Thanks for great analysis @driver!

I recall hearing in the early nineties that Trey actually wanted the crowd to be silent during the D-sky pause. He would wait to play the note until there was silence or close to it. The pause grew in length as the crowds grew and took longer to quiet down, sometimes with a little help from the "shushers". I never shushed as I felt it contradicted actually being quiet; I'm still quiet to this day during the pause. This worked in the smaller venues and theaters, but once the band started hitting more arenas it became near impossible for the entire crowd to quiet down.

It almost seemed that it really irked Trey as he never smiled when the crowd was extra boisterous. That was until the Knoxville '95 "longest pause" when he actually cracked a little smile and broke his stoic pose. The crowd went through three rounds of cheers, then fans starting chanting Wilson, and then those that were in the front row of the lower sections started banging on the metal advertising signs on the other side of the wall in front of them. The overall crowd got rowdier and everybody started clapping together. It was actually pretty cool and perhaps that's why Trey smiled a little. It's definitely my most memorable D-sky pause and a story I've told several times throughout the years.

Another tidbit is that the song doesn't kick back in until Fishman hits his cymbal three times. I remember a couple of times when Fishman would initiate his own pause which also made Trey smile. Unfortunately I don't recall the dates of those shows but it was very humorous for someone that enjoys the "tiny things" the band does here and there within their songs.

Thanks for bringing this memory back, again!!