Subject: EggNog: Drinking 12/28/94 Gin
Date: 21 Jan 1997 07:13:43 GMT
From: benjy eisen <benji@ezonline.com> I remember this set vividly...from a few feet from the stage :) :)
BathtubGinFiles #5 12/28/94 Philladelphia Civic Center; PA
GinStats: Set I Total time: 7:17 A great Julius comes to it's *rockin'* finish complete with a rather uppity, scale happy Mike. Short pause and then the typical start, complete with the obligatory pleasant cymbal accents from Fish. WHAT'S THIS?? Let me rephrase that - WHAT THE FUCK IS *THIS*? At 0:10 Mike hits an out-of-the-blue bass note (prominently!!) as if to say "Hey guys! Look at *me*!!" Nice. Mike continues to make deliberately haphazard BASS statements and burps. *PHUNky* but not funky, per-se. Page jumps in at 0:17 making his usual chop-surfing waves 'till 0:34 when Trey rushes the start of the Lyrics Segment: (0:34) Nothing new or noteworthy. Trey seems to be in a hurry but he's definately having fun with the singing as he laughs throughout. Page Fills: 1:05 ascending to a higher reaches of the piano till 1:21. Second fill at 1:52 is the "Bathtub chordal-chop crunch" that he's famous for in these fills, until 2:01 -- WOW, either Trey *really* wants to be somewhere fast, or else he had a vision that he was actually not really in Phish, but rather a member of RUSH. :) FAUCET: 2:17 A little bit rough the first time through, but it smooths out as usual. Definately on the staccato side of things. SINGING with the Faucet begins at: 2:59 with a loud "waaAA" Otherwise standard. Present but not overly enthusiastic. WATER From the Faucet: 4:13. Trey rushed through the composed sections and the start of the jam section shows no real change of plans - It starts up a little earlier than average (by around 10 sec. or so) with some slippery notes in a non-frantic shade of rushed. Fish keeps the rhythm ALIVE continuing the fast-paced flow of things. Started it up early, but also got it up early. I guess. Appearantly, we're at the Horse Races now, folks and at 5:09 it's PAGE in the lead 'till Trey starts in again at 5:17 ...both of them continue to add their TwoCentCharlie. :) Trey is listening to the others but also is crushing toes; This doesn't prevent Page from walking - he just watches where he's going and steps into those spaces in-between. Trey creates a small build leading up to the 5:30 release, then settles in with high pitched wailing (His Guitar LOUDLY Weeps and the sounds that ensue should be the new definition of "waaauuugghh!" Page takes this as an opportunity to go completely nuts and starts getting BALLISTIC In The Bathtub (woah, easy there Page - it's only a *rubber* ducky!) :) In the 5:50's, the Faucet Theme enters again, this time in a screaming, wailing sort-of "weigh". At 6:21 the jam evolves pleasantly into a circular frenetic dance until it busts loose at 6:33 into a Faucet Theme of-sorts and continues to struggle with it ("Do we want Hot or Cold?") until its clear emergence sometime just before 6:50. Cuts to some Serious Vamping right at the 7:00 minute mark, then back to a take on the ole' Faucet Theme. HALTS at 7:20 perfectly and without warning. Kinda surprised me - it could have just as easily continued for awhile longer. The only giveaway was the one quick, *very* understated "Bathtub Gin" sung from Mike in the last second and the jam just STOPS. End of story. Finis. The tour is over - Good day Sir! A real Tight ending, given its improvisational cross across the finish line. I've often been told that all good things must come to an end, and I guess that's true - Bouncin' starts up several seconds later. But hey, the crowd goes nuts. Those who are fans of HIGH-POWERED JAMS with an emphasis on a constant and rather frank flow will enjoy this particular Bathtub Gin. If Clifford Ball's Tweezer caught your fancy, you may want some of this. Sure it's short, to the point and anything but groundbreaking. It is, all the same, CONSISTENT and FRENETIC. Definately a fuller bodied thick Gin. *Powerful* yes...but that does not mean "unique" in the Phish world. Rating: 75 Proof (C) Entirely pleasant, but not all that interesting. Walk with light my friends, Benjy