Japan '00 is my all-time favorite Phish tour. I usually tell people that all seven shows are fantastic, but that's not really true. 6 of the 7 are fantastic, this is the story of an average show lost among a week of monster shows. At the time of this writing it currently rates a 3.1 on the .net rating scale and I would say that's fair if not a tad high. The Free from this show is fantastic, but doesn't hold up against the monster jams that occurred in almost every show from this mini tour (6/9 Tweezer, 6/10 DWD, 6/14 Twist, 6/15 DWD, 6/16 Jim->Theme)

Set I

First Tube: This show opening First tube is rocking, but standard. Preceded by about 30 seconds of guitar loop/effects from Trey.

PYITE: Little flub by Fish at 1:40 other than that tight. Standard.

Horn: What can I say? Its Horn. Trey misses one note in his solo at 3:06, otherwise flawlessly executed.

Ginsing Sullivan: I love this song! Performed perfectly.

Stash: Short and sweet (11:30) Stash never really breaks away from the typical Stash theme. Weird little lick by Trey right at the beginning, sounds like a mistake that he made work. At around 7:50 it sounds like they may go ambient, but they snap back into it around 8:10. By 9:15 they start their approach to the end of the jam. Well executed, but nothing special.

Dirt: Performed Perfectly.

Possum: Intro is about 90 seconds with the song kicking in at 1:36. Subtle Stash tease at 5:55 - 6:05. ">" into ...

Ice: Trey flubs throughout. Most notably from 3:42 - 4:15, it's like he's totally forgotten the song, pretty painful segment. Not a version to seek out. The low point of the show.

Farmhouse: Never been a huge fan of this song. Played pretty well, but ends a blah set on a blah note.

Highlights: First Tube, Stash, Possum, but none are versions you need to seek out.

Set II

BOAF: Tight little version (8:30) with some cool jamming. At 6:25 Trey kicks in some effects and and it sounds like the jam is going to take off, but they return to the Birds theme around 7:30.

FREE: Highlight of the show. Funky and Groovy. From the Jamming Chart Entry: "After the initial bass solo, Mike and fish lay down a really great groove for Trey and Page to play off." And boy do they. Around 6:00 Trey starts laying down some delay loops. This space-age funk Free is awesome!

Beauty of my Dreams: Another song I love. Performed Perfectly.

Bug: Your standard Bug. Nice building jam at the end. ">" ...

Bowie: Typical, but welcome, spacey-loopy intro. Song kicks in at 2:13. A Fairly straight forward, but well played jam starts around 6 minutes in. Starts getting heavy at about 9:15. The ending segment seems forced. Slight hiccup starting the ending riff at 11:45.

When the Circus comes: Standard.

BOTT: Groovy, but standard 5 minute BOTT. Which is unfortunate considering they played one of the best ones ever 3 days later in Fukouka. ">" ...

HOOD: Typical Type I Hood. Beautiful jam builds to huge crescendo. You know this story well.

Zero: Typical Zero. Rocking, but indistinguishable from almost every other version.

Set II Highlights: BOAF, FREE, Hood

PHISH, SUNDAY 06/11/2000
HIBIYA OUTDOOR THEATRE
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

SET 1:

First Tube: Standard. >

Punch You in the Eye: Standard.

Horn: Standard. >

Ginseng Sullivan: Trey is quite sloppy.

Stash: Sort of tentative jamming in the 7 minute range here. The rest is no improvement. This is one of the weakest versions I have heard from 1.0.

Dirt: Standard.

Possum: Standard. >

It's Ice: Trey is very sloppy in the moments leading up to the breakdown jam.

Farmhouse:

SET 2:

Birds of a Feather:

Free: Not sure why this is a jam charts version. It has some length but other than that there is nothing special about it. >

Beauty of My Dreams: LOL somebody gets shushed in the first section of lyrics.

Bug: Standard, but I love how they backdoor the ending into the beginning of Bowie. Very clever transition. >

David Bowie: Standard.

When the Circus Comes:

Back on the Train: Standard. >

Harry Hood: They begin this jam with an awesome space jam, Mike thumping away in the lead. Trey gets caught up in his own loop for about two minutes that detract from this one, just very repetitive and sort of boring stuff. Once the 11 minute mark hits, this one picks up speed. I absolutely love how Trey creates this droning jam; it just sort of plods – then out of nowhere at 13:43 they explode into the climax. Super sick.

ENCORE:

Character Zero: Standard.

Summary: This show doesn’t do much for me. Very average. 3.5/5.

Replay Value: Harry Hood

Possum included Stash teases. A large rainbow formed over the theatre and cleared during the encore. The opening act was Big Frog.
JAM CHART VERSIONS
Free
TEASES
Stash tease in Possum