Back From NYC!!!!!

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

*note, the concert photos are not mine...but sweet...so might as well post em*

this is my first real review of a trip....so i hope you enjoy.

WOW!

That was truly an unexpected treat.

First off, let me say the ride down was treacherous. Toronto to Ottawa (pick up a friend), and then Ottawa to New York took about us about 15 plus hours, most of which was in the middle of the night in an awful snow storm. To make matters worse, as soon as the snow cleared, we blew some belt and had to drop $150 on repairs .

In the Repair Shop

Finally the monsterous New York City Skyline began to emerge from the distance and we were on our way to the Lincon tunnel.

At about 1pm we finally checked into our lovely and cheap apartment right in the heart of Manhatten. A few naps and showers later and we were ready to party.

Once it was time, we ventured out into the City and headed for the Roseland, passing many NYC landmarks like Ed Sullivan Theatre, Radio City and Broadway. I was kind of nervous about the venue because I had heard so many complaints about it being cramped and so on. This venue was great. The washrooms were nice and neat, the coat check lines were quick and the crowd was comfortable. On several occasions I left my 5th row spot to the bar and back again with 2 beers without much hassle. The sound, the lighting and the sight lines were all great.

So on to the goods, THE SHOW

Rebubula was my favorite moe. opener to date (meat. from moe.down 3 being a close second). It was short, sweet and solid; a perfect Rebubula all the way to start with great energy.

rob's new bass is sweet

After Rebubula we were on a trip to mexico with the first guest Sam Bush, who has an incredible resemblance to Mark tonin. This was a solid mexico with Sam adding some great layering and accents to the song. The overture towards the end of the Mexico jam where Al goes nuts, was a little different this time though. On this occassion, Al took the back seat and let Sam rip it up on the fiddle. This was absolutely incredible, and fit so perfectly. Sam Bush brought some incredible energy and got the night rolling.

On to my favorite part of the evening. PLANE CRASH.

Normally, the plane crash doesn't always do it for me, however, with Medeski sitting in on the keys, it was by far, the best Plane Crash I have ever heard. Medeski went to work, and the moe. boys just sat back and enjoyed the view; as did the rest of us.

I really don't remember much of Get Your Mojo Work'n...but i'm sure it was pretty good .

Soon after, moe. and medeski left the stage and left Sam Bush all on his own centre stage. His solo spot, Sailing Shoes, was a lot of fun. He got the crowd singing with some vocal exchanges and got us all smiling. The man plays a mean fiddle/mandolin and has a really happy stage presence.

Onto the closer, Crossroads. This was great, and Trey's surprise appearance (didn't think he'd be out in the first set) got the crowd roaring. The guy is electric.

Set Break

Beer->Washroom-> Beer good times had by all.

The second set was nothing but good times and surprises from Trey. It was very much about him, with moe. taking the

roll as the back bruner.

The band came out with Ray, Trey, and Jen. Right of the bat, I knew we were in for a Trey tune. Night Speaks. Great version of the song, with some new sounds from the moe. dudes. Jen was great as usual, and it was nice to see Trey lead.

Night Speaks led way to another highlight for me. Spine of a Dog-> Buster brought the show's energy to new heights and got everyone dancing hard. Trey was doing some great stuff. Al really tore it up at one point and it was cool to see Trey right there with him just watching and smiling. The transition was smoooooth.

After the long marathon of SOAD->Buster, Jen, Sam Bush, Ray and Medeski came out to a huge roar from the crowd. I thought they were going to go into another Trey Band Song. Low and behold, Boogie On Reggae Woman

First off, the sight alone of all these brilliant musicians was worth the trip alone. The sound was perfect with everyone in the mix clearly. And the song was awsome. Very differnt from phish's version and just alot of fun.

Soon after the song was done, and hugs and smiles were exchanged, the stage was all empty except for Trey with his acoustic. His solo spot was Chalkdust Torture and Wilson and this was the loudest the crowd was the whole night. Truly goes to show the power Trey has over his audience. The accoustic versions of both songs were fantastic and Trey looked like he was having a ball.

Trey was then rejoined by moe. and the rest of the gang for the MONSTER. Meat . This meat was long, nasty, and full of power. Every one got their moment to shine and jam. Absolutely breath taking. When the Jam finally did come to a landing, it was by far the coolest sounding meat ending I have witnessed. So thick, so loud and overall just a freight train barrelling through the crowd. Unbelievable. Rob was slappin harder than ever.

At the end of it all, rob took a moment to say that "this was the most fun i've had on stage in a very long time".

ENCORE

This was the last time to see this incredible super band rock out. Peaches and After Midnight was smooth, fun and locked. At the end of it all, I could not have been happier with the show.

Summary

I went into this thing with incredibly high expectations and excitment. To say the least, I was blown away. It was very different fromt he usual moe. fare. Normally, I just get locked in and let moe. take me for a ride. This time, with all the guests, it wasn't as smooth as the regular moe. show, but it was nothing but looking, marvelling and smiling. MEXICO, PLANE CRASH, SOAD, BUSTER and MEAT were all brilliant versions, the likes of which I will probably never see again. My favorite guest was most likely Sam Bush...the guy just has a great energy about him...so as you can tell... I LOVED THIS SHOW.

respect goes to Vinnie, Jim and rob for being the back bone of the entire evening.

and now for some New York City Pictures

The next day we spent the day doing the New York City thing. Empire, Central Park, SoHO, Cannal St, The Subway, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Pizza, Statue of Liberty etc. WE finished our New York adventure with some Woody Allen's at Carnigue Deli.

THE END.

[bouche]

frig. have fun!!!

[paisley]

right on man

that's gonna be an amazing time, woohoo ! ! !

[bokonon]

can i come? it's my birthday!

[Boochawan]

happy birthday bokonon!

fack dima, i wish i was coming with you boys...damn midterms

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

bump

[meggo]

holy CRAP.

that show sounds amazing. thanks for the great review!!

[StoneMtn]

That was among the best reviews I've read in a long time ... and illustrated too!

Nice, Dima; glad you had a good time (and I'M JEALOUS!!!)

[bouche]

wow! I'm so frikken jealous. That was a great read too.

Thanks Dima!

now, I must download this show!

[Stapes]

Thanks for the review.

Looks like an amazing trip.

[gentlemonkey]

listened to this last night.. the night speaks, plane crash w/medeski, crossroads and soad were my favorite parts! nice review dima; its cool how the show and your series of pictures both ended with 'meat.'

[scottieking]

Listening to it now. It's great to have your blow by blow review. What a great experience!

[PassedOutGuy]

http://www.phantasytour.com/phish/boards_thread.cgi?threadID=634157&page=1

this would be a link to a thread on PT with about 6 or 7 short video clips of the night.. .enjoy...

[Del]

Great review dima! Sounds like it was well worth the trip...

[Booche]

Thanks Dima!

You rock...............

edit to add:

I am listening to Tonin rip it up on the fiddle during Mexico. This sounds like it was too much fun!

[mark tonin]

Thanks for the great review and pics, Dima! Awesome!

I remember at the last Come Together Fest somebody saying to me that I looked a lot like Sam Bush ... I couldn't really put a picture of him in my mind at the time so I didn't reallly make the connection and forgot about it until this thread (and the other thread about this show) ... now I get it!

If only I could get my playing chops into his league ... I don't know if any amount of practice on my end would get me there ... I think I'll just have to be happy looking like him! ::

Thanks again Dima for taking the time to share.

Peace, Mark

[Boochawan]

wow, sounds like a blast (i'm listening to After Midnight right now actually) - love that pic with little demsky sodomizing that poor dog (statue). Great stuff.

[TimmyB]

I had a feeling that this show was going to be good, but that set definitely tells me that it was amazing!

Thanks for the review, it looks like you had a great time.

BTW What an encore! I've always wanted to see Trey Anastasio perform "Peaches En Regalia" with Phish and never got it. It's no surprise that Trey would play it with moe. since I've seen moe. cover Frank Zappa twice (once I saw them do "San Ber'dino" and "Stink Foot").

Then after Zappa you get J.J. Cale? I can't believe the encore!

[funch]

WERD