Slip Stitch And Pass

10/28/1997 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Sandy Masuo

Some scientific evidence suggests excessive pot smoking may erode long-term memory. This could explain Phish's popularity among the neo-hippie crowd; their fans simply aren't conscious of how long the average Phish number drags on. The real problem with the music, though, has less to do with interminable improvisation than the group's grating geekoid humor and their weak songwriting. Relentless jamming is fine as long as it serves the song; the stronger the composition, the more jamming it will support. The only engaging numbers on this 73-minute live excursion are covers of the Talking Heads' "Cities " and ZZ Top's "Jesus Left Chicago, " because the protracted jams are grounded in the solid pop hook of the former and the concrete blues structure of the latter. The rest drone on like an unpleasant sonic reflux from their 1995 concert-in-a-box, A Live One. Smoke 'em if you got 'em--you'll need it to get through this.