May 03, 2001

Shelby has some great pocket jamming over a melancholy Magner theme. Somewhat aggressive Barber in the second half, and a strong peak. Floes has a drawn-out type one space jam in between verses. The main jam starts off standard, with a catchy repeating theme from Magner over the expansive and thunderous percussion typical of a Floes jam. Beginning around the 13-14 minute mark, however, the tempo quickens, and the rhythm takes on the near-breakbeat quality of a typical Munchkin intro. Brownstein begins to lead towards Above the Waves after the 19 minute mark, and the rest of the band follows suit for a roaring peak. Great jam. The jam out of Waves starts out dubby but evolves into fast-paced trance. It remains in the minor key for almost the entire journey, finally returning to Floes territory around the 14 minute mark. Ladies is mostly standard, but notable for the almost complete breakdown around the 10 minute mark. The rebuild is solid but it doesn’t peak quite as hard as it should.

The second set gets off to a slow start, with a standard Home Again following the jamless rarity Texas Pussy. The set gets interesting with Mindless Dribble, which is played straight up for the first time since 4/14. The main jam begins tensely and uncomfortably—I don’t know what it is, but sounds like Barber is playing in a different key. After the dust settles, the jam is pretty standard and doesn’t move me much. The Dribble outro is a different story. It is locked in from the start, yielding a vaguely mechanical and foreboding trance theme. It breaks down shy of the 19 minute mark and spends some time in this percussive groove. It sounds as if the band will segue into the middle of Basis, but a few minutes into the Basis track the energy picks up and the band drops into the intro. The Basis jam gets off to a very mellow start, with a lengthy ambient space venture. Magner starts to come in with the trance synths around the 13 minute mark and the jam becomes more focused and interesting. It doesn’t reveal its destination for a long time, and the buildup to the ending is tremendously satisfying. Spectacle is short and standard. I-Man has the smallest seedling of a first jam. The main jam has a gorgeous and mellow opening theme, with a strong build to the ending. I-Man is followed by a drawn-out spacey intro jam that sounds potentially like Run Like Hell, but resolves into Shimmy. The Shimmy is a standard version, with a tense buildup accented by the Gates of Hell synth.

3/5. The Basis and Floes > Waves > Floes are both very strong, and the Shelby, Ladies, and I-Man are worth hearing, but there is also a decent amount of filler.

Stray Observations: This is the first Texas Pussy since 11/1/00, a gap of 54 shows. Played for Texas perhaps?