PHISH, THURSDAY 07/17/2003
VERIZON WIRELESS AMPHITHEATER KANSAS CITY
Bonner Springs, KS

We got into the lot pretty early, no later than 4pm. I had an extra lawn to get rid of, so I went straight to the line of incoming cars. W/in 10 minutes I sold my extra lawn for 40 bucks. I felt really lucky to unload it for basically face! The lot scene was ok. I did see quite a few undercovers though. Also it was quite hot! I did run into some friends from Denver who really ended up helping our cause (thanks Meg!).

SET 1: Chalk Dust Torture: Cool opener, can’t complain! Around 5:05 Trey flubs a little. Something I rarely hear but did tonight: Page in the wrong key at 7:23. Still a pretty good, energetic Chalkdust opener.

Wolfman's Brother: This Wolfman’s really bored me. By four minutes into the jam it does nothing and continues to do so until it ends at 11 minutes.

Maze: Sloppy! Trey botches/forgets the lyrics at the "I try to reverse the course that my tread had already traversed" part. More sloppiness at 7:55 when Trey is waaaay off key right before the climax to the jam.

Dirt: Very clean, concise version. I love Dirt.

Pebbles and Marbles: Very good version that never meanders too far off the path.

Strange Design: Decent version but some of Page's vocals seem a little stressed.

Back on the Train: Quite sloppy/tentative for the first 1.5 minutes. At 5:23 you can hear Trey struggling on this. >

Divided Sky: Page and Trey seem a little tentative for the first 1.5 minutes here. At 3:08 Trey actually has to re-do a riff after botching the original. However, after that, this Divided really takes off and soars. There is a minor flub after the pause but it's gravy after that. I was really impressed w/ this version after it seemed the band was a little scared to play it in the first place for whatever reason.

SET 2: Tweezer: Easily the highlight of the night – longest Tweezer of the tour by far and best version of the summer. At 4:55, I swear Fishman speeds up his drumbeat really quick and teases Brother and then drops back into typical Tweezer mode! This Tweezer really rocks out hard until 13 minutes. From there it gets pretty quiet and spacy. Really nice segue at 22.5 > ->

Makisupa Policeman: Keyword – spliff. LOL at Trey mentioning Jim Tobin getting arrested. Note that they have never been back to this venue.

Limb By Limb: Flawless version!

Anything But Me: Head scratching placement. Momentum comes to a screeching halt. >

Horn: Again, placement is just putrid. This has been played 174 times and only 32 times has it been played in the second set. The last time it was played in set two was at 6.18.94 and the next (and last) it was played in the second set was 7.2.11. >

Waves: For me, the set is ruined now. After those two sleepers they played, it they are going to keep my attention: it best be a heavy hitter. Waves IS NOT A HEAVY HITTER. For me. At least yet.

Cavern: Worst Cavern ever. I was quite embarrassed for Trey here. "Take it Page". Jesus H.... >

Run Like an Antelope: Little Cavern tease in the intro. From 6:00 until 7:40 Trey is playing a theme I just cannot place but it sounds oh so familiar. Anyway this was quite the raging 'lope at just over 13 minutes. Too little too late.

ENCORE: Contact: We needed this one what with the horrible drive we faced going from basically Kansas City to Milwaukee overnight – 550 miles!

Tweezer Reprise: Standard.

Replay Value: Tweezer! Limb by Limb and Antelope were very strong too.

Summary: Walked out of there really disappointed. Faced with an overnight drive to get to Alpine did not help the mood. My least favorite show of the tour. I would rate this as a 2.75 out of 5.