American Idol and Phish 3D reviews

Well, I hate to admit this. I am an American Idol junkie. I had never seen the show at all before this season and if it was not for the insane amount of insults and critiques at the beginning (along with some amazing responses), I probably wouldn't have gotten so addicted to the show. When I first turned it on, I could not really deal with how much Randy interrupts someone and says "Wait, wait, no, no, no, Yo." "Yo." I am a big fan of Ellen and think that she fits in pretty well. She gives very insightful critiques and is very positive about the entire process. Now, to the final two. Well, as for Kara, she and Simon seems awfully close this year. There is a lot of touching looking, but I have nothing to compare it to. It seems like he is into her a lot. Kara has her moments where she seems right on and moments when she acts like she just woke up and she is a freshman in college. Her open advances toward Casey are sickening. Grow up and don't make it any more of a popularity contest than it already is.

It is clear that most people respect Simon's comments to the nth degree. On the one hand, he is very insightful, which gives constructive criticism, and he is also very straight-forward and up front about his feelings. On the other hand, people love to hate him and send up loud boos to express their disdain for his opinions. I think that Simon tells it like it is. Most of the time, he is right on track. I am not sure how he would rate some music that is already being released, such as new bands like Lady Antebellum or The Killers. He may love music, but he spends most of the time dogging out whoever is in front of him.

That is it about Idol. I am hooked on the show. I am 45 and was actually texting my brother on our iPhones about who was going to go home and who was staying. That is a far cry from our usual texts about family or killer Phish songs. I mean, that is sinking low, texting about Idol. I am ashamed. Oh well, flog me if you will.

Now, to the real review of Phish 3D. I took my wife, Eliz, my kids, Lizzie and Lexi. We went to the 650 showing, rather than the 1000pm showing, which would keep the girls up past midnight. They even took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, just to prepare for the evening. We went to dinner before and were catching a movie. Let's go out to dinner and see a Phish movie! There were no other people in the theater as "AC/DC Bag" broke out as the first song of 3D. During "AC/DC Bag," about 6 people stumbled into the theater. They seemed to be big fans, too.

Overall, 3D was not really that much 3D. I took my glasses off a couple times and didn't notice any difference than when the glasses were on. I would think that the glowsticks would come flying off the screen. The balloons were something of a spectacle. They looked like they were flying in front of the camera. That was really cool. The filming of 3D seemed more like an afterthought than what I expected. I expected to be blown away, something bigger than "The Clifford Ball." Clifford Ball was an intimate, incredible look into the band. It displayed Phish at their finest. I expected to see Festival 8 in all of its glory. I do not really understand their song selection. They played "Stealing Time" and "Undermind," which are not really great songs, imho. I did think that things got going during "Tweezer > Maze" and "Mike's Song." The band did not cut the songs short and let the band show its colors in jamming out "Tweezer." The "Maze" did not disappoint either. The thing is that one could not really see Chris Kuroda's work with the lights and the producer only briefly showed the bubble or burple. When they focused on the bubble, it was floating out into the crowd and one could tell that it was one wicked spectacle.

The "Mike's" was great, deep jamming and exploratory guitar playing. Cactus was kicking it on the bass, but again, it was not really in 3D. It was a great version, and maybe it was that we were with our kids and the theater was empty, but things just seemed sort of reserved and it felt very produced and not real, like being at a show. I wished that we had gotten to see what proceeded the "Mike's," but the band then switched to its acoustic segment of 3D. The band played many songs acoustic, but nothing topped "The Curtain" acoustic. It was great to see the band unplugged because I have not had a chance to see them play acoustic at all in 2009. It was certainly a treat. It did not even seem crowded at Indio for the acoustic show, as there appeared to be lots of open space up front. Again, I really didn't understand why I was wearing 3D glasses at all. Especially during the acoustic set, there was not much difference between wearing the glasses and not. Neither of my daughters seemed all that interested in the acoustic set except for maybe "Wilson." I could tell that they were starting to fade and both of them slept through most of the rest of the show, except for Lexi. She woke up for "Suzy Greenberg."

The band, after getting through several acoustic numbers, switched to the Halloween part of the show where the band cloaks itself in a musicial costume. Last year, the band covered the Rolling Stones' "Exile On Main Street." For the movie, the band chose well-known covers to show. I would hope that one day, Phish releases all three nights of Festival 8 in 3D and in 2D. That would be great. It would be amazing to have that much Phish 3.0. The band looked great during the 10 minute "Loving Cup." One could tell that Trey was having a great time with Sharon Jones and the horns section. As the band made its final 3D debut with "Suzy Greenberg," it really blew the doors off of this version. It was obvious that all members of the band were having a blast--a sure sign of a good show. Closing out the movie was "Tweezer Reprise." It was a long intro and had a great energy.

All in all, I would have to say that watching Phish 3D in an empty theater had a big effect of the way I viewed the movie, but the movie still left me wanting more. I am sure that my kids have no place at a Phish show for a number of years. They can't hang that long, aside from the seediness of the environment. They just can't stay up that late. I am so glad that I got to share this time with them by showing my favorite band in 3D. For anyone who has not seen it, "Phish 3D" is worth seeing. It does not measure up to some of the other Phish video that I have seen, but I still would have liked to see more of Festival 8 and maybe a different song selection.

Sorry my posting took so long to materialize...