From: Charlie Dirksen
6/26/95 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York One of the first of the MAJOR DWDiseases. The version that
opened this set was unfinished (no return to the chorus and typical closing measures). It jammed for awhile, then segued mightily
into Free. This is truly a kickass set of Phish given this DWD, YEM and Antelope... Opening very straightforward and
delightful. Nirvana comes at 2:58 after a short (for 1995) "pre-Nirvana" spacey, melodious interlude. Mike's solo-section at
3:42 is good, but he just doesn't sound terribly thrilled... The pre-charge, on the other hand, is very energetic, and Page and
Trey appear to be really throwin out the chords. First shot at the Note is hit flawlessly and jammed around well by Trey.
Second Note is sustained well. "Boy" at 6:19 after a great scream. MAN! Niiiice BMGS/WUDMTF segment. Very groovy
with lots of action from Page. LOTS. And Trey doesn't keep quiet in here much at all, either. Mike funks a bit. They just seem a
lot more active than usual. At 8:25 trampolines segment opens up, and Page jams really well. Mike and Trey accompany him
for about a good minute, too, before, at 9:55, the jam segment opens up with Trey letting out a slow, passionate lil melodious
lick. Jam opens well, in this sense, but soon drags a little. Audience starts clapping, and the band feeds off the energy, Trey
repetitively chording along with the crowd's claps. At 11:08 Trey begins soloing again, over top some extremely Oye Como
chords from Page (right key at least). At around 11:30 Trey lets out some licks I'd swear I've heard him do elsewhere in YEM
before.. he must have thought they sounded too familiar, too, because then he JUST TAKES OFF!!! =^] For the rest of the
version, Trey is very actively and passionately soloing, going up and down scales left and right, and jamming amidst them! He
weaves a gorgeous jam, that, around 12:55, sounds somewhat similar to parts of the Albany 12/9/95 YEM jam segment, fwiw!
=^] Page, Mike and Fish are also very passionately laying it out. At 13:27 or so Page plays some Oye Como Va chords,
underneath Trey's vicious soloing, and overtop Fish's ecastatic drum rage! Damn!! What another MOTHER of a close to this
damn YEM Jam Segment!!!!! And I thought 6/16/95 was good!! This is sooooo fiiine, folks!!! This is how you end You Enjoy
Myself. Trey is HIIIIGH up the 'doc, wailing away, and Mike, Fish and Page belt it out with him. B&D at 14:47, and Mike just
jams away. Mike plays in here like Trey did in the jam segment... Mike just melodiously grooves and funks away. I must repeat
that those of you impressed by Mike's Fall 1996 soloing in the B&D segment of YEM need to listen to this and many other
1994-95 YEMs. Mike really let's it rip, in here.. Fish really just accompanies him, and doesn't really try to steal the show.
YES!!! Really killer close to this B&D segment!!! At 17:31 the closing WUDMTF segment kicks in (and Trey laughs a little for
some reason in the opening). This vocal jam is just whacko.. It certainly isn't dull, and instead of doing the usual vocal
harmonizing/blending stuff, they just go off and make some Baby Gramps-like noises and scream a lot and generally just screw
around. Well. Around 20:19 or so they do start harmonizing on "oouuu" and then weird related noises (this dissolves into
frighteningly bizarre, freakish stuff, as is appropriate for a strong vocal jam, in my opinion). Total time 21:32. This YEM was
really, really excellent. All of its segments were above the norm. It isn't as long as 6/16/95 and 6/23/95, but well, I'd have to be
shot if I didn't give this an A- rating. I hesitate to give it an "A" because I think only exceptional versions are so worthy --
versions which contain something truly extraordinary, e.g., when the jam segment is extended for 10+ minutes or something
equally crazy occurs (see 5/5/93, 12/9/95, 10/31/95, 12/31/95..). This SPAC YEM is above average "awesome" for 1995-6
in all respects. I really think it is a stronger version, all around, than 6/23/95 and 6/16/95, which both have really excellent YEM
jam segments as well. What a month for YEM!!! If you have Dat>analog capability, I really would LOOOVE to get an upgrade
daud-1 of set 2!! My copy of the second set (from AKG 460s) has dropouts galore... Dropouts in the DWD jam, in the YEM,
in the Antelope.. agh. two cents charlie