March 28, 2001

Mulberry’s has a standard first jam. The second is mostly standard at well, but spaced out a bit with Magner making effective usage of the 2001/rabbit hole synths. Munchkin is a straightforward and standard version, notably different from the most recent iteration on 3/24. It’s a single unilateral theme that builds to a strong ending. The Ladies is much too short, but it’s a strong theme with a strong ending. The M.E.M.P.H.I.S. jam progresses normally enough until around the 5 minute mark when it begins to break down into ambience. By 6:30, the jam sounds more like a M.E.M.P.H.I.S. outro than a main jam. It rebuilds to a strong M.E.M.P.H.I.S. peak. The outro is a pretty mellow groove dominated by Barber noodling, with Magner providing background ambience over a strong rhythm. As the track changes, the tempo drops abruptly, and the band settles into a Hope intro. The Hope is a strong version, with a dubby groove rhythm. Barber settles on some great themes in the jam and builds up to one of the stronger Hope endings that I’ve heard.

Boop is preceded by a drawn out intro jam, which is labeled as a funk-off jam. I infer that this means that they have dancers on the stage while they’re playing, which doesn’t exactly transfer to tape. Thankfully, the jam is catchy and fun, while short enough that it doesn’t get boring. There is some compositional sloppiness and a missing verse in Boop, but the first jam gets off to a hot start in spite of the confusion. It is a standard, celebratory version. The second jam in Boop gets weird and somewhat abrasive early on. Barber locks into an unconventional theme, which is basically a distorted deconstruction of the Boop riff. It builds to a strong and energetic peak. More banter and bringing women up on stage after Boop (the band appears to be in a festive mood). The main Shimmy jam is a strong version, if standard. It builds a sinister atmosphere to a monster peak. The band spaces out the instrumental section after the peak before the final verse for an honest-to-goodness conga line on the stage. The conga line jam isn’t terribly interesting, even though it is unique. Confrontation is a pretty straightforward build with a strong peak. The Stone > Waltz combo closes out the set, and is mostly standard (except for a percussive marimba-esque breakdown toward the beginning). The Shelby encore has an energetic dnb jam which features Magner prominently on piano. He gradually moves to the rabbit hole synths and other mellow electronic effects. Barber takes over after the 8 minute mark and builds up to the first ever Shelby Rose peak.

2/5. The second set is sloppy, no doubt, but Boop Shimmy and Shelby are worth hearing. The first set is stronger, with solid versions of Hope and Mulberry’s, plus an extended M.E.M.P.H.I.S. jam which might be the highlight of the show.

Stray Observations: This is the band’s second appearance at the Cajun House. The first was 2/16/99, which was a Mardi Gras celebration. The band sounds noticeably more inebriated after set break. I wonder what the occasion was. Prior to set two, Barber announces “the Disco Biscuits dancers,” and the band precedes Boop with a “funk-off” jam. Brownstein gives a toast to the band’s new road manager, Matt O’Brien, in the second Boop jam. This is the first Shelby Rose with the composed peak. It is just slightly different than the final version, but very clearly the genesis of the modern peak.