YEM review - 10-2-99

From: Benjamin N Gray bng1@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Subject: YEM review: 10.2.99

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10.2.99 - Target Center - Minneapolis, MN
Set II:
Tweezer > On Your Way Down, Piper, YEM > Frankenstein, Waste


The Piper before this YEM is pretty intense at first, some serious
rock-star Trey, and the Piper jam veers pretty significantly from the
Piper chord progression. The same type of jam that you've heard come out
of Piper before, but a very good jam nonetheless.  This jam winds down to
some great spaciness with a cool backward effect or something from Trey (I
think, it might be Page too).  YEM starts out of this space.


The opening instrumental section is played flawlessly, and what a
beautiful composition it is.  Pre-nirvana.. what a beautiful spacy
improvisation it is.. This space is perfect, very cleanly played, and goes
down to a silent measure before the nirvana section.  Nirvana around
4:30..


I've heard more inspired piano coming out of nirvana, but this is real
nice.  Page certainly meant it.  Mike's solo around 5:30 is good, nice and
melodic.  The first *note* comes around 6:45, it's hardly sustained, but
there's some decent jamming around it.  Second *note* at 7:40 or so is
sustained well..


"Boy" at 8:00 after a good scream, if a little uninspired.  Some nice
wah-noodling from Trey between the lyrics.  After the BMGS lyrics, Trey
just says "Boy, man," and doesn't ask us all to wahasl;knb;lnao;iej, but
the rest of the band reminds us that we should.  I'll try to remember, and
hopefully the same goes for everyone.


That's an interesting synth effect from Page around 10:00, but he drops it
pretty quickly.  The crowd seems pretty pumped up for the tramps, and
there's some nice organ grooving going on here, nothing you haven't heard
before.  Jam begins around 11:30..


I love the effect Mike uses at the start of this jam, it's kind of watery
sounding.. That's cool.  The crowd starts clapping along with this jam
which is pretty much just Mike with Fish keeping the beat.  Some more
substantial grooving seems to be coming on around 13:00, we'll see..
Indeed, the groove gets more substantial, but it also stays very minimal..
lots of Mike in this version.


Word, around 15:30 Trey starts playing some super-groovy licks.  I'd never
heard that sort of thing before, or never really noticed it at least.
Cool.  Trey comes in around 17:30 out of this dope little minimalist
groove with some more traditional YEM soloing, Page on piano.  Er.. this
jam dies out with some digital delays around 18:00 and the washuffizi's
come back in over this without any real d+b segment..


Wow, that jam segment was really sick, I'll comment on it again after the
vocal jam..  The start of the VJ kind of reminds me of the VJ from A Live
One, though it veers from it pretty quickly.  Somebody, it sounds like
Mike, is singing some nice, almost Middle Eastern-sounding melodies over
the usual VJ weirdness.  Wow, even the vocal jam is seriously groovy in
parts, unlike some of the just plain weird ones.


All in all, this YEM had a lot of minimal, largely bass-driven grooves
going on.  Mike fans, get it.  Not because he's throwing out all kinds of
technical prowess, but because he's just all over it.  This isn't the YEM
for the party, but perhaps for the listening after that second bong hit.
You don't need it, but it's definitely a good example of a non-standard
(i.e. no D+B section and the jam isn't the usual
build..build...build.....climax!!!..VJ) YEM.  Groovy, man.  Peace.

Ben Gray
 


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