From: Victor Szalvay
Subject: Antelope in Review Pt.26 2/24/89
Greetings Everyone, well, needless to say, I apologize for the hiatus in AIR activity over the last few weeks (months?)... I have been studying for the MCAT like mad and have no time to review, much less trade. I have been sitting on these tapes I have ready to review, so I thought I would take a Friday afternoon and check them out. Anyhow, the next victim is 2/24/89 in Burlington, VT (my label doesn�t get more specific). Overall, a nice early show, but my copy sounds like crap, a little wavy and not the fault of the person I got it from! ;-) So, without further ado: Comes out of a nice mockingbird into: Antelope -- Intro: Trey gets things moving with a few playful riffs in the right direction. He even adds a couple friendly jazz licks to get things lively. Fish is all over it with some smooth tom work. Page jumps right in soon thereafter and adds a sweet flavor... Mike makes his presence known as well. Trey is pretty interesting throughout as far as intros go and we are off!! Opening theme: (2:10) Trey is solid but this old version is much like others in that there is no switch to the distortion tone which is the essence of power and intensity in this type of rock progression. RakE!: Smooth and nice trans into> Key Change to Em: (2;50) Cool work from Trey throughout and he is experimenting with a new line in this one... the riff is kind of butt-rock but still pretty interesting. He is distorted which is cool, and his soloing begins on the back of Page. Page is pretty actively coloring the background and Trey is zoning out into TREY-LAND.... ahhh, some nice runs and things get a little abstract the way we all like it! The dizzying build is forming and we are headed for a peak... will they hit? or will they fizz out? Who knows, but here we go!!! >> Second Gear: 4:33 nice peak that was well executed by everyone making it a an OK shift... really nothing heart-wrenching, though. Not long thereafter the build forms and rapidly gives way to the pressure and the release/shift explodes. 3rd gear: (5:00) they hit another peak followed by some more building and whatnot. These peaks are not as intense or pronounced as others in the future will be, but it is definitely showing some *tidal* expression or *wave-form*, by this I mean the jam is moving like the waves in an ocean... the build out at sea as water drains and currents collect a surge and as the surge is pushed closer and closer to the shore, the height and intensity builds... until, the wave crashes down and releases the intense potential energy in burst of kinetic power (too much MCAT studying, sorry!). 4th gear (6:00) exactly, they hit a really well built up peak and Trey is all over it... They max out and come done to: Pre-Marco-Groove: (6:15 or so). Trey just funks it out here. He is really pulling this one together, even though it is rushed. Page starts a nice run and amazingly Trey just takes it and finishes it (7:00) They seem very in tune with each other tonight and they are doing it all. The PMG is superb and really nicely done, starting with Mike all the way to Trey. Ry, Ry, Rocco!! MARCO ESQUANDOLAS: Been you to have any spleef, man? High Gear Theme: (7:30) Well transitioned with no significant flubs. The tempo and intensity is moving towards modern versions and away from the weird old ones, but there is still some kinks to iron out. Trey:- Set the Gear shift: trey really sounding more confident with this version, he should, because End: (9:05) Really short, but still a hot one. Probably one of the best to date (1989) but nothing like the good stuff we hear today. I see this version though as a fossil of the stuff we have today. The jamming was really tight and nice with lots of peaks and (wave-form) jamming. I'd give it a 6.0 on the Victor Scale. I will try to get to some more stuff asap, and what I will be doing from now on is just alternating between old and new versions... that way, everyone is happy! Take care everyone and enjoy the weekend! (Blair, hurry up and get up here, we�ve got to go tape moe.!!) -Victor Szalvay w/ assistance from Capt. William Prichard