April 04, 2001

One hell of an underrated ''Boop'' ! It's up there....inner palindrome jam of adventure and return ABCBA. 25 minutes of tremendous gamma flipping. dehydrated, turning into prunes, we marched on.

After something of a shaky start in the composition, the Ladies jam is solid and standard. Jigsaw has two trance jams, one before the chase and one between chase sections. The first is actually longer than the second, and both are standard. The Jigsaw dub jam is a bit more remarkable. It has the same percussive effects as the recent Dribble jams, and builds on an eerie passage to a Bazaar transition. Bazaar is jammed out of the instrumental passage following the second verse (the same jam section in modern versions). It builds on a short lived bliss theme that breaks down into another chase section going back into Jigsaw. The dub jam is actually probably the most developed section, with a strong theme in the first part especially. Spectacle is shortened again, and the intro jam does not really offer anything interesting. I had high hopes for the Plan B segment, but it’s just a Plan B solo that drop segues into Bazaar. Barber seems confused over which verse this is supposed to be (only the ending verse is left, but he starts by singing the beginning) and the confusion carries into the jam section. The band recovers from this stumble and launches into a dnb theme. It’s a cool theme, and Magner gives it an ambient, melancholy atmosphere. It’s spaced out enough to be interesting, and builds to a solid Svenghali ending.

Boop begins with shaky composition as well, like the Ladies (and like the Boop from a week ago). However, the jam is the easy highlight of the show so far, and the first real type two. The jam courts multiple themes, weaving in and out of Boop territory, before a massive peak back into Boop. The second Boop jam is spaced out but ultimately standard. I-Man follows, and after the second verse the band drop segues into Widow. Unfortunately, they do the Widow/Highwire mashup here (first heard 11/16/00), which I have never found anything but annoying. When the band finally lands in Highwire, the jam is unconventional, but not particularly interesting. The jam lands in the third verse of I-Man, which then has both jams. The first is almost non-existent, only about two minutes. The I-Man jam gets pretty out there as well, with a fist-pumping, digital trance theme. It doesn’t go quite as deep as the Boop first jam, but it’s more enjoyable. I was excited for the Floodlights, but YET AGAIN it is a full version that drop segues into the next song. Svenghali gets weird and dubbed out, and after a bizarre crescendo begins to build up on a sinister groove that sounds vaguely like an I-Man middle (for a few seconds at least). The segue is back into the final verse of Plan B, and is spectacularly executed.

2/5. I really didn’t expect it to do better than a one after the total wash of a first set, but there are some seriously impressive pockets of improv in the second. Highlights include the first Boop jam, second I-Man jam, Svenghali > Plan B. Check out Bazaar > Sven for an excellent 01 dnb jam too.

Stray Observations: Bazaar > Svenghali has some Plan B vocal teases from Barber. After I-Man, Barber explains the Highwire/Widow mashup, “a la Burlington VT 2000.” This would be the last Highwire until November