April 13, 2001

Plan B is a strong type one version. The main jam is nice and spacey, and stretched way out. The Triumph jam is cool, with multiple interesting sections, but the band doesn’t commit to anything for very long, and it feels disjointed at times. The Floes jam has three distinct phases. The first is a mellow jam with Magner on an odd synth effect (it sounds like plucked strings) over a standard Floes beat. The second is a somewhat introspective theme with Magner on the piano that unfolds over the 12-13 minute mark. The remainder of the jam is a steady build into Boop territory. The Boop funk jam is absolutely gorgeous, one of the best executions of this section I’ve heard in a long time. Magner uses a choral patch over a simple yet haunting theme from Barber. The jam out of Boop has a cool trance theme before it returns to type one territory (and some cool moments of type one too). Pilin, standard, closes the set.

M.E.M.P.H.I.S. has a Crickets-esque ambient intro. The first jam has a delightfully infectious hip-hop style groove, not quite characteristic of a typical M.E.M.P.H.I.S. but not too far removed from it either. Barber brings it to a raging peak. The outro jam is a fantastic usage of ambient space. The band breaks the jam down almost completely before rebuilding to a House Dog intro. The first jam in House Dog breaks down into a deconstructed type one passage, but overall it is pretty standard. The second jam is a more mellow iteration, retaining some of the eerie atmosphere of a typical Party Favor jam without the usual energy. Around the track change, the rhythm shifts toward Spacebird, and the band delivers the ending. The jam out of Spacebird sees the band leave Spacebird territory pretty quickly (finally) and enter into a darker passage, which builds to a strong Party Favor ending. The Party Favor outro contrasts atonal industrial synths with more pleasant Barber riffs. Brownie introduces the Basis intro riff early on and the jam quickly evolves into a Basis intro. The main jam in Basis is minimalist and mellow, with richly textured Magner effects. The jam stays in a pretty weird mellow territory until the tempo breaks down and the jam enters a Jigsaw intro. Jigsaw has two jams, and both are pretty mellow. The first jam leads to a chase section and is wholly unremarkable. The second jam builds to a Basis ending, and it takes a while to get going, but around the 13 minute mark Barber takes over and delivers a thrilling theme that builds to the peak. The jam remains in Jigsaw territory for a few minutes before signalling the return to Basis (it almost sounds as if it’s heading to Waves), and this is the most enjoyable part.

2/5. The first set is actually a good deal better than the second, despite appearances on paper. Highlights include Floes > Boop (><) > Floes and M.E.M.P.H.I.S.

Stray Observations: The band played in Lowell Massachusetts on Lowell George’s birthday. Neat. This is the first inverted Spacebird, and it would be the only one for more than six years.