If it were up to me there wouldn't any of this "-> Jam ->" nonsense between Theme From the Bottom and Tweezer. Those five minutes are without question a post-jam out of Theme. My second set setlist for this show would read "Theme From the Bottom -> Tweezer -> Tweezer Reprise" making this, to my knowledge, the shortest (in song count) full length (in time) Phish set out there.

Is the hour of music contained within the second set a successful outing for the Phish from Vermont? I can't really say. On one hand: HOLY SHIT! 20 minute Theme?!? 45 minute Tweezer -> Tweezer Reprise?! On the other hand: What?... With the benefit of hindsight, this is a really interesting set to listen to. It shows a band that had reached a point where they could comfortably do pretty much whatever they wanted on stage and get away with it. Including, but not limited to, only playing three songs and jamming two of them out for way longer than normal.

I'd call Theme From the Bottom proper mediocre at best, but the post jam and segue into Tweezer (Fishman mistakes notwithstanding) are really nice. This monster Tweezer, just like the Mud Island version, has lots to love, and lots to... feel otherwise about. Personally, I didn't *hate* any of it, but it wasn't a full 40 minutes of mind = blown. My favorite portion is right after the My Generation jam and the subsequent build into the vacuum jam/chaos. (I don't like the My Generation jam at all, though. It's just awkward.) Had they segued into Rift when Fish then Mike fell into that groove, I'd have been a happy camper. It's not even that I dislike the jamming after Rift fails to catch, I just didn't need any more at that point and Fish and Mike really had it grooving.

However, all of that said, had I witnessed this in person, I don't think I would have responded particularly well. Nobody goes to Phish shows to see four guys go on stage and wank for an hour. Because, if these long excursions are anything, they're self-indulgent. I think their ability and rate of success when it comes to these XXXL jams increased tremendously with time (Cypress Rock and Roll, IT Ghost, and IT 46 Days immediately come to mind), but at this point, they just weren't something I'd necessarily want to witness. Of course, as I said earlier, it is fun to listen back from our current vantage point and be able to hear these anomalies within Phish-lore.

But what are my words worth? Now that this set has been released as filler on the Blossom '95 archival release, you no longer have an excuse for having not heard it. Take a listen and decide for yourself! At the very least it will be a pretty wild ride!