From: Charlie Dirksen
11/3/94 UMASS Thanks for the crispy DAUD, Eric! The SOAM in the first set is one of the most frightening, evil, monstrous
SOAMs I've ever heard. There are several really crazy long SOAMs (see 7/3/94, for example), but this SOAM is really, really
OUT THERE, and just DAMN SCARY!! It is the highlight of the show easily, in my opinion, outside of the BBFCFM, which
is also pretty damn EVIL. Opening standard. There is definitely an attempt at the Vibration of Life in the pre-Nirvana segment,
and then Trey HAS to speak up about it. Agh. "No relation of course to the Dude of Life." :) Thanks, Trey. "..glue that holds
the universe together... You got to be careful about this stuff, though.." All of his yapping effectively killed the Vibration, imo...
Nirvana at 4:37, and it is typically gorgeous. Page's playing is charming and enchanting as usual. Aahhhhh, Page. The
accompaniment is also flawless. Mike's solo-section at around 5:23 has Mike teasing something, I'm fairly certain, at first, but I
don't know what it is a tease of (something non-Phish). Somewhat related to Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," but
not quite it, so don't get excited you Copland fans... the pre-charge jamming is flawless, and Trey nails the first shot at the Note
and jams quite well around it! The second shot at the Note is soundly sustained.. nice opening. "Boy" after a strong charge and
a fantastic scream at 8:01. The WUDMTF segment has some nice clav-funking from Page, but is a little shaky on the second
round of WUDMTF chants (at the very beginning). Page teases "Here Comes Speedracer" on the piano. Tramps segment
opens around 10:12 or so with Mike giving the tramps signals, and Page noodling away on the hammond. Good segment.. Jam
segment starts out very quietly, with the audience clapping. The band completely stops at one point (and there's just audience
clapping). Trey seems to be teasing a groovy theme in here to open up the jam segment, and Page and Mike accompany nicely.
Not that active, though, really. Yet. Should explode soon. A little "Oye" hinting around 14:15 or so (but in a different key). The
jam starts growing, now, finally.. ARE YOU READY TO RAAAWWWWWWWWWWWK!!!??? ;) The jam slowly climbs
hinting at Oye Como Va all the way, and then Trey starts teasing it outright around 15:45 or so, and the jam gets into typically
fiery YEM jam segment mode, finally. Around 16:15 or so the jam is total Oye Como hose, for the most part, with Page and
Fish going off, but Mike remaining relatively calm. Trey is soloing high on the 'doc in typically Oye fashion for the most part. No
exceptionally incredible jamming in here, though, for damn sure. At around 17:05 the jam enters an awry mode for YEM,
however. Not much of a climax.. I can't really describe it. Just kinda peters out, and Mike gets more prominent.. starts going off
with Fish (17:40 or so). Good groove. Trey accompanies a little, too, but I can't hear Page. Mike funks melodiously for the
most part, and plays quite well. For those of you really excited about Fall '96 Mike-action in YEM... well, you need to pay
more attention to these older versions. Mike kicks ass in many of them, too, you know. Great B&D segment!! Closing
WUDMTF segment at 19:31. I can't make out any words but it sounds like Mike Trey and Page all start out uttering the same
vocal schtuff. Fish makes "wachoo"-like noises at first. Not terribly interesting or exciting for a vocal jam, imo. Whacky.. (!)
Nice vocal crescendo at the end, however, which segues into a severe BBFCFM!!!!!! =^] Total time 23:27. Well, the highlight
was definitely the segue into BBFCFM, and this BBFCFM is far more exceptional a version than the YEM was. B- rating for
the YEM, which wasn't standard, but certainly wasn't really that "awesome" ("B") in my opinion, based on those I've heard. two
cents charlie