Notes From The Drop Zone - 4/24/21

The atmosphere on Saturday was considerably more foreboding than on Friday: gray skies with threats of rain portended a very dark set of music. The opening Caterpillar (always welcome) seemed to confirm this. The first theme in Caterpillar was exactly the kind of music I was missing on Friday—Magner-led untz with pocket jamming from Barber. This theme gave way to an inverted Abyss progression, “not my favorite, but not the worst choice for a daytime show,” I thought. Instead of a tepid Inverted Abyss build, however, the jam shifted instead toward a REGULAR Abyss progression, and built with utmost patience to quite literally the best Abyss intro I have ever seen. The jam out of Abyss made its way back into Caterpillar by way of a Bombs-esque progression. After this strong sandwich, the band dropped the crowd-pleaser 4th of July. 4th had a short type one jam before a drop segue into House Dog. Usually this is an unpopular way to close the set (although I think it works infinitely better in set one than two) but even the most skeptical of House Dog haters will have trouble finding fault with this version. The first jam was a standard, well-played iteration, but the second was absolutely demonic.

Strobelights opened the second set and was left unfinished. The Strobelights jam was solid, but it wasn’t captivating—I feel like there were a few ideas but no real solid themes. The transition into We Like To Party was interesting and unconventional, although it too didn’t really move me. The jam out of WLTP saw Magner use the same arpeggiator riffs from the Camp Bisco version in 2018, but it quickly (and disappointingly) left behind this intense raging electronic style for a more mellow progression. The jam broke down almost completely before the band rebuilt it into a Confrontation ending. The inverted Confrontation jam was where this set finally grabbed me, with a silky smooth electronic jam that built to the end of Strobelights. The rare split-up Strobelights was outro’d, and the jam built on a dark progression that hinted towards Tempest before it shifted toward the triumphant Tricycle progression. Tricycle did not have an outro jam, and essentially drop-segued into Spraypaint. I have been loving the development of Spraypaint essentially since 12/28/19, and this version did not disappoint either. The band departed the confines of the song fairly quickly, exploring a brooding passage and a thunderous percussive section before returning to the ending. The Hope encore was a fantastic way to cap the set, and the venue cutting the sound off during the ending chorus made it all the more fun.

Either set from last night was notably better than either set from Friday. I’m not sure which I prefer—leaving the show, I was leaning toward set two, but now, more than 24 hours later, I lean toward set one. Either way, my idea of the show’s highlights has not really changed, and I present these below.

Highlights:

Caterpillar > Abyss

We have been treated to two REALLY Great Abysses this year. 2/6/21 was more special for the outro, but last night will likely remain in the conversation for Greatest > Abyss.

Confrontation > Strobelights

The moment that set two grabbed my attention, and probably my highlight of the set. The loungey trance vehicle yielded to a rare segue into the ending of Strobelights.

Spraypaint

Best standalone Spraypaint in a very long time. Allen fans especially will love this version. Almost Floes-esque breakdown.

Party Favor

Spraypaint and Party Favor both making the highlights cut usually does not bode well for the show, but it’s different here. Barber absolutely shreds the ending, but it’s Magner that makes this jam worthwhile with his harvesting the souls patch.

Stray Observations:

This is the first time Strobelights has been split since 6/1/16 (it was last unfinished on 8/24/17). This is the first time Strobelights has been split AND outro’d since 12/3/15.

PLEASE BRING BACK THE ABLETON JAMS.

—Mr. Zan