May 11, 2001

The LNOT show opens with an unconventionally mellow Nughuffer. Some great Magner lines in the first part of the jam. Around the 9-10 minute mark it begins to peak, with some aggressive Barber shredding in the buildup to the ending. Solid payoff and solid version overall. The Shelby is pretty standard. Magner uses an airy flute patch over the typical dnb pattern, and the jam builds to a strong peak. Basis follows, and the intro jam is energetic right out of the gate. It is solidly long, and even though it meanders a bit in the middle, it remains lively and has a strong build and drop into the song. No jam in the middle section, and other than a huge, awkward Sammy flub it is fairly standard. The Basis jam is a really cool mellow groove, but it has to lose points for the awkward final minutes and clunky transition into Helicopters. It sounds almost like the jam could go into the middle of I-Man before a quick build to Helicopters. The Helicopters jam is too short; the Basis peak is excellent but most of the jam is forgettable. Spectacle is standard.

Home Again is standard. Magellan has a perfunctory middle jam, and a fairly standard middle jam that sounds as if it will lead to an early Magellan peak, but instead breaks down and settles into Jigsaw Earth. The transition itself is well-executed, but Barber-heavy, and the jam doesn’t do much for me overall. Jigsaw has some rough compositional difficulty, but the first jam (pre-chase) is stronger than average. The mid-chase jam is pretty standard, but the dub jam is quite strong, with a catchy groove and some marimba effects from Magner. There is a strong peak into the ending. Jigsaw is outro’d, and the jam quickly leaves Jigsaw bliss and builds to a Magellan peak. Ladies is a shred-happy standard version with a ripping peak. Lai is spaced out and a bit longer than usual, but all type one. Spacebird has some compositional slop in the beginning, and overall the jam is much too short to escape the song’s rigid structure. Still, some cool atmosphere was achieved in the middle. Spacebird drop segues into Munchkin Invasion, which is more interesting than just about anything in the show. It’s not as strong as most of the great Munchkins from the tour, but it features a cool melancholy theme over a dnb beat, along with some excellent 01 style muted distortion from Barber.

2/5. After the two sandwiches were decidedly more mediocre in execution than on paper, I thought the show would be a 1 for sure, but the Munchkin in the encore slot saved it. Despite falling far short of expectations, the sandwiches both register as a highlight, along with the Nughuffer and Munchkin.

Stray Observations: In the Nughuffer story, Brownie contradicts the previous two stories (4/7 and 4/15) about what was real and what was lies. He thanks the crew and notes that it is the band’s first time at the Fillmore West. Little Lai has Story of the World teases in the peak. This show contains what may be the first mention of Lobsterfari prior to the encore.