YEM review - 12-2-99

Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 14:10:57 -0800
From: Charles Dirksen [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: 12/2/99 Palace Enjoys Itself, again

Dan, mike knoll commented on this "silent jam" and I wanted his comments 
reflected in the review that you put up on the 
http://www.phish.net/reviews/ page... so here's the "corrected" 12/2/99 
Palace YEM review.  As always, thank you so much
for all that you do for the community!  Have a wonderful holiday!  -charlie

12/02/99 The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan

Thanks to Chris Glushko for getting this to me quickly awhile ago, and
to Cameron for getting most of this set to me on disc!  This YEM jam
segment is so original that it by itself proves that Phish didn't
ossify last year, but was still doing things dramatically differently
on occasion. But christ.  Check out this Bathtub Gin, too!!  It puts
many other versions to shame.  The Bold As Love (E) is a strong
version, too.  This has to be one of the best sets I've heard from
1999, easy, given the power of the Gin and YEM. The Boogie On, Jiboo
and Also Sprach aren't shabby versions, either, and add a great dose
of funk to the set.  HEAR THIS SET! =^]

Trey isn't as precise in the opening as he usually is, but there's
no significant "flubbing."  The pre-Snoopy segment begins with Fish
whipping the hi-hat, and Trey, Mike and Page sustaining harmonious
notes.  However, very soon, everyone stops playing in favor of a
"silent jam."  The band drops out completely (doesn't play at all)
and the crowd goes absolutely crazy. Jesse Jarnow tells me that
"they stood almost stock still (ala a pause in Divided Sky) and
gradually came back up."  In other words, they didn't "jam silently"
but stood still. I only witnessed one silent jam, and that was the
12/30/96 Funky Bitch.  I will never forget it, though.  They went
into a "silent jam" because the P.A. was having serious problems.
It was pretty amusing.  Fish in particular did what looked to be a
magnificent "air drum" solo.

[Mike Knoll reports: "...Just to clarify the enthusiastic crowd
during the 'silent jam'. Once the band ceased playing lighters
started to pop-up throughout the crowd until, in one of the most
intense audience participation experiences I've had (next to the
Hood glowsticks at the Went), it seemed that every crowd member was
holding up a lighter. There was more fire present than any slow
ballad or encore could ever garnish and the layer of flame really
shifted my cognition of the arena. As the crowd began to realize the
massivity of the butane light show the cheers began to swell into
roars and even more lighters began to flicker (some people must have
been double-fisting). This was then followed by the intense version
you very aptly describe. The jam, as you noted, is so distinct from
the song that I actually tracked it separately on my MiniDisc
version of the set...."]

This silence is certainly lasting awhile. The crowd is still going
crazy (perhaps in part to encourage them to start playing again) and
there's still not even a note from the band at 5:18.

At 5:26 Trey sustains a note and Fish comes in whipping the hi-hat. So
the "pre-Snoopy" segment returns after the "silent jam."  Mike and
Page come in, too. Crowd calms down.  "Snoopy" at 6:21.  The rest of
the opening segment is good.


"Boy" at 9:56, with an incredibly crowd-assisted scream. What an
audience!!! YOU FOLKS ROCK!!!! 8^] This YEM has the most cheering in
it from the audience as any I've heard since 12/9/95.  WUMDTF
segment is straightforward, at first.  But there's a lot of activity
from Page in here and the second round of lyrics almost don't come
in.  Tramps jam begins at 12:13.  Page plays well on the organ
during it.

The jam segment basically starts around 13:30ish, and Page is in the
lead on organ.  Both Mike and Trey seem to have locked into a melodic
theme of sorts that doesn't really blend with Page's organ at all
(14:40).  But eventually, everything blends well.

I have been unable to determine whether this melodic theme that Trey
repeats over and over again is a tease or quote of anything.  Glushko
thinks it reminds him of an '80's glam-rock tune, and I'd have to
agree.  But I have no &@$# idea what that tune is.  Mike's riffing
underneath Trey's repetition of this theme is very fierce.  Fish
accompanies well on drums in here, pushing things on, despite the
repetitiveness.  I tell you, if you don't like this theme that Trey
repeats, this YEM jam will bore the hell out of you!

Around 16:33, Trey starts singing "Ooooohh" and the others join in
on "Ooohhh"'s as well.  This is an unusually harmonic YEM jam.  And
in spite of its repetitiveness, I really dig it.  It is definitely
one of the more unusual versions of YEM from the last few years.  Of
course, if you don't like the melodic theme that gets repeated in
here over and over and over and over and over again, then this YEM
probably blows in your opinion.  I can totally see why some might
dislike this YEM.

Around 18:29 the YEM jam closes up as if it was it's own individual
song!  It's almost like they had planned to do the jam segment in
this manner and then ended it as they would a song.  This is very,
very unusual and also makes me wonder whether this YEM jam segment
really was a giant quote/tease/jam of some glam rock tune which I
can't name.  Anyway, I can't name another version of YEM that did
this.  Very original and very unusual. They sustain the final chord
around 18:40, and as this chord fades, they begin vocal jamming
(without any instrumental accompaniment).

This vocal jam begins very mellowly, with them simply harmonizing on
various notes and sounds.  Nothing exceptionally weird, in other
words.  They might as well be choirboys at evensong.  As you may
already know, though, this rather mellow vocal jamming eventually
segues into a vocal jam of "Little Drummer Boy." (drummer boy starts
around 4 mins into the vocal jam, though the crowd doesn't clap for it
until Fish makes it really obvious that they are teasing drummer boy)

This vocal jam is so harmonious and collective that it almost sounds
composed (really!).  Definitely one of the better ones from the last
few years, if not "ever."  About 5 minutes in, Fish actually sings
Little Drummer Boy, and plays along on the snare. (sings a bit of
drummer boy... it isn't the entire song)  Total time for this YEM
and vocal jam is about 25 minutes.

Easy "N/R" rating for this YEM.  This is one of those jam segments
that you either love or hate, because it is so unusual.  It is
extremely repetitive so if you don't like the melody that gets
repeated, you're going to actively dislike it.  Also, the opening
segment of this version was very strange because they band didn't
actually play anything at all for several minutes.  Finally, the
vocal jam was very unusual given the Little Drummer Boy and the
overall "composed" feel of the thing.  It wasn't a "typically crazy"
vocal jam, in other words.  Check it out yourself!

two cents,
charlie
 


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