From: Charlie Dirksen
7/2/94 Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ (Rvwd 11/95) Damn, was I excited for this show! My friend Dead showed
up during the Divided. I had been waiting for the @$#&!%* for about an hour ... I had his ticket.. He had really wanted to hear
Also Sprach and fortunately we got it. The opening of this MikeS is fairly upbeat, perhaps moreso than a typical opening, but it
otherwise is not unusual. Nothing exceptional lyrically. The tramps jam starts off typically, with Mike and Page doing their thang.
When Trey comes in, he starts off in the standard off-key sustaining sort of way, but he quickly starts jamming rather intricately.
He gets stuck on a theme for awhile (with Mike) after a minute or so into the tramps jam. Like some of the others this year, this
tramps jam segment plows way past the 5 minute OLD ending point. This segment was effectively lengthened prior to this tour,
it appears. It is a fairly good tramps jam segment. Upbeat, not the plebeian off key sustain crap. But nothing exceptionally
pleasing, or special (no crazy, intensely melodic jams). At 6:25, right as it ends, Simple is basically started. I hear Mike teasing
Midnight Rider around 6:45 or so ... They start singing Simple rather quickly. There is no "post tramps jam" here.. just Simple.
Mike sounds kinda eeeerie in this Simple (off-key, freaky sounding), at times. It is yet another coarse version from the summer
of '94, although not as rough as some of the earlier Simples. I am not saying that it is bad. I am saying that it is rough, laid-back,
not nearly as gorgeous and refined as the Fall 94 Simples. It does the job, though. They get really quiet towards the ending
verse, and for the finale cym-bop bit, and then explode back into the MikeS theme jam ending segment immediately at 10:50.
This ending MikeS jam is truly spectacular, moreso than most that I've heard this year and last. Trey is just NUTS in this
segment, masterfully wailing, but MIKE, TOO, is awesome! The support from Page and Fish is, of course, strong, too. This
final MikeS theme ending jam isn't longer than usual, but it seems more fiercely pursued than usual (at least in its beginning..). H2
segues in at around 12:29. Or at least Fish begins to play it. Trey cuts him off though after about 10 seconds with the first
HMMMMM of Jerusalem City of Gold. I had JUST heard this at the Classic Amp. a few days earlier, so I remember not being
terribly enthusiastic about it at the show, but they didn't do the whole thing anyway, like they usually do. H2 segues back in at
around 14:20 or so (for the record, though, I think people who clap during songs like H2 should be tied to a log, bent over, and
Buffalo-billed.. ok, that wasn't very nice.. sorry about that). The clapping fortunately stops soon (for no particular reason). The
H2 is ok.. not great thanks to audience participation, and the ending is a little fudged by Trey. Weekapaug kicks in around
17:08 or so. Mike's opening bass solo is A M A Z I N G ... it is the typical snappy tight and quick sort of solo, only this is quite
an original opening both melodically and rhythmically. I'd love to see Wasserman and Mike go at it sometime, in a dueling bass
sort of affair! This opening Weekapaug jam is magnifiscently started by Trey, who is gently and harmoniously sustaining for the
first minute or so, preferring to, with grace and gentility, craft this opening jam, as opposed to just wail like a Big Dog. BUT
WAIT! At 20:15 or so, Trey basically goes into the standard ANTELOPE-style of jamming, which everyone else also kinda
gets into. This is a truly Antelopian Weekapaug at this point, complete with some RUN RUN RUN RUN RUNs from people.
At 21:03, Trey says "Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul," though not as audibly as he could have. This is a really
cool jam at this point (well, heck, it IS Antelope after all), but it is gone by 21:30. The groove drops into one of those quiet
modes, even though there is plenty of activity from Mike Page and Trey (Fish is still keeping the beat, but quietly). The jam
segment here soon gets stuck in one of those blending, Phushionesque, hazy grooves, that builds and builds and builds for the
next minute or two, but unfortunately doesn't really build into anything awe-inspiring (given what Phish is capable of). Even at
23:36 the jam is still building, somewhat gaining additional melodic layers from everyone as it climbs. I typed too soon!! It dips
back into a quiet mode after building a bit at around 24:20, and for the next 30 seconds, everyone quietly plucks away while
Fish just taps the hi-hat. Then THIS JAM builds and builds until IT EXPLODES in the traditional Weekapaug closing jam at
25:40 or so. WOW! In this finale jam, Trey kinda takes on a 2001/Also Sprach theme, teasing it severely at certain times, and
genuinely using it as the base for this final Weekapaug jam segment. The final, "lyrics" segment comes in at 27:28. Mike rips
licks on the bass in the opening of this final segment, but otherwise it is pretty standard. Ends at 28:26. That's right, folks.
Weekapaug itself was over 11 minutes! Pretty long for 1994! B/B+ rating for this very good 'Groove. I know some of you like
this one a lot.. I think it is a great Weekapaug, but the other stuff ain't that special, compared to numerous other MikeSGrooves,
imo.