April 26, 2001

[Spaga ~> Inverted Shem-Rah ~> Humu, Hope] !! I hope I didn't brain my damage.

If you dig that 1.0 style and type I LONG ASS jams that offer hardly any hesitation, full of confidence and that Bisco feel good vibe. Bookmark this bugger. The Roxy delivers.

An incredible 1st set including a monster 'Spaga' full of inspiration. It's an enormous 'Spaga' for the first jam (Barber on fire and obviously ready to party) as well as the 2nd jamout with the combo of Magner's sinister trancefusionary eeriness on the outside and Barber destroying up the middle. A very aggressive and satisfactory 'Spaga' for sure. Love the ska jam at the end of 'Shem' other than it's a disgustingly filthy version! The transition from the outro into the mellow, beautiful mid-tempo 'Humu' is magical. I like Dr. Sammy's style with 'Humu' in lieu of Allen's (which I say softly and at low volume) just because of the kick drum and minimalist approach while improvising like a God. The good doctor can read their minds, I'm certain of it. What crescendo to end the tune. Straight fire. 'Hope' : "A Hammerhead Might Taste The Blood, A Ladybug Might See The Red" --- still a kickass lyric 25 years later. Great xylophone session throughout the middle stanza...everything is just working so well in this set! There are nice dub-style trance feel at some second half pieces of the song. They set themselves up beautifully for that monster reprise. "And what is the root of fantasy"?

9.25 / 10 1st set 6.80 / 10 2nd set 7.85 / 10 encore.

Not saying I dislike the 'CWB' opera but if they went (if, if, if, if, if, if) to a "normal" format songlist for set 2, this show would undoubtedly be a top 5 show for the year without question, up there with Wetlands and the Pacific NW Fall run. It's still up there. In fact the 'Floodlights ~> Shelby' is pretty damn good, as well as the psychedelicly delicious jam in 'Ladies' The 40 minute encore is great. Not playing against the clock or a throwaway standalone. I mean, "Run Like a Balloon' is one hell of a complex combo and they nailed it with 2 phenomenal jams.

If you smoke weed on a boat, does that make it seaweed?

The first jam in Spaga is Barber-dominated, with some cool atmosphere. It shows potential, but Sammy signals the ending well before it can go anywhere interesting. The second jam is nothing special. The outro is where this Spaga really shines. Magner locks into a theme immediately, and Barber delivers a simple riff which he steadily filters through a cool, underwater sounding effect. It’s a brooding and sinister vehicle that builds to a thrilling Magner peak and the first ever inverted Shem-Rah Boo. The MOTH MOTY section in Shem-Rah is a thing of beauty, easily my favorite ever and my all-time favorite “blues Barber” playing of all time. It is thematic in a way that most are not, with Barber building on ideas and returning to them throughout the jam. The jam out of Shem is unconventionally Barber-heavy and mellow, melting into a Humu intro. Humu starts off standard but around the 6 minute mark locks into a melancholy theme. The build up to the Humu ending is very strong. The set closes with a strong standalone Hope. The jam is the dub rock standard of a Hope jam, and the ending is strong.

Plan B is standard. The Barber solo is a bit more drawn out than usual, but it never breaks out of the box. Lai is standard as well, with a groove-oriented jam that builds to the peak. Ladies is an excellent version, beginning standard enough but with a chilling spacey breakdown in the middle. The build to the peak is slow and deliberate, and results in a scorcher. Excellent version. The Floodlights jam unfolds as a series of repetitive grooves that build to an ending. Unlike the 2000 opera, which saw the song segue into Shelby, there is a distinct comma between the two here, which is disappointing. The Shelby is a characteristically strong 01 version. Even if there isn’t much to set it apart, the dark dnb theme is strong and the triumphant build to the peak is excellent. Both CWB and Three Wishes are average. The Confrontation is rushed, which is odd considering the length of the encore. The Run Like Hell intro is appropriately long and patient, with a vaguely foreboding undercurrent running through the usually very happy theme. The drop into RLH comes a little suddenly, without the obligatory buildup. There is a drawn out but fairly standard mid-verse jam. I was disappointed with the main jam, which never really deviates from the mid-tempo lull it begins in, nor develops in any meaningful way. HAB is played standard, and segued out of the flight section. The jam is pretty much nonexistent—the flight section becomes a RLH ending with no exploration in between—but it’s a cool pairing in an underutilized section.

3/5. A tough show to score, not least of all because the second set was chock full of short, perfunctory jams that dragged the average down further than they probably should have. At the end of the day, set two is mostly forgettable, but set one is one of the best of the year, with two incredible jams in Spaga > Shem-Rah Boo.

Stray Observations: This is the first inverted Shem-Rah Boo. Brownie dedicates set two to Lt. Tim Danielson, a Biscuits taper who hopped on at some point in 1999 (and who taped this show). The second set contains the third ever performance of the full CWB opera (second Biscuits performance). Prior to the encore, Barber quotes News From Nowhere. Some amusing banter about Atlanta follows.