From: Charlie Dirksen
7/25/92 Stowe Performing Arts Ctr., Stowe, VT (opening for Santana)
This was one of the first very high quality Phish
tapes I ever heard (thanks, Doug Budzak!). I basically got "It" during
this YEM, not to mention the Funky Bitch and Llama,
which also witnessed Carlos and Trey trading licks. Opening segment
is perfect, as is the "Nirvana" segment (no long, drawn
out opening to the Nirvana bit, though). Mike's solo section around
2:42 is typically evil and spooky (he employs that same 21st
century metallic-fuzzy-evill effect). The Notes are ok.. as is the
jamming around them. "Boy" at 5:21. WUDMTF segment
standard (although Page is probably more active than usual, in all
fairness). At 7:30, the tramps segment opens with Page
noodling away, and Mike playing tramps signals, but I don't know if
they are on the tramps. A tabla player has entered.. and the
crowd goes absolutely apeshit, meaning Santana has come out on stage.
At 8:28 Trey starts repetitively noodling, and Santana
comes in soloing around 8:45. Carlos solos patiently in here, magnificently
noodling as Trey often does in this segment. Trey
takes over from him at 10:05 (meanwhile, the tablas are being nailed,
Fish is keeping the groove... Page is pretty quiet). Trey's
soloing is equally as impressive as Carlos' was earlier. Carlos is
still standing aside, until about 11:10, when he and Trey start
trading licks back and forth, and even simultaneously trilling around
11:25... ouuuuu!! =^] =^] At 11:38, the guitars drop out
briefly, but come back in within five seconds or so. And Trey and Carlos
are again trading licks, only in the lower octaves at
first. At 12:24 trey chords a bit (the tablas and Fish are still tearing
it up..). But by 12:40, it is all percussion. No Mike yet... just
a fantastic percussion jam around 13:15.. =^] Trey and Carlos come
back in around 13:45, with Page hitting a few notes in
here, too. There's Mike (prominent finally around 14:16). Trey starts
soloing o'er the top of everyone, and Page is on the piano,
by 14:35. Carlos is supporting the groove with some tasty chordwork
at first, but then starts noodling along with Trey around
15:10. Around 15:24, the jam sounds extremely Allman-bros.-esque (for
about twenty seconds), given the dual guitar sound.
Total time 16:14. No B&D segment, no vocal jam. A-/B+ rating for
this fantastic YEM. two cents