From: Charlie Dirksen
12/28/95 Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA What a great show to start off the tour.. I wouldn't call this a seriously above
average show, but slightly above average. You can't really go wrong with a Split Open Gumbo Curtain opener!! ;-) ;-) Not to
mention the sickest version of Buried Alive ever.. f&ckin SCARY!!! Upbeat opening (coming off that Buried Alive, it could
only be upbeat!!). No screaming after Uncle Ebeneezer.. I assumed that they wanted everyone in the audience to do it. (I was
screaming.. ;) Jam segment begins exceptionally well, with eerie, repetitive melodious licks from Trey, and then a "march" of
sorts develops (while Page wails). Trey chords along with Mike in a marching sort of rhythm (Fish hasn't really altered his
groove). Page is really The Man in this opening, although Mike is throwing out some sick jams, too. Trey is pretty dead in this
5-6min point. Just chords and some effects from him. At 6:25 or so, the jam quiets down a bit. Tom tom action from Fish..
Mike and Trey are tooling around a theme, of sorts, that is very catchy. Around 7:15, it is profoundly clear that everyone is
masterfully listening to one another. The interplay is just incredible. Those damn HEY exercises sure paid off.. at 8 minutes,
everyone's noodling starts taking on a structure, and a theme definitively develops, and is grooved upon massively around 8:20
or so. I love it when Everything Falls Into Place like this.. the band just grooves on a funky theme for the next minute or so.
Page is just nuts throughout this Tweezer, btw! Some vocal noises from Trey at 9:30 on this theme groove.. he keeps it up for
the next 40 seconds or so.. and still noodles around! ;) At 10:22 or so, they leave the theme that they'd been safe with for the
past few minutes, and explore.. (starts to get more spacey in here) At 10:50, the jam quiets down magnificently, and Page is on
the Piano.. and the Clavinet.. ;) Tom toms from Fish, low strumming on the 'doc from Trey.. very ominous, quiet jam in here.
Mike is very soulfull and melodic.. AND PROMINENT in here (11:40). I was SOOOO PSYCHED to hear this at the show;
indeed, at 11:50, he teases a classical piece on the guitar, that I'm almost positive he played the next day during the Bass Jam.
This is a fantastic groove from Mike in here, you guys. I mean, I can't remember the last Tweezer in which Mike just HAD HIS
WAY during the groove.. Mike is just soloing away in here, with everyone else keeping very reserved.. a nice key change from
Mike at 12:50.. I love key changes! ;) I really love this groove!!!! Around 13:15, there is a slow build.. a fantastic Tweezer
jamming moment, in my opinion, up there with some of Fish's greatest Hose periods.. Fantastic improv that sounds like
melodious, composed music.. gotta love it!!! Just great in here (14 minutes) Slow build.. lots of tom toms from Fish.. Mike is
pretty quiet now... DAMN THIS BUILD IS SOOOOO NICE!!!! Still building, folks, at 15:30.. MIGHTY!!!!!!! This is even
better on tape than it was in that miserable Centrum! At 16 minutes, Trey starts soloing beautifully in my opinion.. a severely
transcendent groove arises in here, briefly.. Trey drops it kinda quickly. Total hose at 16:45.. The jam is upbeat now, and
everyone is just wailing away. Excellent. Stupendous. Everyone who was at this show should hear this again. At 17:26 Trey
teases Dave's Energy Guide (with Page) .. he jams on this Dave's theme until 17:42 or so (it is jamming that is in the same form
as Dave's.. it isn't exactly Dave's Energy Guide!) Total hose in here.. 18:30.. They are just hosing everyone down. This is a
great jam, of course, but I prefer 11/30/95 in general.. why? because of what happens beginning around 19 minutes in this
Worcester version.. the jam kinda goes awry.. and then drops into a somewhat repetitive, dissonant mode around 19:25 ish.
And then around 19:45 Fish kicks the beat back in... as if to say "Let's go crazy" again... but this whole final jam, while great,
doesn't quite reach the same intensity as the Bowie-esque jam did around 18:30. Just gets progressively haphazard and spacey..
not a great ending. Lots of cymbals at 21 mins or so from Fish.. and yes, here comes the space. At 21:30, we're talking space.
Random stuff from Mike in here.. At 22 minutes, I Didn't Know starts up. Well, I thought this Tweezer was way the hell above
average. Just another 1995 MONSTER version. But the ending was just realllllly lame, compared with the fantastic Hose
witnessed around the 18 min point. Kinda a buzz kill. A very wise netter named Joel commented that "I Didn't Know" was a
most appropriate song for this ending to segue into ... ;) I think the band would agree.. (great trombone solo from Showboat
Gertrude in Know) Oh, that's right.. I have to rate these.. 7.5, even though I personally like it more than 12/8/95 (another
version I have a 7.5 to). two cents