RebaReview #20
10/31/96 The Omni
Atlanta, GA, set I
Time: 16:10 (w/ whistling)

THE DIRECTIONS (0:00): Pretty darn snappy...whew, it's Halloween!  Lots
of "melted wax" clapping on the second verse...I don't always mind the
clapping, but then again, that's on tape.  Fairly solid to start out
with, but they do sound somewhat hurried...lots of energy in the
Omni...excuse me, the late Omni.  (A Moment of Silence for the
Omni)...on with this �Ween Reba...

THE SIP (2:13): This is where I start to get afraid...this much energy
during the sip can be a little scary...everything seems to hold together
pretty well, but I'm still frightened...it IS Halloween, after all.
Approaching the swallow, things seem OK...Mike holds back until the last
second...here we go, hold your nose...

THE SWALLOW (4:32): Trey struggles for a moment at the beginning, but
recovers fine...first gulp is OK...second is just fine as well...

THE CHILL (5:53): Page flutters a bit, then falls quiet against the
Chill...Mike has it in his blood tonight, sustaining and bopping,
bopping and sustaining...he then falls quiet for Fish...and then Trey
makes a very odd noise, like he's flipping a switch or something, at
6:12.  GordoFish secure the rhythm and Page begins to add some
synth-color to the jam. Chording, tinkling, and then chiming, to which
Trey finally responds at 6:32, with a whisper that turns into a chirp.
He noodles very gently against Page, then whispers/chirps again, slowly
descending to a little shift at 6:52.  Things are moving along very
steadily...Trey continues to lay low, giving Page some room to work
around a bit.  Page scales upward as another shift approaches at 7:12,
and Trey becomes more audible in response, climbing up and up, getting
some reaction from Fishman.  He takes advantage of a shift to play
around up top a bit, not fluttering really but picking around up there,
making Fish stutter a bit, stirring the pot (or the tub, so to say).
Another shift comes at 7:51, bringing some more strength...Page quickly
locks in to the rhythm, Mike really starts to funk it out, and Trey
locates a short lick to dwell on for a moment...this quickly gets
Fishman stuttering again...at the next shift point, Trey drops
down...Mike swells, Trey and Page dwell, and suddenly, at 8:22, everyone
hits a note together...not the same note, Trey is low and Page way high,
Fishman on his ride, Mike in his zone, all caught on their own note,
shifting it out at 8:31.  Trey finds a line to follow, descending...Mike
seems to be feeling really fat, and Fishman is over there stirring up
trouble...another shift quickly approaches, and Trey hits that familiar
swallow lick to mark it at 8:51.  Page switches over to the baby grand,
and Fishman relies on his ride.  Trey...Trey just keeps on noodling in a
low-profile fashion.  For a moment, I think Page goes back to electric
keys...maybe, but a shift hits at 9:11 that catches Trey obsessed with
one note, while Page very clearly starts hammering at his piano.  Trey
licks around this note, and there is turmoil building with Mike and
Page...Fishman is just plodding along here, mostly...a few stutters...a
shift point produces a little change in Trey at 9:51, but he continues
to defy the tension building with his mates, remaining somewhat
repetitive and...well, there's no way around it...EVIL!  (Oh, come on,
it's Halloween!)  Trey passes a shift point, and then he suddenly angles
upward, producing a sudden surge...but it just continues to dwell...and
dwell...and shift after shift seems to pass by...Trey seems reluctant to
release us from this...around 11:20 he starts sustaining in a truly EVIL
fashion...another shift passes by...Trey eventually starts to hammer
around...this is INSANE...finally, some semblance of a shift hits at
12:10, but Trey can't seem to let go...his dwelling and sustaining
continues up to another possible release point at 12:29...everyone else
has really lost it, and Trey begins to sustain in lengthy fashion,
bringing things back down a touch.  This is all very gradual...everyone
else is really at his mercy...at long, long, long last, Trey forces his
way into a chord that he flails at, stirring everyone up again to make
another shot at that release.  It culminates at 13:29, with more
high-level sustain from Trey...the first really true release of this
jam.  But they aren't going to be satisfied with that...Trey drifts back
down and begins some intense low-level hammering that heats things back
up.  He eventually runs into an ascending lick that he repeats to punch
his way through a release at 14:09!.  Trey wails for a moment, then
drifts back down for continued low-level noodles.  Nothing doing,
though...Trey hits another sustain and Fishman indicates that's quite
enough by rolling out the toms at 14:29.

THE WET WHISTLE (14:43): Ah, yes...whistling is something I expect on
Halloween.  Lots of clapping here...it's not exactly a sharp whistle.
Nope, nothing I would even think of calling sharp.  See, now I'm taking
out my frustration with that jam on the poor little Wet Whistle that I
just practically demanded for Halloween.  Ah, well.  Final blap comes at
16:10.

***

In case there is any question, I'm not particularly impressed with this
one.  Setting all other considerations aside, this one just doesn't _go_
anywhere.  By the time Trey is ready to make some serious shots at a big
time release, everyone else has already gone into orbit.  This one just
doesn't click, IMHO.  There are a couple of nice moments, but...well,
one thing I don't want to get in the habit of is lengthy criticism.  The
sustain is dark and evil, but not particularly interesting, and I'm just
going to leave it at that.

Finest in the Nation?  Boo.  Not, like, because I'm upset, but because
it is, after all, Halloween.

C, solid and firm.  Remember: Throw out that pumpkin before it rots!