From: Charlie Dirksen
6/29/95 Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY The Bowie in this set is exploratory
and quite queer. It has some incredible jamming in
it, but also some Type WTF improvisation. It is nevertheless interesting
enough that I hereby grovel for a d>a of this set..
puhhlleaze? (and the YEM is incredible) Thanks for sending me a copy
on such short notice, Fitz. Opening ok. The pre-Nirvana
segment is gorgeous at first, but turns a little dark around 2:10 with
some especially erie stuff from Trey. Pretty nice. The
Nirvana section would have been great if Trey had played it more precisely.
Mike's solo section around 4:16 is in the lower
octaves and, though melodious, doesn't jam or convey anything terribly
special. The crowd goes nuts in the pre-charge
(trampolines were brought on-stage) section, as usual. Section is played
well. Trey nails the first Note and jams well around it.
Second shot at the note occurs at 6:18, and there's a CUT to side B
on this copy at 6:25 in the midst of it being sustained out
by Trey. Oh well. About ten seconds or so are lost (this copy sounds
like it's at least 5th gen from an analog AUD master).
"Boy" basically occurs around 6:50. BMGS/WUDMTF section is jammed out
well. Niiiiice jamming in this section! Fishman
nails the snare repeatedly at one point (very unusual). At 8:54 the
trampolines segment begins, and Page is ready to wail.
Sounds pumped. Fishman toys around as well. Mike turns on a weird effect
for the signals. Crowd screams **LOUDLY**.
Fishman is really wailing away in here, fwiw. He's especially active,
jamming well with Page!! =^] I wonder if they knew this
would be the last YEM that they'd play until October. Very groovy,
well-jammed, exciting tramps segment. CUT (not much
lost.. a couple seconds tops). Jam segment basically at 11 minutes.
Trey noodles quickly and melodiously at first.. lets a few
licks out. At around 11:30 everyone finds an interesting stop/start
sort of groove (all come in, and stop, at the same time). They
don't drag this out much, though, fortunately. Solid YEM groove kicks
back in shortly. Page is pounding away on the keys in
typical YEM jam segment fashion, and Mike & Fish provide a solid,
funking bottom beneath Trey's melodious soloing! Good,
solid YEM jamming around 12-13 minutes. At 13 minutes Trey started
repeating a lick that I thought he'd really push out, but
he went off on a tangent. The tangent grooves, and subtly hints at
Oye Como Va (Page complements it), but Trey seems
dedicated to avoiding an outright tease and just soloing groovily in
a typically ACTIVE YEM jam segment fashion! By 14:15 or
so the groove begins climbing dramatically and triumphantly!! The next
minute is just some hard-core YEM jamming, with some
masterful soloing from Trey (especially around 15:45) to close it out!!!!
At 15:58 the jam segment closes with a lot of crazy
effects from Trey, and lots of pounding away from Page.. Mike and Fish
prepare for the inevitable bass and drums segment, but
they aren't prominent until around 16:30ish, when Page and Trey basically
completely drop out. Fish jams well in here, but
again, he lets Mike take center stage. Mike funks melodiously and QUITE
groovily in this section on a gnarly theme -- he's
jumps around a bit on his 'doc (he often just stays lllloooow in these
sections). It is nevertheless fairly repetitive, for the most
part, and not as exciting as many versions I've heard... although he
picks it up a bit around 18 minutes. Oh my God. WTF!!!
Mike turns on this spooky metallic effect and funks out a bit.. still,
a very ODD B&D segment. And very long!!! WHAT IS
GOING ON!?!? MIKE WON'T END IT!!! The very ending JUST RAGES!!! Fish
and Mike lock into a great groove!!!!!!!
=^] Cool!!! GOD DAMN!!!!! YEAH!!!!! OUCH!!!! HOLY SHIIIIIIT!!!!! WHAT
AN AWESOME ENDING!!!!!!!!!
Closing WUDMTF segment at 19:37. (one of the longest Bass and Drums
segments that I've ever heard) Fish coos a lot in the
opening (he knew that B&D segment truly smoked, too). Lots of "Ooouu"
noises from everyone in the very beginning. Nice
danceable vocal jam for the first minute or so.. then it gets typically
summer 95ish. Some screaming, a lot of harmonizing at the
end.. spooky crazy shit. Almost SIREN-like noises towards the end.
Total time around 24:20 (can't be sure given the two cuts,
but the loss on those cuts was ten seconds tops). Well, the B&D
and jam segments were certainly exceptional and well above
the norm ("awesome") even for 1994-6, imo. Have to give this version
an A- rating. Very strong. I'm not sure I'd put this
version of 6/26 SPAC, though. I would, though, put both 6/26 and 6/29
over the 6/16 YEM with Boyd, even though I was at
that 6/16 show and it whupped my ass. The 6/26 and 6/29 (and even the
6/23/95) YEMs have better segments all around than
6/16. I was very surprised. I honestly thought that the 6/16/95 YEM
would prove to be my favorite YEM on tape from the
month. I still love its jam segment and I'd recommend that people hear
it, but if you are strapped for cash and are only looking
to get truly kickass YEMs, pick up 6/26 and or 6/29 from June 1995,
imo. 6/23 is also very strong, imo. two cents
KingMoron420