Don't Put No Reba In The Bottle! (RebaReview #4)
8-3-91 Amy Skelton's Farm,
Auburn, ME set II
Time:   10:57 (w/ whistling)
 
FWIW, I took the title for this review from the YEM featuring the
Dude of Life during set two of this show...I'll be darned if the
Dude isn't chanting "Don't put no gerbil in the bottle".  It's things
like that that make me appreciate the genius of the Dude. =)
 
Towards the end of what must have been a very enjoyable
summer run with the Horns, this seems like fan appreciation day,
or something.  The whole show, while lacking in amazing
performances, is full to the brim with crowd pleasers.  I don't
listen to it much these days, but it was heavy in my rotation for a
while.  One of my favorite parts of this show is the set two
opener, a song that is dear to my heart, The Curtain, opening
directly on to Reba...woo hoo!
 
THE DIRECTIONS (0:00):  A little sloppy on the opening, and that
carries over into the first verse just a little bit.  Mostly smoothed
out by the first chorus.  Not the sharpness we've grown
accustomed to in this section, but after all, Reba is only a couple
of years old at this point.  Also, I'm hearing chipmunks, so my
recording is fast.  That in mind, the directions seem pretty clear.
Let's take
 
THE SIP (2:26):   Maybe Trey is a little fast, maybe it's just the
tape.  In any case, it still doesn't seem too sharp at first.  The mix
is heavy on Trey and Mike, I'm not hearing Page very clearly.
Trey's not playing badly here, but again it's not what I would call
sharp...a few small misses here and there.  Solid, standard build
at the end. Sip doesn't taste too bad, let's take
 
THE SWALLOW (4:46): Even accounting for the Chipmunk effect,
Trey sounds sharp.  Mike sounds fat, and Page is still faint.
Nothing special from Fish, average fills after the second swallow.
Off we go into
 
THE CHILL (6:07): Steady Reba-bop to get us moving...You can
hear Trey's fingers on the strings here, searching for a line.  He
hits the final swallow chord again for reference, then falls quiet,
listening to Page's steady chords.  Page starts some rising fills, to
which Trey responds by easing in a high accent note, quickly
letting that note establish 4/4 time.  At 6:46 he slides/bends up
and sustains for two or so measures, then back to the 4/4 note.
This gets repeated once, ending at 7:05 when we switch abruptly
to basic Reba jamming.  Mike sounds really good here, and decent
noodling from Trey with some more brief sustains...a small 'pop'
ouccurs at 7:25.  Trey finds a lick to play with, alternating with
ascending/descending notes at the end for flavor.  Increasing
cymbal action from Fish accentuates the build, and we
shift/release at 7:45.  Let's call it a shift...not much more than
some Reba brand noodles leading up to the next shift, about 8:05.
More high-fret noodles coming, but Fish is getting the feel now,
inserting better fills, mostly with the snare.  A minor shift
precedes a more earnest attempt at a Reba release...Trey works it
through one time, leading Fishman to build on the 4/4 rhythm,
leading up to a standard Reba release note at 9:02.  We have one
last run through of release jamming, nothing spectacular,
culminating in the closing roll at 9:22.
 
THE WET WHISTLE (9:33): The whistling is OK, but Trey still
sounds a little off to me...this smooths out somewhat once
everyone works their way in.  Final note at 10:57, with Chalkdust
starting up a second or two later.
 
 
***********
 
To pump a setlist full of songs, you have to expect that jamming
will be sacrificed, plus Reba hasn't even reached her second
birthday at this time...so it's not a big surprise this isn't more
than an average version.  This whole show is the kind of thing I
might throw in while cleaning on a Sunday afternoon, but not
something I'd listen to for fun.
 
Finest in the nation?  Survey says:
 
D