From: Charlie Dirksen
3/31/93 Roseland Theater, Portland, OR Very good daud tapes of this show are out there. The Hood is indeed excellent, as
far as the Jammin Hoods go, but I still prefer Spokane 10/7/95, and 11/12/94 Kent, to this one. Opening is standard.. the
pre-Nirvana section is long and spacey, like the other 1993 versions, but this one doesn't contain anything terribly special or
awe-inspiring. Nirvana at 3:23.. very pleasant, dandy playin from Page. Mike's solo section at 4:08, and he is upbeat and
melodious. Pre-charge and shots at The Notes are fine.. nothing that special, though. "Boy" at 6:49. WUDMTF segment fine..
tramps jam at 8:59 or so. Page is playing pretty well, but he's definitely not as active as he sometimes is in this segment. There's
still typically great action from him.. don't misinterpret me. Trey comes in rather strongly towards the end of the tramps jam, and
Page starts wigging out.. great chords from Trey, too (Mike and Fish are just funking away). Jam segment should basically start
around 11:30 or something.. but they are just funkily chording along.. Trey breaks out about 20 seconds later with a mixture of
some chords and some fast fiery licks.. the Jam really sounds like it is just about to turn into "Smoke on the Water" in here, but
it never does. Trey breaks out at nearly 13 minutes with some mellifluous licks.. and Mike's accompaniment is particularly good
at times. At around 14 minutes, Trey is still primarily soaring in the upper reaches of the 'doc, but still, nothing terribly profound.
Those damn "Smoke on the Water"-like chords are still around off and on in here. It is a very good YEM jam, for damn sure,
and well above the older versions.. but no real climax to this jam at all. B&D at 14:34.. Mike is funking on this practically
"Smoke on the Water" theme (but it IS NOT Smoke on the Water..just the first few chords of that tune's main theme) for
awhile. Great interplay with Fish.. some good funKAY music in here.. some quick and snappy licks from him, but again, nothing
UNREAL given Mike's capability. Final closing WUDMTF segment at 16:27 or something. Vocal jam kicks in about 20
seconds later... VJ starts out low.. can't make out any words, although it sounds like they might be saying something in here, at
least for the first 30 seconds or something. A serious vocal groove develops around 17:30 or so.. but soon dies out. At 18:30
or so, I could have sworn I heard the Talkin Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" in here.. the lyrics aren't spoken.. the main melody is
just vocalized.. yes.. it is in here. I think that's Mike. This dies out in short order, though, unfortunately.. and the vocal jam
dissolves into Nothing Noteworthy.. until there appears to be another tease of "Once in a Lifetime" again. Whispering vocal
close.... some vacuum sounds at the end, too (vocal vacuum noises).. then some laughter at the very end. An extremely long
vocal jam that I didn't think was that special. Total time 23:03 or so. B- rating. Harpua starts up about 30 seconds later.. two
cents420