6-1-02, Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV

Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 12:55:05 -0500
From: Kevin Gittemeier kevin@maddenmcfarland.com
Subject: vegas review

WOW.....holy cow this band has taken a giant leap forward. I don't know if they just got that
much better, or if they were capable of jamming like that last year and just chose not to..or
what? Whatever the reason though...these are closer to Phish shows than any other trey shows I
have seen or heard in the past. Unlike the last 3 tours...there were hardly any standard versions
here....nearly all of the songs played this weekend were completely jammed out....Saturday
night's "Mr. Completely" was nearly an hour long, and contained the best solid groove based
improvisational jamming I have heard from this band. I liked the shows from the previous tours as
well....they just were such a departure from what trey's fans had come to expect from following
him around for so many years. Basically they were spoiled. They could follow a whole tour
and never hear the same song two nights in a row, and never hear a song played the same way twice
on the whole tour. His previous tours really turned off a lot of the "phans" in that respect.
This tour should go a long way to please those "phans" who were unhappy with the last couple
tours. The setlists don't do any justice to these shows and you will have to listen to the tapes
to know what I mean. Anyone opting to sit this tour out based on the last couple, should
reconsider and go out and see some shows.....I can tell you right now.....Trey is going to blow
away a lot of people at Bonaroo who have not had a chance to or who have chosen not to see this
band yet.
 
As far as some specifics for Vegas go.........Thomas & Mack could be one of the nicest venues in
the country, Saturday nights show (IMO) was much more energetic than Friday's, The "Mister
Completely" was out of hand excellent from the second Trey departed from the structured part of
the song...until nearly an hour later (almost reminiscent of the old "tube" start stop jams). The
"bertha" trey played with Los Lobos would be nice to have on tape. Overall a great weekend of
music in a horribly overcrowded, over the top city. 

Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 01:32:24 -0400
From: Jonathan jbkendall76@yahoo.com
Subject: Trey Reviews: 6/1/02

06/01/02:  During the day, leading up to the show, I was cruising through the parking garage at
the Harrah's in the convertible rent a car and listening to the raucous YEM from 12/6/96 Vegas
show.  We had the stereo blaring as we meandered through and finally found a place to park  on the
3rd level.  To my surprise, a cop on bicycle pulled up beside me as I nervously adjusted the radio
(i am substance free, but the site of cops makes me nervous nonetheless).  He yelled at me, "Hey
what are you listening to?"  I yelled back, "Phish" and he had a huge grin on his face.  He yelled
back that he thought that he recognized the riff.  He had followed me up 3 levels of the parking
garage to check to see if it was Phish or not!  LOL  I told him it was from the Vegas show 6 years
ealier, and his face lit up as he told me he had been at that show and had had the time of his
life.  We chuckled and shook hands and I thought I had died and gone to some phantasy land where
the cops listen to Phish and the casinos give away free $.  The opening acts that night were a
little less exciting as the night before, but very talented acts.  Trey's first set was very
subtle and set up a nice groove sensation.  I was on the 3rd row for it, but decided to retire to
the upper level for the following set and watch Chris work his magic on the crowd on the floor
where I had just been.  This Mr. Completely in the 2nd set was epic in my mind....it was
masterfully put together, elaborately woven together, and possessed the sustained energy through
all 40+ minutes. Chris danced the yellow and white lights off the crowd, and I felt like I was
watching waves crash into a beach as the jam segments came one after another.  The Jibboo closer
had everyone in the crowd up on their feet...even the hooker a couple rows down from me (why she
was there is beyond me).


Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 22:36:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Siegel rsiegel794@yahoo.com
Subject: Trey 6-1-02 Review

PLease consider this revew for your review section...

After just seeing 4 of best shows I have ever seen Trey play, phish included I was very excited to
see this last Vegas show. The first night was totally amazing and blew me away. The venue seemed
like it had about a couple hundred extra people there awaiting a possible phish reunion, which
never did happen.  Personally I think this new Trey band is as good as phish and on a totally
differnt level as phish.  They are new next level of funk.  This band is so amazing that you will
have your mind blown at least 4 times in one night.  The first set of the show was very tightly
played like every other set I have seen on this tour.  They came out in full force with there
funky jazzy cubano sound that you cant help but to dance harder than you ever have.  I would have
to say that the Mozambique was definatley the best version I have heard Trey play with any band.  
The solos were so tight and well driven.  I am really excited to see what happens by the end of
Tour. The Money Love and Change was very long with many differnt funk jams.  >From mellow to fuck
your face in a matter of minutes.  The end of the set ended with a great version of Alive Again
which ended it on a great note.

The second set started off fairly mellow with Sidewalks of San Fransico which was nice but a
little mellow for a set opener.  Then they busted into a very raging version of Mr. Completely.
This is the song they just crush night after night. I completly lost track of time and space
without drugs.  I think it was like 40 or 50 minutes long.  The jam was so long and so intense I
think everyone didn't even realize what was going on till it ended.  After the mayhem of that jam
they mellowed it out with an excellent version of Either Sunday which helped people come back to
earth.  For the encore they finally played Gotta Jaboo which they havent played yet all tour.  It
was an excellent way to end a nice weekend in the city of sin.  For people reading this and
wondering if they should go see Trey yadda yaddaa and they are wondering why phish isnt playing
anymore should defintely go to the show.  Another thing that really amazed me about the shows was
the fact that there wasnt even that many people there which I think is rather ironic considering
how sick the music is.  And for people who didn't like the show stay home and shut the hell up.  
Peace out and go see Trey.  Rick Siegel


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