Notes From the Dropzone - 10/24/00

Photo Credit to Jesse Faatz Photography

One could feel the chill through the TV as the band took the stage for night two on Montage Mountain in Scranton. Personally, a Hopener is a welcome sight to this old fan even without a jam to speak of there's just something right about it. Electric Slinky, the least developed of the new songs, came next and was played very tightly even though it still seems a bit unfinished compared to the rest of this new crop of songs. The night began in earnest with the top slice of the upcoming Reactor sandwich that took up the rest of the first set. After the lyrics Barber and Magner took us into the first Type-II improv of the night which would travel from the dark to the light of Champions - always welcome if you ask me. Champions then went a much more intense and electronic vibe as we were once again reminded why the band worked the Tractorbeam segments into last Fall's second sets as the tones and sounds from each instrument melted into each other. As the dance vibe brightened once again hints of the disco genius Giorgio Moroder were heard as the band slowly directed the jam in that direction. This was a much better use of the song this time that had a nice long break since it last graced the stage. The energy was actually palpable on the stream and once again made me a bit jealous of those in attendance. Another move into the abyss took a few very interesting turns before finding its way into the slightly premature trip back to a fairly short Reactor peak to close a solid set of Biscuits.

Plan B, the first since 1/25/19, opened set II as a pleasant surprise to catch the Chemical Warfare rock opera classic. After a short break the band dropped into the Frank Zappa classic Pygmy Twylyte. With a nod to the past the Magner led jam into Pink Floyd's Run Like Hell bringing the energy to peak levels once again. Utilizing the same technique of blending the old with the new Barber led us into one of the most loved new songs Running Into the Night. The MVP of last weekend once again created the best jam of the night as the band slid back to the Ableton live/"Tractorbeam" sound and the distortion of comparing the voice to its instrument became at once glorious and disorienting. With a pleasingly patient vibe the multi-layered jam eventually found its way to the more familiar territory of the Mr Don intro, however that was short-lived as the band wonderfully mashed-up the Star Wars theme song with Van Halen's "Jump" - which really was surprisingly lead by Magner's keys. Smoothly the band slipped right back into Mr Don intro territory and began the song proper - special stuff. The Don jam patiently led into the glorious ending of Run Like Hell that was held onto just long enough; a worthy finish to a fantastic show. The band had one more surprise as they stayed on stage instead of wasting any time in an encore break and launched into the obvious ode to Camp Bisco and the venue itself Home Again. The time saved by stepping right into the song translated in a far from "throw away" version that ventured into some down-tempo, bluesy electronic music before finishing in magnificent fashion.

This writer cannot wait to get to the venue tonight in Maryland to finally catch the band live again in just over 10 months, my longest hiatus by far in the 20 years seeing this band.

-ShimmyShanks