From: Charlie Dirksen
12/9/94 Mesa Amphitheater, Mesa, AZ A huuuuge Tweezer in this set (see 11/23/94-2 as well). Beautiful Slave-like closing
jam in an already remarkable Tweezer!! I imagine some people were surprised to get a YEM so soon after 12/7/94 (the "A
Live One" version of YEM). Buuuuuht, this wasn't pretty (avert thine eyes and don't bother reading any further, the multitudes of
you who only skim these "reviews" anyway.. really, you DO NOT want to 'read' this!!!). Opening standard. Nirvana came so
early I wasn't even paying attention. Trey fumbles a bit during the pre-charge (and Mike's solo-section wasn't too special,
either). I wonder whether they were desperately trying to get a solid 20 minute YEM in here for the DLCD (very odd to play a
YEM so soon in '94... I mean, within 48 hours?). Trey just doesn't sound at all right in this pre-charge section. The jamming
around the first shot at the Note isn't really there. I wonder if he's sober.. Second shot at the Note is not sustained well either
(surprise surprise). Holy shit, even the charge before Boy is screwed up by an immensely sloppy Trey!! I really HOPE Trey had
been imbibing heavily before this one.. so strange, though, given the Tweezer earlier on in the set (which is AWESOME!!!!!).
Great scream, though, and "Boy" at 5:40. WUDMTF segment contains some nice clav action from Page, but is otherwise
steady as she goes. Tramps segment at 7:46, and Mike shortly begins signaling the tramps moves. Page plays pretty well, but
nothing exceptionally powerful occurs. Jam segment at .. hey!!! Trey didn't even come in at the right time!!! Trey begins
noodling at 9:25. Oh well. I wonder if he was really pissed off at someone for this version.. ;-O Maybe that's it. Trey's noodling
is actually quite beautiful in this opening, and like many other 1994 versions, the opening of the jam segment is just Fish and
Trey. Mike and Page mimic Trey a wee bit, when Trey started getting repetitive. Around 10:45, Trey somewhat teases "Oye
Como Va" (only four notes worth, but that's sufficient)... and then proceeds to tease this a lot in the next 40 seconds, before
increasing the power of his noodling (not to mention the volume). Nice steady crescendo! Trey's soloing around 12:20 is pretty
grand, but definitely not as Serious or Severe as he knows he can get. Nevertheless, the jam segment closes with an excellent,
forceful jam, which includes some joyous soloing from Trey (bringing this version out of the "D" range solidly, in my opinion). At
13:36 the bass and drums segment begins, and Trey actually toys around in here, adding his two cents (or two notes, as it
were). Mike is funking quite nicely, very subtly teasing Frankenstein's riff briefly around 14 minutes and a wee bit thereafter (if
you can't hear the FOTM teasing on 12/31/95, just forget I even mentioned this, because this is a hell of a lot more subtle than
that). Mike's funking in this section is extremely awry and borderline Psychotic. Just a remarkably Evil effort -- he's quite active,
though, as is Fish!!! Closing WUDMTF segment at 15:38. Vocal jam within twenty secs, with almost whinnying noises on the
closing WUDMTF note. A real vocal jam shortly kicks in, though, and includes some spectacular mouth, nose and throat noises
for a little while... before, around 17:30, beginning to sound like a possible segue into the "Lion Sleeps Tonight" (which does not
occur). "A hum nah" jamming.. a little whistling... At 18:50 or so Trey appears to tease something that sounds vaguely familiar,
but I can't name the song. By 19:20, monotonous, languid vocalizing on a groan-like noise. This is pathetic. Why the F*C@ do
I even ATTEMPT to review these things?! (oh that's right.. I lost my mind a long time ago...) Total time 20:26. Suzie Greenberg
starts up about 15 seconds later, and let me tell you, Trey sure as hell doesn't sound that psyched. At least at first. (this Suzie is
remarkably shitty, btw, because of Trey.. I can only assume that he's EXHAUSTED from playing so many damn shows..) Well,
this YEM was pretty lame for 1994. Indeed, it was INCREDIBLY LAME for 1994. Nevertheless, it is worthy of a C/C+, if
only for the jamming in the last minute or two of the jam segment, in my opinion. two cents KingMoron420