From: Charlie Dirksen
8/6/93 Cincinnati Zoo's Peacock Pavilion, Cincinnati, OH The opening is fine.. well-played. Typical tempo YEM. The
pre-Nirvana segment contains a definite attempt at the Vibration of Life.. it is so huge that it comes through very well on the
tapes. Very mysterious and enchanting, as this segment usually is in versions of this period, but no especially melodious grooves
that grab my attention. Nirvana at 4:16. Pretty good.. Mike's solo-section at 5:01, and he is dark and ominous once again (and
does nothing extraordinary). The pre-charge section is well-played, with some evil-sounding, practically Judas Priest-like
chording from Trey. First shot at The Note at 6:22 is very good, and there's great soloing around it, but nothing amazing..
OUCH!!! More Motley-Crue-like chording from Trey in here.. very cool and unusual! Ssecond shot at The Note at 7:07 or so,
and he sustains it gloriously as he often does. Charge at 7:24, and then "Boy" at 7:41 after a very long drawn out
screech/scream. Good WUDMTF segment.. Tramps jam at 9:54 with nice noodling from Page, and some curious signalling
from Mike. Fun tramps jam.. Page is fairly repetitive, but it is still fun Tequila teasing around 10:40 from Page. (lots of Tequila
teasing in the Tweezer and Guelah) more Tequila teasing from Page close to 11 minutes.. otherwise, typically strong and funky
tramps jam. At 11:26, Trey opens the jam segment with Tequila teasing.. soon the jam goes into one of those stop/start grooves
(only a fast one), before exploding back into a more typical YEM jam.. and then going back into that same stop/start/stop/start
mode.. before kicking out into YEM strongly again. Some good soloing from Trey around 13:10 that's very Sanatana-esque
(oh, there's another Tequila tease from Trey). At around 13:30 the jam gets into a seriously heavy, rockin' groove!! Damn!
They just starting pounding away viciously in here before the jam explodes at around 14:10 back into more of a typical YEM
jam. Great stuff.. At 14:27, it is Mike funking out rather nicely, with Fish in accompaniment (and a little Page at first). Mike is
very melodious, and could well be teasing some tune in here that I'm not recognizing.. A very phhhhhaaaat groove.. Mike really
grooves in here.. so much so that Trey decides he likes this theme.. around 15:20 or so he starts rhythmically chording just a
touch every measure or so.. and hey, at almost 16 minutes, Trey starts repeating THAT NOTE that's effectively "Shaft" in the
Albany YEM... before at around 16:18, Trey just starts playing Cocaine by Clapton. He even sings a verse of it around 16:45...
and another.. and then the chorus at 17 minutes. Great Page in here (otherwise, it is the tune "Cocaine".. not much Trey, Fish or
Mike). At 17:24, Mike starts wigging out with Fish.. definitely the B&D segment now.. but it is cut short. Closing WUDMTF
segment at 17:42 or so, and Fish is accompanying it until the vocal jam starts. The vocal jam is "Cocaine" at first (on this theme).
Audience starts clapping along. At 19 minutes, the main theme is still "Cocaine" (if you don't like this Clapton song, stay the
HELL away from this YEM). Finally, around 19:30, the vocal jam changes direction and starts sounding almost like Tweezer
for a bit. I think I hear "Gonna be cold cold cold" or something hiding in here. This doesn't last very long.. and then at 20
minutes, Mike starts vocal jamming the Halley's Comet opening.. and by 20:20, the first lines of "Halley's Comet" are sung...
then Fish comes in at 20:40. A great segue into Halley's out of the vocal jam!! This was a very fun YEM that defied the ordinary
structure, in that there was a "Cocaine full-band jam" in, technically speaking, the midst of the B&D segment. But the
Cocaine-jam really isn't that great, imo. There's no real Cocaine JAM, it is more like just a verse of the song "Cocaine," without
much improv. I think this YEM is a lot of fun, and certainly above average, but I don't think the jamming throughout it is
must-hear BY ANY MEANS. If you don't like Cocaine, I don't think this YEM will really mean much to you, frankly. Great
segue into Halley's, though, and this is one hell of a set! B rating. (Mike really kicks butt in this version, though.. so it should be
must-hear for serious Mikeheads).