From: Victor Szalvay
Subject: Antelope in Review Pt. 2/8/88
Greetings my Friends!

Time to take a look at another Macro extravaganza!  I know I skipped over
9/12/87 and probably some others, but I don’t want to get into really obscure
stuff that no one really has.  (Again, I am going in *partial* chronological
order, I am skipping the really rare stuff!).  This is another tasty Nectar’s
show and marks what appears to be the first Antelope of 88... there is a marked
contrast in the playing of this song in this version and previous ones, namely
they are able to hit the revered *second gear* which, in essence, is a climax in
the music brought forth by the band’s excellent command of the tension-release
principle.  

Without further chit-chat, here is the vital info:
02/08/88 Nectar’s Cafe- Burlington, VT  (Thanks Jason!)

Intro:  Trey starts it up very softly and soon thereafter Fish joins in.  Page
chimes in with some playful melodies and fun phrasings.  He is much more
noticeable here then in previous versions.  Mike is solid as usual and the intro
sounds very much like the standard version today.  Fish alters the mood to
really kick off the intro by moving to the ride-cymbal... nice touch.  The move
to the chords near the transition... Trey still in the clean tone... and then:

Em Theme:  Nice transition, much more authority.... still no distorted tone from
Trey so you can imagine the lack of power.  The overall tempo is just very
mellow and sedate, not the paradigm of what we now would term a great Antelope!
The trill approaching as Trey is running through some standard improvised riffs:

Trill:  It is a double take that really lacked the desired effect... he rakes
twice, Fish misses the transition and then they all pause and try it again... it
works out just fine... actually came out sounding pretty cool!

Em Theme:   Nicely done, old boy!  The transition was just brilliantly
maneuvered and I can’t complain.  Right away you sense Mike’s presence in this
jam... who is doing the soloing here??  I think most everyone... Trey is on his
track, Mike is working some nice lines, and PAGE!!  PAge is actually JAMMING!!!
WHAT??  It is the beginning of Pages part in the jam, and in previous versions
what we saw were Trey solos backed by the band.  Here, what we are getting is
this brilliant GD- esque JAM in the truest sense, everyone is *soloing* at the
same time to produce and *jam*.  Very nice to hear.  They work through a nice
climax but I wouldn’t call it a full gear-shift...  Fish is in there building
the tension and now Trey is starting with his typical tension lines that we are
used to today.... everything is proceeding nicely, they are building up for a
gear shift and then, the crowd going crazy realizing what is happening, then,
then, almost......  YES!

Second Gear:  Well done... the peak is noticeable but no exactly the bomb... I
give it gear shift credit, the first in their history for this song, but it was
not exactly ideal; a major release after a dizzying build...  A few moments
later as the band just pushes the intensity to the utter reaches of music, we
see another!!!

Third Gear:   A beautiful, wailing, trilling, awesome gear shift that makes this
tape worth getting!  They are just jamming this thing out so hard... I think the
development of this jam have finally matured to a greater degree.  Notice that
all of the band members are striving to keep up the intensity throughout and
just really pushing the tempo up.  The jam falls to the floor as Trey brings it
home for a nice segue into the....

Pre-Marco Groove:  Ahhhh.... Mike laying it down!  What a nice thing to hear!
Page and Trey are in there adding their touches as we wait for the
announcement....

Ry, Ry, Rocco!  (very subdued and stony, just how we like it)
there is actually a pause now, instead of the rapid succession thing that they
were doing... it works out brilliantly!
Marco Esquandolas  (very cool...)
Moses Peaks  (something to this effect from Trey)
yeeeeeaahhh!  (from Fish or someone)
Moses Brown (again Trey announcing another name.)

Happen you to have any Spleef, man? (crowd erupts with glee!)
The groove settles in for a few measures instead of breaking into the
transition, but it finally does....

Gear Shift Segment:  oh... a weak transition... The speed is just too slow for
this to be effective.  I think the Runs sound too lethargic and Treys: Set the
Gearshift segment is just too calm and not at all triumphant.  Choruses are
really nice and without error, but they just kind of lack the intensity that
makes this song really great.

End:  OK, a decent version.  we are definitely seeing a progression of this
song.  A quick overview:  85- very base and undynamic versions.  Totally without
gearshifts, soloing from Trey but no jamming, really.  87- We see not much
change, a little better interplay and transition from the intro.  2/8/88- We now
see jamming, not just soloing, and moreover we see the emergence of the
gearshift!!  Still too slow and most of the transitions lack the power for
modern versions.   Happy holidays everyone!!  Until next time,

--Victor Szalvay
AIR on the net:   http://weber.u.washington.edu/~vlaszlo/AIR/AIR.html