Phish ~ 10/4/99 @ Redbird Arena - Normal, Illinois
Review by Jerry Iannucci
Monday was a much nicer day. No rain, pretty sunny, just a little cool. I made it out of Rosemont at about noon and found the highway without getting too lost. I used a site called mapquest.com to plot all my directions for me, and its pretty good, but I didn't give me all the directions I needed to get to Normal. It got me close to the school and then referred me to a map that was no help. I drove around campus for awhile before I finally bumped into the arena.
The lot was nice. The polar opposite of Rosemont. A mix of Phish kids and local college students on a big grassy campus. The show was sold out before the box office opened so there were lots of people looking for miracles. I managed to bump into my St. Louis friends before the show again so we had a pretty good time before the doors opened.
The place was as small as I was hoping for it to be and the floors were much cleaner than Rosemont. Pretty good sound too. There was a good vibe in the room and everyone seemed pretty psyched for the last of the midwest shows.
Set I:
Uncle Penn - Strange opening. Pretty fun, but nothing special.
Funky Bitch - Well, I wouldn't have guessed that one. Lets see, they played it less than 24hrs ago. This was a more traditional Phish version and once it got rolling I was more than happy to hear it. Play it Leo!
Vultures - Love this song. Always a treat to hear.
Runaway Jim - Hmm.. not as good as Memphis. Good to hear though.
Jesus Left Chicago - We played the setlist game before the show and I picked both the covers (though in the wrong sets). Was great to hear Page play so well since he has seemed so lost in the mix recently. Trey played a really nice solo at the end too.
Limb by Limb - Cool. Had the long fishman solo at the end.
Wilson - Gotta love Wison. Can't remember anything unusual about it.
Down with Disease - They have been playing this to death lately, but who cares? Very good.
I have been on the floor for the last three shows. While its nice to be in the middle of it all, it might not be worth it. I frequently had the tallest people in the world standing in front of me. During setbreak most people sit down to guard their space and people in the back think there is room so they try and crowd up to the front. It makes for a really big mess and kinda subtracts from the enjoyment of the show.
Because there was no more room in front of us, a cool chick sat down next to me. She drove solo to the show from Ohio because it was her 21st birthday and she would rather spend her birthday with Phish then go out drinking with friends. She was supposed to meet someone at the show, but could never find him. She really wanted to hear AC/DC Bag for her birthday and I thought that would be wonderful to hear again.
Set II:
Ghost - Can't recall any specifics, but I wrote "great" in my notepad. I look forward to hearing this one again.
Sample - I usually dont care for this one live, but they tore it up pretty good.
Wedge - Ah, I was looking for this in Memphis. Pretty good.
AC/DC Bag - I gave the girl next to me a big hug and wished her Happy Birthday. It didn't really take off like some that i've heard, but it was the closest thing to a miracle I saw this trip.
Makisupa - Keyword was 'NORML'. I dont know why we didn't see that coming. Trey got a big kick out of himself and cracked up a few times.
Sand - Everyone really dug Sand. Didn't seem to really go anywhere though and Mike looked a little bored. Still, Chris did an incredible job lighting this one and I think this has a lot of potential (Piper?)
YarMar - I call this for every outdoor show I attend, but wasn't expecting it here (though I did call it as the other cover in our pool). Was ok.
Character Zero - Always pretty good. Trey ended it with doing the same "guitar blessing feedback" thing he did in Rosemont.
Pretty good solid set, but I think I was anticipating a little more. My fault.
E: Rock and Roll - Love it! Very happy to hear this again and it should leave me smiling until Florida. Trey thanked the crowd and made another comment about Normal/NORML and marijuana reform laws. I think Trey said all the songs were in the key of "A". (Gee, great way to pick a setlist Trey)
Not much happening in the lot afterwards. I noticed a bunch of the crowd heading off in the direction of the dorms. Again, there was no shakedown street and I had a tough time finding my dinner. I eventually tried a veggie burito and was quite pleased with it. :)
I left the lot at 11:30 and got totally lost! My directions were shit and I had no idea how to get to the highway. A cop started following me after awhile, probably alerted my all my frequent u-turns. He eventually left me alone. I found the highways at about 12:15 and had a really hard time staying awake for the ride home. So glad I was sober. Got home at 3:00.
And i'm done until NYE.
Show Rating: 
concert list