From cdirksen@earthlink.net Sat Sep 12 23:35:41 1998
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 16:04:26 GMT
From: cdirksen@earthlink.net
To: dan@netspace.org
Newsgroups: rec.music.phish
Subject: ***12/6/97 Tweezer!!!!!!!***

12/6/97  Palace, Auburn Hills, MI

Christian McKee reviewed this awhile ago, and I didn't think that I'd
bother (he did a great job as I recall), but I changed my mind.  It's
too good.. I wanted to add my two cents. FWIW, I haven't read Xian's
comments on this Tweezer in many months so can't recall what he had to
say about this version exactly. Thanks, Greg, for the excellent tapes!

Tweezer has an unusually improvisational opening.  Trey plays the
opening them quietly for about 15 seconds while Fish scatters the
cymbals a bit.. and then Trey starts puttering around for awhile..
before at 1:08 he begins the theme anew (and Fish comes in with the
standard snare-led crescendo).  As a result of all this frolicking,
the full band doesn't blast open TWEEZER until 1:40. (and no, I
haven't heard an opening like this ever before)  The rest of the
opening segment is pretty straightforward.  Tweezer is about the
Right Rhythm, too.  Faster than 8/2/97 Gorge and 11/26/97 Hartford,
but about even with 11/17/97 and 11/22/97.  Trey solos a bit more than
usual before the verse with "Please her with a Tweezer" in it.  Page
gets on the clavinent in the little jam preceding the Ebeneezer lyric,
but nothing too special occurs (one of these days they have to blow
this section out of the water).  Ebeneezer at 5:30 and there's no
screaming after it.. crowd goes wild.

Jam segment kicks in at 6:05, making the aforementioned opening the
longest that I have ever heard or reviewed, I'm pretty sure (but not
positive).  Groove is immediately very ominous.. Trey wastes little
time before funkily chording.  Mike is very prominent in the mix, and
is more mellifluous than Trey (Page accompanies really well on the
clavinet, too.. nice funky grooooove...).  The opening few minutes are
good with strong interplay -- but nothing really cool happens.  Until
9 minutes, when this funk groove gets an ATTITUDE that lasts for a few
measures.  Page becomes more active on the clavinet, too, and Trey
lets out a few digital delay loop noises around 10 mins.  Mike and
Fish continue to groove along..

Around 10:50 Trey comes in soloing darkly.. very soulful licks from
him for a few measures, before at around 11:15 he chords some more and
a funky manner.  Fish and Mike accompany brilliantly.. then there's a
dead stop, and Trey tools around a little bit (with those digital
delay loop affects repeating in the background).  .. before the full
band comes back in.  Fish maintains a Tweezer rhythm but adds a hell
of a lot of whipping hi-hat to the jam.. very niiice!!! This seems to
whip everyone else into action, too.  The groove at 13:15 is very
mystical (unusual for Tweezer) and engaging.  Trey begins soloing
melodiously overtop the INTENSE groove improvised by the others!
(14mins)  Just a gorgeous improvisation at this point, quite unlike
your typical Tweezer.  This ain't funk, either.  Just wholesome
improv.

Fish starts nailing the ride around 14:50.. =^] And changes the rhythm
at 15:10 into something that I've never heard before in Tweezer..
almost an upbeat march!!  Just EXCELLENT full-band improv at this
point imo (16 minutes)! Trey starts soloing in a very Fripp-esque
manner around 16:15, getting increasingly more chaotic! Page, Mike and
Fish keep a strong, fusion-based groove going in the background! WORDS
CANNOT DO THIS JUSTICE!!!  This is just spectacular Tweezer
improvisation, and far more appealing to me than ANYTHING in, say, the
legendary 5/7/94 Bomb Factory version. This improv is definitely up
there with the phattest of the Phaaaat...

Around 18 minutes the jam soars into more mystical territory, and Trey
is still ripping off fiery, Fripp-esque (somewhat Zappa-esque) licks
every measure or two (a very unusual style for him).  This is one of
many jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring improvisations that Phish performed
in Fall 1997, but this is also unlike everything else I can think of
from that period.  Almost like Fall 1995 improv meets 1997 Funk meets
Fripp.  Just spectacular leads from Trey and full-band improv --
everyone is clearly listening to eachother.  I just can't describe it
at all well.  You simply MUST hear this version on tape.  (21mins)
Page is wailing away on the piano, Trey is ripping licks off left and
right.. until 21:43 when Fish kicks out the rhythm and Trey begins
playing Izabella!!  Page is still scrambling in the background at 22
minutes, and the full band doesn't really lock in to Izabella until
around 22:20 or so.

GOD DAMN!!!!!!  An awesome segue, spectacular... a bit of catchy Fall
1997 funk thrown in.  EASILY the greatest Tweezer of 1997.  Hear it at
all costs.  An easy must-hear-asap 9.5 rating... I hesitate to give it
a 10.0 or 11.0 because there were periods of such complete mayhem that
I can understand how some people might not appreciate them (if you
don't appreciate the versions I've given a 10.0 or 11.0 too, then,
well, you're obviously deaf as a post and deserve to have your ears
hacked off with a rusty spoon.. there's no forgiving an inappreciation
for the improv in the 11/30 and 12/2/95 Tweezers).

two cents
charlie


p.s.  This is one of my favorite sets of Phish *ever* btw.. love the jamming
in Izabella, love the Twist->Piper too.. And Monkey has always been a
favorite of mine (as far as Joke Songs go..).  The Antelope in the first set
of this show is Up There, too.. check it out!  And HEY!!  Look out for the
awesome Mbird Flyers on tour this summer! =^]
















--------------------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 28 Mar 1998 23:19:01 GMT
From:    "Christian C. McKee" 
Subject: 12.6.97 "Tweez-abella" Review

hello.

        notes to start: this was only my third show (10.24.95 and 11.8.96
the others).  other than that, i've heard two hundred plus hours of tapes.
now, on to the reason you opened this posting...

Tweezer:
        for the first twenty or so seconds, trey is playing the tweezer
opening lick, gently, and not really cleanly.  but around :25, they break
it down to tempo-less jamming, noise from all parties.  john is knocking
out some really interesting syncopations in here, mike too.  at 1:11, they
begin the buildup to the song, cresendoing until... 1:42, when it becomes
tweezer for sure!  the crowd was ecstatic, as you can well imagine.
        i'm no charlie, but this sounds like a standard work-over of the
song portion.  tight, good groove, but very little to distinguish.  at
4:45 the inter-song jam starts, page taking the lead on organ.  cute, and
over within thirty seconds :)
        uncle ebeneezer at 5:34, with *moderate* screaming from the crowd.
after the space ended, trey came in for the tweezer lick two octaves
higher than usual.  by halfway through the measure, it was fixed.  sigh,
it sounded kind of neat...
        jam began around 6:30 (sorry about the timing, i got interrupted).
this is Phunk, if you take my meaning.  slow, loping rythm from john, mike
laying down a little funk lick, with page taking little solo riffs.  i'm
pleased to announce that  trey is not dominating the music at this point.
this continues for a while, john begins to speed things up a very little
bit around 8:30, and at 9:12, it's noticeable.  lots of wah from trey, and
a deep funky groove over all.
        at 10:00, mike is taking some nice licks behind page, and trey
sets up a delay loop.  john is really locked into a great beat, funky and
really rich sound.  by 10:42, trey has left the wah and is playing some
more "traditional" licks on the low end.  sharp chording at 11:32, and
john is building lots of tension.
        11:48 brings a return to the funk.  it's even deeper this time,
with trey taking more of a lead role.  this is about the last of the funk
in the tweezer, as trey begins to sustain around 13:00, and mike picks up
nicely.  the beat is a gliding 4/4 now, no funk involved.
        at 13:13 trey is playing licks that are more melodious than any i
have heard before or since.  the tempo is moderate, and very gentle
sounding.  it's worth getting this set for this moment.  i almost cried at
the show, it's amazing stuff.  page is chording with a sound like ray
manzerak in "riders on the storm".  trey keeps with the melodious feeling
for about two minutes.
        at 15:30, john pulls the band into 6/8 time, and things begin to
heat up.  tempo is increasing, page has his fingers in the chord jar, and
at 16:20, trey is soloing in his usual style as a more traditional phish
jam ensues :)
        this is beautiful, phish playing in three, page now on the piano
instead of the organ, mike staying around the same note, and john urging
trey ahead.  powerful stuff.  this segment of the jam lasts for a while.
until around 18:00, when it sounds like what they were doing around five
minutes ago.  trey's playing in here is interesting, he drops out
entirely, and then comes in to play frantic solo licks that don't really
build into a cohesive whole.  it lends the feeling that something in on
the way.  don't you love musical fore-shadowing?
        at 19:00, you can hear the beginnings of the jam that will take
them into isabella, in grand phish style.  trey is playing rock star
chords, page is building a wall of noise on the organ, and they're still
in 6/8.  trills from trey around 20:00.  BIG chords from trey at 20:40.  i
wonder if this is a tease of some kind.  sounds like it could have been,
but i don't know.  this is straight up rock now, with all of them pounding
ahead, kind of a hard rock/heavy metal sound.
        at 21:50, john doubles the beat and... 22:05, they launch into
isabella HARD, leaving everyone in the arena behind.  a yell from john
about a minute later, he was happy.  the opening of isabella was *tight*,
crunching chords, they're really driving through this.  please keep in
mind that i've never heard another version of this song, but i can tell
that at least on some level, this fuckin' rocks :)  i can't begin to
express how gentle that transition was, all of a sudden, trey was playing
different chords, and it was isabella with a vengeance.
        trey's first solo ends around 24:40, and it was pretty good :)
standard rock star stuff...  second solo at 25:00, and that takes them
through till the jam at 26:00.
        trey takes the lead right away, very jazzy mid-range licks over a
funky beat from mike and john.  page starts soloing at 26:30, but trey has
his loop set so loud, it's *drowning him out*.  d'oh.  so much for
listening to each other...  the funk is back in full force by 27:00, and
john is *ON*.  this man could put cyde stubblefield to shame.  maybe not
;)  john drops out for several measures, and comes back at 28:00, knocking
out crazy beats, this is *insane*, the man is a MONSTER.  at 28:40, it's
*solo* page, playing a noisy medeski-esque line.  the band returns with
the funk at 28:55.  BIG ritard and resume just before 30:00, such
tension...  during this whole jam, trey was dancing around the stage, and
he kept pointing at john, trying to get him to solo.  every two measures,
trey would saunter in john's direction and point at him and vigorously nod
his head.  john finally accepted the proposition at 30:40.  this is a big
disappointment, he keeps the same beat going till 31:10, when he leads
right back into the song after a little something interesting and short.
oh well.
        at 31:36, trey plays the opening chords to twist around while
everyone else is still doing their thing.  it's a good transition, and a
good version of twist, but i don't have time to continue with the
review...  so there ends our adventure, but what a ride, huh?
        the tweezer->isabella (tweezabella :)) (and the twist->piper that
followed it) were solid and powerful all the way through.  solos were
fiery, john and mike were joined by the funk at the hip, and there was
nothing that could have ripped them apart.  trey sat back and let the
others have their time to shine, and page was the MAN on the organs.
hmmm, all in all, really great music, a GREAT transition but still no
winston-salem.
        thanks for reading, enjoy the upcoming shows if you're lucky
enough to live on the east coast...

Taboot, Taboot,

Christian

"That's funny, I don't *feel* like I have a lot of homework to do."
        -Joshua Marker