, attached to 1995-06-22

Review by Riosan

Riosan Although I wasn't at this show, the 4-song set II and the 40 minute Tweezer -> Tweezer Reprise intrigued me. After all, this was still only '95 and 4-song sets weren't common yet.

Set I was alright, but nothing special. Mule at points seemed like a train ready to derail but was still enjoyable. Ha Ha Ha > Divided Sky is an interesting choice. After It's Ice (which sounds like it features a vacuum solo), Strange Design is a great way to let off steam, and a raging Maze turns it right back up to 11. Cavern and Sweet Adeline were played and sung great, as always. A great first set and a solid 8/10, but there's nothing that really stands out.

Set II is obviously the main attraction here. Theme from the Bottom is solid as well, and evolves into a small interesting little jam until Trey takes us into Tweezer. Let's break down this 40 minute behemoth.

The opening composed segment of Tweezer almost seems like it's going to fall off and derail at any point as well. Fishman can never seem to be right on target, and (in my copy at least), there are way too many annoying push/pulls in the rhythm. Around 5 minutes in, Trey screams for "NEEZA! EBENEEZA!" Page side is most definitely rage side until Trey breaks into some heavy Zeppelin-esque riffs around 12 minutes in. This escalates into a solid type II jam for a little while until...

It starts getting a little weird with a bluegrass-y jam on the Who's My Generation around the 20 minute mark. Trey sings as Page just hammers the keyboard until it begs for mercy. Immediately after they finish jamming My Generation, they slow the tempo down a lot and go into more type II jamming. Fishman has some great echo-y hi-hat rolls as Trey and Mike lead this part of the jam. Around 29 minutes, they go into some scary, dark, effects-laden jamming accompanied by screaming from what sounds like Mike and Fishman. Trey and Page go crazy with effects - sounds like air horns and raid sirens going off. Fishman just hammers the ride cymbal and toms and at one point, someone begins to play the vacuum.

Around 35 minutes, Trey and Page begin to form actual notes and melodies again. Page and Mike lead a small jam here, with Fishman accompanying them with tasteful work on the hi-hat and wood block. Around 38 minutes, Trey comes back in and lightly jams with Page. The finale of this epic Tweezer finishes with Fish playing a weird rhythm and gradually slowing into...

Tweezer Reprise to roaring applause. Fishman is bouncing off the walls and begins playing even before Page and Mike come in. He exits and waits for Mike's bass bombs, and comes right back in. Right before the final "step into the freezer"s, Fishman plays some great triplet snare rolls.

This encore is the only thing to me that holds this concert back from being one of the all time greats of 95. After the massive Tweezer and energy of Tweeprise, where do they go from here? Unfortunately, they blow it with Acoustic Army, and it's met with screaming and lots of shushing from the crowd. At one point, they begin clapping along and I even think I heard a firecracker? While My Guitar Gently Weeps comes afterwards, and while another good song, what were they thinking? They killed all the energy from set II!

Final thoughts: Set I was solid but doesn't really stand out. Set II features the incredible 40-minute Tweezer into a screaming Tweezer Reprise. Everyone should seek out set II, but the encore ruins any energy that was still left over. 8/10.


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