Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 19:29:57 -0500
From: Christian David Hoard 
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: **11.08.98 Chicago Piper Review**
Newsgroups: rec.music.phish

11.08.98, UIC Pavillion, Chicago, Illinois, Set II:

Chalk Dust Torture, Meat, Rock and Roll, Down With Disease -> Piper,
Wading in the
Velvet Sea, Run Like an Antelope

INTRO: Piper "segues" in from DwD, but by means of an almost "vibe of
life" drone which is sustained as DwD ends. Trey plays some neat
arpeggiated licks over this drone which sound like they might come from
a trumpet fanfare. At any rate, a very mellow but interesting segue.
I'll start the timing from here, as Trey begins picking out the Piper
chord progression very softly. Standard noodling-style opening, Trey is
at first a bit reluctant to fall into the main I-II-IV-VII-VI-VII chord
progression. The rest of the band come in appropriately, and around the
1:00 most of the audience seems to recognize that Piper is being played.

THE ASCENT: Fishman begins playing a 16th-note hi-hat beat which I
really don't think serves the song very well: a bit too stale and
obtrusive for the build that's going on, plus he screws around a little
too much for my tastes here. Nice, standard ascent, the tempo remains
relatively stable and Page and Mike make their presences felt here.

FIRST LYRICS SEGMENT: At 3:50 Trey comes in with the vocals; I think a
good vocal segment in Piper is one in which the voices blend well, and
as such Trey is a little loud here compared to the backing vocals.
Otherwise standard, stable tempo, quick fade-out.

MIDDLE JAM: As the lyrics segment finishes, Fish almost immediately
comes off of his cymbals, and begins taking a drum-solo of sorts,
beating 8th-notes on his kick drum and pounding on his toms. At the
show, I really disliked this drumming, but it actually sounds pretty
good on tape. I can feel him looking for away to bust back into his
normal beat; if he had started small and built his "solo" up it would
have been perfect, but he just sorta plods his way into back into the
song. The tempo is getting faster here; something I've noticed about
1998 Pipers is that they tend to speed up here noticeably more than
older Pipers, which always sounds a little bad and out of control to my
ears...

SECOND LYRICS SEGMENT: Nice lyrics segment. That "sailing feeling" which
Piper at its best can impart is felt here. The voices blend better, than
fade abruptly around 7:00...

END JAM: Right away Trey sounds as though he has an idea for this jam
(and that there *will be* a jam, as Pipers often end here). He creates
some mild feedback, growing and receding alternately in intensity. This
is perfect for this jam, a very noisy, textural effect as the band sails
along led by Mike and Fish, plus some perfect chord-work from
Page. Trey sounds like he's beginning to solo, but it's actually
something else: almost like a guitar from the next room, Trey is playing
tiny, indistinct lead lines which poke through the haze. This sounds
wonderful!

Around 9:40, Trey is tossing out some Hendrix-style trills and producing
some feedback. What wonderful non-traditional guitar work; I really love
this. It sounds as if Trey is trying to build up some tension with some
more melodic-sounding trills and more controlled feedback, working
toward perhaps a release of some sort. He's rocking a bit more, too. But
then what? Ach! It just dies out of nowhere, Mike and Page stop playing,
Fish sounds like he's going to take it into one of those half-time jams,
but no. Too bad! I was digging that jam, and it sounded like Trey had
some things left to say. Velvet Sea begins around the 10:30 mark.

THE BIG PICTURE: Overall a very nice Piper, well-executed, but Fish's
drumming in a few spots bugged me, and the abrupt end to the jam keeps
this version from being a really exploratory Piper. Meaningless,
subjective rating (on the Scott Jordan scale): 6.0. This set is a pretty
nice one to have, too, with a slightly-jammed Meat, and great versions
of DwD and Rock 'n Roll, plus a pretty decent Antelope, though nothing
like the next night's second set.

For what it's worth, Dan Schar has started a file on the Phish.net for
these Piper reviews. I always feel a bit silly writing these things,
perhaps a little over-analytical, though I do love reading others'
reviews. Is anyone reading these? Should I keep at them? Are there any
versions of Piper you think should be reviewed? Let me know. Anyway, the
Piper file is at http://www.phish.net/reviews/piper/.

Thanks for reading,
CDH


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