RebaReview #5
7-2-95 Summerstage at Sugarbush North
Fayston, VT, set I
Time:   11:55
 
My copy of this show is so crisp, at times I mistake it for a sbd.
Almost none of the tapes that I've recieved make reference to
source or gen, so my frame of reference is clouded...but from
what I can tell, there must be some mystical acoustics in the
mountains of Vermont!  My hat also goes off to whomever
orignally taped this master...thank you thank you!!
 
As first sets go, I think this one is pretty nice.  A Sample/Divided
opener, pretty cool...I never get tired of Page features, and
Gumbo is a _great_ Page feature...Leo paves the way for the
lifting of The Curtain, and I LOVE this song so much it brings
tears to my eyes.  The Curtain lifts on Julius, and I can dig that,
but even better, Julius has got a surprise with humps...a Camel!!!
 
Tell me, how cool would it be to hear such a _sweet_ re-working
of this oldie busted out live...I'm talkin' 'bout the Camel Walk!!  If
I were at this show, I would have happy feet, and they would be
made even happier by the opening notes of...you guessed
it...REBA! =)
 
THE DIRECTIONS (0:00): Nothing, aside from the wonderful sound,
draws my attention in here.  There's the tub, there's the ladle,
you know what to do next.
 
THE SIP (2:23): Mike's not really up in this mix, but again thanks
to stupendous quality I can hear him quite well, especially in his
fills building up to
 
THE SWALLOW (4:43): Still nothing flashy, standard work from
Fishman supporting Page and Trey.  One hardly noticeable miss
from Trey at the start of the second swallow, but otherwise our
sip goes down nicely and uneventfully...more average fills from
Fishman at the end, taking us strongly into
 
THE CHILL (6:06): Page hits the chill especially hard, and has to
back off a little bit.  Trey pulls out with some feedback, then is
quiet.  The beat is very strong, with Mike adding some low
accents and Fish adding some flams.  No tinkling from the
piano...Page is going right at the Chill chords, stating the theme
rather than hinting at it.  Trey comes in at 6:43 chirping out that
familiar high note, then switiching to a lower pull-off/sustain
which leads him to tiptoe downwards.  Mike signals from higher
up, and Trey goes to meet him there, ending up noodling quietly
on the high end of the 'doc.  A nice flutter around 7:00, then some
more high pitched noodling before Trey starts complimenting
Fish's snare shots on the second and fourth beats of the measure.
 This is the kind of thing that gets people clapping along...the
effect is very similar.  Trey starts to work into this 1, clap, 2, clap,
rhythm, and noodles with it for a good while.  A shift at 8:03, and
Trey switches to a straightforward 4/4 to increase the tempo,
just repeating a couple of notes on every beat.  Fishman matches
this beat to get a build going, and Trey kicks on a watery effect
shortly before the build shifts.  Just more noodling, though, still
with the watery effect...it's not especially pleasing, and he slips
out of key once or twice.  After a spot of feedback, Trey ditches
the underwater sound and then repeats an ascending lick a few
times.  Yet more noodles from Trey, nothing exciting...he catches
another simple repeating phrase, Mike responds to it, and then
Fish throws snare accents on top of it...I think I can feel some
syncopation coming...yep, starting around 9:49, building, pulling
back together at 10:07.  Trey starts to noodle with more
distortion, then sustains a note, building it into a rapidly
strummed chord.  Almost a good release at 10:17, but Trey holds
that chord just a bit too long.  He stays with distortion for a
moment, then returns to clearer noodling.  He hits another
repetitive phrase, plays with it some, and this one builds up to a
real shot at release at 10:56...not a great one.  Continued noodling
from Trey, and a shift at 11:15 leads him to do some extended
hammering.  The build is better, but did I mention the
repetitiveness?  Maybe I should mention the repetitiveness.
  Another shift/release in here, followed by straightforward Reba
jamming and a couple of sustains of a Reba release note that let
us know the end draws nigh.  End of the roll comes at 11:55.
 
THE WET WHISTLE: Nope.  Instead, Trey steps up and sings "I
Didn't Know..."
 
*********
 
Well, I'm sure it was a beautiful night at Sugarbush.  Nothing
worth mentioning from this Reba, though, really just a standard
run through it.  It's technically accurate, but the jam really
doesn't go anywhere...Reba bop, noodling, building, releasing,
ending.
 
Finest in the nation?  Survey says:

C-