From: kent@earthlink.net (Kentalope)
Subject: Sicky-Wicky Segues! 11-22-94 Columbia, MO.
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 97 01:54:00 GMT
In retrospect, I come to find that some of my favorite parts of Phish
shows tend to be the segues, some of which are better than others.
There are a lot of things that constitute the little black arrow, but
I've taken it upon myself to try and pick out a few of these arrow's
where it means oh-so-much- more than just one song progressing into
another. I think the reason I like them so much has to do with the
fact that the jamming structure of most segues I've heard fall out of
the category of any particular song. For instance, most (notice that
word) Antelope's have a structure within their jams, whether it be
chord progressions like Slave, or a continuing beat like Weekapaug. All
in all, most of the time I can throw in a song, and wherever they are
in a jam, I can say "this must be Mike's" or whatever. When I CAN'T do
that, that's when I take notice and say, "Okay - they're really doing
something different/out of their usual realm here" and basically,
that's what I enjoy hearing the most.
So, with that in mind, I'll attempt a short review of the Funky Bitch
-> Yerushaliym (sp) segue that I was fortunate enough to witness in
Columbia, MO. at the Jesse Auditorium (nice, tiny place).
Columbia, MO. 11-22-94 set II
=============================================
The Funky opener was nice, and is still one of my favorite versions due
to the tightness. As the song ends where we all know it ends, it
continues into a semi-similar fashion of the song, but sort of an
alternate-dark version. Fish keeps the same beat, and low and behold,
the Clavinet begins with Mike delivering a 2-note theme that Trey picks
up on immediately. Sort of two funk chords that starts strong and
begins to dissipate into feedback of Trey's guitar. Fishman begins to
change the beat here, throwing in some loud snare fills that shakes
things up a bit, then they go back to what we were hearing before, with
Page taking the Clavinet where Trey was taking his guitar before,
letting Trey build on a new theme..sort of 3 notes going up and back
down, getting faster until everyone jumps on the train...yee haw. Good
ride right here. They seem to know it, because they all begin to play
it louder and more fiercely. It's not a particularly happy jam, but
one of amazement for its sheer intensity. Things quiet down.. Then
Trey hits this evil power chord that's quiet at first, then he starts
laying it down. Wha..wha..wha..with Fishman picking up on it, hitting
the snare at the same time. Then Trey plays up a bit, sort of a minor
of the chord, repeating into a sea of what seems like the beginnings of
BBFCFM or something, but it just builds up momentum for Trey to lay
down another repeated note pattern.. This builds until it comes way
down to a quiet Trey and Page playing two notes back and forth. Pretty
quiet here, reminiscent of the 5-27-94 Warfield show right before the
opera singer came out. Pretty feedback of the two notes Trey was
repeating before, with Page kind of playing a Halloween-feeling pattern
over it. They all stop playing, with Page beginning an organ sound that
could be the beginning of church - IF IT WERE THE CHURCH OF SATAN! I
mean, it's still dissonant stuff here.. not too happy. Mike takes over
and begins a slow beat with a note that matches Page with his bass.
Trey then picks up immediately with a really interesting riff right off
the bat (how does he do that?) that he repeats and they all begin to
build the intensity again (this seems to be the pattern here.. and now
that I think of it, most of their stuff patterns around this type of
thing). They build until Trey hits kind of an off note and holds it.
This part is kind of funny, because it kind of leaves everyone not
knowing what to do.. You can feel questionmarks here. Page steps up to
the plate, though, and starts a pattern that is reminiscent of an
earlier part of the segue - and then yep, sho nuff, Trey starts a part
of the segue from earlier, but this time it's about 80% more
intense..louder, tighter - just a lot more powerful than what was done
before. Then Trey takes it to the high notes of the Doc, bringing the
jam to an almost-hose-but-not-quite moment. This calms down quickly,
and what follows next is really really amazing. It's hard to explain,
but I'll try. Basically, Trey starts repeating 3 notes really quick,
and the rest of the band picks up on it almost immediately, with Fish
hitting the snare at the same time as Trey, and Mike complementing Trey
exactly. Mind you, this is all very quick and seems really hard to do.
This is the point where I say, "They HAD to practice this.." But who
knows. Very experimental, and reminiscent of a part of the Bozeman
Tweezer. Everything quiets down to a Page playing a couple high notes,
with Mike repeating a note that brings forth a sonic rush of sound that
Trey capitalizes on as well. This part is very beautiful, and reminds
me of The Catherine Wheel - a soundtrack for a movie David Byrne did
awhile back. This part, also, I feel is VERY VERY (almost too)
reminiscent of a part of Down with Disease in the 2nd set of Amsterdam.
Mike is amazing here. This part is worth the tape alone. It's like
two singers singing harmony with each other extremely well and
beautiful, but it's a bass and guitar and it's improvved (and we like
that, don't we). Trey begins playing a chord soft at first, then
loudly (within like a bar if it were in 4/4) which everyone else jumps
on with, then when Trey stops, the rest of the band stops as well..
This is repeated a couple of times, then Trey begins to noodle. He
finds some very very evil sounding notes and repeats them. Fishman
then drums along with them and hits a snare, kind of "stopping" Trey.
Everyone else seems to like this alot, so they begin this frantic
everyone-playing-this-pattern- real-fast-then-stopping-then-repeat
thing. It's really amazing, especially the fact that they played it
out of their asses, which blows me away every time I hear it. Towards
the end, Mike (I believe) holds a high "ohhhhhh" note, and the music
fades into the familiar Yerushalim song, with While My Guitar right
after it.
To me, this seems more like a freak occurrance than anything, for I
haven't seen something like this again. Granted, Antelope and some
recent DwD's have done it, but to kind of play a segue as a song in the
middle of two songs that have never been segued before (or has there
been wackiness after Bitch before?).
Oh, well. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed
listening to it while I typed it.
Whatever you do, take care of your funky b'atches,
\\ Kentalope //
------------------------------
From c622428@showme.missouri.edu Fri Jul 4 10:35:42 1997
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 00:08:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: Ed
11-22-94, Jesse Auditorium, Columbia, MO
Great, small auditorium that only holds 1800(!) people. My friends
Jeff, Scott and I collected lottery line tickets (of which each
person was only allowed one) for three days before they went on sale.
Between us we had more than fifty of the 450 they gave out. Good odds on
close seats, I thought. They picked number 1656 (I'll never forget that #)
and it turned out we had five of the next 10 numbers! As it was we and our
friends made up almost the entire front row center section.
Anyway, more about the show. I was blown away at how small the place was.
And evidently so was Trey who apparently wasn't paying attention during
soundcheck. I say this because as he walked out on to the stage, he gave
the hall a large scope with an astonished expression on his face.
Set One: BURIED ALIVE...I called this opener much to the surpise of the
guy next to me who didn't think I knew the difference between Phish and
Fishbone. Good sound, a little quiet, though. POOR HEART...Crowd liked
this one. Not bad. HORN...Not my favorite song, but still kind of rare.
FOAM...Only heard this one three times in first 24 shows! We were so
close I could hear Trey's guitar even without amplification. Pretty cool.
GUYUTE...Heard about this one from tourhead. I was in classes at Mizzou
when they debuted it. A little loose, but lots of potential, I thought.
IDK...Band seemed really at home here in mid-Missouri. Trey strolled
around the stage while Fish did his thing. BOUNCIN' and DwD received great
responses from the crowd, but didn't do much for the people up front, I
noticed. SWEET ADELINE was special because I was within spitting distance
of the boys, their voices never sounding clearer. On a scale of 10, this
one was a five.
Set Two: FUNKY BITCH...I had only heard this on older tapes and I didn't
know it was in semi-regular rotation. I thought it sounded great. It had
definitely gone through some changes. The JAM that came out of this song
was simply grand! I thought this jam was a part of the song, but it went
way beyond any Funky Bitch I've heard since. It worked so well in the
small venue, because it got so quiet. YERUSHALAYIM SCHEL ZAHAV was
awe-inspiring. Again, probably because of the small hall and the fact that
the audience finally shut up after all the quiet parts. CRY BABY CRY was
great. Won't hear this one too much more. CURTAIN was nice and BLACKBIRD
was Page's time to shine.RUNAWAY...could have been tighter, or longer, but
I never mind hearing this song. The bluegrass songs all sounded spirited
and well played, you know. HIGHWAY was fun, short ender and LIZARDS
caught us a little off guard as an encore. Set Two grade 7 out of 10, but
get this tape for the Bitch>Jam>YSZ. It's worth the hunt.
Eric Edholm
c622428@showme.missouri.edu