, attached to 1993-02-05

Review by Penn42

Penn42 **This is my third of (hopefully) 71 reviews as I listen to the entire winter/spring '93 tour.**

Here we have the best show of the tour so far, which isn't exactly saying much considering this is only the third show of a whopping 71 show tour, but it's the little things in life, right?  Pretty similar show structure to two nights ago (2.3).  Both shows have a Tweezer > The Horse > SITM in set II and both share Loving Cup, Rift, Llama, It's Ice, David Bowie, Sparkle, Guelah Papyrus, Amazing Grace, YEM, and Tweeprise.  It's a little funny imagining how pissed everyone would be if that happened today.  Even the opening trio of Golden Age > Twist > Numberline that Bangor '13 and MPP 2 '13 share caused some hubbub.  And those shows were 5 shows and eleven days apart!  I digress...

Split has a really fiery jam.  This song wasn't going super out yet, and this one is even a little short for the time, but it's got the extra mustard.  Trey is really nimble and hitting all the right notes.  Bowie is good again and Reba is cookie-cutter but executed well.  The return of Punch, having been shelved since 1989, is pretty solid and includes an explanation of The Landlady dance.  

This is almost the final arrangement of Punch.  There is one little part during the intro (I'm defining intro as before the lyrics) where Fish is playing something slightly different than he does currently.  For all you theory nerds, nowadays during this part he pounds half notes on the kick-drum while playing dotted eighths on two crash cymbals.  In this version from 1993 he plays the dotted eighths on the kick-drum as well, which does two things.  First, it takes away rhythmic stability because the kick, a loud prominant noise within the drumset and band, is playing prolonged syncopation.   Second, it doesn't allow for the same wash-y effect that the cymbals create when they are not paired with the kick.  It is common for drummers to pair crashes with the kick-drum because the kick adds lots of definition to the articulation (beginning) of the crash.  A quick survey of PYITES reveals that this little section changed on April 30, 1994.  I personally like the later version of this section because it adds rhythmic stability (i.e. sounds better and is easier to dance to taboot) and the wash of the cymbals is really cool.

If you'd like to check out comparisons of what I'm talking about see the Punches from Phish At The Roxy (1:35-1:52) and NYE '95 (2:58-3:14).  Even if you didn't follow the technical mumbo-jumbo the difference will still be apparent.

The Curtain > Tweezer is certainly a winning combo.  This particular pairing really delivers.  The Curtain is tight and Tweezer is far more interesting than it was the other night.  Both It's Ice's this tour have had rather truncated little jams.  I really like the jams!  They're cool enough I could do with a little more breathing room and length.  YEM is good again.  Not as good overall as the previous version, but the bass and drums is better in this one. Page, Trey, Mike, and Fish also further develope the drone-y ending to the vocal jam in this version.  This vocal jam  then develops a more choral-like vibe.  Almost like a Christmas carol.  It's pretty cool.  Even an average YEM is awesome, we all know this to be true, so throw this one on and have a damn good time!  Coil > Tweeprise closes the set out nicely.  Page is eager to let loose on his new piano for his Coil solo.  The new instrument sounds even better apart from the band and allows him to really extend his solo.  

Highlights: Split, The Curtain > Tweezer, bass & drums portion of YEM, Coil


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