Phish - Live in Vegas

Great audio, subpar video, a sleepy performance. Anyone who is familiar enough with Phish to shell out money to buy a dvd will know what this band was capable of on any given night. There were amazing jaw-dropping nights, great nights and occasionally an uninspired, low-energy performance. This dvd release falls under the latter. I don't buy the take-whatever-you-can-get-and-be-happy argument. Not when you know there are probably tons of releasable videos sitting in the Phish vault. I would even be glad to buy a dvd of the stationary-one-camera videos being offered on LivePhish.com if it was of a transcendent performance like 12-29-97 currently available there for download. Why they chose to release this evening in Vegas from 2000, I'll never know.This release was the second of two shows in Vegas and Trey's birthday. The show from the previous night included Kid Rock and it's probably not a stretch to assume they all celebrated Trey's birthday into the wee hours of the morning because you can't help but get the feeling from watching this dvd that they are all very sleepy. It is reflected in two low-energy sets.The show begins anticlimactically with the band swapping instruments for Walfredo and it sets the tone for the entire show. A person seeing Phish for the first time was probably like, What the...?Mike's Song can carry a show on it's back, and it closes out the first set - it segues into Simple and then loses steam meandering into I Saw It Again and Esther before chugging into Weekapaug. The second set is dominated by Col. Forbin which includes a long description of a dream Trey had and then he thanks the road crew. In a high-energy jamfest, Trey's monologues are a welcome, usually entertaining break, but on this night it brought an already slow show down to a crawl - probably at the expense of another song or two, or three. A forgettable Twist follows and then a very long Sand has Trey plunking around on his keyboard where it quickly loses momentum and stays there. They close with The Beatles, A Day In The Life and the encore is the Stones, Emotional Rescue to put everyone back to sleep.In closing, I would suggest NOT playing this dvd for anyone who never had the pleasure of seeing Phish live. Steer them towards IT or maybe Bittersweet and in the meantime hope that Phish will release a dvd you would be proud to turn others on to......Big Cypress?

excellent

Phish at LV. Good show. Trey announces the hiatus but the croud does not care - audio is great but the video at times is very dull and out of focus. Trey flubs lyrics to Esther in 1st set but who cares Fishman is really laughing on this one. I like to see concert DVD's - Phish does great with this first one. It isn't perfect but honestly can you remember this show if you went to it - get the DVD and bring back the memories. I actually have my sense of smell activated by this DVD and I can swear I smell something as I am watching the concert. It is as close to being there but not being there.

Many people who have reviewed this have complained about the film quality and what not. I say who cares?!?!? I agree the quality of the picture could be better but what does it matter?!? I mean when youre at a show do you really pay that much attention to whats goin on with the boys on stage. I know I dont Im much to busy jamming out with my eyes closed and listening to the tunes. As for this dvd I think its great and definetley quenched a thirst I had for a long long time. I love throwin this in and rockin out with the boys. I actually think that the film quality is not bad and there are some great shots of the audience and band. All I can say is that we as phans sometimes become too picky and we forget that these are just four college boys from Vermont that absoloutley rip and always bring a smile to my face. I would reccomend this dvd to any fan of the band. Thanks once again boys!!! See ya in Vegas feb 2003!!!!!

Trey's birthday show. Roggae is great and the 2nd set is wild.

I was hoping for a more jam oriented show and less vocally oriented. Let's face it, they aren't exactly the best singers. I hope they put out DVDs from some of the mid 90s shows. That's when they really rocked!

As a huge Phish fan I have heard better performances. Don't get me wrong, plenty of the material was well played. The Curtain With is a great old tune to hear, Mike's -> Simple is always great, although the Mike's was clearly a substandard and short version. Esther is a wonderful old tune, another one, and was great with exception of Trey flubbing the lyrics at the end. This DVD contains the most smokin Weekapaug Groove I have ever heard. Ever. Timber is a fun song, the AC/DC Bag is very tight. Colonel Forbin's Ascent leaves something to be desired although the Trey Speak was quite nice, as was Fly Famous Mockingbird. Twist and Sand are two great Farmhouse songs and were rocked out, perhaps not to the fullest, but well done none the less. A Day in the Life is a great cover, very well done. Emotional Rescue is just plain strange, although very entertaining. I won't give anything away. The audio is great, the video is not, but we all know that already. The closeups are good, the shots from the crowd look as if they may have been shot by a fan with a home video camera. A good Phish performance, although I am hoping the upcoming IT DVD blows this out of the water.

I was lucky enough to catch 27 Phish concerts before they finally pulled the plug, but I'm not one of those overanalytical types that dissect their shows inside & out...I've mostly been a happy & satisfied customer, warts n' all. Having said that, however, this DVD really doesn't do much for me. On paper it looks like an intriguing setlist, but apart from a handful of songs, the performance isn't too inspiring IMO. Looks more like one of those "you had to be there to appreciate it"-type shows, actually. Visually, it varies from bootleg quality to barely above average. I mean, the first time I watched this, I cleaned my DVD player after the first few songs, thinking that's what was responsible for the poor picture quality...but nope, no difference. I mean, this was filmed in the year 2000, right? To put things in perspective, the picture quality of the Led Zeppelin DVD blows this away, and some of THAT footage is 35 years old!! The audio is top-notch however, so that offers slight redemption. Bottom line: spend your money on the far superior "IT" DVD, and avoid this one...

I am dissapointed that Phish would release this. Someone was asleep at the wheel. The video is almost unwatchable. Why they chose this night to release and not the night before is strange.No establishing of the scene. This show could have been anywhere. Koruda's lights are not given the presentation they deserve. Save your money.

Phish est ce groupe incroyable qui vient juste de splitter laissant des milliers de fans émus et reconnaissants pour ces quelques 20 ans de bonheur musical .Phish c'est quel style ?Impossible à décrire , pour donner une petite idée Phish :-jouent comme des dieux (genre zappa les doigts dans le nez)-ont de l' humour à revendre (genre beatles)-font des concerts incroyables jam à fond (genre grateful dead)d'apres le bassiste leur style est : bluegrass, latin, rock, funk, classique, jazz, calypso, hard-core, et broadway.voir aussi leur albums studio (rift surpasse dark side of the moon).

Satisfeito

いやーやられました、フィッシュでは初のショウのDVDです。一曲目から楽しさ爆発！。来日公演がよみがえります。しかーし唯一の難は画像が今ひとつなこと、これが完璧なら５点でした、でもサウンドは５．１でホールにいるような感じです。次作も期待！もっと出してくれ

トレイの誕生日のラスベガスでのライブって事ですが、出てきてまずメンバーが別の楽器で一曲演奏！それからは怒涛のPHISH WORLDが展開されていきます。2set 172min さらにはPHOENIXでのライブも特典で入っていたりとこれ以上何を望みましょう。。しかし、Fuji Rock経験者としては大自然の中なら。。さらに。。と思ってしまうのは贅沢か。。。