July 04, 2001

2.75 rating?

either folks are getting way to spoiled, have not listened to the SBD or perhaps are Biscuits absolutists.

any other year this is a solid A- or 8.5/10

THIS IS A GREAT SHOW!!

Texas Pussy is an interesting opener choice. Aceetobee has a pretty straightforward intro jam with some quotes from Spinal Tap spoken by Barber. The first jam is likewise unremarkable, but the main jam is pretty gorgeous and expansive. It’s a patient build to a strong ending with plenty of atmospheric texture from Magner especially. The Jigsaw has a mellow and unconventionally happy pre-chase jam. The main trance jam is chaotic and psychedelic with some cool moments and a strong peak. The dub jam is a slow burning Barber-dominated monster with a thrilling peak. The Hot Air Balloon has a pretty thorough deconstruction in the main jam. It’s different, but it doesn’t really go anywhere interesting.

I was pretty disappointed with the Kamaole jam. It’s pretty tame, mellow trance until it begins to break down around 7:30. There is (what sounds like) a botched segue into Svenghali around 8:13, and the band kind of fumbles around trying to land a Svenghali intro until Barber awkwardly introduces one at the wrong tempo. Svenghali has an enjoyable hypnotic dnb jam with some dissonant trance lines from Magner. The peak is particularly strong. Svenghali is outro’d for the first time in a while, and the outro jam is essentially a mash-up of Svenghali and Vassilios. After a somewhat rough composition, the Vassilios jam is pretty solid. It begins in a steady type one groove, with Magner making effective use of atmospheric synth effects including the distinctly 01 rabbit hole synths. Sammy lays down the untz beat shortly, and the jam builds to a strong Kamaole ending. The Story is an excellent version. The jam breaks down into a tense groove, as do most of the standalone versions from this era, but the buildup to the peak is so much more cathartic and glorious than a standard version. The unassuming twelve-minute Helicopters provides what might be the most interesting jam of the show. The theme is brooding and tense, and it builds up to an introspective crescendo around the 7-8 minute mark. There is a breakdown at 9 and the type two theme yields to a Helicopters ending (like many versions from the year, the peak comes somewhat suddenly).

2/5. Do not judge a show by its setlist! The meat of set two, Kamaole > Svenghali > Vassilios > Kamaole, earned the show almost no points, while the unassuming standalones at the end were just enough to earn an extra star.

Stray Observations: This is the first Svenghali outro since 10/6/00.