The first set is more or less standard late Phish2K fare - the DWD opener cools out quickly into a pleasantly low-key groove that Just. Doesn't. Change. For fully six minutes. Not even a note, near as I can tell from my (muddy) AUD recording. This is the sound, tinged with inescapable melancholy, of a band beginning to lose its edge and focus. Slave lacks its usual concertedness, Gin is enjoyable funk-rock boilerplate with less detail than in the previous year...it holds up against everyone else's stuff, of course, and at least 3/4 of the band is working overtime to make things happen, but the risk-taking experimental side of this show and this period clearly had less to do with music than with maintenance, the challenge of holding together an entire mobile microuniverse - still brightly starlit but dense with orbiting satellites (and scavengers) and slowly giving way to entropy...

The worst of the best of the breed still throws light and makes promises; Phish was and is a true thing despite the weight it came to carry. But now, a decade after the event and long past turning from certain ugly truths, we're left not with a musical statement but with the field recording of a Wild Party - desperate voices of those who didn't know to fear the storm and would not flee, chose instead to dance harder, dig in deeper, scream themselves hoarse at every hush or interlude - teenagers growling demands for Continuance, never calculating its cost in Consumption. How could anyone have known there was such a thing as Worlds's End? There had been a night in a swamp, rapturous exhaustion, and promises had been (must have been, had they not been?) made and would be honoured. You couldn't fail to stay young forever.

Well, that was then.

Do we talk about the second set? They were and are something unbelievable, maybe unprecedented. There's a method here: hidden and inexpressible. It fell short some nights, if only of expectation. Trey's playing (even on this beloved Tube) lacks its old-time detail and precision but it's all a Good Time. (Do we talk about those? They end. That's the one thing every 'time' does.) Mike does his thing, better by the day or the minute. Page is a rock. Fishman plays as delicately and creatively as he *ever* did - in his day what rock drummer could touch him for flexibility, range, fluidity, empathy? But out front is an actual musical genius running at 50% strength, looking for a way to replenish the atmosphere, some language that hasn't yet exhausted itself. They'd run out of time. He knew it. You can hear it.

Sounds to me like they're playing to accompany the lights.

Or the kids, dancing.

Well, but. Then. But then Ghost is a forceful, intense rendition a step quicker than usual and everybody shows up hungry. Trey's guitar is a siren, then a rotating electrical device, then a laser-beam aimed at the robot fortress, then a buzzsaw, then a phone call to the approving departed, and motherfuckers get things DONE for ten roiling minutes, like a cataract of clouds crashing down.

The worst thing in the world is to have to change your opinion about things. So check it: the good parts of this show are excellent, showing off the band's patience, empathy, and the gathering darkness that underpinned their richly expressive music after Fall Tour '97. The rest of the show is a middling Phish show, another chance for us to learn to live without what we once lived for. Comfort is just disappointment you live with - or maybe disappointment is comfort you refuse; and is that petulant instead of brave? Maybe I'm just being petulant. I'm not sure what we get out of this show. But look where it got *us*. Remember what a good fucking time we had back then. We'd never ever run out of time...

...and what a blessing ever to have lived that way. Inside such a light. What a funny feeling to look back and (maybe not quite) realize it was going on ahead instead of going out.

After three nights of bliss at Deer Creek (Verizon can suck it) earlier that summer, my housemate burst in late August and said "We are going to see Phish in Chicago in one month." My ticket arrived and, to my dismay, the Rosemont Horizon was now the Allstate Arena. Much as I loathe my favorite places being stripped of any character by corporate ownership, I figured We Were In Good Hands and promptly ignored my annoyance to focus on the show at hand. And what a show it was...

I need not have worried about the corporate lack of character. Allstate may have sprung for a new sign outside, but the same tacky 70's decor remained inside, and with every third phan looking like Wiley Wiggins reanimated, I felt like Dazed and Confused had come to life. All(state) was good.

Even before the first note was played, it was obvious that the energy was bursting inside AA. After a couple of tepid attempts to start the Wave, a strong tidal Wave started tearing around AA. Again and again it rounded the building as the phans cheered themselves on. Phish, not wanting to miss out on all the fun (and probably figuring we were ready as we were ever going to be), killed the house lights as soon as the wave died and took to the stage.

DWD blew the doors off from the start, and they never looked back. Slave, Gin, and YEM in the 1st set just wasn't done, and when it seemed that every phan in reserved seating threw their glowring into General Admission as if on cue during the YEM jam, I knew I was witnessing a gem of a show.

Setbreak saw some of the most animated conversations I've ever seen at a setbreak. Gushing about the set, anticipation of what was to come, all fed into an overwhelming positive torrent of energy. We were dying, watching the proverbial pot boil, as the 2nd set approached.

We were right to be anxious. Tube>>>>>Wedge was unbridled connection between phan and band, with Wedge coming as a complete shock out of Ghost. Meatschtick was a lovely laugh, and got everyone singing, and geared us up for a ripping Antelope closer.

Was it the Island Tour Antelope? No. Was the YEM Red Rocks '94 quality? No. What it was, simply put, was the strongest two sets of Phish I've seen, that didn't have a single OMG!WTF!BBQ! moment. Two fantastically strong sets, no more, no less. A damn fine time...shocks my brain.

This show was REALLY sick! Ummm...Disease, Wilson, Slave, Gin, and YEM..in the first set. What?! The energy was palpable. The band was on. During Wilson, I looked over to my friend and said, "I'd love to hear a Slave tonight." Well, shit, I didn't think they'd play it next..4 songs into the 1st set!
The 2nd set doesn't disappoint at all. A solid Tube, Reba opener. A beautiful Ghost>Wedge. (I'm a sucker for Circus.) And the whole Meatstick, Antelope was worth the admission price alone.
Hendrix's Bold as Love for an encore taboot, and you've got a fantastic show.
Download it...and once you have, tell me where the hell it is because I can't find it. Thanks in advance.

This show opened up with a 17-minute DWD! It actually sounded like it could go on for another 5 or 10, but Trey abruptly brought the jam back to the main theme. Meat was a most excellent choice for song 2. Slave was strikingly out of place in the middle of the set, which had up to that point been steadily building steam (and it didn't help that this version was short and uninspired).
At one point I was focusing on the stage and trying to get my groove on (where had it gone?) when the person behind me taps me on the shoulder. “Your friend just passed out.” Sure enough, my buddy had collapsed in his seat and his eyes were rolling up into the back of his head. Shit! I shook him a bit to wake him up, and promptly led him by the hand out into the hall and got him some water. The whole stadium had become veiled in an overwhelmingly stuffy cloud of cigarette and pot smoke; this is the only explanation we have for what happened to him.
YEM was easily the standout jam of set 1; Fishman's woodblock was a tasteful compliment to the effortless groove. Set 2 was unfortunately lackluster until Meatstick. Feeling altogether confused and more than a bit lightheaded myself, I briefly left to generously douse my entire head with water; when I returned to my seat, lo and behold, Phish was singing in Japanese (for the second time state-side). The crowd really ate it up. Being a Japanese major at my university, this was especially exciting for me (for the record, their pronunciation is rather atrocious, though no worse than the majority of Japanese bands that liberally throw English phrases into their songs). The fade-out, with much crowd participation, made this version even more special: everyone continued to clap along well into Antelope, which was chock-full of Meatstick teases. And Antelope went on to rage pretty hard.
The final word: given Meatstick and Antelope, this show was above average for 2000 (albeit slightly).

Down with Disease: The band thanks the crowd for their intense energy leading up to the first notes and rip the first 9.5 minutes of this one. The next 8 minutes are…boring. If you are feeling generous you may refer to it as groove based but Trey just strums here and there while the rest of the band does what they can to drive more action where they can. This crowd is so amped that they get into full throat when Trey strums a little bit harder here and there as they trey and urge him on.

Meat, Poor Heart, Wilson: All standard. Wilson gets the fans as riled up as possible.

Slave to the Traffic Light: Unique placement, pretty cool. Never quiet gets ‘there’ though.

Dogs Stole Things: Standard.

Bathtub Gin: This version has the rage, rock and roll and length and with the crowd energy this makes for a fun listen. Definitely blew the roof off, at least I think it did, have never found a source that is not muddy. Really good Gin!

Heavy Things: Standard. Folks love to hate on this back then and it gets mostly golf claps.

You Enjoy Myself: Upon hearing the first notes, Allstate Arena spontaneously combusts. There are some a couple of really loud, sustained cheers leading up to the note. Glow stick war? The jam is extremely funky with Mike and Fish leading the way. Decent YEM if you are into the groove/funk versus the shred. Personally, I prefer the shred. This was fun though.

First set summary: On paper, this one just jumps off the page. Really good first set but just a bit deceiving seeing an 18-minute DWD to open the show, but it did not deliver the goods.

Tube: Excellent Tube, Trey’s effects are great in the latter part of the jam and definitely add to the greater good.

Reba: Quick little Stash tease at 10:12. Solid composed section. The jam is like the Energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going. Initial peak is around 13:20 and is great, they come off of that and keep jamming right along for another minute and end it – into the whistling. This is a super solid Reba. Would be happy to recommend this.

Ghost: Straight ahead rocker, just under 12 minutes. Not much here to revisit.

The Wedge: Standard, good placement – time for a little breather after the first three tunes smoked.

When the Circus Comes: Standard

Meatstick: Standard

Antelope: Other than the Meatstick stuff, standard. Spliff. Compact version – 11:25. The place goes berserk during the encore break; you can hear a glowstick hit Fishman’s kit at one point.

Encore: Bold as Love – what a great tune to encore with, I would take this every time. This one rocks as they all seem to do.

Second set summary: That set rocked although it’s a bit short coming in at 70 minutes. Tube/Reba/Ghost really light the place on fire. The set does lose momentum from there until Antelope, but it can’t all be fire I suppose. I remember hanging out with friends, watching the Matrix, and checking the setlist late this night and we couldn’t believe how great it looked. I mean, on paper this show really is a throwdown. For the most part it is, but there are times throughout this show and certainly the tour where you can just tell the band is tired and kind of out of ideas and creativity. They were ready for hiatus. Anyway, I would rate this show a solid 4.2 out of five. For my ears, Gin, Tube and Reba all have replay value. Your mileage may vary. Cheers and thanks for reading!

Ok this one is better.

Disease drops in with an 18 minute jam to start the show. I'd like to quote from @waxbanks review:
The first set is more or less standard late Phish2K fare - the DWD opener cools out quickly into a pleasantly low-key groove that Just. Doesn't. Change. For fully six minutes. Not even a note, near as I can tell from my (muddy) AUD recording. This is the sound, tinged with inescapable melancholy, of a band beginning to lose its edge and focus.
It's hard not to disagree with that after listening. For what it's worth I enjoyed this one jam more than most of the last show. Trey eventually guides the jam back to rocking finale and final chorus. That makes 2 Diseases in a row that start off strong, settle into rhythmic territory for awhile, and then rock back out to close. Meat is predictably funky and is oddly unfinished. It's not apparent if this was planned or Trey just forgot the ending. Poor Heart and Wilson are a nice combo. Mid set 1 Slaves are a rare but I don't really dig the flow here. Nevertheless this Slave is played well. Dogs Stole Things is a fun breather after Slave. Gin comes in once again with upbeat rocking. Always good stuff. Heavy Things cools down from Gin then the band rockets right into YEM. This one definitely hit the spot.

Set 2 begins with the last Tube of 1.0 and I think this is an amazing final version. Trey sets off playing some cool guitar lines and moves over to his mini keyboard and builds intensity with Page. His mini keyboard stuff sounds like a continuation of his guitar jamming. Don’t here that too often. Finally Trey goes back to his guitar and is set take this jam to the next level... but the ending segment comes all to early. Reba has a very fine jam. Trey really hammers home the tension in this one. The final peak actually gave me anxiety for the final drum fill! Ghost comes next and to me it sounded like it had potential but Trey starts playing a single chord over and over signaling the end of song at just barely over 11 minutes. The Wedge cures any Ghost woes I might have had. Circus cools down from a hot 3rd quarter. Meatstick has some fun banter from Trey about the Japanese lyrics and a fade out while the crowd continues singing the song. Antelope rages.

Overall a significant improvement from the last show. Tube is the big highlight. Disease is decent enough.

This is a great show. Not least of all because it opens first-set, first-song with a long, jammy Down with Disease, particularly notable in retrospect because it's a finished version, which has become somewhat rare these days. The next big song of note for me personally is Bathtub Gin, which is always reliable for "Type 1.5 jamming" but which had a very good year in 2000 (Cf. 6/23 and 6/28 from the Summer.) You Enjoy Myself has a vocal jam that I actually enjoy, and I'm not a big vocal-jam guy. The Tube to open Set II is a .Net Noteworthy Jam, but I don't find it that enthralling... certainly not as worthy of note as the Gin from Set I. Reba is a very good version, reminiscent in some ways of the version from just over a week earlier (9/14, which full show later became a Live Phish volume.) Trey's phrasing and licks are very similar to that 9/14/00 Reba, which is one of my top-5 Rebas of all time thus far. The Wedge out of Ghost is an interesting transition, though Ghost doesn't get quite far out. There's some banter in Meatstick about the dance and the Japanese lyrics, with Trey funnily saying they were in Japan "6-8 weeks ago" which if true means they returned there again after their brief tour of the country in June (which would be more like "12-13 weeks ago" by September.) Finally, Run Like an Antelope closes the set featuring a Meatstick tease, and Bold as Love dismisses us in order.