The Palace Tweezer—Twenty Years Later
Twenty years later and I can still remember everything about that night—where I was, who I was with, what I was wearing. They say that live music can change your life, and that is exactly what happened to me on the sixth of December in 1997. On this night, something momentous happened. A piece of music harnessed from the outer realms of the universe came down through the instruments of a band from Vermont and transformed The Palace of Auburn Hills into a place of worship. On this night, we received “The Palace Tweezer.”
This jam is hands down, far and away, my favorite piece of music ever created by mankind. And it’s not even close. The Palace Tweezer has it all—the grimiest, subliminally connected funk grooves, a passage of ascension into spiritual realms of sound and soul, and an indescribable section of musical wizardry that I suspect was the soundtrack of the universe’s creation. The entire piece unfolds like poetry without a moment of hesitation, as if the music already existed—perfectly composed—and the band just allowed it to come through them. It seems impossible that a piece of improvised music so immaculate, so powerful, and so utterly dynamic could be generated by human beings on the fly.
I cannot begin to guess how many times I have listened to this jam over the past twenty years, but it sounds every bit as good today as it did when I got the analog copy sometime after tour. It has not lost a drop of freshness or power. The Palace Tweezer is a part of the fabric of my existence. Though I know the piece by heart, the feelings it produces on each and every listen are no less stirring than on the day I heard it.
Though Phish crafted so many sections of “funk” that fall, none approach the nuanced, four-minded mastery on display in this jam. The band members finish each other’s musical sentences, speaking as one entity rather than individual musicians. These grooves have a life of their own—locked in doesn’t begin to describe it.
The band gradually and ever so smoothly builds from these opening dance rhythms into a section of improvisation that opens a wormhole in space-time, allowing the music—and the Palace—to slip into an alternate dimension. This passage gives me chills every time I listen to it. Literally. Every time. Trey hits a lick in here that elevates the possibilities of the entire jam, and the band is right with him. From this point forward in the jam, words fail me. The music is beyond linguistic expression—a deeper magic from before the dawn of time.
I truly believe that the band communed with the divine while playing this jam. It is not far fetched, as we are all individual manifestations of the one divine energy of the universe. We are the universe awakening to itself and expressing itself as human beings for a short blip of time. Life is but a process of remembering not who we are, but what we are. Yet, because we are in human form, we are not in always in touch with this higher truth. But on that Saturday night in December, twenty years ago, Phish was not only in touch with it, they channelled this truth through music, through themselves and, subsequently, through everyone in the room.
It is this process that makes transcendent Phish jams such incomparably powerful experiences. This is the reason we keep going back—to remember and experience our truth. The Palace Tweezer is the greatest expression of my personal truth that I have ever heard. It is primordial music, an oracle of the infinite, telling a story of our past, present and future all at once.
Today—twenty years later—I will listen to the The Palace Tweezer again, and I will smile with awe and wonder, just as I did when the lights came on, oh so long ago.
Tags: 1997, Jams, The Moment
last night’s JRAD setlist kinda speaks to the notion of them flipping scripts on typical format
for example the Cats Under The Stars with Airbag (radiohead) jam
https://archive.org/details/JRAD2018-03-15
12.30.17 Brother with the alternate funk bassline – mind blown (again).
^^ $$$ version. Trey w/ the effects laden, claptonesque soloing while Page clavs for dollahs. so greasy this gumbo. psych funk!
Holy shit this Yo La Tengo album sucks and is boring as fuck
I cannot believe those crackers had the gall to name this placid stroll through half-realized song ideas “There’s a Riot Going On”
Going not Goin’
Awful. Just awful
jazz recs JG. seems like your kind of thing! in all seriousness if you missed em read back. folks were dropping recs left and right for a few pages
fuck this YLT bullshit. I switched to the infinitely superior Sly Stone album and my whole life seems much better immediately
Well now I want to spin this YLT album out of morbid curiosity
Charles Earland ftw…
“The Mighty Burner” from his Black Talk! album kicks off this mix: https://www.mixcloud.com/juridicus/high-atmosphere-18-child-of-the-moon/
LU usually emails himself recs from every page, but he’s behind the Dab Curtain, so maybe not this time.
Enjoyed Spafford last night. Def changed my mind a little. The jam in first set was some interesting psych shit. Dug it.
New Sun Ra live archival release from the mid 70s
https://sunrastrut.bandcamp.com/album/of-abstract-dreams
It’s just boring Wlibard. Not terrible really. It’s only bad in contrast to the hype
holy crap my buddy is still looking for an RV pass for gen pop and some fools are trying to sell them for $1850. W.T.F.
so yeah, if you have any extras lemme know
yo, thanks for that fresh Ra! Philly
yeah it’s good too
anyone want to split a $250 John Zorn box set? The final 11 disks in the Masada project, Book of Angels style
https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/johnzorn
serious question
includes a Kabalistic in-joke. that’s good value for the money
Did Phil play a show with scofield last night with a dark star tribute to Stephen Hawking? If so where can I listen
Archive foolassuming taper has it up already
Found it https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/phil-lesh-and-friends/2018/capitol-theatre-port-chester-ny-33efd81d.html
sun ra > scofriends
Never mind the links play song versions from different dates
I couldn’t dream a better setlust than that. Ooh…Setlust..
Byrne / Eno new album is awesome. They are such an amazing combo.
There’s a new Byrne Eno album?
It’s technically a David Byrne solo album but all the songs were co-composed and co-produced with Eno. American Utopia