, attached to 1993-05-08

Review by dr_strangelove

dr_strangelove This is a difficult show to review because there is just too much going on to really capture it all with words. The band's playing is really tight throughout and in particular, the 2nd set is a showcase of great communication and the willingness to take cues and explore musical ideas with abandon. Highlights:

1) Stash-> Kung-> Stash: Oh my god, Trey is in peak form for this screaming tension filled Stash. Banshee wails behind Fishman's deft tribal drumming and Page with great melodic phrasing to hold things steady. After several spell-binding minutes of Trey's tension filled soloing, the jam settles into a bass/drum driven subtle groove and minimal playing from Page and Trey. The Kung incantation emerges over this quiet beat and then leads back into a final coda of Stash. Extremely strong Stash and jewel of Set I

2) Glide: The perfect tune to follow that raging Stash. Trey's playing is too good. I haven't heard a Glide executed with such speed and precision in a while!

3) Reba: Superb playing from Trey and Page - phenomenal version

4) David Bowie -> Jessica Jam -> David Bowie -> Have Mercy -> David Bowie: Right out the gate, Trey is playing a dark riff over the Bowie intro hats and Page immediately starts teasing Jessica. Trey picks up pretty quickly for a brief but wonderful riff on Jessica before returning to the original dark riff played over Fishman's hi-hats. This dark riff theme returns after the main composed section of Bowie, with Mike aping Trey's riff and Page offering dissonant trills. The theme evolves as the tempo increases, and various band members start yelling into the chaotic jam. Glorious fun, but far from over! The darkness eventually emerges flawlessly into the beauty that is Have Mercy. And to complete this triple decker, the band again executes a flawless return to the chaos of the Bowie jam with a raging conclusion to this excellent musical foray. Crowning jewel of this show and is priority listening for those who don't have the time/patience for a whole show.

5) It's Ice: The band takes a brief interlude to jam out this tune. Atypical, brief, and even funky for a minute. The way the band is able to morph between the main song and these strange digressions is impressive

6) The Squirming Coil: Keeping up with the atypical interesting jams, the band jumps right back in during Page's outro solo to take an extended foray into a bluesy and funky jam that's especially fun to hear both because its coming off the heels of Coil and because the improv is so good it almost sounds composed

7) Mike's Song -> Crossroads-> Mike's Song: Another great jam that involves an incredible and energetic sandwich into Crossroads! The playing is unsurprisingly enthusiastic, but my biggest impression is with how well everyone seems to be communicating with one another to play off each others energy and execute these weaving transitions between songs and musical ideas.

Incredible show, check it out ASAP!


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