POSTED TO REC.MUSIC.PHISH on 11/15/94

Well, it was worth the hike from DC, even though there were many, MANY
repeats from Halloween/Bangor.

11/13/94 The Warner Theatre, Erie, PA

Well, the show was very good (as Phish shows always are), but what really
rocked was the venue! Carpeted halls, LUXURIOUS PLUSH COUCHES, paintings,
detail in the baroque style everywhere (even in THE john!).. red carpet at
the entrance.. the place was just incredible! I think it holds 2500, or
so I was told. It was just an incredible place to see a show.. extremely
nice.. I can't imagine Phish ever playing there again. They could have
sold out the nearby Civic Center, given the number of ticketless people who
showed up. Ok..

The Wilson opener was longer than usual (yes, longer than Charlottesville),
and was played excellently. Sparkle was just as you have always heard it.
Simple was good (I love this tune!! so simple and yet so fun..), but
certainly not even close to the version we got at Halloween.. no groovy
ending jam.

REBA WAS FANTASTIC!!! Though shorter than the Halloween Reba by two
minutes, it was a cheerier, more joyous Reba (not a dark and spooky one..).
Just fantastic! They are playing this song much better than they did a few
years back.. in general. The kiddies went nuts for Axilla (I was pissed to
hear this quickly after an excellent Reba.. Axilla is such a tremendously
lame tune in comparison). Axilla was played exactly as it always is, so
far as I know (listen to the CD). I love Axilla Pt 2's ending jam, that
Beatles-esque groove.. I wish the whole song was based on this creative
theme. Ice was well done, with Page just wigging out during his solo (Page
was HOT all night.. I mean REALLY hot.. there was smoke rising from his
piano..). Fish did a little silent dance during Ice at one point.. pretty
funny. I thought this meant we'd get a vacuum tune in the 2nd, but, alas,
we did not, to my extreme disappointment.

Vibration of Life came after Ice, and IT WORKED!! At least for me..it was
really cool.. I've caught this a few times now, and each time Trey has
talked about it, and each time I never felt anything weird happen. This
time, Trey didn't say a word about it, and it WORKED.. they were clearly
doing it, so, don't believe any setlist that doesn't list it. They went
right into Horse at the end of the Vibration, and did that and Silent as
they regularly do. Nothing weird. Antelope was a mere 13 minutes long,
but DAMN WAS IT HOT!! Halloween's was excellent, of course, but this one
didn't have the screw up after "Bid you to have any spike" and also had
thunderous applause for Marco "Mike Gordon" Esquandolas.. Fish was
screaming "Marco" and numerous other things during the end jam.. It was a
real great version, folks. I highly recommend it. A lot of fun.. I was
psyched that the first set weighed in at over an hour! I had heard that
there was an 11pm curfew and was concerned.

Suzy opened the second and it was very good. I imagine it was better than
bangors, but I missed the first few songs at Bangor so wouldn't know.
Judging from what I heard though, this one probably was better. About 5
and a half minutes or so. Divided had a few little mistakes (Trey), but
it was STILL very well jammed, and I could tell a lot of the LOCALS (they
were at this show IN FORCE.. lots of people sitting down right before
serious jams were to begin..) really dug this one. Frankly, though, it was
a typically great Divided, though not perfect.

LIZARDS WAS TREMENDOUS.. there were no people crowd surfing (for one), and
the boyz clearing were loving it. The audience really got into it.. at
least where I was (Page side twenty rows back). I liked Bangor's, but it
wasn't as together as this one... Tweezer was a mere 14 minutes (which is
probably average length for this year about), but with hints of RocknRoll
Hootchie Koo, it was tighter and better jammed than what I remember about
Bangor's EPIC version (would someone please hook me up with a copy of this
show??). It was a good Tweezer, but certainly not one of the best or
better versions. Mango was sweeet as always, with the ending jamming being
especially calypsotic. BBFCFM saw the same damn trey microphone waving
during the strobe lights crap that he did at Charlottesville (I thought we
got a treat at Charlottesville.. if Trey is going to keep doing this..
whatever).

This version of BBFCFM was much better than the one at Charlottesville,
though, thanks to a brief but wild drum solo a la Zeroman. I am
forgetting something else that was cool about this version.. oh well.
Amazing grace a capella without mikes came next (this appeared to surprise
some of the older people in the audience.. there were many more older folks
at this show than any other I have ever seen.. locals with I guess nothing
better to do, apparently un-accompanied by their kids.. it was weird).
Amazing Grace went well, with only a token amount of assholes-screaming.
Squirming Coil was as good as, if not better than, the Halloween version.
Page nearly made me weep... it was tremendous.

I was of course shocked and delighted by the Phunky Bitch encore. It was
my first one, even though I know it was played a lot last year.. this year
it was played at the fox 4/23 show and I think 7/6 as well but i am not
certain. Anyway, like Icculus at Charlottesville, I was fucking PSYCHED to
hear this one.. The wheat were separated from the chaff when phish SMOKED
this tune! It was a great version.. Tweezer Reprise was standard (no long
final chord jamming as at Charlottesville).

All and all, a very decent show. Highlights were definitely Reba, an
un-narrated Vibration of Life, and Antelope in the first set, and the
Lizards and Coil in the second. It wasn't a life-changing show, like
6/30/94 Richmond or Halloween, but nonetheless very good. I went with a few
first-timers, and all of them were very pleased!

Please remember, this is just two cents..

hey, can someone tell me what that damn mike-stand-like-thing is that Mike
Gordon sometimes brushes his bass strings up against?? He did this shit on
Wilson and Coil for a little while, and I know I have seen him use this
thing before.. what is this .. device?

oh yeah, and I almost forgot... to all you "Western PA Phishnetters"..sorry
your "Confusing Phriendly Plan" to "Help Surprise Phish" failed so
miserably (at least where I was). There were WAAAAAAY too many phirgins
there for something this nuts to work. I mean, seriously, "Animal Noises"
at the end of the first set before they leave the stage? Oh well, nice
try..

charlie