We all piled into the van – Zach’s mom and brother included – and made the trip over to the Reynolds. The Reynolds was a classic ACC basketball arena, it was like stepping into the ’60s. We made our way over to Lower Page and all got to sit together. The first set was a bit standard, although we flipped for Camel Walk.
The second set started out with an intense Sand that explored all sorts of soundscapes over the course of 22 minutes. The band was in fine form throughout the jam and there was a great vibe permeating the venue. Mango – one of our assembled crew’s faves – followed and we were hoping it would make up for the disastrous version we had seen a few months earlier at Alpine. That wasn’t the case, as once again we were treated to another terrible version of what some have called “Mangled Song.”
Next up was a moment I’ll never forget as Phish started up Wading. We all went nuts as if the band had busted out Destiny Unbound. Big hugs and high-fives were exchanged. Mrs. Read had the biggest smile on her face and was nearly in tears. I’ve never been so excited to see a Wading in my life. We could’ve all gone home happy at that point. As Wading ended, Trey kicked off a weird little delay jam that the other members picked up on.
Out of nowhere, Big Red started the Tweezer riff and the Reynolds exploded once again. After the Wading celebration we were all excited to dance to a song WE liked. As the jam progressed, the band started alternating between the dark and the light, taking the jam into a major key to the delight of our “butter jam” loving group of friends. We showed Mrs. Read how to make the “churning butter” hand motions and she thoroughly enjoyed watching us get the fuck down. At one point the boys hit this incredible chord progression that some have called a “Slave Jam” that’s in the top ten for coolest progressions they’ve dropped in the middle of a jam. We were all shaking our heads in disbelief at how amazing this Tweezer was.
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/raleightweezer.mp3]Raleigh Tweezer
Over 20 minutes after it began, Tweezer finally ended with a quick segue into Runaway Jim. This standard Jim gave us another chance to get down. At this point we were exhausted and had two Hampton shows in front of us so there were no complaints about the Bittersweet, Reprise encore.
Mrs. Read had the time of her life and I can’t express how amazing it was to watch her enjoy the experience to the fullest. We celebrated until the wee hours in Chapel Hill that night and woke up extremely hungover for the trip up to Hampton the next morning. We each had high hopes for the first night of Hampton, but that didn’t turn out so hot.
- MP3 Audio: MegaUpload, Mediafire [both via Mr. Miner]
- FLAC Audio: bt.etree.org
Set 1: Wilson > Chalk Dust Torture, Lawn Boy, Limb By Limb, Horn, Back on the Train, Roggae, Heavy Things, Camel Walk, Possum
Set 2: Sand, The Mango Song, Wading in the Velvet Sea[1] > Tweezer > Runaway Jim
Encore: Bittersweet Motel, Tweezer Reprise
[1] Ended with a short, spacey delay loop jam.
Notes: Before the show, Mike brought a big shaggy doll on the stage and sat it on top of his bass cabinet. Velvet Sea ended with a short, spacey delay loop jam. [via PhishNet]
11 Responses
What I remember distinctly about that show was the wave that was started right before they came on, it took a minute but it got going really well around that little arena… 1,2, then on the 3rd time around, boom the lights went out and they emerged with the beginning of Wilson. Also I do remeber the sand just destroying people with a sweaty dance marathon… great memories thanks for bringing the annivesary up!
NICE TWEEZER…LOVE THE BEGINNING!
SAMMY
http://www.phishandthedead.com
This show was on my tenth birthday — id only I had been a Phish fan then!
This show was my 21st birthday! We took a limo from Wilmington. I had the time of my life!!
I could read stuff like this all day. Terrific story Scotty.
Chills at around 13:55!
that was awesome.