8-17-99 Cuthbert Ampitheatre Eugene, OR
Phil Lesh & Friends

(click here to see two-day-in-review reviews)

Cuthbert -- Jason, Kate, Nathan, and Morgan, 12:41:12 08/19/99 Thu

I don't want to repeat what's already been said, but Cuthbert was AMAZING. I really dug the heavy sounds of Gov't Mule, but I think I was in the minority, even among the other people sitting here. moe. did very little for me. As they finished, we eagerly awaited the first appearance of Phil in Eugene since...'94? Yes, it was '94 at Autzen.
As showtime came closer, a flock of Canada Geese flew directly over the venue...an auspicious omen of things to come? Sure enough, they opened the show with Dark Star, a feast for the ears. I cannot emphasize enough how tight this band sounded. From the get go, they sounded as if they had been playing together for much longer than they actually have been. Wolfman's Brother was much improved from Mt. Aire. I wasn't as into hearing Mike from SCI sing Crazy Fingers, but the jam was nice afterwards. At this point, our space was unfortunately invaded by an unpleasant individual who was. He brought the energy level down a bit in our group by grabbing a few of our female members. But he ended up being only a footnote to this fine evening of music. Whiskey in the Jar was a lot of fun. There were a few other songs in here. Things really picked up when they broke into My Favorite Things. This was slower than the version that they played during the April shows, more drawn out and very spacey. It was sweet. Had a feeling it might go back into Dark Star, and eventually they did, very smooth and delicious to these ears. This eventually decomposed into what sounded like Eyes, they kind of noodled around on this theme for a few minutes, and then Phil stepped up a conted out the beginning, and they did break into a great version of Eyes. I hadn't seen this song performed by any band live since the GD show at Riverport, 7/6/95. It was a worthy version, I thought, full of big jams. This segued into GDTRFB, very energetic and fun, and then Phil sang Bid You Goodnight to close the set. They encored with Tom Thumbs, a spirited and unexpected version(at least to me). I thought they might do Box, but Tom Thumbs was just as good to these ears. All in all, a very high time. It's nice to know that this can still happen.

8/17/99 -- Matt Bellingham, 10:58:30 08/18/99 Wed

Hey hey hey hey!!!

Eugene is rockin'!!!

Phil had the place hopping big time. First time I've seen Phil since '95, and man was I pleased with what I saw. The show was just fantastic, that includes all bands. I really enjoyed Govt. Mule, they can set a groove and go. Phil stood on stage (to the left of the drums) and watched most of their set. Jill joined him with an arm around his waste. Moe rocked too, I was very impressed. They just went bezerk, seemed to be having much fun. 

Got there early to wait in line, about 9:30. Had a lovely day just sittin' and smokin' and talkin' with folks in the line. We watched the ospreys spiral overhead. Then we were treated to the soundcheck. Phil was really getting people to work, especially on the harmonies. Here's the list for that. 

Crazy Fingers
Wolfman's Brother (Worked on harmony several times)
Eyes of the World
Dark Star (1st verse)
China Doll (Stopped to work on it here and there)
My Favorite Things
Going down the road feelin' bad
We bid you goodnite
Tom Thumb Blues
Whiskey in the Jar
Restless Wind (SCI tune)

When phil came on the place was very quiet for a few secs as they got there space together on stage. Then everyone erupted in spontaneous applause. Very warm applause saying, "Hey, good to see ya again." Phil responded by throwing kisses to us, nice!
 It was just good from the get go. They really seemed to be having fun. They took it down every corner and niche they could find. Every where they looked there was another jam waiting to be explored. The keyboardest for SCI is very good! Kyle is his name I believe. He got more than a few smiles from Phil. Kimock also did his usual best. He seemed to just wait on the parameters of the jam on some tunes and then when given the cue dove down deep into some wild spiral of sound. The guy from moe, Al, was great as well. There were so many guitar licks flying around, you didn't know where to look for them. It was a good ol' fashion JAM fest! 

                                                        Here's the list... 

Dark Star (1st verse)>
Wolfman's Brother (Both combined had to be about 30-40 min.)
Crazy Fingers (nice!, Micahel Kang on vocals)
Whiskey in the Jar (Nice to see this ol' traditional dusted off)
Restless Wind (SCI tune w/ Bill Nershi on guitar and vocals)
China Doll (Very very nice)
My Favorite Things>
Dark Star (2nd verse)>

Jam (w/ hints of Favorite things again)>
Eyes of the World (Right on, always one of my faves!!!)>
Jam>
Going down the Road Feelin' Bad (Really had it together by this point. Everyone in the audience was singing it right back to 'em!)
We bid ya Goodnite

E: Phil comes on to give his rap on organ donation. The place was so quiet you could here the crickets backing up Phil.  Tom Thumb Blues (Yes, nothin' like a little Zimmy tune to send you off with a smile, especially this great tune. The memories just flooded my mind's eye. Ahhhh, those days between. 
Some nice touches...
During the break between moe and Phil a flock of Canada geese flew over honking there little hearts out. Out by the bathrooms the crowd erupted in appreciative applause. Also, saw a giant eye in the sky made up by the streamin' clouds. Jerry, was that you???! On the down side of it, there were a fair share of punks in the audience who had too much way too fast! One ran down the bleechers at full tilt with total disregard for anyone in his way. Ended up knocking my wife to the floor breaking her glasses and throwing some innocent bystander to the ground in front of us. All this before he fell flat on his face three rows later. Nuts!!! He was escorted out by two guys. He didn't look good to say the least.

8/17/99 sound check -- jeff, 00:27:56 08/18/99 Wed

We were treated to an amazing sound check. It lasted about 80 minutes, and sounded great from our spot in line just outside the small amphitheatre. A wonderful venue!

Sound Check:
crazy fingers
wolfman brother
crazy fingers
eyes of the world
dark star>
china doll (this was so sweet)
my favorite things
dark star
goin down the road
bid you goodnight
tom thumbs blues
whikey in the jar
restless wind

8/17/99 -- jeff, 00:21:44 08/18/99 Wed

Phil and co. absolutely rocked the house! This was a very jam oriented show with a lot of space in between songs that lent themselves to interesting improvisations

dark star>wolfman brother (phish song) - 40 minutes with a nice other one tease
crazy fingers
whiskey in the jar (yet another other one tease)
restless wind (sci)
china doll (beautifully rendered with full jam ending)
a few of my favorite things> (a jam launching pad)
dark star>
eyes>
goin down the road>
and we bid you goodnight
encore: tom thumb's blue