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Live in Brooklyn

Phish - Live in Brooklyn Audio CD

A fair review of the Phish "Live in Brooklyn" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Phish reviews here, or go back to the Phish tabs.

Band: Phish
Title: Live in Brooklyn
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-07-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing 2: Dinner And A Movie 3: The Curtain With 4: Sample In A Jar 5: Moma Dance 6: Free 7: Nothing 8: Maze 9: Frankenstein 10: 46 Days 11: Possum 12: The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony 13: Suzy Greenberg 14: Axilla I 15: 2001 16: Birds Of A Feather 17: Kung 18: Mike's Song 19: I Am Hydrogen 20: Weekpaug Groove 21: The Divided Sky

A mightily aggressive Phish.
I was a little late picking it up, having spent the past few years at a considerable distance from any Phish music whatsoever. I've been listening to this show very carefully over the past few weeks, trying to develop a solid opinion on whether or not this is a good show. I finally caught the bug again, and this was the first set I came to, since it was one of only a few concerts that had material that I had yet to hear live before. (such as Moma Dance, Nothing, 46 Days, and ASIHTOS).

It is a jarring listen at first. The band's playing is incredibly intense. Chalk that up to the influence of their newer material or just the fact that they like playing that way.

I'll admit that the concert doesn't get off to the most elegant of starts. "A Song. . . " is not be the best concert opener they've chosen, although it is a good song. The rumors are true. . . "Dinner and a Movie" is almost embarrassingly clunky here. These two are both listenable, though, if just to lead up to a fascinating "The Curtain With". This is where the band seems to find their footing and it carries them well through this set and the next. There's really great material from here on out, although the concert does suffer a bit in being weighted towards the last forty minutes (with "Mike's Song -> Divided Sky"). These fan favorites seem to be here just to appease the longtime Phish followers in the crowd, and the band plays them as such. It's definitely not the most spirited "Mike's Song" that I've ever heard. They're done well enough though. The band finally starts to get mellow with "Divided Sky", and although it doesn't stand amongst the great versions of this song, the jams are quite interesting on this one. It is a bit bothersome to be wishing that you were listening to better versions of these songs when trying to wade through the last disc.

Well, after a few weeks of examination I concluded that I can't find much wrong with this release that I can't ignore for the concert's better moments (pretty much "The Curtain With" to "Kung" is the meat of the package). It's not for beginners, but most Phish veterans will get some playing time out of it.

Phish - Live just before they split exposes some weak points, but still a very good collection
Phish has long had the reputation of being a band with an "open audio taping" policy and as a result they built up a great following - especially as a live act. If there has been a band that has had the most success of being an "underground" band, it would have to be Phish. . In fairness to the quartet, this is a band that produces some of the most innovative music anywhere on the music scene. Phish's reputation both as a studio band and a live act really took off in the mid 1990s. Excluding the "Live Phish" series that would begin to be released in 2001, Phish several other live sets: 1994's "A Live One", 1997's "Slip Stitch and Pass", 1999's epic 6 CD collection "Hampton Comes Alive", 2004's "Live in Madison Square Garden New Years Eve 1995", 2006's "Colorado 88" and "Live in Brooklyn", and 2007's "Vegas 96". The "Live in Brooklyn" collection would showcase Phish toward the end of their careers. While "Live in Brooklyn" is a very good collection, when this is stacked up against the other Phish live sets, this collection does fall short.

Back in 2000, Phish would take a two year hiatus before reuniting for in 2002 for a New Year's Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. While Phish might have recharged their batteries, some may argue that Phish did not come back with the same momentum that they had when they performed live in the 1990s (thus leading to the band calling it quits) "Live in Brooklyn" was recorded at Coney Island's Keyspan Park on June 17th, 2004 - about two months before the band's final show. On this collection, there is no question that we hear a tired band (probably from all the years of touring) when compared to other Phish albums. Yet, even a tired Phish is still head and shoulders above many bands - and this is still a cut above most live albums.

Here are ten facts about this collection:

1-"Live in Brooklyn" was recorded on June 17, 2004. While the show took place in the rain, it doesn't appear that the weather affected the sound quality to a great extent. There was a second show on June 18 that featured a guest appearance by rapper Jay Z. While I'm not a Jay Z fan by any means, I would have liked to have seen this included - even if it was as bonus cuts.

2-Being that this was from Phish's final Tour, this is going to include some latter material not included on the previous Phish live albums. This includes material such as " A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing" (from 2004's "Undermind" album that was released two days earlier), "46 Days" (from 2002's "Round Room" album), as well as "Moma Dance" and "Birds of a Feather" (from 1999's "The Story of the Ghost").

3-There is still also plenty of old material included in the concert - we are treated to a full version of "Mike's Groove" (consisting of "Mike's Song", "I Am Hydrogen", and "Weekapaug Groove") as well as "Dinner and a Movie", "The Divided Sky", "Kung", and "Possum"

4-The songs from "Mike's Groove" appear on several of the other mainstream released live albums (i. e. those not from Live Phish), but this one contains the traditional three songs (listed above) that make up "Mike's Groove" ("Colorado `88" is the other collection that includes the traditional three songs). As usual, Phish never disappoints when they perform this suite of songs.

5-One thing that made Phish so special is that they might be the greatest improvisational rock band of all time. One thing that stands out is that this album is weaker on improvisation. Perhaps it is "Kung' that wraps up the second disk in the one that really only is the band's improvisational highlight.

6-An offshoot of being a great improvisational band is being a great cover band. "Live in Brooklyn" includes "2001" and Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein". While these are also very good covers, these are covers that are very common to Phish and appear on other albums.

7-Phish fans will certainly be treated to lots of extended jams. Eight tracks will clock in at over 10 minutes in length. While the jams are good, this is where I found the band seemed to be "tired" at times. Still this shouldn't be a deterrent, but it does disappoint when I compare to the other live releases by Phish.

8-Phish is a special band because of four outstanding individual talents - Page McConnell on keyboards, Trey Anastasio on guitars, Mike Gordon on bass, and Jon Fishman on drums. Of the four, I always thought that Fishman's work is the most forgotten. On "Live in Brooklyn", it is Jon Fishman's drumming that really picks up the pace. Fishman provides some of his best career drumming and it helps set a nice tempo for the concert.

9-Next to "Mike's Groove" (which never disappoints), perhaps the strongest number is Phish's "Sample in a Jar". Other strong tracks include: "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing", "Free", "Nothing", "Birds of a Feather", "2001", "Frankenstein", "Axilla I", and "46 Days".

10-Perhaps another disappointment in this collection is that you don't get a good sense for how the audience is responding to Phish. A good live album is usually made better by the way the band feeds off the crowd. This collection could have used this help.

The liner notes don't include any write-up about the show and that would have been nice. Overall, this will most likely be a collection that Phish fans add to their collection. There still is quality music on this collection, however some fans may disappointed when comparing this to the legendary live recordings of "Hampton Comes Alive" and "Live at Madison Square Garden New Years Eve 1995". The best way to sum things up is that this is a TKO instead of a KO.

DO NOT make this your 1st live Phish album
The best part about this concert is that it doesn't make me sad they broke up. Trey is the weak link on the show. Trey's improv as always is top notch. However, the songs he has been playing for years are filled with mistakes.
If you are trying to get into Phish you're late to the party. If you must, check out "A Live One", "Live Phish Vol. 15", or "New Years 1995". Anything but "Live in Brooklyn". . . . What happened Trey?.

Excellent jamming bro....
This will light your bong bro. Hey dudes, this show jams, love the Moma dance>free jam, there are a few weak songs as usual, I pull out the jam and burn it.
Broom teeth the slideing Easy breeze will blow you away.
Philip. TCBRN.

As The Ship Goes Sliding By
Mike is Sick. Free is where it's at on this show. Someone get that man a garbage can.

You can see a complete list of all Phish discography, or go back to the Phish tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.