From: Charlie Dirksen
12/08/95 Cleveland State, Cleveland, OH This 2001 to open the set goes on for a bit longer than usual.. Trey kinda screws
around with some effects in the middle. Ain't as impressive as 12/30/95, though. FWIW, this was the show with the Come
Together and Day in the Life encores, in honor of John Lennon. The Come Together was basically true to form.. it didn't jam,
which is too bad, since I'm sure Phish could make new territory with this tune. But hey.. nevertheless, two great encores!
Tweezer kicks in right at the close of 2001, which technically ain't a segue, but is arguably a "transition" worthy of -> status. ;^)
Opening segment is standard (a couple ch-ch vocal noises..). No significant pre-Ebeneezer lyric activity, I'm afraid. The jam
segment kicks in around the usual time, 4:26 or so, and Trey immediately starts repeating a pleasant theme of sorts. At 5:48, the
jam begins to sound Bozeman Tweezer-esque in many ways (the texture of the jam, especially given Page's chording), but this
doesn't last that long. At 6:30, the jam is grooving hard, but arguably not nearly as maliciously and darkly as it can (and has).
Trey is sustaining above the others ... at 7:30 or thereabouts, the jam sounds 10/22/95-esque (i.e., SOMEWHAT akin to the
ALO 'Montana', which is from the Bozeman Tweezer.. Montana-esque). But briefly. Fish doesn't alter the rhythm into
something closer to reggae'd funk. At 8 minutes, still a plodding Tweezer jam, with sortof repetitive licks from Trey creeping in.
Page is wailing throughout this Tweezer, I might add -- very niiiiice... Trey lets loose noodling around 9:05 or so.. Fish and
Mike are still maintaining the groove, and Page is masterfully engirdling Trey's melodious noodles with jams of his own. At
around 10 minutes, the jam drops back a touch. Gets softer, but the beat is still going. At 10:20, Trey nearly teases Oye Como
Va (the solo of same, not the main theme). Indeed, for the next thirty seconds, Trey is arguably noodling subtly around the Oye
Como Va solo. Fish, Mike and Page then do that same sort of thing I recently described that they did in one of the June Mike's
Songs.. Trey noodles in between Mike/Fish/Page's coming in all at once every fourth beat or so. At 12 minutes -ish, Fish comes
back in, and they launch into an extremely chaotic, frightening Tweezer jam... the jamming around 14 minutes is especially
Magnifiscent, since Trey has found a theme upon which to wail. This is quite a dramatic version of Tweezer, but nothing strikes
a chord with me on a transcendent level. It is still fantastic. At 14:30, Trey sustains a note for a bit and then starts jammin' away,
in Divided Sky-like fashion. At 15 minutes, this jam is still kicking butt.. lostsa TRILLS from Trey in here. At 15:40 or so, Fish
starts playing Wedge-like drums (in Tweezer time, though) for a bit, and the jam descends into a quiet mode. Noodling from
everyone in here (cymbal work from Fish). At 16:49, Trey briefly teases Dave's Energy Guide (using an effect). At 17:15, Page
starts up on the same theme that Trey had launched around the 14 min point. But no.. the jam still stays reserved. Mike's bass in
here is **great**. At 18 minutes, the jam gets hazy and spacey, and
KUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG begins. Similar to the version from Hampton, this version is very
slow and is effectively SUNG. They SING KUNG.. well, chant it (bwaaahahaha). Chant/sing. Very amusing vocal noises out of
Fishman, that sound similar to the Muslim Call to Prayer. Eerie chanting of Kung.. Why do they call upon our "balt", anyway?
At 21:40 or so, there is this weird effect, I presume from Page, that sounds similar to some weird Indian instrument (not a sitar
or tampura!). At 21:30, Trey starts playing the Tweezer theme, seguing it nicely out of the spacey queerness that Kung had
dissolved into. Fish just goes ape in here.. lots of cackles from him. He sounds as if he completely loses his mind (again). Trey
lets loose some powerful jams (Fish is pounding away and screaming/cackling.. just *CRAZY*). THE NOTE comes in at just
before 24 minutes, and, if you can believe it, the dying out of the jam segment begins (well, Page starts playing it).. I love hearing
this form of ending again, after its disappearance! This ending is pretty cool, but I've heard more interesting Tweezer endings for
sure. This ending is still much MUCH better than the 12/28/95 Tweezer, although I prefer 12/28's jam segment to this one
hands down. This slow dying out bit takes awhile.. Total time 26:18. I thought this was a great version of Tweezer, and certainly
above average, but it didn't contain any jamming that **really** caught MY attention. Still, a much more impressive version
than the vast majority! 7.5 rating. (fwiw, I no longer have a copy of this show, so...) NorthernLightsIndica-SativaHybrid420