From: Charlie Dirksen
4/22/93 The Agora Theater, Cleveland, OH Opening is fairly standard; arguably not as smooth as it could be. Trey appears
to be straining in places. The pre-Nirvana build includes the "Vibration of Life." Trey discusses it a little. They spend quite a bit
of time trying to create it, and then give it up at 5 minutes, with a "FEEL BETTER?" query from Trey. It doesn't sound to me
like they really got it.. (and Trey's FEEL BETTER sounds a bit sarcastic) Anyway, Nirvana doesn't come until 6:02, so this
opening is quite long. If you ever wondered why I broke down the timing in the "timing" portion of the Summary, now you know
why. I thought this opening was amusing, but certainly not as gripping and energizing as even your run-of-the-mill opening YEM
segment. Mike's solo section in here isn't that exciting, either, I'm afraid. Trey's soloing around The Notes is fine. "Boy" at 9:24,
after a truly energizing scream from Trey. WUDMTF segment uneventful. Tramps segment contains some fun signaling from
Mike for the turns, and Page's noodling is as joyous and quick as usual. Jam segment kicks in at 12:53. Quiet noodling in the
opening minute.. jam cools off quite a bit, and Trey wails away but very quietly. Fish is lightly keeping the groove. No Mike and
Page at all in here for quite some time. Some trilling from Trey around 14:30. At 14:45 or so, Trey picks up a theme, and starts
building it (repetitively stroking it) with Fish picking up the groove. At 15:15, Mike and Page leap in, and the jam starts to sound
more like a good '93 energetic, Santana-esque jam, and then, as if on cue, at 15:50, everyone jams a la Oye Como Va. And
this is the theme until bass and drums. Trey's soloing in here is excellent, as is the accompaniment from the others. Typical YEM
hose at 17:35, then the climax, and bass and drums at 17:40ish. Fish & Mike funkily groove... Mike's soloing is surprisingly
thematic and melodious, but he plays nothing that especially grabs my attention or makes me beg for more. He grooves
continuously, though.. no long pauses. Closing WUDMTF segment at 19:29, with some nice drumming from Fish in the
opening. Vocal jam kicks in the usual 20 seconds later... My attempts to describe vocal jams seem to get more and more lame,
but, consistent with my remarkable ability to amuse others with my profoundly plebeian and sometimes ludicrously pompous
perceptive "abilities": the vocal jam starts off with everyone more/less repetitively vocalizing the same note. And it basically
sticks to this line, progressively disintegrating into a climbing, Hood-like messy crescendo (but only after one of those "they
seem to be saying something" sort of vocal "jams" .. I just can't make out what they are saying). The closing few minutes of the
vocal jam are very dull... moaning. Fish almost says "Lassie" at one point.. or seems too. This moaning also builds into a
crescendo, and that's that. 25:51 total time. I thought this vocal jam was even more lame than my review of it (the worst
criticism I've ever made of a vocal jam). This YEM had a Vibration of Life, drawn-out opening segment, a very reasonable, yet
typically excellent jam segment, and a terrible vocal jam. I've liquidated it without copying it... what I'd call a run of the mill, but
somewhat interesting, YEM. A C+ at best.