SET 1: Frankenstein: Killer opener!

NICU, Cars Trucks Buses: Standard.

Character Zero: This one has some extra juice, it’s smoked! Acapella ending. >

Divided Sky: Below average by a good bit.

Bathtub Gin: Nicely jammed!

Life on Mars? – Poor placement.

Maze: Another fall 96 heater The climax wasn’t quite as strong as some others this fall but still a strong version!

Suzy Greenberg: Standard.

SET 2: Wilson: Raucous! >

Simple: Starts of sort of raw and bluesy, transitions into 97 style funk and then meanders into space. Another great Fall 96 version of Simple. ->

Sparks: Killer segue out of Simple and a huge bustout. Sparks was played for the first time since October 29, 1994 (173 shows). This one rocks hard! >

Sparkle: Standard. >

Taste: Enormous peak at the 6-minute mark. Incredible trills at 6:56. Destroyed. Awesome version!!! >

Swept Away: Standard. > Steep: Standard. >

You Enjoy Myself: Trey breaks a string on the first attempt at The Note, so things sound a little different in there at this time. The second note is a mess too but the rest I give him a ton of credit for making it sound as decent as it does. Messed Page up a bit too timing wise before tramps. I assume he switches to a different guitar and when he does, look out below! This jam is super funky! Trey definitely has a theme going here that works very well! At 12:52 the jam shifts back to what I would think of as typical YEM jamming for this era and the crowd starts a clap along at 13:20, lots of Chicago ex-pats in SF? Little Trey breakdown in the late 13’s, Fish, Mike, and Page take it way down to accommodate. In the early 15’s we are getting hints of Oye Como Va. 16:10 it’s clear to me they are vamping on OCV. The build in here is powerful. What results is a very intense jam with each member completely rocking out. Insanity! This YEM is awesome and the jam segment is super long!!! Huge fan. Been awhile since I have heard it, but this was confirmation once again.

Waste: Standard.

Harry Hood: They take their time and patiently build this one. Trey repeats the same idea about 3 or 4 times in the late 11’s and early 12’s that works especially well. They are building furiously in here. Unfortunately, the peak seems a bit rushed and more of an afterthought.

ENCORE: Sample in a Jar: Trey is sloppy in the intro. Good enough encore though.

Summary: I rate this as a 3.7 out of 5. The first set there is just not much there at all outside of the Maze. The second set is outstanding as Simple, Taste, and YEM are all great with YEM being an all-timer.