6-18-04 - KeySpan Park, Brooklyn, NY

please review the show, not the other reviews....


Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 12:55:43 -0400
From: Karen A. Cullinane 
Subject: Brooklyn - Keyspan Park  6/18

Although the 17th was a decent show (basically because of the Maze >
Frakenstein and the sick Possum, as well), I literally started crying on
the subway ride home from the show on the 18th.  Here's a few reasons why:

1) I was in the 2nd "row" of the madness on the field.  There were few
other girls and the guys who were in the front were rude, pushy, and
selfish.  I have never seen anything like it.  In addition, since when
were there SO many 15-year-old boys at shows?  Being young is OK - I went
to shows when I was 12 (not so long ago), but these boys were just
immature and obnoxious and copmletely oblivious to show etiquette.  People
got there 2 hours in advance to stake out seats and these kids got there
right before the show started and just pushed to the front like it was OK.
 No no.  No, Boys.

2) There was a group of drunk mid-life crisis fans behind me who didn't
seem to really be phans.  The biggest asshole in the group kept drunkenly
shouting, "Trey, I love youuuu!  Play Gotta Jibboo!  Mike, you're the
man!"  And when everyone around him gave him looks like, "Shut the fuck up
and let everyone around you enjoy the concert," he would respond in a
hostile way and call everyone "Young'uns."  And oh yeah.  He was yelling
this during the hour-long intermission with about half an hour to go.  But
I think the highlight was when he took off his shirt during Stash and
started pumping it in the air and screaming, smacking everyone around him
with his meaty elbows.  Then he proceeded to yell, "I won the Coventry
contest!!!  I WON!  That's why I'm HERE!  And these tickets are SO HARD TO
GET!!!"  It was then that I understood why he was there.  And oh yeah -
his friend pissed on the guy in front of him, which caused a huge
fistfight in the crowd.  Fun times.

3) JAY-Z.  I was SO upset when I heard murmurings about him being there
before the show.  I thought it could not be true; there was just no way
that Phish would go that far and let that happen.  But he came out and
sung two of the most angry songs possible: 99 Problems and Big Pimpin'. 
I'm not a feminist, but even I felt isolated and hurt by these two songs. 
Phish is already quite a boy's club so it's hard enough, but then these
misogynistic and hateful "songs?"  And seeing Trey HYSTERICALLY laughing
made me want to punch him in the face.  It wasn't funny at all.  When
Jay-Z came out, all of a sudden the crowd went CRAZY.  I seriously thought
I was going to get trampled.  There was just such unbelievable hostility
in the faces around me and I definitely was not imagining it.  Even the
girlfriends of the boys at the show knew all the words and were spitting
them out excitedly while hopping up and down angrily.  The crowd seemed
more excited to see Jay-Z than to hear something beautiful like "Cars,
Trucks, and Buses."  I kept looking at Page and trying to send him mental
messages like, "How could you let this happen?  This is disgraceful!  You
should
have told Trey to go fuck himself because this was definitely his horrible
idea."  I didn't come to the show expecting to listen to a musician I have
absolutely no respect for.  And I was disappointed that the majority of
the crowd around me (except for one kid with dreads who looked at me and
asked, bewildered, 'What the hell is the name of this song?') dug it. 
This alone definitely ruined the show for me.

4) The encore.  I was just as upset when they played "Bug" as the encore
at Boston.  You can read my Boston review to see how I feel about the song
if you really have nothing better to do, but it's a total cop-out,
basically.  Plus, couldn't we have been surprised?  Tweezer Reprise was so
predictable.  

        Basically the thing about the show besides Jay-Z that upset me the
most
was the fans.  They were just awful.  I've never considered myself an
elitist, nor do I now, especially since I know others agree with me.  But
it just seemed like most of those who were there, at least around me, were
only there for the drug scene or because tickets were trendy due to how
hard they are to get.  There was no love or respect in the audience like
there used to be.  No sharing.  Smiles were rare.  I thought it was bad a
couple of Nassau shows ago, but it's only gotten worse.  A lot of real
phans did not get to go to the Brooklyn shows because of these
inconsiderate and undeserving, horrible human beings and it really upset
me.  I don't know if the issue is money or what.  All I can do is hope
that Mansfield, Jersey (but I doubt that one), and Vermont will be better.
 Oh - and about that: what the fuck is up with people charging $600 a
ticket?  That's so mean and horrible!  Whatever happened to the
old-phashioned love of the music?  After Friday's show, I completely
understood why Phish is endingit - and it quite literally brought tears to
my eyes.


*************************************************************************
Karen Cullinane



Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 15:57:36 -0400
From: Jeff Gallo
Subject: Phish show review

Date: 6/25
From Jeff Zool
Subject 2nd night Keyspan
 
After a little search & barter mission in the lot we were all able to
land field seats ( 7 ), Surprised we found that many people looking to
trade field for stands when the feeling out there was field sounded  so
much better. It did!!!
1st night was great (see the set list) great 1st night of show opener.
2nd night, not so nice. Unfortunately we were still walking in during
AC/DC, Too bad, that one sucks to miss. camel walk was good to hear. I do
not really care for stash anytime especially before my buzz kicks in and
in the 1st set...... Anyone need a beer! anyone have to take a shit?
CTB-- not bad, not great.. what else do you ever say about CTB
Carini- used to love Carini, still do but post hiatus carini has been in
heavy rotation
Character Zero rocks.. Old fashioned rock song
Tweezer I am always  hot/cold with..... I was somewhere in the middle.
But I always love the Reprise> You know it's coming.    oh by the
way quick set
I think at this point so/so 1st set but again I can discount how killer
the field was.. Plenty of room to rock and it  sounded great + you had
beer vendors walking close by for beers.
 
Hello Phish did you fall asleep back there.. Intermission way to long.
 
2nd set
Wilson cool, not great, but  nice
DWD not a favorite but they can have some great jams with this one.. I
always say that. Not my favorite but by time the song ends I have danced
my way through it... Credit phish all the way
I am not much of a Rap guy give or take some songs, some artists ( love
snoop).. But I thought Jay Z rocked... 99 is  a great song,  and  C'mon,
Big Pimpin.. Can you fine a more funnier, cool, song to hear.. x10 live..
Kudos to the Boys for Jay Z
Chalk dust-lacked it's normal kick your ass mentality
HH, Usually I saw HH enough said. But not this time. lacked funk, very 
short and did not finish.... Thumbs down on HH
Taste..I know every song can'y be a gem, But Taste! Ugghhh..
Bug-- bad timing
Reprise, it was good..
2nd set also short...
all in all I though Brooklyn was a pretty good stop, if I only saw 2nd
night I would be a little disappointed. Highlight most of the 1st night
solid and then Jay Z
 
Jeff Zool
Fairfield CT




Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 20:57:22 -0400
From: David Vogt
Subject: Phish Show Review 6-18-04

After 13 years of amazing shows, I have chosen the Friday night Keyspan 
Park show to provide my first review.  Instead of critiquing each Trey 
lick/Mike bass "bomb" of each song,  I have chosen (in a nod to Spinal 
Tap), to summarize the Friday night show in two words "Shit Sandwich".

The set-list was uninsipiring, short, repetitive and just plain flat.  
Considering this was the last NYC area perfomance, the show was no 
better than seeing an average Phish cover band race through key 
standards like Hood and Tweezer.  The show felt like the band had a 
yellow taxi cab waiting with the meter running.  Get in get out and 
collect a check.

This was my last show before Vermont.  I hope they do not mail it in 
like the Lakers did in games 4 and 5 and diminish their legacy.

David Vogt
Darien, CT


Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 10:58:50 -0400
From: Brian Bond
Subject: Phish show review

Very disappointed in the selection of songs here. My last Phish show was
just not as memorable as I would've hoped I guess. The band played songs
from their last 3 albums frequently. A few oldies but clearly nothing of
the "pull out" variety although Camel Walk is pretty ok (it was played in
Vegas however).
Crowd just didn't seems as into it....
 
Show was very short..they left the stage at 10:30 (after a 45 minute
break by the way) when the night before they left at 11:00.
 
Jay z came out for 2 songs. Quite frankly, I don't dislike him or his
music...but this was Phish's last night playing the area EVER and
couldn't see throwing away 2 tunes to JayZ when clearly most phans wanted
2 more Phish songs.
 
I just guess it was time to end for the band and this show out of the
many, many I have seen really showed why it should be over.
 
They had absolutely no care in the world for what the phans really
wanted.
 
Goodbye guys it has been phun, just not tonight!
 
Brian

Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 11:05:54 -0400
From: Brian Bond
Subject: Phish show review

6/18/04
 
to add to my previous email.. I have never seen a crowd at a Phish show
more stunned and unreactive for more before the encore!

Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:03:37 -0400
From: DnnsConroy
Subject: Phish Show Review 6-18-04

6-18-04 Keyspan Park

TIME FLIES WHEN YOUâ^À^ÙRE HAVING FUN!!!

Friday nightâ^À^Ùs show at Coney Island was definitely the shortest in
duration of any Phish concert I have attended, but I am very pleased to
say that it offered me a total 180-degree reversal from my experiences on
the previous night. Not that Thursday was horrible (you can read my review
here on phish.net) but there were several moments, especially later in the
show, where the band and the crowd were drained of all energy. Not so on
Friday!! This show was all about high-energy and having fun. I was in the
stands again (vs.  the field) but this time I found seats that were closer
to the stage by about 100 feet and it made a HUGE difference. (I hereby
take back some of the more negative things I said about the venue in my
review of Thursdayâ^À^Ùs show.)
 
I will always love AC/DC Bag as an opener. For me itâ^À^Ùs got that
perfect vibe, perfect amount of crowd participation, and you know the guys
will give a solid performance every time. To my ears the rest of Set One
maintained that positive and fun vibe, offering us lots of opportunities
to sing along.  This was not a mind-blowing set by any means, but it was
definitely very satisfying and all had a good time--the band included.

I think we were all surprised by how short the first set was (even more
surprised to learn that it really wasnâ^À^Ùt as short as it felt), but
Iâ^À^Ùd much rather see a short/happy/solid set than a
long/dark/meandering one where the guys run out of gas before it's over.

Set Two again offered us a familiar, solid, crowd-pleasing opener in
Wilson ("CAN YOU STILL HAVE FUN!!!!")-->Down with Disease!!! Are you
kidding me??? For my tastes this was the best DWD ever! The tempo was
brisk, and Mike was so unbelievably solid it was sick! I was totally
ecstatic. Seriously, that one offered me enough excitement to last weeks.
Then just when I think things canâ^À^Ùt get any better, JAY-Z walks
out!!!!! The ballpark totally erupted!!!! AWESOME!!! Iâ^À^Ùm really,
really, really looking forward to re-living this part of the show again
and again once I can get my hands on a recording. Iâ^À^Ùm getting
goosebumps just thinking about it right now.

After Jay-Z the excitement continued with a rockinâ^À^Ù Chalkdust Torture.  
The guys went off for several minutes on a crazy jam during this one, to
the point where I totally lost track of where the jam started, until
somehow Trey and Mike connected flawlessly back into Chalkdust! They got
me...itâ^À^Ùs so great when that happens.

Hood was Hood--nothing too spectacular until the unexpected and early
transition into Taste. I was intrigued by this, wondering if they would
allow us our chance to "feel good about Hood" on the other side of Taste.
Alas, while Taste (w/ extended jam) was indeed fantastic, they never did
go back to complete Hood, choosing instead to quite suddenly slam on the
brakes and exit stage-right.

Already?!?! You could read the stunned expressions on our faces. Folks in
my section of the stands started predicting encores, many of us hoping the
guys would essentially serve us a third set, offering not only a Tweezer
Reprise but maybe a Hood Reprise of some sort. I was totally expecting
about 30-40 minutes worth of encore.

When the band reappeared and went immediately into Bug, I sensed mixed
reactions from the crowd. I personally think itâ^À^Ùs a great song, but
deep down I was hopeful that they were really just setting us up to get
nailed by a sick Bathtub Gin or Y.E.M. or something. Instead they chose to
follow the script by delivering an excellent Tweezer Reprise and calling
it quits.  (Loved the fog-machine effect during Tweezer Reprise. Do you
think C.K. makes that call, or is it pre-planned?)

Surprisingly, the entire show was finished before 11:00PM (unlike Thursday
when the Divided Sky encore didnâ^À^Ùt even start until after that). We
summoned the biggest cheers we could in an effort to bring the guys back
onstage, even though the nature of a ballpark concert means you see the
band (with entourage & film crew) walking across the left field grass
toward their dressing room with no signs of turning around. Sadly, our
cheers were instantly transformed into a collective sigh at the flick of a
switch, quite literally, as house lights were turned on.

Regardless, I walked away very, very happy to have been at this show. It
was certainly memorable for me. And did anyone else think Mike delivered
one of his best performances ever? It wasnâ^À^Ùt just DWD, it was
everything. Maybe he was inspired by that dudeâ^À^Ùs sign on the field:
"Dubya loves Phish...[over]...Because Mike drops BOMBS!!"

See you at Saratoga PAC!!! I canâ^À^Ùt believe itâ^À^Ùs almost over...

Dennis Conroy
(Brooklyn)


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