From: Charlie Dirksen
12/28/94 Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA Met Rosemary face to face for the first time before this show (and,
eventually, John)! ;-) This was easily my favorite show of the NYE 94 run, and still is. Providence had the Bowie, MSG had
Tweezer, and NYE had some good stuff (extended Suzy!), but this show had the most energy all around, I felt (and was closed
with the best Bold As Love I've heard to date). Of course, this show is arguably not as good as the Worcesters of '95, but
certainly better than 12/30/95 (and nowhere close to 12/31/95... All imnsfho, naturally...). I must say that I'm glad to finally be
reviewing this MikeSGroove. When I first started reviewing Mike's Songs waaaaaaaaaaay back in, ooooh, March '95, I
couldn't wait to review this one. The opening lyrics segment is frightfully standard, but somewhat slower than usual. Tramps
segment doesn't come in until 2:50 or so. Lots of Mike and Page for the first thirty seconds, as usual. Trey comes in at 3:32
off-key sustaining, a la typical eerie & spooky Mike's Songs. Lots of chaotic and off-key stuff from Trey. Nothing melodically
pleasing or especially endearing, tho. A fiendishly psychotic Mike's Song, until around 5:15 or so, when Trey wails a bit and
then breaks into the closing MikeS theme chords. At 5:40, the post-tramps segment begins with a big Simple-note, but no
Simple. The jam at 6 mins is still very fiery and ominous, with some special effects stuff from Trey (the air raid siren effect).
Frankly, I remember this whole jam being absolutely intense at the show -- very engaging (given the lights and scene..), with a
lot of energy (more than average), but no theme-jams that caught my ear. On tape, especially after having heard so many Mike's
Songs, and especially having preferred the versions that have melodious and interesting jam segments (like 12/30/93 and
12/31/95, for example), this version sounds like a slightly-above-average magnifiscently eerie Mike's Song (i.e., not a version
that really grabs my attention, except for the fact that it has a hell of a lot of energy!). At 7:48, they close the post-tramps
segment with a surprising visit to the Mike's theme ending jam. I say surprising, because this often came after a Simple or
something in Fall '94 (you know, Mikes -> Simple ->_MIKES_->etc.). It also came early, all things considered. At 8:37, this
closing segment ends, and there is a spacey interlude for ten or so seconds, out of which Mango segues. Let me tell you, I
WAS FREAKING OUT for this! Mango was like NECTAR to hear -- and still is -- after all that kinda crappy distorted and
anti-harmonious stuff in the Mike's Song. I believe this was the first Mike's -> Mango... Mango is played with gusto, as
everything at this show effectively was. Mango is of course a Phish tune that really doesn't change much version to version, but
some versions are certainly played with more fire than others. This one is reasonable, but Trey misfires in a place or two. Page
is great, though! Weekapaug kicks right in on the final note of Mango. Mike's opening solo is snappy and funky, but not as
quick and skillful as it often is. It is still a good solo, just not as fantastic as usual, with fewer notes than average (and not much
territory covered on the 'doc). Trey opens the jam segment with sustained melodious soloing, as he does every few
Weekapaugs (as opposed to opening up with quiet noodle-jams that seek out a theme upon which to groove). At around the
19 minute point, it is Machine Gun Trey time. He starts firing off licks, and doesn't stop that much o'er the next 30 seconds.
Trey is definitely excited to be jamming Weekapaug again, and the others lay down spectacular accompaniment (everyone is
clearly listening to each other). Around the 20:15 point or so, and for the next minute, Trey kinda screws around and doesn't
sound that great (although everyone else does). At 21 minutes, Page jumps to the funky clavinet, and Trey goes into a severe
Suzy Greenberg-esque style of jam for a little bit (Fish kinda quiets down, Mike funks out and quiets down a bit, too). Page is
leading in here with very original, spooky-but-funky jams. At 22 minutes, Page goes into a three note theme that the others pick
up on HEY! The jam at this point is clearly in one of those HEY! improvisational game modes. (22:45) Would be spacey, were
it not thank God for Fish, who refuses to drop the 'groove rhythmically. The jam at 23:20 and thereabouts is terrifying, but
GREAT.. can't describe this well. Trey is noodling quietly, Page is funking out, Mike is laying a groove along with Fish. Trey
starts noodling more and more loudly in here -- sounds f@cking excellent around the 24 minute point. This is great Phish improv
in here (24:30). Fishman starts vocal jamming over Trey's noodling, and Trey keys in on. Audience starts clapping along (this
was actually really cool at the show, fwiw). Fishman stops playing the drums and just vocal jams for the next couple minutes
along with Trey's noodling, Page's gentle funking, and Mike's haphazing plucking. At 26:11, Fish kicks the 'groove rhythm back
in, and the hose basically uncoils.. I really like the jamming around 27:30, but it never reaches the intensity of Gin-> Real Me->
Gin or anything truly outrageous like that. Indeed, at around 28:15, the jam kinda kicks back into a more relaxed frame. Gets
very jazzy, essentially with "fills" from everyone and no real theme or groove. Just haphazard tooling around. At 29:36 or so,
Trey quotes Auld Lang Syne. Very spacey in this whole section, including a goofy Bangor-esque style of jam from Trey at
30:05 or so (you know, that really cheesy jam in the Bangor (ALiveOne) Tweezer that Trey gets into that sounds circus-like
(and queer)). At 30:40 or so, Weekapaug kicks in strongly, as if just for the hell of it, and almost as quickly Trey starts teasing
and jamming on the Little Drummer Boy theme (I'm getting chills right now, folks). I was nearly in tears during this jam at the
show! I mean, the hose is like that!!! At 32 mins or so, the Little Drummer Boy jam gets very dark and **EVIL**, intentionally
so. A scary Drummer Boy.. and then Trey appears to deliberately screw it up and play it off-key, and then, well. Weekapaug
returns in all its glory. The final verse! I honestly haven't heard this in some time! (all those Can't you hear me knockin endings,
segues into other tunes..) The closing verse is quite standard, but fun to hear. Total time 33:48. As far as a rating goes, because
the Mike's Song wasn't really THAT great, even for Mike's Song, I have to give this whole thing an A-/B+. The Weekapaug is
so engaging that it brings up the rating. If the Weekapaug were standard fare this version would have received a B/B+. And
Mango is really placed nicely in here -- a great contrast to the *evil* Mike's Song. I know that I said at one point that I thought
this would get an "A" rating as a MikesGroove, but my opinion has changed. I have heard a considerable number of
MikeSGrooves since I made that claim, and there is no way that this version is even in my top 5.