Jeff M.
For those of you who have not been to SPAC, it's a beautiful venue with an incredible sound system.....This was my 21st show overall, and 2nd of this 2001 tour, with the other being in Buffalo....Although the setlist didn't contain many of the songs i was hoping for, the band put on a great show like they usually do at SPAC...My only gripe is that they played 11 of the same songs they did in Buffalo, including Stay at the closer, but you know what, the band chooses the songs they want to play, and that's fine by me...Onto the highlights of the night.....#41 was an awesome opener, and really got the crowd into it...Say Goodbye (without Leroi) was very unexpected and amazingly beautiful.....My first What You Are and Fool To Think were alright, I anticipated worse after some of the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised....Bartender keeps getting better and better...Two Step as a set closer was awesome to say the least....I know it's my favorite song, but the energy was ridiculous and Dave's extended drum/guitar jam with Carter at the end of the song was something you would not have believed....Dave gave Carter a big fist in the air after they completed it! The encore began with a tease of Blue Water, just like in Philly last December, and that was pretty cool.....My first time hearing Waste, and it was incredible (with pictures of the moon on each screen)...I was half hoping that Trey would come out since Saratoga Spring is only 2 hours from Burlington, VT....Anyways, Stay as an encore closer definitely keeps you dancing and puts a smile on your face (especially when Dave finishes right in front of you (yes i was in the 3rd row)...However, as I said earlier, both my shows this year have ended with Stay....But whatever, it was a great show nonetheless, especially for my sister who has never seen the band close up in her 15 shows.....My only regret is that I can't go to the second night at SPAC, because my ride leaves on Monday morning.....Oh well, I'll deal! Anyways, Peace and Love everyone and enjoy the rest of the tour...

Jared M.
Wow! The boys were on tonight. Dave had happy feet tonight. #41 was a great way to open the show, got the crowd into it right away. Dave played 19 songs in all tonight. I don't have time to write much today, but the highlight of my night was ANGEL. Jammed out with the lovely ladies singing about needing an angel, and then goin through the whole band asking if they could be their angel, with dave being last and of course gettin the biggest ovation. I can't believe dave also pulled out say goodbye, it was incredible, Leroi left the stage for some reason during this song, so we didn't get the flute. A little big eyed fish tease into waste then in to the finally Stay which blew me away live. ALl in all great show i don't know how dave will top himself tonight i can't wait to find out! LATer

Andrew R.
The weather was picture perfect and the tailgating began early in the day in epic proportion. By the time showtime rolled around, the masses stumbled into SPAC amidst the beer bottles, cans and assorted garbage strewn all over the parking lots. Entering SPAC, however, was half the battle as their small gates had trouble accompanying the herds of DMB-lovers. Once inside one was then confronted with long bathroom lines and I missed most of "#41", but it sounded damn good from the bathroom. The next task was getting into the ampitheater through the throngs of lawn-seaters...I appologize to those who we had to step on to get there...Once inside, Dave was already deep into the "Everyday" outro which seemed to go over well with the crowd...nice opener! "Granny" introduced the lovely ladies to the crowd which were oddly well received. Then Dave strapped on the electric and rocked the house with "So Right"...but it wasn't until "JTR" that you could tell the band was really enjoying themselves. During "JTR", the video wall on stage began conjurring up images from videos past, with a cool "rain" effect for the chorus. "When the World Ends" also sported a firey earth image and they built to its anti-climatic ending that leaves a powerful effect when the music completely drops out and the stage goes black. "Crush" was a pleasant surprise and sounded great. Although I've never heard it live before, I've heard it taped and sounding sparce, this time however the song was full and ended with Carter doing some amazing drum beats that really got Dave dancing. Carter didn't wait long to begin one of the sweetest drum intro's to "Say Goodbye" I've ever heard. Then some a surprise..."Bartender" without "Big Eyed Fish"...I know he's played them both together a lot this summer and I was really hoping to hear BEF. On top of that, Bartender seemed to lack something that it usually has and I was somewhat disappointed. "What You Are" was strong, but failed to arouse the crowd. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SHOW was "Don't Drink The Water", the song really struck a chord with me and it seemed as though the crowd felt the same way. It was almost as if the descendants of the Native Americans who once inhabited these parts of New York came out of the woods and into the band...a truly spiritual experience. "Angel" had a cool outro with the lovely ladies singing, giving Dave a chance to kick back and enjoy the show. LOWPOINT OF THE SHOW, for me at least, was "I Did It". In my opinion the song sounded hollow and I was somewhat embarassed to listen to it. It's definitely a song that should be reserved for the radio. I was psyched to hear "Two Step", but its ending seemed to have been cut short (if you're used to the Listener Supported jam), nonetheless, it continues to be one the best live songs of all time. Dave came out alone for the encore to play a "Blue Water" tease and "Waste", which was a sweet rendition. You didn't have to be a Phish phan to feel it, but only they recognized it. I was somewhat disappointed to get a "Stay" finisher, but I must admit they really jammed it out with the lovely ladies and I was really feeling it! Exiting the parking lot and trying to get back down the Northway was nightmarish but it was worth it and I'm already looking forward to tonights show.

Bobby V.
There are those shows that you attend and are completely magical and leave you breathless......this was not one of them. Out of all the DMB shows I have seen, this one was the worst. It wasn't a bad show necessarily, it was just the worst show I have seen of the band. I'll first give the highlights and then the lowlights. HIGHLIGHTS: SPAC itself was amazing! It was much, much smaller than I thought it was going to be. I loved the fact it was in the middle of a state park and the venue itself is wonderful, a definite must see. I saw my first Say Goodbye with a great Carter solo intro (finally) and got to hear a nice little Dave solo tease of Blue Water in the encore. (Too bad it wasn't a nice 10 minute full band jam, but oh well.) Granny was tight. LOWLIGHTS: We'll first start off with the worst. There was no doubt that this was the WORST SECTION I have ever seen a show in! I didn't get the chance to request tickets when the Warehouse released the tickets or get them through ticketmaster. Still I managed to fanagle my way to a couple pavilion seats. My section was dead! I don't understand how you can pay 50 bucks to have a bad time. Nobody danced or grooved in my section except for 2 other people. One couple made out the entire show, nothing wrong with that, but why pay 50 bucks when you can do it for free in a more private setting? One couple looked thoroughly lost and kept looking back out into the lawn for some unknown reason, as if they were supposed to find somebody. Everyone else sat down and were wearing frowns. Seriously all these people sucked, looked like they didn't want to be there, and ruined the complete vibe. Plus you would think that the SPAC sound system would be great, right? Nope. It was too soft and not loud enough. I know when I have been to a rocking show when I get into the car and my ears are ringing. My ears were perfectly fine and I always preferred the stadium and arena shows cuz they were louder, basically because they had to be. The sound was not that great and extremely disappointed me. Anyways on the set....13 songs from the previous show, not a big fan of that. The show lacked energy. Its kinda funny cuz Dave did do a lot more "Davedance" than the other shows I have seen this tour, but there was no energy in the music. I was waiting all night for that moment to just hook me and get me into the groove of the show, it never happened. In my opinion the band was missing...Stefan was jamming, but my favorite member Boyd was missing in action. He gave a shortned solo on #41, a pretty much nonexistent solo on Crush, and stood back in that little corner for the rest of the night. Usually he's all over the stage and having a great time, tonight he was not. Butch was pretty nonexistent as well, showing up only on Angel. Even Two Step didn't have a Butch Taylor solo, which at this point was good for some reason. The songs were played with lackluster effort and Dave's vocal inflection was not there. The Everyday songs sounded better on the CD and had more energy and conviction than they did at this show. For a bunch of songs that supposedly "saved" Dave, he performed them as if he didn't want to. So Right was nice though and you can see a jam forming at the end. I can't stand Angel, yet it shows up at every show I go to now. And can we please not end a show or encore everytime in the Northeast without Stay for God's sake! I never disliked this song in concert, now I despise it. I think it would be a great opening song, but sick of it closing. Maybe it was just my horrible section that ruined the show for me, but in my opinion the band just did not have it tonight. To cap it all off, we were stuck in traffic for 2 and half hours afterwards. Not good when you are tired and have to drive 4 hours. There was cops everywhere after the show, on foot, on horse, in cars and motorcycles busting underage drinkers, yet NOT A SINGLE ONE DIRECTING TRAFFIC! It took them and hour and a half to realize that nobody had moved and finally got someone out there to direct traffic. Overall an extrememly disappointed evening for me. I'm happy for the people that had a great time. Let's hope I have a better time and show at Toronto.

Mike L.
Well...if I had to pick one word to sum it up it would be amazing! I was very nervous going in with some of the negativity I've heard about the band but this is the best I've ever seen them play. So here it goes. #41- Nothing special but got the crowd going...god start. GRANNY- Added so much enery and the place was going nuts. SO RIGHT- one of my favorite tracks off of everyday. I just love Roi's solo. JTR- One of my least favorite Lillywhite's but on this night still sounded good. WHEN THE WORLD ENDS- Pretty standard but still sounded great. CRUSH- Great palcement huge surprise. one of the many highlights. They have played this alot and I figured that we wouldnt see it..just amazing. SAY GOODBYE- Carter had his usual great intro but Roi left the stage. I couldnt believe it! Oh well still sounded great. BARTENDER- The 12 string came out and I thought we were getting Fish Monkey Man into Bartender but we only got Bartender..oh well still great. Dave really took over this song. WHAT YOU ARE- Nice standard..cool jam.

DanO
it was a decent show. Great energy, the sound was kicking, the screens were insane, and the new and old songs fit together nicely although no UTTAD songs except for wwys and ants the 2nd night, a little dissapointing. All in all the old and new mixed well, and it was a great show.

Chris F.
It was an awesome day for a concert and it started nice and early. My friends and I were there by noon and the partying didnt stop until 530. I was on the lawn but with the screens and my money spot the view was nice. We all tried guessing the opener but none of us came close to thinking about #41. It was an awesome surprise and an awesome jam to get the evening started. I love the everyday outro. No hesitation before Granny to keep the energy going and then a switch to the electric for a pretty good version of So Right. Its nice to watch them work on the new songs right in front of us. They jammed it out a little bit which was a surprise to me. On went the 12 string for a sweet version of JTR but I have heard this at SPAC 00, Pepsi 00, and Foxboro 01, so its getting kind of old. You know they are gonna play WTWE but it is still a nice little jam and you gotta love the ending. Now comes the highlights of the evening and they were all back to back. Crush, Say Goodbye, Bartender, What You Are, and Too Much. I love all of these songs and I was never expecting to hear Crush, let alone Say Goodbye with an insane Carter solo to start it off. That was an excelent group of songs but then came 6 songs in a row that I did not want to hear: TSB, Fool to Think, DDTW, Angel, True Reflections, and IDI. I can not stand the Lovely Ladies and they guest on all of these and ruin what are already not so awesome songs. But then a quick and huge smile came back over my face when I saw Boyd put his bow down and start strumming the violin for the beginning of an insane two step. It was kind of a short version but it was fast and loud, and I loved it. After a short break, Dave came on by himself, which I expected but what came next, I did not expect. BLUE WATER BABOON FARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-->Waste. After that I didnt care when I saw the Lovely Ladies come out to ruin a perfectly good song, Stay. All in all, a pretty awesome show. Not a lot of jamming but it was energetic and the entire band was totally into it and having tons of fun. I love the screens and the lights and how well they work together and I cant wait for tomrw night.........Section 2 for me. later

Jarrod H.
Night one at SPAC, a very enjoyable show. It was #10 for me and it ranks up there in the top 3 I think. #41 was a great opener, first time I got to see it on this tour. Granny is always a fun crowd song. So Right is becoming an amazing live song, and I'm glad to see that the crowd is very receptive to it. JTR was standard (which means good), and WTWE was to be expected and was enjoyed by all. But what was next really made the show for me. First Crush of the tour for me and it was incredible! It was made even better by being segued into Say Goodbye, which I haven't seen in a year and was soooo glad to hear. I won't go through all the rest of the songs, I'll just point out that DDTW was the best version I have ever seen or heard, thanks to the solo 'lovely lady' who sang back up. Oh yeah, and speaking of the lovely ladies, I thought they did a great job on Angel and really showed that they can in fact add to an already great song. All in all it was a great show, and section 3 row S, you guys were pretty cool

Michael A.
Being my 1st show of the year I didn't know what to expect. #41 was a killer opener! W/ the everyday outro, very sweet. Hearing the Ballard songs for the 1st was a treat, Angel was w/out question one of the most beautiful songs that the band has ever done live!! I was just floored by it!! All in All a great show!!

John L.
NO SONGS FROM UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING AND TOO MUCH OF THE LOVELY LADIES. If last month's Buffalo show proved that DMB can still put on a great show without the older material, this show proved that the new material, arranged the wrong way, can disappoint. This was my eigth show, begining in '96, and the first to disappoint. Basically a great show up to and including Too Much. CARTER'S DRUM SOLO into SAY GOODBYE was a powerful intro for a song I hadn't heard live in years. BARTENDER is classic and TOO MUCH was real funky. However, the show really lost its magic when the Lovely Ladies reappeared for THE SPACE BETWEEN and FOOL TO THINK. DON'T DRINK THE WATER was great, but out of place when it followed two Ladies' songs and preceded three more. TWO STEP was great as always, especially Dave's crazed dancing at the conclusion, but was much shorter than the best live versions I've heard. I was thrilled to hear my first WASTE-nice tribute to PHISH, indeed. STAY is a great song and a great encore, but it was so predictable, especially after a night of too much Ladies. This show lacked that frenetic, jammed-out spirit of classic DMB shows like DARIEN LAKE 6.14.96, SPAC 6.6.97, and BUFFALO 7.21.00. I hate to criticize a band that has played so many wonderful shows, but the Lovely Ladies are overshadowing Butch Taylor's masterful playing and the band simply doesn't let Boyd go crazy the way he usually does. The presence of oldies like GRANNY and TRUE REFLECTIONS didn't heal what really hurt about this show: nothing from UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING. SPAC was beautiful as always, as was the weather. The parking lot scene was super also, so DMB outdoors in the summer is still the place to be. Congrats to the people who saw the Monday 7.30.01 show--that's a setlist.

Matthew C.
Overall tonights show was pretty standard. Nothing to wet yourself over but it was still a great time. First off, the highlights... Opening with #41 was great! I love the song and was happy to hear it right off the start. So Right, my favorite off the new disc, a wonderful rendition! Another high point was Say Goodbye. I think this song is great and Carter was absolutly INSANE in the beginning! Some of the best drumming that I've ever heard out that man has come this tour. But anyway, Say Goodbye, it just didn't really work for me tonight. LeRoi didn't play at all on the song and that was very disapointing! I've always thought that Roi MADE this song, it's just not the same without him. What You Are was also really great! I was happy to hear another Everyday song come together on stage. I was extremely happy with how this one sounded! The last highlight was Two Step. It was pretty standard until the end. The entire band just exploded with energy and it sounded so amazing! One of the(if not THE) best endings i've ever heard on this song! Now to the low points... Fool To Think. I didn't really like this song at all live. In fact I think it sounded pretty terrible tonight. I am also getting a little sick of The Lovely Ladies. Especially the jam at the end of Angel, its the same darn thing night after night. They could jam this song out a different way, I guess I'm just not a fan of The Ladies. And last, Stay as a closer. Been there, done that. They close with this song too much in my opinion. Try surprising the crowd. Close with something really obscure sometime... maybe Dancing Nancies?!?! But over all I had a great time and thats all that really matters. It was a lot better than sitting in front of my computer watching the setlist pop up on the official site!

Frank Z.
Alright so this was my 6th show and definitely one of the best...41 was a cool opener, everyday outro (get stoned everyday) was very cool, GRANNY is always a good one, the guys all played hard and the ladies did nice, SO RIGHT, now my favorite Everyday song live, I just love the beginning and tonight they all played really nice, JTR, absolutely love it, once again powerful and the jam is just great, kinda upset he left out some words but its all good, WTWE, traditional for this tour, still great, CRUSH...oh I was so excited, hadn't heard this in a long time, very sweet, then as if that wasn't enough, SAY GOODBYE, I think I almost pissed my pants, carter's intro was awesome, great song, BARTENDER, normal, still very nice, TOO MUCH, very strong, cool, SPACE BETWEEN, I knew it was coming, still like it anyway, sounds better with butch and the ladies, FOOL TO THINK, least favorite everyday song live, sounds too broken up, not too solid, DDTW, reminded me of last year's spac show, ANGEL, awesome, the ladies were cool at the end, TRUE REFLECTIONS, getting old, still kind groovy, I DID IT, once again I expected it, still awesome, TWO STEP, oh i was all excited now, love the ending, not as long but harder, very sweet, WASTE was a cool song, never heard it before, STAY, would have liked a watchtower closer but still sweet, very nice jam at the end....all in all a VERY powerful and dancing-mood night...the boys (and ladies) were all playing like they wanted to, definitely all into it, sounded awesome...i just love spac....

Dustin D.
Ahh Second show of the summer. Some good suprise repeats tonight from friday. #41 is a great opener, Dave scatted it up in the outro, great stuff. Granny was a suprise didnt even expect it. JTR is always powerful and the ending is the best. WTWE is a great song but they need to work on a jam with it. Wow I was so amazed to hear Crush, Dave introduced Stefan and I thought Watchtower?? Crush was awsome as always, the best base line. Say Goodbye had a wicked drum solo, but LeRoi wasnt on stage because he had problem with his contact that sucked. I wanted a flute solo. He made up for it with the pennywhistle in Bartender, he is so amazing. DDTW with Tawatha was cool except she messed up the ending she was still singing and they ended it. Dave got board during angel and sat down. Two Step was short but they jammed wicked hard at the end. Then encore was decent, when dave started playing Blue Water i went crazy, it was a wicked tease and Waste is always good. Stay was too predictable.

Ryan B.
IF IT WERE'NT FOR WASTE NIGHT ONE WE"D BE IN TROUBLE, I KNOW HE IS PROMOTING AN ALBUM BUT HE HAS PLAYED THE SAME SHIT ALL SUMMER. DAVE JUST DOES"NT JAM ANYMORE): The fans have been disappointing for the past 3 tours, no one parties or dances. I'm sick of seeing corney ass chia pets all done up in make-up and gap clothes yelling "we love you dave" shut the hell up!! Get drunk get stoned and listen to the music play, it's that simple. I don't know why I'm going off on the fans dave is the one that has really pissed me off. No more jams, and if he does they are the same ones I've seen all summer. Surprise us once in a while. I do have to admit WASTE was sick and crazy, but both nights were pretty lame. I know this won't get posted but I'm sure there are others who feel as I do, Thank you, RYAN

John Z.
I'll preface this by saying that I had announced to my friends this was going to be my last Dave trek across the state of New York. I'm starting a new, "normal" job and I can't see leaving at 2 in the afternoon to drive 3 hrs to a show and then 3 hrs home, it's like a second job. That being said I wanted to go to this show excited, but I was tired and wasn't as thrilled as I was for other SPAC shows...in retrospect, we should have gone to the second show. Oh, well. Over all this was my least favorite Dave show EVER. Now I was stoked at the opening. #41 is a classic and Granny was a nice visit from an old friend. Then came the new stuff, now nothing too wrong with the new stuff, except that it sucks! These songs may take on better lives as Dave becomes more accomplished with electirc, but until then they are not good. Plus all the new songs seem to be Dave songs. There isn't much for the boys to do. Whenever they flashed the cameras on Carter during one of the Everyday songs (especially Angel) there was no enthusiasm. As my old football coach used to say they are going through the motions. Also, I may be in the minority, but I find the "Lovely Ladies" annoying...their little interlude in the middle of Angel is just terrible and slows down an already slow song. Now I dug Crush, that's just a great, "C'mere honey and let me kiss you" song and backed up by a KILLER Carter drum solo into Say Goodbye (which I called in Ruthian fashion twenty minutes earlier)Whenever I hear I Did It I cringe and this was no different. However as I sat there in bewildered disappointment, they broke into TWO STEP. I nearly lost it as I flailed around like a madman, but noticed when they ended there was some breath left in me. There was no jam that I've grown accustomed to. I wasn't sure what to do or say. I felt after that setlist like I needed to shower to get it off me. Sorry fellas, just really disappointed, especially compared to the shows from last summer. And if not for Waste, it would've been a GOD AWFUL encore. I guess I picked the wrong show, cause I understand the Monday show at SPAC was amazing. Maybe if the boys can get a little closer to Syracuse, I can hope for a better set. Later.

Nick P.
7.5 out of 10. Here's what sucked about this show. It opened with #41. This is awesome, however when a show opens with 41, Granny, then JTR, you set your expectations so high for the rest of the show that you get a little upset by the end. Highlights were: #41, it is theband's best song and to open with it is very cool; Crush and Say goodbye, I've missed these it was awesome to hear them again, and Leroi left stage for the beginning of Say goodbye so it was a straight up drum solo that ROCKED to intro the song; Angel, the only new song that sounds good in concert, and even the ladies sound very good in the vocal jam at the end; JTR and Bartender, these are the 2 best songs from Lillywhite and they are always a treat to hear live; Two Step a much better closer than Staybut where had the jam gone? (Actually many songs are too short...); Blue Water!?!?!?!? Dave sang a couple bars of it before singing Waste which even though he did last show, I never expected it; Waste, very smoothly played solo performance from Dave. The Bad:I did it/Other various Everyday songs, These songs are so produced in the studio that they sound very bad live, also they are played the same way live as on the album without any variation (except Angel and Everyday); Stay, why close out a decent show with this instead of Ants or Billies? It is beyond me; Under the Table and Dreaming, did Dave forget about this album?; True Reflections, this song used to be a treat but I've heard it so much that I'm sick of it; Where are the Jams!?!?!?!?!?. The Ugly: Dave's face when screaming in Bartender and Fool to think...haha. So it had some good points and bad ones, overall I was very pleased.