Phish - "Hampton Comes Alive" January 7, 2000 - Los Angeles Daily News By Matt Weitz Album Review - Hampton Comes Alive If you don't like Mexican food, you shouldn't order the El Diablo Grande two-plate dinner. Likewise, if you don't already love Phish, there's not much reason to pick up the live box set titled (groan) "Hampton Comes Alive." The six-CD collection documents two shows recorded Nov. 20 and 21, 1998, in Hampton, Va. - captured live on two-track tape, without any editing or post-show sweetening. Well over five hours of music, Hampton does do a good job of capturing the dynamics of a Phish show - how the music builds and unfolds. It also showcases the band's strengths and weaknesses: A group mind that can often function with dazzling precision, a byzantine creativity, a keen and funny eye for cover tunes and a relationship between band and audience that's tight enough at times to exclude the casual (or unconverted) listener. For the completist, "Hampton Comes Alive" is a clean, band- sanctioned version of the countless bootlegs in circulation. For the curious, however, this monster will probably prove much harder to digest than Phish's other two live albums. Review © 2000 Los Angeles Daily News