favorite Phish "song". This will never be a highlight. Ever. Delete this.

Sample In a Jar - Rages the show to a slightly anticlimactic ending. Great stuff but nothing special. Just pretend it ended with Loving Cup, will ya?



All in all....WOWZERS!!! Holy friggin crap what is this show..... Trey is obviously "gone" for most of it, so it's a miracle the highlights are as ridiculous as they are. Maybe not a 10/10 perfect full-show experience, but a good 75% chunk of this show is must-hear stuff!!! Absolutely worth your time if you like weird Phish.

One of the WEIRDEST shows I've ever heard. It's just oddball strange. And not in the 1994 way. In the 2000 "Trey is on too many drugs" way.