Date:    Sun, 14 Jun 1998 01:04:36 GMT
From:    Noggin29 
Subject: *Patience in 11/30/97 Funky Bitch*

Here's PatienceReview #2.  Sorry it took so long.  As always,
comments/criticism welcome.

*Patience in 11/30/97 Funky Bitch*

Funky Bitch picks up as soon as Gyute is done.  Trey does a nice job on the
intro, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.  Bitch is going along as usual,
but
Trey's soloing over the chord progression is a bit better that normal, imo.
Nice
stuff from Fishman in here.  Trey peaks first at 2:53 and then plays around the
top of the fretboard.  Mike is accompanying Trey quite nicely, but Page is
virtually inaudible here.  At 3:21, he drops back to the lower notes.  Around
4:00, Trey finds a groove and jams around it and then peaks again at 4:18.
Another peak at 4:46.  Jam goes back into verse at 5:11.  Mike is seriously
slapping out his notes.  Fish adds some nice fills at around the six minute
mark.

At 6:08, Trey chords the opening to the jam, which is much like the chords
opening many jams this year.  Trey lets Page and Mike have centerstage
as he chords away in the background.  Page just kind of noodles around,
not really doing anything outstanding, imo.  Around 8:00, Page switches
from organ back to piano. The piano sounds much better than the organ
here.  Maybe Page just wasn't in a organ mood.  This Bitch is already a
great version at this point.

At 8:55, things slow down at Mike plays some melodious notes; then Trey
quiets things down and the jam takes another turn.  Trey now chords with
the wah.  The jam is very group oriented at this point.  The crowd claps along
annoyingly to the beat.  Mike finds a nice groove with Trey adding texture
with some effects.  It sounds like Page takes a break, but I could be wrong.
The jam develops very slowly, and it becomes almost hypnotic at this point.
Mike adds a couple of notes to his groove, which forces Trey to become a tad
bit more evident in the jam.  At 12:34, Mike adds even more notes and his
groove is starting to become less of a groove and more of a melody.  Trey
gets louder ever-so-slowly, and starts to add a little more that just the
chords,
but he still alloys Mike to have the spotlight.  Page is in there somewhere,
but
not really doing anything noteworthy.  At 14:28, the jam becomes more
intense somehow, even though the speed is not really speeding up all that
much.  The build is much like a Hood or Slave, or even a Reba, where the
jam starts very slowly and melodious, but keeps building until it peaks with
unmeasurable amounts of energy.  Bitch ends at 15:29.

This Bitch is definitely a great example of the '97 Phish style (aka Type-III)
jamming.  Although the jam doesn't represent this style as well as some
other songs/jams from '97, it shows the direction the band is taking.  I don't
think I've ever timed a Funky Bitch before, but I'd guess that they usually
run about five to six minutes.  As you can see with the 15:29 price tag, this
one was seriously jammed out.  The jam doesn't take many turns, which
bums some people, but the patience is there.  A few years ago, this jam
wouldn't have been possible, most likely because Trey would have tried to
make the jam go a different direction after a minute or two.

This is easily the best Funky Bitch I've heard.  Ever.  BTW, the rest of this
show is outstanding.  Apart from the Bitch, it has a great Wolfman's ->
Jam, a nice Love Me with *great* vocals from Mike, a nice Loving Cup to
finish the first set, a Stash -> Free -> Piper in the second set...hell, I'll
just
show you the setlist.

1st set:
Gyute, Funky Bitch, Wolfman's Brother -> Jam > Love Me, Squirming Coil,
Loving Cup

2nd set:
NICU, Stash -> Free -> Piper, When the Circus Comes, Antelope -- (E)
Them Changes

I highly recommend this entire show!  Get it!  Now!

Matt Musick