From: Charlie Dirksen
7/10/94 Saratoga PAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (Rvwd 11/95) Thanks, J()e, for hooking me up with this. Similar to 7/2/94,
this opening is also upbeat. There is some occasional, light-hearted screams from Trey and Mike here and there, and Trey
cracks up at one point (and fudges a note badly). A scream from Trey about ten seconds before the tramps segment comes in.
All in all, an unusually strange opening (which is probably sufficient to make it above average, even if it ain't that pretty!). Mike is
very active in the first minute of the tramps segment, along with Page, before Trey makes his appearance off-key
distortion-jamming. No theme. Trey just off-key sustains and tools around, as usual in this segment. The MikeS theme returns
around 5:10 or so, and the post-tramps segment effectively begins ten seconds later. Simple is teased viciously by Trey at 5:30
(almost immediately). And then Mike starts teasing Midnight Rider a little.. Trey and Mike kinda tease Simple/MidnightRider
respectively off of each other for about 15 seconds, and then lock into a different, blended Simple-Rider theme for about 30
seconds. Page is just hanging in the back with Fish. This theme is effectively taken for strong within the next few minutes! Trey
and Mike start jamming around it, and at 7:25 Fish and Trey -- in particular -- get involved with a very repetitive jam for about
15 seconds or so. At just after 8 minutes, the jam drops back a level, and sounds like it may go into a "quiet mode." It doesn't,
though, and within ten seconds, around 8:20, Mike sorta starts playin the Low Rider theme. Trey doesn't truly tease it until
around 8:50, however. Then he starts casually jamming around the main Low Rider theme. This is a really groovy Low Rider
jam at this point (9:30). Nothing spectacular (like the Sweet Emotion jamming on 5/6/93, or the theme jamming in the MikeS on
12/30/93, etc.). Page gets really funky in Also Sprach fashion around the 10 minute point. Trey is still playin' the Low Rider
theme around 10:30, and then Fish starts schwag-ing the beat (as if to say "F*CK THIS").. slowin it down, speedin it up... at
11:08 Fish starts pickin' it up, and dropping it back, and then at 11:20 kicks into a Llama beat for 5 seconds. Fish is completely
f*cking with everyone now, not keeping a good groove, until about 11:40... when everyone starts jamming as a unit again.
MikeS typical theme-jam ending comes in majestically at 11:59 or so, after a quick climb out of the Low Rider madness. This
final MikeS segment is even more amazing than 7/2/94... One of the best endings to MikeS I've ever heard! Trey wails almost
in Weekapaugian fashion within the first minute of so of this closing MikeS jam, which makes me wonder what the hell the
Weekapaug will be like. The rest of it is typical (the VERY ending). Hydrogen comes in around 13:45. What a MikeS! The
Hydrogen is flawlessly performed, and magical. And 20 secs longer than usual, ending at 17:05 or so. Mike's opening
Weekapaug solo-jam is one of the Greatest Jams he's ever done. It is unlike anything even close to what I usually hear him do in
this opening. He was effectively grooving with himself. It sounded to me like he was playing two bass parts o'er top eachother. I
recommend all Mike fans get this set JUST for this! The Weekapaug jam starts out with Trey repetitively on the same theme for
a little bit before he takes off and explores the hills and dales of Rhode Island. He sounds somewhat held back in these first two
minutes or so, and then, around 19:50, finally begins to soar and truly get into the groove. He does a lot of repetitive stuff. At
20:45, the jam falls into one of those quiet segments. Fish drops the beat entirely, coming in only sporadically ... Trey Mike and
Page noodle here and there for about a minute or so, when Trey starts keying in on a theme. Fish then starts the beat back in,
ever so slowly, and steadily -- but managing to quietly flail away on the drums at the same time!! WOW! At 22:10 this jam is
building and building with serious activity from all. At 22:30 the Weekapaug Groove theme jam returns, and everyone smokes
the close... The theme that Trey chooses to dwell on in the closing few minutes of the jam is quite original and fun. At 23:50 or
so, Trey hits that standard near-end-of-the-Weekapaug-jam theme, but still manages to creatively jam this 'paug out a little
more. Final verse enters at 24:35, and, unfortunately, has a bad missed note in its beginning (Trey). Otherwise a standard close.
25:34 total time. B+/A- rating. An above average MikeSGroove, for certain, but not quite deserving of a solid A/A- rating
because of missed notes. The jamming is still excellent, and, again, Mike's opening to this Weekapaug is probably hands down
the COOLEST opening I think I've ever heard him do. two cents