R9/W03: 11-14-1994 Devos Hall, Grand Rapids, MI

[Hicks]

khalpin, you, like others in this thread and on this board resign yourself to the fact that you'll never see Landlady again.  I really think it's coming.  They played it since the 2/93 rebirth of PYITE, so why would they not play it again?  It would be easy for them to do, and is a kickdown they could just pull out of their back pocket...I dunno, it's just a feeling I have.  I think it is as likely as a lot of songs, but that's just my (hopeful) opinion....As well, I (and everyone else) would love to see a stand-alone Ass Festival or Letter to Jimmy Page....I think one of the three is coming in 2010, you heard it hear first  :wink:

I somehow think a stand alone Landlady is more likely than the Asse Festival.

You gotta figure that Alumni>Jimmy Page>Alumni will make an appearance sooner or later too.

[khalpin]

khalpin, you, like others in this thread and on this board resign yourself to the fact that you'll never see Landlady again.  I really think it's coming.  They played it since the 2/93 rebirth of PYITE, so why would they not play it again?  It would be easy for them to do, and is a kickdown they could just pull out of their back pocket...I dunno, it's just a feeling I have.  I think it is as likely as a lot of songs, but that's just my (hopeful) opinion....As well, I (and everyone else) would love to see a stand-alone Ass Festival or Letter to Jimmy Page....I think one of the three is coming in 2010, you heard it hear first  :wink:

I hope you're right.  The Landlady is the most played song that I haven't seen.  Unless it actually re-enters the rotation, the odds of me catching one are pretty slim.

[pnchundi]

My Friend- great opener.  Really gets things moving and shows that already the boys are looking to have fun
Scent- see what I mean? Mules in 94 were still really interesting, and this does not disappoint.  Great interplay between Page and Trey early on, and then the duel itself is pretty amazing, with Fish flying at the end
Guelah- yes ok! Bringing back the off kilter energy of My Friend
Split Open- this is a face melting split with breakneck passes, great playing by all and an inspired Trey near the end.
Bouncing- i do need a breather here
Landlady- a rarity now
Maze- back into the thick forest we go.  Page steals the show early on, with Mike holding his own too.  But then Trey kills it!
Lawnboy- the chairman of the boards
>Cavern- standard closing, but still an ass-kicking closer

Peaches- love it
>Bowie- look out.  They fly through the early sections and let Bowie stretch out a little bit, dipping into some nasty dark sections before bubbling back up to the surface at the end.  This show is pretty hot!
Yerushalayim Shel Zahav- Mike sounds as sweet as a school boy
Slave- great combo.   Slave as always is stellar.  Ive yet to hear a slave I didnt like
Poor Heart- a little silliness is ok
Julius- to close it out? Pretty stomping version
Old Home>Nellie Cane- SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  The bluegrass stuff they were doing is tough for me, it's almost like the fish vaccum debate, does it detract or add? I love that they were challenging themselves to really try on different musical coats, but these tunes are hard to go back and listen too bc you cant really here anything.  That being said, solid versions
Sweet Adeline- more silliness
YEM- alright this makes up for the slow downs and brings the crowd back to its feat.  A few little flubs but nothing to complain about it.  Good nirvana section, drum and bass is interesting and so more evil exploration sprinkled throughout

Golgi- yep

Damn good show with some top notch versions- first set is strong flipping between them flexing their musical muscles (My Friend, Guelah), having fun (Bouncing and Lawnboy), to just plain old ass kicking (see Scent, Split and Maze).   Second set doesn't let up at all with the opening 4 punch combo that left me staggering.  The bluegrass stuff is ok and Yem puts a pretty little bow on things.
Good choice b+/a-

[susep]

 14Nov.1994 - Devos Hall, Grand Rapids, MI


I

My Friend - brief noodle before intro proper, nice welcoming song, still only 1 year after Rift, rather weak recording overall, I'm listening to the mp3s btw, love the break into the my friend section/verses, tension into big chorus!, trippy/extended Mike, its cool to see Mike playing/practicing all night on the bus playing along to albums on the Bluegrass sessions, all-time version because of the extended and playful nature.

Scent of A Mule - early Mike theme, nice choice, Page drops in at 2:15, this tune by this tour was some of the berst versions ever played(hear 2Nov.1994), trippy Trey behind, subtle Mike, Trey jumping in, trio between Trey, Page and Mike, Page trying to build tension, laying down Gershwin in between, can't recall a version where Mike accompanied Trey on the return melody?, solid yet fluid Fishman, nice version.

Guelah - nice opening 2 numbers, Trey brings the E down a bit, variety is key, almost small club feel to this show, Trey at the height of his guitar prowess in AFest, pause, crowd loving it, Paul the wizard on sound, good version

Split Open and Melt - ayuh!, Trey leading in early at 4:00, nice patience and sustain by Trey, choosing notes wisely, perfect ex. of Trey surrending to the flow, some atonal variations thrown in, jam quickly on and off track, much tension but on the fly, nice breaks back into Melt key, super dank Mike, trippyness near 8:12, solid version.  Like Stash, a '94 Melt mix would be sweet.

Bouncing - in college, my gf and I used to sing the alternating chorus, I remember Trey saying he was influenced by African music in this piece, solid into

Landlady - again variety, sick ass Trey!, Trey at his fluid psychadelic best, at that time he could out-shread anyone imo, I don't see how any Landlady would complain about this music?, personally not a big fan of PYITE so I treasure this as a stand alone, into

Maze - time turns elastic, eeerie, ghostly intro, varied intro, sickness!, Trey leads in at 6:36, similar to his playing in Melt but more daring, trying new things, Fish and Mike laying down a reminder, Trey in deep dissonance w/ Page accompanying, trying to build a tension bed, squeeling by Trey, both Page and Trey playing long, extended ascending dissonant lines, almost 3 min. Trey's solo melting in a dissonant sound scape, sick bend at 9:25, final Maze release near 10:08, strange version, trippy vocal outro, into

Lawn Boy - fun and easy tune, tuned down Mike on the fretless?  into

Cavern - Trey continuing his chord variability, tease of something in the intro?, tease continues, sounded like Lawn Boy slightly, confrimed , Fish, random surprises in this version, another all-time version, "don't do anything I wouldn't do", love the extended trippyness outro,
Overall solid first set.  My highlights: Melt and Landlady although the whole set was consistent, playful and full of dripping improvisation. 


II

Peaches - nice way to open any set, zappa big band, nice runs by Mike, solid version into

Bowie - Trey sounding like a low flying jet before the scratch, jam kicks in at 4:01, playful beginnig, neat little happy jam, again Mike playing outside of the box, really Flatbed Jam esque type playing here, phree jazz, nice exchange between Mike and Trey near 6:25 that continues, 3:30 into the jam still loose and jazzy, hard jam follows, 5 minutes in still no sign of Bowie proper, raging jam ensues, nice descending jam into more phree phish, approaching 8 minutes of pure improv., crowd loving it, trippy Trey, love this kind of open Phish jamming(see the next night's 16Nov. Simple as well), first Bowie drop near 13:52, jam drops back into its trippy space, space riff jamming ensues, I'm sure there were a few freaks losing it in the hallways, Mike lays down a neat little melody into silence, subtle effects, very Pink Floyd-esque near 17:00, crowd in time, crowd erupts, effect continues into clapping, could easily segue into a bluegrass riff, dog log like riff by Mike, Trey comes in hard, descending jam, Page playing ascending over the top, briefly, whistling(early seeds of Providence), a very Acid Test jam, jam comes out of it near 20:55, liquid Mike underneath, nice return to Bowie proper, trippy Trey in outro, super-fast trill action, subtle Fish snoring underneath, solid ending.  Incredible, one of their all-time best performances! into trippy

Y Shel Zahav - beautiful, one of my fav.

into

Slave - this show foreshadowing 26Nov.1994 bigtime, again not a big fan slave fan, sounds good.

Poor Heart - time to cut loose, nice tribute to a filming Rev. Jeff, "Pug ...?" by Trey, Trey would have out shredded any of those Nashville pickers, fun version into

Julius - nice placement, purple hues, Trey leads in at 3:44, preety straight foward, some deviations evolve near 5:00+, Trey really playing at his best, Fishman yelling, Trey wanting to mimic Fishman but Fish stopped, near 4:00 minutes of high energy output by Trey, solid playing.

TOHP - variety.

Nellie Kane - nice scale run by Fishman;), hyhu tease by Mike on the banjo, Trey sounding sweet on his leads, the Rev. loving it.

Sweet Adeline - love their acapella style, it helped add to their psychadelic aura.

pause into

You Enjoy Myself - beautiful, solid intro, my fav. piece next to the jam, Trey riffs in near 9:25, fairly mellow noodling by Trey, better tone his second time around, Page rocking his clav, Phish had a funk sound in '94, its not as wha-wha drenched like '96-98 but its still preety good, it has more freedom then the funk that evolved 2 years later, mellow jam continues, kind of flat, Trey sounds bored, Mike picks up the pieces w/ some interesting ideas, overall C + version.

E

Golgi - I saw you!


Overall great second show of the tour's second leg, the first 3 shows, 12, 14 and 16Nov. feature some of Phish's most unique improvisation as this show reflects.  Really hearing that Bowie for the first time was awesome. definitely a version I've been looking for but couldn't find.  Basically this section of the tour should be in everyone's archive.  If the YEM wasn't so wankery I'd lean on a A+ but my grade: A.

Nice pic. 

[Superfreakie]

My review is from the flac16 aud.

Couple notes before I begin:

   I caught a couple great shows at the beginning of this month and so I inevitably hold a soft spot for November '94. But it is more than that, for the Phish I fell deeply in love with, the experimental, loose, frenetic, scary, mad, beautiful psychedelic science IMO fell into place in November '94. Prior to this month, I was a somewhat casual fan and a premiere Deadhead. After this month, I knew I had to now find time for two loves. Listen closely and you'll notice that many of the musical ideas from this month germinate throughout 1995. And while the boys are still raw, with Fishman the weak link, we all knew that wouldn't last long.

My Friend My Friend: I love ominous MFMF openers. A couple flubs in the beginning but they are hearing out the room and dialing in. You can hear that Fishman's hands are not as fast as he would like them to be......yet. Great trippy ending. We're off to the races.

Scent of a Mule: I love early Scents. They trip me the fuck out. Have never understood the hate they generate; they allow Page to stretch out, how can that be bad? Mike drops a few whale calls in the early piano jam. You can tell the boys are in a playful mood (read: trip you out) as someone throws in a brief weird vocal sound on top of a Page run up the board and this after the MFMF weird ending. Band re-entry with machine gun Trey banjo picking in the accel pocco a pocco section. The '94 bluegrass practicing helped his chops immensely.

Guelah: I love my Guelah. Straight forward

Split Open and Melt: Wow, I haven't listened to a 1.0 Split in some time (aside from our 7-15-99 discussion). - Hey 3.0 Trey, I love NEAR CAREENING train wreck Splits, not actual train wreck Splits. Page is freakin' on this evening, pounding the living shit out of the ivories. Nice. Perfunctory and deadly.

Bouncing Around the Room: When they start it up you can hear the ladies in the room unanimously cheer. I like Bouncin' live, especially when I am tripping, which is a 100% guarantee if I am in a Phish show. It puts a smile on my face, CRYSTAL HAZE.....droog song.

Landlady: I like it.

Maze: Hmmmm, Nov. 94 Mazes were freakin' deadly, dark and nasty; foreshadowing summer '95's evil space camp. Whoa....static just nearly blew my speakers and scared the shit out of me. This is a fantastic Maze. Brilliant. Fishman does get a little clunky, but hey, it's not easy to keep up with the master when he decides to slay the universe.

Lawn Boy: After a Maze like that, yep it's needed. Sit down, puff a bowl and try to squeeze your brain back into your ear from where it leaked out. But even here when they slow the song down to goo at the 2 minute mark, they are still getting trippy on your ass. It's all those trippy little nuances that I miss so much from 1.0.

Cavern: Nice Lawn Boy mash up. Holy Fuck are they ever out to get us on this evening. November '94 baby. Brilliant. This might be a little sloppy but totally awesome.   

Set/ Trey "Don't do anything we wouldn't do" ......sure.

Peaches>Bowie: Demented. What more can be said. I mean SERIOUSLY, what more can be said. I think I would of been crawling for the exits at the whistling jam. (Fishman is still a little clunky).  I recognize a few of their teases but can't seem to place them. Fantastic.

Yerushalayim> Slave: All faces have now been melted. Please proceed to the OR for replacements. Nice Mike in the Slave, great lines. Not mentally crazy.....but it's still Slave.

Poor Heart: Love the gear change. Nice playing Trey. There are those bluegrass chops, a couple flubs but man, are they ever having fun on this night. Again, it's the little nuances, like this version's unusual piano part, that put smiles on my face.   

Julius: It's bloose-rawk.

Bluegrass Break.......WTF...another gear shift, we're not in Kansas anymore. Who is this Phish and why do they keep stealing my face. Sit, smoke a bowl, contemplate the universe. I think about Jerry and his banjo/bluegrass influence.

YEM:  :banana: Even here they are still playing around in the composed parts (see: Page), nuances, nuances. It's the little things in life that make it special. Couple tiny flubs in composed....but again they occur because the boys are playing around with each other, not because they are out of practice. Fishman's highhat cymbals sound like shit and have throughout the show, although are more evident here. Actually, his highhat sound drove me nuts in '94.

Golgi: Golgi is Golgi.

Nice. Love Nov. '94. Hmmm, compared to 3.0 this show is an A+++++++++. Compared to 1.0 this show is a B+ to A-, which is still pretty slick. There are A and A+ shows in November '94 so I can't award it more than A-.

[mbw]

R9/W03: 11-14-1994 Devos Hall, Grand Rapids, MI

I
mfmf - besides buried alive, my fav way to get a show going. 
sets the tone for a psychedelic night.  little creepy extended ending.
delivers.

mule - moar.  gets this show cookin. page shows off his piano prowess. 

guelah - rhinothropic.  nailed opening. 
mike drops some balms after asse festival.
solid.

soam - nice flow so far!  gets crazy in the jam fast. 
great group dynamic. 
smokin soam.

bouncin - best bouncin ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

landlady - do want.  nice and slowed down and played with meaning.  awesome.

maze - pages solo is kinda muddled in this mix, but ragey.
at least its before trey started to overshine him with bs guitar licks during his solo.
that makes me really mad, although its still present here a little.
trey has some nice up and down in his solo around 7:30.  the whole band explodes at 8:15 or so.   
good maze, not earth shattering though.

lawnboy - mike on the upright? me likey.

cavern - sweet lawn boy teases.  makes it one of the best i've heard.  deadly icy caaaalm.

hot set I

II
peaches - nailed and rawked.

bowie - jam starts out _low_. stays quiet with some great tripped out improv going on.
almost went into bbfcfm.  massive build up at 13:30.  pow wow at 18:00???
gets real cool and evil.  nice crowd participation.  whoa!  crazy evil jam at 22:00
crazeee assss bowie.

schelz - perfect placement.  wow.

slave -   although i gotta say, this one is on fire near the end.

poor <3 - yep

julius - for all us swingers   oh shit! going off!!!

old home place - good      

nellie cane - stuff

sweet adeline - "has not been played in the last 205 shows"

yem - fish's high hats are a close personal friend of mine.  mike, page and fish jammin the tramps!
sweet start stop jam. "wha cha gotta say?!?"  awesome yem.  freal.

E
golgi - standarly cool.

great show, from setlist to execution.  thanks.

giving it an B+/A-

[Superfreakie]

^^^
After reading MBW's post I should properly re-phrase one of my comments. I wrote I hated Fish's highhats. I do however love his highhat playing. It's the cymbals and how they were miked in '94 that I really didn't like. They were too "crashy". 

[mbw]

^^^
After reading MBW's post I should properly re-phrase one of my comments. I wrote I hated Fish's highhats. I do however love his highhat playing. It's the cymbals and how they were miked in '94 that I really didn't like. They were too "crashy".

i was just bustin ur ballz

[Superfreakie]

^^^
After reading MBW's post I should properly re-phrase one of my comments. I wrote I hated Fish's highhats. I do however love his highhat playing. It's the cymbals and how they were miked in '94 that I really didn't like. They were too "crashy".

i was just bustin ur ballz

nah, after I re-read my own post I realized that it needed to be clarified. Fishman used to destroy me on a nightly basis.