From: Benjy Eisen
BathtubGinFiles 1: 12/29/96 Philladelphia Spectrum Set II Bathtub Gin
Total time: 11:28 Opening follows ADITL quite nicely. Nice accents from Fish on cymbals. Page jumps in the Bathtub at 0:15->0:48 ever eager for a Bath making some truly *phenomenal* and outright OUTRAGEOUS waves. This is perhaps the most CRAZY I've *ever* heard Page in this segment. It's like a cross between a hurricane and a John Medeski who's all around! Call the doctors - this man has gone psycho!! Page man, I think you've started drinking the Gin a bit early on :) Fishman (???) calls out something, but I can't quite make it out (immediately before Lyrics Segment). Ripples heard throughout the audience too, in terms of cheers. Lyrics portion at 0:48 standard, coming in immediately after Page's early excursion, with the typical minor deviations and subtle variations. More PHEMONENAL Page at 1:34 in between verses. He's REALLY excited about this Gin. Again at 2:10 he does some fancy fingerwork until 2:26 when Trey announces the joker coming. Page's piano sound is just so *rich* and *full* here tonight, it's more like a Guinness stoudt than a Gin. Just like Loving Cup and Squirming Coil, Bathtub Gin definately calls for the Baby Grand more than the organ or clav. THE FAUCET is turned on at 2:43 No major flubs here. SINGING with the Faucet at 3:30 "Waah-wa-la-la-di-da-dah..." and Mike's "Bathtub Gin" backing. Nothing too crazy. Around 4:12 the scat-singing gets a little more interesting but not nearly as much as it has been known to from time to time. All the same, this is definately not just a run-through of the composed sections...everybody is playing it well and with a sincerity and an energy *sometimes* missing these days in the song-portion as it also is sometimes missing in the too-often-played-for-years songs. WATER from the Faucet at 4:41. See I told you the pre-water segments were not just absent-minded quickies - it lasted a full 10->20 seconds longer than the average. It may not seem like much, but for a composed part it is. Anyway, the water: The start almost sounds like a beat was fucked up, or more likely, Fishman signaling saying, "Ok guys, let's start improvising." Wierd. Trey imediately jumps on some imaginative but melodic deviation from the Faucet Lick (mmmm...deviation!) while keeping somewhat to the mood, flow and direction of it. Around 5:40 he hits the Faucet Lick again in a higher key. Around 5:50 goes *back* to the lick, deviates *again* and some fantastic licks just past the 6:00 minute mark. Around 6:19 goes higher on the 'doc, reintroduces the theme yet again...At 6:34 plays the lick, double time (more likely even faster than double) in a higher key or octave. This speedy-higher-Faucet-Lick is tooled with well into 7:00 and some wonderful noodling with and playing with happens on and around 7:35...Fish does some nice cymbal work throughout. More beautiful licks from Trey at 7:45ish. And cymbals from Fish again. Page and Mike bubbling under...ahh some nice Page subtleties at 8:28 ->30. Mike, mixed too low as usual, is doing some porno-funking as is his usual for this type of improv. Nice! Fits nicely too. 8:49 and Trey has found a glorious new lick to theme out on. He does. The trend so far has been wonderfully melodius jamming, the type that you could sing along to...nothing too rapid fire but opting instead for well sustained and vocal-like lines from Trey (as is the trademark for Bathtub Jams). The clarity of every note is noteworthy here as well as is the *intention* of every note. Band follows. Fish tries to "pump it up" just past the 9:00 mark...and finally around 9:20-something it does pick back up for a little while before sinking back into this *glorious* groove. If there is a place called Gamehendge, and if there is a music that does come from there, then this is beyond doubt from Gamehendge. Qualifying as hose? Sure. Golden hose? Maybe so and maybe not. I could argue either but one thing is clear: There are some moments of pure impovisational magic here. Not as fiery, intense, chaotic, long-winded, whatever as many Phish moments have been, but none-the-less just as inspiring and wonderful. 9:45 more-than-double-time faucet theme again. And again at 9:50. Serious pumping and psuedo-vamping around 10:00 into it. At 10:21 complete Fish dropout and Trey starts in on that fast faucet theme that he just can't seem to leave alone; some nice Page chording. Again jazzy cymbal coloration. Loses the beat completely at around the 11:00 mark, slows down, a few quick seconds where it seems like they may be unsure where to go, but they retain complete confidence throughout. Trey and Page both wonderfully bouncing off each other. Maybe "bouncing" implies a slightly more fired-up jam than what I meant by that -- the improvisation here is complimentary (a feat considering that the jam just went to this new somewhat dropped-rhythm plateau and Page and Trey are *entirely* tuned into each other. (Well...maybe it's just that Page is extremely tuned into Trey :-]) Seems like they are playing each others spaces! They're not stepping on each other, they're weaving a fine and intricate web lightly yet tightly around each other! in between each other's notes, and complimentary to them...some backing chords from Page once in awhile. Just clean and *clear* individual notes from Trey at all points. Almost a return to the Bathtub Faucet Theme but at 11:20 you can hear Lizards seeping in thanks to Trey. By 11:25 everyone is well aware of what's to follow....beautiful and very smooth transition into Lizards. This is a true segue as the Bathtub Gin jam was still going and could have just as easily kicked right back in to the full-fledged Bathtub theme at the same point when instead *it* opted to go for Lizards. Total time: just under 11:30 including a few seconds where it's more Lizards than Bathtub -and because of that grey area there is no question as to whether or not to put "->" down on lists. Again, a very smooth segue that was appreciated by all. Here you can argue if it was hose or not but we definately get soaked. Hell, we're dripping wet. The key characteristics of this Bathtub Gin were the light "Bubble Bath" feeling, the very smooth, slinky, sliding feel..almost as if one is walking on a slippery floor, in a towel, after taking a particularly satisfying bath, trying to keep the towel on while simultaneously juggling several objects and all the while trying not to slip and fall. The speedy, higher pitched Faucet Theme Licks worked well...(this lick has been played like this before, with varying results. Hear 6/25/94 for example). I think it worked well here because of the smoothness and "naturalness" with which it appeared...indeed the jam did yield itself to it. Nothing crazy with vocal scats on the theme and noticeably some may call this Bathtub Gin "unfinished" becuase there was no return to the normal-speed Faucet Lick/Bathtub Gin theme while others will consider it "finished" with an extended jam at the end which eventually melts into Lizards. Regardless, the overriding quality of this version was it's smoothness...a characteristic not uncommon in this tune, but uncommonly standout throughout this one. No perma-groove and no '96-ish chaos but energetic in it's own right. Not long-winded but quality-filled all the same. Often I find my enjoyment of Phish jams equal to how mind-blowing they were whereas this one wasn't so much mind-blowing as it was EXQUISITE. It was also decidedly fresh (ie the band seemed into it.) Topped by what was absolutely the best, craziest, enthusiastic, eager and MAD-CAPPED playing by Page in the pre-jam segment that I've ever heard him do here. All things considered I give this a rating of: Rating: 90 Proof Gin. Right on the A-/B+ mark. "We're all in this together" my friends, Benjy