From: Charlie Dirksen
11/18/95 Coliseum, North Charleston SC There's a little whistling in
the pre-Nirvana, a very spacey and enchanting section.
The whistling is reminiscent of that of the 12/29/94 Providence Bowie
(the "Lassie" section). It is a very pleasant opening...
Nirvana at 4:05. The Nirvana section is fine/standard/great.. Mike's
solo section at 4:48 is quite nice, with Mike more
melodious than usual. The pre-charge section, that immediately follows,
is for the most part tight and typically strong (but Trey
isn't always clean in here, to be sure, especially at the very beginning).
First Note at 6:05 is right on, but Trey's soloing around it
isn't impressive, given what he's capable of. Second Note is hit fine...
nothun special. "Boy" at 7:22. WUDMTF segment is fine
(Trey is sketchy at one point, no big deal.. and there's a mistaken
WUDMTF from Mike over Trey's lines.. oh well). Serious
tease of 'Brick House' in here from Trey, but I don't know who does
this song. Tramps jam starts out ferociously. Lots of
power from Page.. he's just ripping that Hammond a new octave.. damn!
Lots of power chords.. At 10:45 Trey starts playing
the main Brick House melody over and over again. Total Brick House
jam by 11:40 or so.. Trey (I think) sings a verse or two
in here. A very powerful jam segment, though not musically complex...
and this jam just goes on. Very straightforward... the
jamming isn't as intense as the 12/9/95 Albany YEM by any stretch,
but this is still easily well above average and a YEM to be
heard by YEM fans.. Around 14:11, Trey starts repetitively hitting
A Certain Note that he often hit in the 12/9/95 YEM... but
the jam is still more/less in Brick House jammin mode and not quite
YEM... although Page appears to start teasing the Proper
Chords (read Oye Como Va) around 14:45 or so... then more Brick House
teasing after 15. By 15:50 ish, Trey has sustained a
note on the 'doc... and jumped to the percussion kit! He doesn't do
anything exceptional in here at all, just keeping the general
rhythm and not doing off-time stuff ... OUCH!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! Mike
starts ****RAGING**** around 16:25 or so and just
FUNKS IT OUT!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEE-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Trey is still
on the percussion kit.. Page is
silent (17mins).. Fish is just kickin out a typical YEM groove. MIKE
IS AS ON FIRE AS I'VE EVER HEARD HIM.. just
continuously funkily groovin'.. (and you thought 10/22/96 was amazing..
check this out, too!) Trey comes back in on the 'doc at
18:30 chording YEM-like Oye Como Va schtuff.. meanwhile, Mike hasn't
cut it out. Mike is still NUTS!!!!! Mike fans
ABSOLUTELY MUST hear this.. DAMN!!!!!!! Another tease of Brick House
more/less, mixed in with Oye Como hints..
around 19:15. At 19:28.. Trey is just sustaining out the 'doc, and
Mike and Fish are funking away, with very little from Page....
This is just PSYCHOTIC.. around 20:30, they are still in this steady
funky yet fusion-esque groove.. Mike funking out, Trey
doing weird crap with his 'doc, Page playing something awry on a weird
effect on the keys.. Fish just NUTS around 21..
pounding away. What a god damn jam segment!!!! Trey gets back on the
damn percussion kit around 22 mins or something,
and Fish is just WAILING AWAY! Page jumps on the piano soon, too and
starts nailing it.. Mike is more mellow in here and
difficult to pick up in the fog that Trey unleashed with the 'doc.
Talk about your Wall of Sound, folks.. christ. Still a total rage at
23:15.. At 23:57, Fish drops the steady groove and dives into a rhythm
I've heard him do in various experimental Tweezers...
but he powers out a Free beat around 24:40, and Trey slowly starts
chording.. and then WUDMTF in THIS rhythm!!!!!!
NIIIIIIIIIICE!!! I've never heard them do THIS before! This lasts about
a minute tops before it segues/dies into a vocal jam at
around 25:35. The vocal jam starts out very melodious and slow.. they
are singing something in here but I don't recognize it yet.
Maybe they just made it up.. sustain at 26:42, though, then extreme
applause from the crowd.. At 27, approx., Trey starts
babbling hastily.. can't make out any words. Not that exciting a vocal
jam.. though, imo. Just the typical insanity... no words or
themes that I've been open to pick up. Heavy breathing, though, around
28:45, and lasting for a bit.. Total time 30:20. This jam
is, believe it or not, much more exciting on tape, and powerfully diverse,
than the Albany YEM. But the Albany YEM is
profoundly more enchanting and melodious, and I certainly prefer Albany.
But to not give this version an "A" rating would
lack a rational basis, and would undo