From: Charlie Dirksen
5/2/93 Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA Very upbeat version, that is definitely more powerful, and a little bit faster, than
usual!! The pre-Nirvana segment is kinda fast paced, with AN EDGE, but is otherwise not that impressive. No real Vibration of
Life build (this is just too quick!). Very fast paced, actually.. this YEM is UPbeat! Nirvana at 3:19. During this segment, Luke
off-mic yells out "HEY!" a few times or "OY!" or something. Lord Vader's solo-section is low and funky and DARK.. only
somewhat melodious (Han Solo kicked the beat back into the appropriate YEM time, btw). The charge segment is at the
appropriate YEM speed, but it is nevertheless VERY powerfully played, and Luke actually lets out a scream in here!!!! =^] He
also screws around with the chords.. First shot at the Note is hit well, but it is deliberately not sustained that cleanly (Luke just
toys around with it). Very passionate playing in here, fwiw. Not run of the mill (at least from Luke). Second shot at the Note is
hit well by Luke and then magnificently jammed around. "Boy" at 6:29 after a FANTASTIC SCREAM from Luke, and even
MAN!#)*&$#)* is screamed.. GOD & SHIT too.. =^] Very passionate. Han Solo has also clearly picked up the rhythm of
this YEM again, and this WUDMTF segment Just Rocks. Princess Leia briefly teases "Here Comes Speedracer" before Luke
starts the "Boy, man, WUDMTF" lyrics. Fun segment.. DAMN! Very nice interplay. They REALLY MEAN TO GROOVE in
this YEM. Having fun.. Trampolines segment begins at 8:25, and Lord Vader begins the signals. Princess Leia is silent, though,
in this opening. She comes in finally at about 8:42 tooling around. Nothing too sweet. She's probably paying more attention to
the tramps moves. Princess Leia really doesn't do anything to sweet until around 10 minutes or so, when she starts picking shit
up. Luke comes in noodling a bit.. Princess Leia starts passionately playing the keys, but I've heard her wail more profoundly
for sure in this segment. Luke has found a theme.. uh oh. Jam segment basically starts at 10:56, and Princess Leia proceeds to
jam well. Luke has found a theme -- he plays it carefully, with lil staccato'ed hits. Lord Vader accompanies him. Han Solo
simply continues to pound out a Very Solid YEM-groove! =^] At 11:46 it sounded like Princess Leia might start teasing
"Tequila" but held back. At 12:30 Lord Vader and Luke are noodling in a staccot'oed, melodious fashion, that is very
captivating and repetitive -- but still enchanting. Sound familiar? This jam is, in this sense, remarkably similar to the 12/9/95
Albany and 6/11/94 YEM jam segments. Luke is preciously melodious (but repetitive). Very, VERY groovy. =^] I can
completely understand why you prefer this theme-jamming to 12/9/95, John, but I must confess that I find the jamming of
12/9/95 more passionate and more melodious than this (although it is arguably just as repetitive). Around 14 minutes, Luke
continues noodling around the theme he'd been screwing around with for the previous few minutes. Lord Vader does the same,
in his own way, though -- excellent accompaniment. Han Solo is simply pounding out YEM. Princess Leia accompanies
patiently and well in the background, definitely not trying to overwhelm the remarkably captivating groove that Luke is toying
with. This is a VERY groovy YEM, folks.. One of the best of 1993 for sure, and certainly one of the most FUN YEM JAM
SEGMENTS that I've ever heard! Delightful!! The Force is definitely with this one... Finally, around 16 minutes, the Jam gets an
edge to it, and a steady crescendo begins, with Luke playing more and more passionately!! The accompaniment from the others
also picks up in intensity, and then at about 16:45 or so, Full Blown YEM JAM!! Princess Leia is teasing Oye Como Va for a
bit here (the chords), and Luke starts soloing mightily... an excellent close to this looong Jam segment!!!!! =^] YES!!!!! B&D
kicks in at 18:08. Lord Vader continues to play mellifluously, and Han Solo keeps the groove going.. nothing too special from
Han (he's lurking again). Lord Vader is fairly active and llooooow on his 'doc for the most part, but still jams quite splendidly!!!
I'll keep saying this, but those of you impressed by Lord Vader's playing in the Fall 1996 YEMs need to check out this and
many other older versions. Lord Vader really SOLOS in this B&D, melodiously. I think Luke cackles (maybe Han Solo)
around 19:40.. At 20 minutes the closing WUDMTF segment kicks in (with modest accompaniment from Han Solo at first).
Vocal jam starts within 16 seconds as usual. The vocal jam is very playful in the first minute or two, with Luke, Han, Leia and
Lord Vader all harmonizing/vocalizing on a theme involving "doo," which crescendos/diminuendos well. Not that exciting,
though, imo. Nothing really freaky in here yet. Very repetitive.. kinda dull. :( Around 22:25 it starts getting DANCEABLE..
some odd animal-like sounds (niiiiice). =^] Agh. I hate "reviewing" these damn things. Just get this damn version of YEM and
listen to it yourself. Total time 24:13. This version of YEM kicked serious ass. It is MUCH better than even typically
AWESOME versions of YEM. I refuse to give it the full "A" rating because the vocal jam wasn't at all special, and since there
weren't any structural/Type II events. Still, excellent version, which ought to be heard. (and no grovels, please, because I'm
busy dubbing for a lot of people right now) A- rating. two cents charlie