YEM review - 7/1/99 First American Music Center, Antioch, TN

From: Benjamin N Gray bng1@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Subject: YEM: 7.1.99 review

=================================

7.1.99
DWD > Caspian > YEM


I don't know if Charlie's still doing these reviews, but I like 'em, so
hopefully I'm not stepping on anybody's toes or anything.  The DWD is hot,
Caspian is so-so.  Down to a little Page trinkling with Trey doing the
same > YEM.


Opening is real nice.  Pre-Nirvana, good space - not the best, and nothing
super-exceptional, but still groovy.  Actually... nice space jam around
3:45 - yeah, add some piano around 4:15 - this is getting real, real, real
nice.  Trey's got this little effect going, Page is on piano, Fish has the
hi-hat rhythm, and Mike's holding it down.  Oh, here it comes, Nirvana
around 5:15 (!).  Groovy, Page... piano solo is nothing special, but no
flubs either.  Good good.


Mike's solo section - some good upbeat stuff, nice and melodious.
Pre-charge section around 6:30 or 6:40, some nice accompaniment from Page,
but nothing unheard of.  Real nice build before the first *note*... it's
not sustained so much as taken hold of by Trey - he's all around it, good
stuff.  Second shot is sustained and sustained perfectly.  Yeah!  yeah!
yeah!  yeah!


Boy at about 8:55 with a nice scream to get us all ready.  Nice little
jamlets in between the lyrics, and the washufiial;kjdfl;ho;hot section
continues the trend.  Oh, wow - some effect I'm not too familiar with from
Page, and some nice bass work from Mike.. back to the lyrics again..


Tramps section around 11:15 with some very good organ from Page - I'd say
Page is all over this one, in fact.  Jam section starts with some serious
funk out of this organ, and this is a thick little groove that this YEM
has found itself in.  It's a July evening, and you're driving out of work
on a Friday, it's warm but not too hot and the breeze is there too cool
you down as this groove pushes through your skull.  Couldn't be better.
For what it's worth, as I write this review, the clock reads 4:20, it's
Friday, and I'm at work (it's cold outside though).


This groove is just some real dope Phish grooving with some wah-guitar,
organ, deep basslines, and Fish holding it down.  Personally, I couldn't
get enough of this type of jamming, so I'm loving it.


Around 18:00, the jam starts building with the YEM lick you've heard Trey
play before in many a YEM.  Building steadily until I'm dancing enough
that a co-worker passing by will certainly not mistake this review for


Jam climaxes and D+B begins around 21:45.  T H I C K.  Mike's throwing
it down and playing some nice melodies too, and it sounds like
some effects from (?) Page in the background too.  Tease of something I
don't recognize around 23:15, and vocals come in around 23:40 over what's
left of the D+B segment.  Cool, maybe a little sloppy though.


VJ.. I don't know how to describe it exactly.  Some barber-shop style
stuff and then spooky weirdness and more weirdness and, er..  it's good.


Not being too familiar with 1999 YEMs, I don't know how I'd rate it, but
it's definitely a solid piece of improvisation, though not too out of the
ordinary or anything.  Get it, you won't mind having it.  Peace.

Ben Gray

Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 16:53:06 -0800
From: Charles Dirksen cdirksen@earthlink.net
To: Daniel W. Schar 
Subject: Re: 7/1/99 Antioch Tenn YEM

7/1/99  First American Music Center, Antioch, TN
 
YEM begins a bit oddly out of the tail end of a giant Caspian, which
featured Page noodling around on the piano.  This show is worth
hearing, in my opinion.  It is FUN.  There are guests in the first set
who add bluegrassy flourishes to numerous tunes, including Roggae.
And Jerry Douglas (on dobro) is just too cool.  DO NOT MISS HIM.  If
you ever hear of the Bluegrass Allstars (Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tony
Rice, Jerry Douglas..) playing in your area, RUN, do not walk, to get
tickets.  And the second set of this show features a lot of improv,
much of which is worth checking out, even if it isn't awe-inspiring.
It's very strong, though, for 1999, IMO.
 
The spacey "pre-Nirvana" segment of this version (which occurs when
Fish whips the hi-hat) is pretty monotonous and dull.  There's an
eruption from the crowd around 4:10 or so, and I'm not sure why
[Editor's Note:  apparently there was a lot of thunder and lightning
going on..].  I think hear some bird sounds, or something, in here.
Which is very bizarre.  Whatever the hell these bird-like noises are,
I've never heard them in any YEM before.  "Nirvana" at 5:32.  In order
words, a very  unusually long opening segment.  Was something
non-musical going on on-stage?  There wasn't much going on musically.
Mike's solo section (around 6:24) is soulful, solid.  He gets very
good tone. Brad brings out the trampolines during the pre-charge
segment, based on the reaction from the crowd on the tapes.  Good
soloing after the first shot at The Note from Trey.  He doesn't
sustain the second Note all too well, but whatever...
 
"Boy" after an excellent scream, which may have been assisted by a
significant number of people in the crowd (as well it should -- I'm
surprised that more people don't take the seconds to SCREAM THEIR
LUNGS OUT along with Trey at this point at shows) at 9:09.  I've only
reviewed two other YEMs that had opening segments of more than 9
minutes -- 4/22/93 and 7/16/93.  PHAAAAAAT Hammond action from Page in
the tramps segment.  Mike's tone is drippy and wet.
 
The Jam segment more/less begins around 13:53.  I saw more/less
because Trey just kinda came in accompanying Page, who was just
throwing out chords here and there.  Trey found a catchy funky theme
real quick to keep repeating.  No real lead to the "jam" in other
words.  No noodling whatsoever.  Just funks along rather simply for
these first few minutes of the jam, picking up momentum after every
few measures.  Fish employs the hi-hat to greater effect around 16
minutes.  The theme that Trey began repeating several minutes ago is
still being kicked out strong around 17 minutes.  Mike is more
melodious than Trey and Page, at times, in this YEM!  Page comes in
more strongly on the piano around 18 mins as this funky YEM picks up
steam.  Fish hasn't really been doing much but Kicking It Out..
 
Around 19 mins the jam has reached Climactic Intensity, and is still
rich and deep like the finest of Phish's Get Off Your Butt And Dance
jams.  Trey finally rips out a Rock Star Riff around 19:35.. At 19:48
he appears to tease Manteca wicked-fast.  Trey starts riffing in rock
star fashion around 20:15, but it ain't noodling!  It's passionate,
fiery guitar artistry!  He starts SCREAMING on the 'doc!!  The jam
takes a small step back before EXPLODING OUTWARD once more around
21:38!  Tension/Release  tension/release!  This YEM has elements of
1997 funk and Fall 1995 improvisational daredevil brilliance at this
point.
 
But then it quickly dies out and ends at 22:20 or so, and it is all
Mike and Fish.  Which is strange because there really haven't been
"bass and drums" segments in YEM much in the last few years.  Mike
repeats this bass riff that he has employed in a multitude of YEMs
over the last year or two.  It's become a staple Riff for him, and
kindof reminds me of the bass line to that tune "You've Got the Look"
(assuming that's actually the name of the tune I've thinking of).
Good stuff from Mike, but if you want to hear him go to town, check
out some summer 1995 YEM bass and drums segments.  He's arguably more
melodious in this one, though.  But he keeps returning to that
standard riff..
 
Vocal jam begins at 24:17, and Fish and Mike keep playing for about
the first twenty seconds or so, as the WUDMTF chanting begins... and
segues into mournfully queer "to Firenze" vocal jamming around 25 mins
(never heard them do this before in YEM's vocal jam).  Total time
approximately 27:40.
 
Ratings don't mean shit and you shouldn't take stock in them.  But
that said, this is an easy B+ YEM.  It contains some really strong
groove-oriented jamming with a great climax, and features an unusually
long opening segment.  But the jam segment was pretty repetitive, all
things considered.  I'm sure it was hellafun to dance to, and IS fun
to dance to... but it doesn't have the originality and improvisational
thrill overall like A-range versions, IMO.  Again, of course, these
ratings don't mean shit and you shouldn't take stock in them.
 
two cents,
charlie

Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 07:43:37 -0800
From: Charles Dirksen cdirksen@earthlink.net
To: Allison Minter astrobabbler@yahoo.com
Cc: Daniel W. Schar 
Subject: Re: 7-1-99  Antioch, TN YEM
 
At 12:20 AM 02/15/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Charles!
>       I'm glad you liked my post about the Antioch
>YEM! I don't mind at all if it is put on PHiSH-Net,
>except for one thing.  When I wrote that, I
>hadn't listened to the show in about a month (lots of
>new CDRs in the past month), so after I sent the post,
>I got the show out to listen to it again. I was really
>embarrassed to be reminded that during that YEM, the
>band was making the bird-like sounds! So my saying it
 
I thought you were just kidding.. and I bet other people did, too. :-)  I
mean, I don't think I would change a thing.  It was hysterical!  Believe
me, the vast majority of readers likely thought you were just joking
around, maybe even teasing me about the bird sounds comment.. But if you
want to redraft that post and mail it on to Dan Schar to put on the reviews
page for that show, then do so.. It's obviously your call.  I just really
hope you do make your comments a part of "the phishtorical record" as They
say..
 
>was finches or sparrows was way off!!! I do clearly
>remember seeing the birds and listening carefully when
>I first got the show to see if they were there, but
>they were NOT the source of the bird-like sounds
>during YEM!!! So if it is put on PHiSH-Net, I'd like
>to either have the PS removed or to be able to correct
>it myself.
>
 
Hahahahahhaa... See above.. Do you still have your post to edit it?  I am
pretty sure I do.
 
>       Here's a strange addition to this whole
>exchange: When I went outside last night to listen to
>that YEM (I like to listen to my discman outside and
>look at the sky), there was a thunderstorm aproaching.
>And the thunder and lightning were in sync with YEM as
>I listened to it! Gave me chills to relive Antioch all
>over again. Then when I came back inside, I turned on
>the weather channel to see what kind of storm we were
>in for (35+ mph winds!), and I learned that there had
>been a tornado in Nashville! Imagine that. Eight
>months after the Antioch show, and the day I'm writing
>about it, the weather seems to replay it as I am in my
>mind and in my discman! Since chains of meaningful
>"coincidences" (aka synchronicities) seem to come to
>me in threes, I was trying to figure out what the
>third one would be. I then realized something that I
>had overlooked. I named my Honda Schroder after the
>Peanuts character who loved Beethoven because for the
>first three years I had it, I listened to nothing but
>Beethoven in that car! (then I was turned onto PHiSH,
>and Beethoven was rarely listened to after that) So I
>was writing about Schroder's demise on the day of the
>beloved Charles Schultz's death. Pretty weird, huh?
 
 
Yeah, that is pretty bizarre.  Maybe the above is your P.S. ?
 
>          Thanks again for writing! Or as we say on the
>Phunky Bitches list, Hanky out!
 
 
Thank you, Allison!
 
charlie


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