11/16/00 - Thursday, Higher Ground - Winooski, VT

https://archive.org/details/db2000-11-16.shnf

Image source: Burlington Free Press

Review:

The Mulberry’s that opens the show has a standard first jam, but the second quickly escapes type one territory. It settles into a mellow theme before the 8 minute mark that continues along a mournful riff from Barber. Around the 10 minute mark the jam firmly departs Mulberry’s territory as Sammy shifts towards a breakbeat groove. The jam builds into a blissful jungle theme, with Magner dominating the soundscape with the distorted fall 2000 trance synths. The jam shifts towards a more tense mood around the 14-15 minute mark, and this sinister theme builds to a massive crescendo over the next several minutes, up until just before the track change. This would have easily been the most aggressive segue into the ending of Overture, but Barber misses the signal. The jam breaks down for a short measure before finally dropping into Overture. This hiccup is very minor, and the jam is spectacular in spite of it. The jam out of Overture is similarly excellent. It begins as a jungle jam completely different from the preceding one: here it is Barber who leads the way forward instead of Magner, delivering a playful earworm of a riff that gives the jam structure until shortly after the 9 minute mark. Here, Magner takes over, moving from more industrial sounds to more melodic ones and settling into a foreboding theme. This is further enhanced by the introduction of the 11/9 synths around the 11 minute mark. The jam crests a wave and breaks down over several minutes. The breakbeat rhythm breaks down around the 15 minute mark, and the jam returns to Mulberry’s territory and builds to a strong Mulberry’s peak. The rest of the set is considerably safer. A characteristically long fall 2000 Magellan follows. The middle jam is considerably shorter than past versions, but the main jam is strong and spacey and culminates in a strong peak. The Waves jam begins with a heavy dub groove. Magner juxtaposes a very clean synth melody with occasional lines from the heavily distorted acid synths. Barber hangs back until around the 8 minute mark when Magner finds a very simple and catchy theme, and the two of them begin to build it up. Barber takes the lead around the 10 minute mark and builds to a fiery peak. Kamaole has a jazzy jam with Magner on piano for the first few minutes. He introduces that subtle, electric chirping synth that he used a lot in winter 1999 shortly before the 4 minute mark, and the jam settles into a cool groove. The jam remains a major key uplifting rock groove for its entirety (in spite of the occasional Gates of Hell riffs), and builds to a strong Kamaole ending.

Jigsaw Earth opens set two, one week after the monumental 11/9 version. The pre-chase jam is shorter than previous iterations. During the chase section, Sammy plays the Munchkin hits over the rest of the band. The first jam after the chase section is focused and thematic, evocative of interstellar travel. Barber takes over around the 11-12 minute mark, and builds to a spectacular uncomposed peak that yields to another chase section. Here Sammy lays down the Munchkin hits again, and the band pulls off another DJ segue into Munchkin. The Munchkin jam is fairly standard at first, with distorted trance synths coalescing into a triumphant theme. It begins to move toward tense territory around the 6 minute mark, and shortly thereafter Magner goes absolutely wild on the Gates of Hell synth. After he eases up, the jam actually explores some cool territory, before making its return to Munchkin territory. Munchkin has an outro jam again, the third in total and by far the longest. It enters dub territory almost immediately upon leaving Munchkin territory, so it’s not particularly exploratory, but the buildup back into the ending of Jigsaw Earth is cool, and the segue is executed perfectly. Widow in the Rain follows, and the band combines this melancholy number with measures of The Big Happy in between the verses. It is a combination that the band has favored a few other times in their career, but I do not like it at all. It is a jarring juxtaposition. The jam emerges out of The Big Happy and settles into a blissful groove. The jam builds to a gorgeous uncomposed peak and segues smoothly into Pygmy. The first half of the Pygmy jam is excellent, with intense digital synth work and complementary guitar riffs. It comes to a head, and begins to break down, shortly after the 9 minute mark. It gradually approaches more mellow territory before a total ambient breakdown around the 12-13 minute mark. From here the band launches into a Lai intro. The Lai jam is a solid groove, with Barber playing blissful riffs and Magner utilizing the winter 99 synths further. Vassilios is performed in the encore slot, and features an unconventionally jammed out middle section. The jam soon moves past type one territory and into a primal and percussive full-band theme that explores some interesting space before returning to Vassilios. Unfortunately, there is no outro jam to speak of; the band drops into a few measures of The Big Happy which serves as the landing pad.

Another somewhat uneven show, with some of the best jams of the entire year and some stretches of uninteresting music. The highlights win out on this one, however, and I’d put it towards the top of my rankings.

Highlights:

Mulberry’s > Overture

Skull crushing dnb. Even in a tour replete with jungle, this jam manages to stand out. The jam smoothly departs Mulberry’s territory and moves from a blissful dnb vehicle to a sinister peak.

Overture > Mulberry’s

Slightly less strong than the first half of the segment, but stronger than anything else in the show by a good bit. A cool, evil dnb theme, highlighted by the 11/9 synths, that melts back into a strong Mulberry’s ending.

Jigsaw Earth

Another powerful Jigsaw trance jam, thematic and evocative, in the vein of the monumental 11/9 version. It builds to a massive peak and segues into Munchkin.

Munchkin Invasion

It begins as a standard blissful trance jam, but after some intense Gates of Hell riffs from Magner it enters a very sinister type two theme.

Pygmy Twylyte

The first half of this jam is particularly excellent, with a strong digital theme from Magner.

Stray Observations:

There are what sound like Norwegian Wood teases in the Magellan jam, shortly before the peak.

This is the first pairing of Widow in the Rain and The Big Happy. The two songs have been combined a few other times, most recently Halloween 2010.