The Rabbit's Gotta have it!!! (RebaReview #10)
4-4-94 The Flynn Theater
Burlington, VT, set I
Time:   13:11 (w/ whistling)
 
This is another Reba that I have as philler, so see the HFB for more
info on the setlists.
 
THE DIRECTIONS (0:00): Opening notes are snuck in...it's a few
seconds before the crowd cheers, recognizing our gal Reba.  Page is
good and sharp, Mike is having fun slapping big fat notes here and
there.  Oooooo...good, quiet start to the second verse, that puts a
smile on my face every time. =)  Everyone gets gradually louder...there
is a
chord that Page dances on in just about every version, right after
"Reba dip a ladle," and when he hits it right and I can really hear it
and Mike funks around it, it makes me want hop around like a mad
rabbit.  Excuse me, I've got to go hop for a second...
 
THE SIP (2:31): ....hop hop hop...no mistakes...Trey gets creative,
chopping where he usually strums.  He fades back, Mike is going bop
bop bop...slaps another FAT, bent note...Trey for a moment mimics
one of those fade-away hammers with his voice...a few people in the
audience are already freaking out...elegant tinkling by Page...egads,
what a sip!  Build-up to the swallow is less eventful, but no less
powerful...here we go!
 
THE SWALLOW (4:54): Very hot and very on...Fishman is driving, so
hold on!  He doesn't really get out of control, though, just adding
splashes, taps, and thumps where they feel good.  Testing the
swallow flipper...everything seems to be in order...all clear for...er,
um...
 
THE CHILL (6:17 or so): ...woops.  I don't know what the hell
happened at the end of the swallow...did it go down the wrong pipe?
Trey kind of comes in too early on one of the last swallow chords,
and everyone but Fishman sort of falls flat on their face...Fish makes
a little rhythm adjustment as Mike gets up and starts the Chill
groove...hehehe, sort of funny.  Trey hops back up, hits a high lick
and then tiptoes back down...Page comes in behind him with
trademark Reba chiming, very gently...ascending...opening a door for
Trey to start through.  Now it's just Trey and quiet GordoFish
rhythm, and Trey starts repeating some notes, noodles, then hits a
lick at 6:54, sounds like...ack, I need some help on this one!  At first
this kind of sounds like a re-arrangement of "Jolly Good Fellow", but
just the part where you would sing "Which nobody can deny" (or "and so
say all of us", depending on what continent you're on).  It's really
nice, though...does anyone know if this is supposed to be a tease?  Is
it a
Jolly Good Fellow type thing?  Help me out here, Reba fans.
 
I'll move on, but that's really neat.  The Jolly melody is repeated a
few times, and on the last note everyone sustains, intentionally off-
key I think.  Fish rolls a little on the woodblock, and we hold for a
second...Fish softly picks the Reba beat back up with a couple of kicks
and *pop*...at 7:22 Trey shoots us back in to the Reba groove.  Now that
was _sweet_! Trey starts to noodle melodiously again, but Mike is stuck
to da funk, and it rubs off on Trey, who starts to pluck quietly around
Mike's dank bass.  Fishman fills in, then Trey sustains a chord at 7:39,
holding it...then he disappears.  Now Page is back, still blissfully
noodling...where is Trey?  Hmm, there he is, and he's having eeevil
thoughts, beginning an ominous build.  Uh-oh, it's not just a regular
build...Trey gathers everyone in tight, and the tempo doubles...
rrrrraaaaaaaaaa!!!!!  At the risk of sounding cliche, this is very
Tweezer-esque...racing at full tilt toward God knows what...the
rhythm has totally changed now, and around 8:11 Trey starts some
repeating licks...he's surely just improvising this, but I'm hearing the
theme from the movie "Starman" (w/Jeff Bridges)...let's just assume
I'm crazy.  At 8:33 Trey follows a small change inserted by Fishman,
and heads for a release...DOH!!  Trey elects to pull out of it, but
Fish, Mike, and Page are still stuck in "Starman" mode...a few seconds
later they
just abruptly switch back to the Reba groove in support of Trey...ick,
that went poorly.  Trey begins some standard Reba noodling, maybe
a bit repetitive...seems like we need to get gathered around again.
Trey hits one shift at 8:58, continues the noodling on the new level,
then takes another shift at 9:19.  Around 9:55 he enters full
repetitive mode, collecting everyone for a nicely executed Reba
Release at 10:19.  High fret wailing for a few moments, then Trey
starts in on another repetitive phrase...Fishman gets stuck plodding
out the 4/4 time, but Trey goofs with the phrase then slowly forces it
down, down, building pressure...another good release at 11:00.  Trey
catches 4/4 plodding fever, then noodles upwards, culminating in a
high sustain that you know means the end.  Obligingly, Fishman rolls
out the toms, closing out firmly at 11:20.
 
THE WET WHISTLE (11:44):  Finally Trey gets the whistle going, with
a little difficulty...then he's having more difficulty strumming than
whistling...then he's having a lot of difficulty not laughing.  It's
hard for me to describe the point in the whistling melody...you have the
first phrase, which is repeated once, and then the third phrase starts
off
higher...you'll know the part if you listen to this version.  Someone
makes the start of that third phrase really really loud, like some goofy
bird,
and it just cracks Trey up totally.  When they finally get to the "Bag
it, tag it" part, they start inserting more whistling between the bags
and
the tags.  They just get damn silly for a bit, and I think the rest of
the
audience gets in on it, too.  One of the more amusing Wet Whistles I've
heard.  In any case, they finally do get around to the final note, which
clocks in at 13:11.
 
******************
 
This one is so tough to call.  It's certainly not the most flawless
version.  In fact, you really need to hear that wierd, dark, Tweezer-ish
portion.
It doesn't really fit your everyday Reba, and in that sense it's kinda
cool, but Trey just basically up and abandonds it and yanks us back to
the
traditional chill.  It doesn't flow at all, and makes me cringe.

On the other hand, the Jolly Good Fellow part is really really neat, and
I love listening to this version just for that part.  It's neat enough
to bring
up the overall grade of this version.  The Wet Whistle is just silly,
and is
kind of a bonus IMHO.  It's fun to listen to.

I guess that's the bottom line on this version, it's just such a
light-hearted go at the song that I can't help but like it.  I'll try to
remain somewhat objective though.
 
Finest in the nation?  Survey says:
 
C+/B-

"Oh, but Moe, the dank, the dank!"
     - Carl