, attached to 1991-12-31

Review by MrPalmers1000DollarQ

MrPalmers1000DollarQ This is a really sweet NYE show that, like Amy's Farm, does an excellent job of capturing the state of the band in 1991. With a deep catalog of tunes, intra-band familiarity, and some of the hottest musical chops in the game, the band puts together three awesome sets of music relying on no gag outside of the cursing voice box (which fits excellently in both tone and rhythm on Wilson).

From Set 1, a powerful Stash offers the dreadful dissonance, soaring soloing, and dastardly drumming present in many of the '94 performances; the band lifts Page to great heights in his solo on the Lizards; Trey and Fishman go ballistic on Divided Sky as Mike sprinkles some extremely tasteful bass riffs; and Llama runs absolutely wild in a '93 fashion. Set 2 opens with an unhinged Brother before bringing in the new year with Buried Alive>ALS. Immediately after this, Runaway Jim earns a spot in the jam charts with a celebratory energy driven by Fishman's jubilant bouncing and Trey's hose shredding. The subsequent Reba offers plenty of tasty snippets, though Trey's solo is cut a bit short and there isn't quite as much soaring as some of the better versions. That said, this performance has some really sweet band interplay, building energy as a cohesive unit. Some excellent moments of dissonant and chromatic soloing that resolves with bliss (~8:20-8:25 is sooo awesome), deviation from the typical harmonic pattern (8:45), and really spirited support from Page, Mike, Fishman.

Definitely check out the goofy Set 3 Wilson opener; Trey's new toy adds a fun musical and colorful element to the classic. In my opinion, the Tweezer from this set is the earliest to really achieve Tweezer greatness. While many previous iterations have some sweet jams, this version grows new life from the standard form, venturing into uncharted territory with developed riffing, vocal interjections, and perpetual droning guitar to keep the fire blazing. This performance foreshadows some great things to come for future Tweezers. Page's solo on McGrupp balances a dancey groove and musical spirit quite well, forming one of the stronger '91 versions. Finally, we close Set 3 with a great Mike's Groove that eats well in the second Mike's jam. Some confusion in where to land causes the band to break down with some spicy cowbell and organ energy, taking a step back to rebuild again into -> H2. Weekapaug finishes the year with triumph and a nice Lion Sleeps tease. Last call out for the show is the wonderfully sleepy and timely Christmas Song Lawn Boy--an instant favorite.


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