From: "Anthony J. Went" 
Subject: Capitol Theatre show, 11/30/91

     Finally saw the band for the first time last nite at the Capitol Theatre
in Port Chester, NY.  The place was PACKED (standing room only; I heard it sold
out over a week ago) and I had a great time...

     I can't compare the show to any others, but the band seemed to be having
one hell of a time up there, especially Trey.  They goofed around alot:  eg,
in "Cavern" Trey seemed to be more interested in making cool feedback then with
the actual song.  He also seemed to be enjoying the fact that the audience was
really into it... in the middle of "Divided Sky" he just stood there rocking  
back and forth, trying to keep from laughing... did this for a few minutes, then
hit ONE note on the guitar and waited a few more seconds before continuing the
song... same with the last note of "My Sweet One"... the stage went dark for
a few minutes while the guys stood there with their heads down before they sang
the last "name..."... the crowd was loving it.  Mike seemed to still be a little
sick, as he coughed into the mic often while he was singing... this was integ-
rated into the vocal jam out of Y.E.M., whichc was complete nonsense.  Fishman
played a vacuum solo during the last song of the opening band, Shockra... he
played his trombone mouthpiece for I Didn't Know...
        -tony


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From: Arieh Sherwood 
Subject: capitol show
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 91 12:45:24 EST

   I was at the show in Portchester this weekend, and it was excellent.
The list has already been posted so I wont waste space.  I was in the  
balcony which was shaking considerably, especially during Llama.  This
was the fourth time I've seen them here and the sound was much better than
has been in recent Portchester shows.  Still, I often have trouble hearing
the vocals (especially Page's and Mike's).  On my tapes from the
Portchester show of April '91, it is really hard to hear the lyrics clearly.
If anyone has good tapes of this show, please e-mail me.  The show was sold
out and before it began, people were trying to get in by rushing the  
side doors.  It worked for a handful of people until they got a lot of
security guards to prevent people from "illegally" entering.  Other people,
who were already in the show, were throwing their ticket stubs down from
the windows.  Unfortunately for a lot of people, the stubs didn't work.
It was a "no readmittance show".  I hate to gripe but it is this kind of
behavior which prevents bands from playing certain venues again.  I must
admit that it was fun trying to get my ticketless friends in, but I hope
that this kind of thing doesn't escalate to the point where Phish is  
ever restricted from playing anywhere.  I love seeing Phish, especially in
smaller places, and I hope that I can continue to see them in small places.
However, it is inevitable and obvious that they are getting bigger.  They
do deserve it though as they are amazing musicians, songwriters, and
all around entertainers.  On a lighter note, as usual, they altered a lot
of their songs (not entirely, but slight changes that make them unpredictable)
The version of Golgi was awesome. They changed the orchestrated jam after
the chorus -not the music itself but the dynamics of it.  They alternated
between loud and soft so that when you though it was going to peak, it  
mellowed.  Apparently the band loves doing this.  It seems that every show
they pick a couple of songs and change them slightly.  Being as good as they
are, they can pull this off really well, and it must keep them interested.
It amazes me that they can remember all of their crazy changes (both rhythmic
and melodic).  Unrelated point- One of the crew members last year told me
that Trey thinks his best composition is Asse Festival.  I definitely
agree that it is musically unbelievable, but what compels Trey to write
these bizarre songs???  

Thanks and sorry I rambled so much,
                  Jon

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From: Shelly Culbertson 
Subject: Jon's Port Chester Review


Thanks, Jon, for reviewing the Port Chester show for us!  I always
love seeing show reviews here, the more the better; different people's
perceptions of the same show are particularly interesting.

That door-rushing scene is serious bad news.  Nothing could destroy
what we've got faster than this sort of behavior.  I for one am  
committed to doing whatever I can to try to remind people to act
responsibly, whether I can really have an effect or not.  Sure, people
will resist; they don't like being reminded that it's not cool to
scam.  But it's *not*!  Will anyone else join me in this?  Let's not
underestimate our ability as a group to have a positive effect on this
scene...

Also, Jon mentions that a crew member told him that Trey considers
the Asse Festival to be his best composition.  That's very interesting.
He told me in Somerville that that piece is a fugue, and described the
classic structure of the fugue:  it's a very strict musical form, with
only two elements, the subject and the countersubject.  First the
subject is played in the upper register and the countersubject in
the bass, then the two are reversed (hope I've got it right; I'm
not a musician.  WhenI post the interview, you can see his description
verbatim).  All of this has to work together harmonically.  Listen to
the Asse Festival, you can really hear the form.  Another fugue in
his work is the section Ride on a Multi Beast on The Man Who Stepped
into Yesterday, for those of you who have that...it's the section
right after Tela.  It is a fugue with a very complex, atonal theme,
really difficult; in fact, it's not truly a fugue because he was
unable to complete it within the required form (he told me).  Asse Festival,
in comparison, was written years later, and has a much simpler theme.

Shelly

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