*Very impressed* with Trey Anastasio last night...please recommend me a Phish DVD! (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Phew! Dave Matthews and Friends put on a 3+ hour set last night at The Staples Center, and what an awesome set it was. Dave's fellow guitarslingers, Tim Reynolds and Trey Anastasio, were...what's the word I'm looking for...amazing!

Being a long time DMB fan, I know all about Tim.

But this was my first time seeing Trey live. Phish has always been a band that I *heard about* but never actually *heard".

Suffice it to say, I am now intrigued. I hear that they're best when live (like DMB). Could all you Phish fans recommend one live DVD for me to sample? I'd like it to be the best combo of:

1) Sound (Quality, I have a mid-fi+ system and would like it to sound good)
2) Performance (High energy, lots of improvisation)
3) Set List (I'll trust the fans since I don't know any songs)
4) Video Quality

I put video last because until recently (DMB @ Central Park comes to mind) video was overlooked. With DMB@CP we finally got 16x9 shot-on-HD video to match DMB's awesome sound. So if there are any new Phish DVDs with good video, please recommend that. But if there aren't, then please recommend the best sounding Phish DVD out there.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Carlo_M]

Hmm, should have done more research. I thought there were lots of live Phish DVDs and according to DVD Price Search there is only two:

Bittersweet Motel
Live in Las Vegas

Anyone have comments on either one?

To broaden the scope of this thread, could anyone recommend some live CDs? I know there's been a push of live Phish CDs in those double and triple packs but I don't really know which ones are the best (and again, I'll trust the fans as to the criteria).

Thanks!

 

[MartinTeller]

I was a huge fan in college, but I "grew out" of them about 10 years ago. However, at the time my favorite album by them was Lawn Boy.

 

[Ryan_Walsh]

well neither of the dvds is "great." bittersweet motel is more of a documentary of the band made from sprin-fall 97.

Phish Live in Vegas is from the 2000 (I believe) tour, and is hardly one of their shining musical moments.

I recommend just buying "A Live One" cd or one of the Live Phish 13-16 which includes a cover of a classic "classic rock" album.

 

[Van Patton]

I'm a HUGE Phish fan. First thing I'll say is DO NOT buy the Phish in Vegas DVD. The playing sucks and the setlist is really bad. I can recommended that you need to buy Live Phish Volume 10,11, and 6. Those are my favorite Live Phish releases. Also, go to gdlive.com and DL the 6-11-94 show. If it's not there, you can go to momadance.com and DL it there i believe. 6-11-94 is one of their top five shows ever. 94 and 97 were their best years. 97 is my favorite because they play all the songs funked out.

 

[robertLP]

I'd certainly recommend Trey's self-titled DVD-Audio. Very nice surround presentation.

 

[Ron Reda]

Carlos,

I am so envious that you got to see Dave & Friends. They never got around to Atlanta. I guess it's true what they say about Dave hating Atlanta!

 

[Bernie Lomax]

I saw this show in Boston and it was great. Trey is tremendous weirdo, but man can he play the guitar.

 

[Carlo_M]

Ron, that's funny. I've seen Dave/DMB something like 10 times in Southern California and always got the feeling they hated L.A. because our set lists were always shorter, more "poppy" and less "jammy", and none of the old faves of mine get played.

The only exception is the very first DMB show I saw back in 1998 at Irvine Meadows, which was 18 or 19 songs and three hours long! Every subsequent show has been around 2 hours and 15 minutes...

Up until last week. Dave and Friends set was just about 3 hours long and was awesome. Maybe they're coming around to L.A. I know one reason they might hate L.A. is that the crowd doesn't filter in until his set starts. Dave often wants to promote his opening acts (as they are his friends or artists he likes and respects) and L.A. shows are barely 1/10th full when the opener plays. Kind of a bummer - I always get there in time for the opener and have seen some great ones, but hey, this is L.A. the Land of Cool. I guess it ain't cool to watch the opener, hence I'm not cool. :frowning:

 

[Grant B]

You might like to read this
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...DG424C1O41.DTL