Spreadsheet Source
Last show: April 4, 1994 Flynn Theater, Burlington, VT
Distance from last show: 97 miles, roughly 2:30 minutes, not counting border crossing
Show highlights: Julius, Tweezer, Runaway Jim
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Fluffhead, Glide, Julius, Bouncing Round The Room, Rift, AC/DC Bag
Set 2: Peaches En Regalia, Ya Mar, Tweezer, If I Could, You Enjoy Myself, I Wanna Be Like You, Chalkdust Torture, Amazing Grace
Encore: Nellie Cane, Golgi Apparatus
For this show, I listened to the B&K 4011 source. This source is available via the etree link above.
Runaway Jim opener. Not a big surprise, one of their favorite songs to open with. The recording is slightly quieter than the B&K source from the night before. Trey does some interesting work in the upper register during the bass breakdown, just some noodling, but unusual and nice. They are very tight. Cool little droning jam, Page and Trey are really playing off of each other. They crank it up a notch and the crowd responds nicely. Page starts doing some descending chords to take it to the next level. No let up at all in this Jim, just flat out getting things started right.
Foam comes next, not a big surprise here either. Trey is nailing the composed part. He sounds more relaxed than the night before. The contrast between Foam and Jim is always nice, but there are also some interesting parallels. Both songs breakdown to just a bass and drum part, but while Jim stays pulsating, Foam gets a little darker and more exploratory, but they both build to a rousing ending. The ascending chords that Trey plays behind Page foreshadow a similar sequence in Taste musically. Some crowd chatter in the recording here, perhaps the mics were too low? Nice start/stop jam during Trey's solo. Trey hits an envelope filter and gets the jam into a new direction before bringing it to a close.
That leads right into Fluffhead. Nice rocking start to the song. Page is funking it up a bit on the piano. The bass is nice, but not really defined. The low end is rounded and there, but the attack on the individual notes is missing. The band is flawless through the chase before the clod. Gordon repeats "check it out" forcefully the 2nd time. He really means CHECK IT OUT! Slight hiccup after the clod, but they get it back together. Lilting singing in Bundle of Joy, kind of funny. As always, a triumphant ending. Phew, what a great way to start a show.
Glide comes in next and starts off fairly standard. Trey seems a bit tentative during his part after the first vocals. Trey is flubbing a lot of his licks and is playing quiet as a result. Crowd gets really animated, stomping feet, clapping loudly during the pause before the final "glide".
They head right into Julius. First repeat from the night before. It doesn't sound like anybody in the crowd really minds though. After all, this is only the second time the song has been played. Gordon is walking all over his bass, really nice. Everybody is playing really well together right now. Page is doing some nice piano work while Trey leads them into an odd rhythm, then back into the straight rock n' roll beat. Trey is letting it all hang out and shredding hard. Such a rocking tune. Trey really gets into the vocals at the end. Smoking!
Bouncing is next. I never really got why this tune is a crowd favorite. Definite sing-along though. You can hear the audience singing on the recording, though not overpowering, but definitely there. Fairly standard version. You've heard one Bouncing, you've heard them all.
Rift follows, another crowd favorite with no real jam section. However, a much, much better song than Bouncing. Trey hits the wrong chord out of his piece, but quickly slides up to the right one. Fishman jumps the gun a bit on the ending, but the band catches on quickly. They all end together. All in all, not a bad Rift.
AC/DC Bag to end things. Clearly wanting to go out on a high note, they pick one of their workhorse songs to end the set. Time to get people rocking again and a chance at a little bit of improv before the break. Nice grooving version, not as funky as the song can get, but not just a straight ahead rock version either. Gordon does some interesting fills at the start of the solo. Trey dips into his tension/release bag of tricks. Page is moving way up the piano, and Fishman is just relentless on the drums. Nice version, but a bit short.
All in all, the set started out with a bang. I'll take Jim, Foam, Fluff to start a show any day. However, with the exception of Julius, the rest of the set was a little flat.
After a lackluster ending to the first set, I expected a pretty big start to the second set. Peaches En Regalia is always a welcome tune, however, it is completely composed. Page was a bit low in the mix and it was difficult to hear his fills on the intro. About half-way through the song they bring up Page in the mix. Mike is playing some really great, complicated bass parts here. The band is playing well, but seems to be holding something back. It could just be the difficulties in playing a Zappa song.
The ending of Peaches leads right into Ya Mar. I love me some Caribbean rythma. Gordon is slightly ahead of the beat heading into the first verse. Page is adding some nice fills on the Hammond. There is some interesting scatting on the 2nd chorus. This actually leads to a pseudo vocal jam for a second before Page takes a solo. Gordon adds some neat filigrees during his solo. Trey starts his break out with a little repetitive ditty and then some quick melodic runs before heading down low. Fishman and Page drop out so Gordon and Trey can break it down, then Fish comes back in and you can feel Page just waiting to get into the organ swell. Overall, a really nice Ya Mar.
Tweezer. Now we're ready to rock. Fish does some high-pitched squeals for some extra phun. Page starts out laying some serious business on the piano while Trey vamps behind him into the last verse. Page again lays it down hard to start the jam. Gordon switches to the envelope filter. Jam is still based on Tweezer theme, but its getting darker, almost like a Melt jam. Page has switched to the Hammond. The jam is really getting out there. Only 1 1/2 shows into the tour, but so far this is the best jam they've played. They change the key and then begin a slow down jam. The song just kind of peters out. Kind of a disappointing ending to an otherwise really good Tweezer.
If I Could comes next. I could see where a breather song might be appropriate, unlike its placement the night before. Especially after that Tweezer. The harmonies seem improved over the previous night as well. A couple of flubbed chords come just prior to the jam. The jam just isn't as patient as the night before. As a result, the build-up just doesn't pack the punch that it could. Trey is clearly too excited to let the piece stay quiet for a bit.
It's no surprise, then, that they head into You Enjoy Myself next. Trey wants to jam. The Hammond is nicely in front. Pretty flawless execution right into the vocals. The separation of instruments on this recording is really great. The lead in to the tramps is pretty clever, a little start/stop thing. Page takes a nice solo on the Hammond and then they break it way, way down. Just Trey with Fishman riding the high-hats. Really bluesy. The crowd is clapping along. Trey is laying down an interesting rhythm that I presume he wants the rest of the band to follow, so he can solo on top of it. Instead, Gordon and Fish start dropping some serious bombs (low bass note and kick drum hitting hard together). Then the whole band comes together in a fairly normal YEM jam. Pretty rocking stuff into Gordon's solo. Really, really dissonant stuff from Gordon leading into the vocal jam. The vocal jam starts off with a doo-wop groove, and then they start into some really low notes (I know I can't sing that low).
Out of the vocal jam, the drum beat signals the start of I Wanna Be Like You. For the second time in two shows, Fishman dips into the Louis Prima song book. It sounds like Fish is singing through the mega-phone to start the song. Unless that's the sound of his mic? He didn't sound so distant the night before. A little vacuum solo. Vocals are out in front for the 2nd verse. Page takes a nice little break and then Fishman starts scatting like crazy and the rest of the band joins in. Heads into HYHU to bring Trey back on guitar.
Trey was probably grinning from ear-to-ear as he launched into Chalkdust Torture. Its nice to hear the song somewhere other than an opener. The extreme low end is a bit muddy. Trey is very nimble getting up and down the fretboard, rocking really hard. The jam doesn't really develop into anything though, not even as interesting as the Julius jam from the first set. The song ends with the vocals sounding a bit low in the mix. Kind of a short Chalkdust to say the least.
Trey asks everybody to be quiet. The a cappella songs with no mics are always problematic on recordings. Trey tells everybody "I think you can get quieter" then he says "Come on guys". You can hear the taper boost the levels on the recording at the beginning of Amazing Grace, then he drops them down before the 2nd verse. I found that you had to boost the signal about 5db to bring it to listenable, though nowhere near loud levels.
The first encore is Nellie Cane played electrically. There is a nice little solo from Page on the piano. Trey goes up the fretboard nicely during his break, but sticks at a wrong note before going up further to end the solo. Pretty standard version.
Golgi follows. Of all the "composed" 4 or 5 minute songs, this is definitely my favorite. In fact, the chorus is the ringtone on my phone. Trey is singing really well. Gordon is not as forceful as he can be on the chorus. There is a bit of sloppiness coming out of the break. Otherwise, they were on it.
Overall, this show is a big improvement on the night before. The sound of the recording is excellent, great separation. The only complaint is that the extreme low end is muddy.
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