From: Benjy Eisen
Subject: We LOVE to take a 12/29/95 BATH
Some of you have told me that you like to read these files as you listen along to the tape - this is the one to do it for:) BathtubGinFiles #6 12/29/95 The Centrum; Worcester, MA
Gin stats: Set II Total time: 23:05 Cars Trucks and even Busses fade completely out of earshot but their vibrations on the road can still be felt as, without pause, the Bathtub Gin Opening Segment begins. 0:00 Standard opening...some rockin' tom-tom action from Fish but nothing else to comment on really. Page jumps in at 0:17 riding nicely on some energetic but not frenetic fingerwork 'till 0:48 when Trey interupts with lyrics. Lyrics Segment: 0:48 Minor flub on "to the troubadors." - he confused the line, and aborted finishing the particular lyric. Page Fill 1: 1:18 immediate and enthusiastic chordal chops until 1:37. Fill 2 comes at 2:95 with some sweeps and ivory shouts of joy. FAUCET: 2:35 Flubbed slightly as usual, neither more nor less than par. SINGING with the Faucet: 3:15. Again, marginally exciting but with minimal deviation. 3:57 it gets a little more crazy, perhaps initially to cover up a fuck-up? Sounds smooth though and certainly smooths out the earlier fuck-up....actually this is an Alternate Faucet Theme being improvised upon - above average for this section. WATER from the Faucet: 4:26 with some thematic ocean sprays from Trey, who proceeds to slowly climb the 'doc. A few of those "magical" sliding notes talked about in the recent "Trey's Mysterious Effect" thread. At 5:13 "it" hits the Classic Faucet Theme again. On 5:18 they revert to playing a specific, deviate Faucet Theme that they initially found in the Singing Faucet Section a minute earlier...it's the, yes, YES!, it's the "ALTERNATIVE FAUCET!!" (Not that there is such a thing really. I'm speaking now against Secret Conspiracy Rules) Oh well, whatever, nevermind By 5:33 we're off to find more licks in the Faucet-Theme Region, repeatedly visiting it (the Theme, not the Lick) between discovery of new continents and magical lands. It's 6:05 and already this Bathtub Gin is making history! Already its power is evident, and its potential - unlimited. Talking of history, Phishtorians need only listen to 5 seconds of this jam to recognize the state of the union at this time -- Dec. 1995 Trey's tone and sonic demeaner, mixed with the others' saturation and overall flow of the improvisation, give it away instantaneously. At 6:27 Trey takes the theme and swiftly glides with it, across the oceans, over unchartered terrain, and up, up higher and higher to the peak of a mountain and as we look around us, we see that we are now on top of Mt. Olympus, in all its glory, and this Gin is being given to the gods as an elixer of Icculus - from one mythology to another :) After sampling the Faucet Theme From the Top, and the higher pitches of Mt. Olympus, we lay down like logs and ROLLLLLLLL down the mountain, down the 'doc, and by 7:33 we're in the lower regions of the fretboard again. Fishman insists on hitting this same damn cymbal continually (he's got the right idea though - he's just been part of a sacrifice to the gods, what else could he say?). Mike keeps his cool by sticking to the funk bottom. Some jingles are coming in. Page continues to chord away trying not to think as he dares to ask the immortal question: "So, are those lightning bolts *real*, Zeus?" - around 8:30 Page unleashes some lightning bolts of his own! Mike joins in on the action, (starting actually around 8:00) By the 8:40's Trey answers on behalf of Zeus (who is far too enchanted and enraptured in this magestical jam's spell to comment) and throughout the 9 min. mark both Trey and Page display PHENOMENAL INTERACTION. Both step forward, but instead of interrupting, they pursue a fruitful discourse, demonstrating the merits of a lively Gin to the captive gods, who are all now spellbound in the bathtub! (as am I) By 9:25 the four Phish embark upon a new journey, traveling together with fine companionship chatter and conversation over a tea-time Gin while the train whistle melody continues to build. From our compartment window, we can see the Swiss Alps. Trey's mind wanders out to the view that all four of them painted and suddenly he's skiing down the Alps' wide-open bowl in untouched powder. (Locking into a repeating descending lick.) Page hits the slopes as well, agreeing splendidly with Trey's path, but finding his niche in the higher altitudes (and octaves.) Fish watches all of this closely from the train, keeping the train moving in chugga-chugga fashion over the tracks...tracks that they are inventing even as they travel over them. If you listen to him, you'll hear the train. Mike freaks, thinking that maybe this isn't real after all, maybe he's actually playing at the Centrum, near where he grew up, and that Mt.Olympus, the Alps, Trains - all just part of a lucid dream, and so he figures he can't go wrong by continuing to hold 'da funk and 'da bottom end of things. He's right, you know. :) Slowly just after 10:45, the others catch wind of this too -- they really were just dreaming and in reality they're in-front of a sold-out audience in an arena in Worcester, Massachusetts. And so what can they do but ***RAISE THEIR FISTS AND YELL!!!!!!!!!*** At the 11 minute mark the Rock Star takes over Trey's body, but they haven't gotten to Page yet. By 11:35 though, Fish doubles the beat - Arena Rock has taken his soul! The Central Scrutinizer would have a field day ("Nice boys until that Rock and Roll got to them") but Phish fights back, insisting that this is the Real Them.... By 12:10 there is no going back - full exposure of the Real Them. They jump out of the Bathtub, NAKED, DRUNK AND SOAKING WET: Opening lyric to the Real Me is sung at 12:18 by the voice of a ravaged stark-raving-mad lunatic who's had one hell of a day; with a hoarse voice he proclaims that he went BACK to see the doctor. Meanwhile the band is revelling in this newfound identity - Trey could have placed one foot on the monitor, tossing his hair back before slapping the front row five. Rock on! The energy is just *seeping* out of the speakers, folks. Can you *feel* it? We can *feel* it! But can you FEEEEEEELLLL it? We can FEEEEELLL IT! But "Can you see the Real Me?" Oh, we can see it alright! :) The ending is jammed out and 15 minutes after we hopped into the Bathtub we've completely forgotten about hygenics - this jam is purely derivative of "The Real Me" and gives no hint of hiding ever again! SWEET jamming in the 16th minute, just hinting at the Drowned Jam that followed two nights later and it certainly shares the same DNA. 17:00 swift shift...almost a whole different kind of gear shift if this were Antelope and I were Victor and the gears weren't really gears at all. What am I saying? Some wah-wah fUnK from Trey at this point. He's just full of 'DA FUNK tonight as is Page who is also, btw, the diggity dankster of this jam. In fact, Page owns the title of the O.D. - Original Dankster! At 18:xx he's cleverly on the clavinet, doing some of the thing that is the "*it*" as defined by the Helping Friendly. If everyone could hear this jam, we'd live in peace and tranquility to be sure. :) Right around 18:20 Trey re-emerges from his Who fantasy and decides to enjoy the last few days of Dec. '95 by remembering where he's spent his time for much of the month - inside the tubing of countless different hoses. At 19:07 the "wind-down" trick is pulled out (but not "dusted off" as the trick is performed smoothly as Gin poured over ice.) They settle into this new pace of things with ease and Trey streches out, noodles around, and does the usual. The new pace is accepted at 19:41 and pretty soon it sounds like it's almost all over, until Trey shows his continued support for this low-key fluidity jamming (reminiscent of some summer '95 YEM jam segments) esp. at 20:11. BACK INTO THE BATHTUB!!!!! Trey makes the reintroduction splash at 21:11 after ever slow slightly dipping his feet in to see how hot it was, now re-entering the 'tub waters deliberately with a different rhythm. By 21:36 The Real Faucet rears its brass valor, the crowd goes wild and at 22:00 they might as well call it "All Faucets Reconsidered" as they pull their variations on a theme bit, here. "We've got staccato, cause we've got a band, and we've got palm-mutes in the band." Page drones us with a middle-pitched spell, and at 22:40 the audience decides that it's hearing a rhythm that the band, quite frankly, isn't intending to keep: "If you're NOT in the Bathtub, you just wouldn't understand!" Pretty soon they trade in the slowe Gin for some "slow feedback" and slight commentary in the form of mumblings from Page. We can call this Gin virtually downed by 23:03 but we still need a couple seconds to get out of the 'tub before we take McGrupp for his walk at 23:07. Bathtub Gin was over somewhere between 23:03 and 23:07 (we'll call it at 23:05) and from it's dying vibrations energes the march of Colonal Forbin and his Fleethound called McGrupp; it's a psuedo-segueway that avoids being a meritous transition. But that's ok - we just came from a Gin->Real Me->Gin ride! For a quick breathilizer guideline: The JAMS in this GIN had some 24k. GOLDEN HOSE moments, and the Real Me slid in-and-out with an ease that displayed and illuminated whole universes and galaxies that can be tapped-into by this band. This easily demonstrates why Phish holds the throne in the jam-band kingdom, hands down. Buuuuttt, don't forget that the composed section did have slightly more flubs and botches than usual - not by alot, nor do they add up to anything of much significance given the glory that follows, but they must be represented in the alcohol-content if only to uphold some definite guidelines for the ratings. Which brings us, finally to this Rating: 98proof A+ This is the Real Thing Baby! ...or as someone suggested, "The Real Gin" Oh yeah, this particular Bathtub and Gin combination may also be used as an effective aphradisiac :) Be safe now, kids... Benjy