September 13, 2001

The band is back at The Majestic after having played a MONSTER show there on 04/07.

I totally understand the appreciation for this House Dog. It's actually a bit too long and meandering for my taste. If you trim the fat, for sure there's a handful of magical moments. I will say I was at this show and I didn't even realize how long the jamming was... until I later got the CDs in the mail!

Gosh there are so many amazing Shimmys from this year. Like Bowie was for Phish in '94, you aren't likely to go wrong listening to any or every Shimmy from this era of Biscuits. Count this Shimmy amongst the cream of the crop. It might not have the flashiest fireworks, but it's perfectly constructed. No fat to trim here.

Three Days is such a great cover. Really fits the aesthetic. I love the hazy and sedated atmosphere, the echoing, indecipherable lyrics.

You might look at the song selection for set 2 and think it's gonna be dark and nasty wall to wall. You'd pretty much be right... the composed, serene sections of Above The Waves are the only moments of bliss in this set. There are loooong stretches of evil Biscuits here. Excellent stuff. The jam from Dibble back into Reactor which caps off the set (and the show!) is really powerful.

You're already here, so don't pass this one up.

Favorite ''House Dog'' ever. Thank Gahd it's as long as it is good. A true blessing in between a very good ''Confrontation" sammich.

Then there is the magic of "Triumph ~> Reactor ~> Waves ~> Dribble ~> Reactor" This chunk is on every mix tape / CDR / Best of 1.0 mix I have ever made or shared with friends. It has it all equally from all members. I believe there are not many hour+ 1.0 "fivers" that include absolutely every single musical element that I (we) have come to adore. Now, this is a list of around 10 to 15 attributes IMO. From Blissco to various jamming types, to communication, to solo tagging, to cohesiveness, to segue, to vocals, to improv...etc. This hour and 10 minutes is pretty close to perfect as is the HDPF.

"" Sooner or later, all games become serious.""

peace.

The show opening Plan B is pretty and standard. The Confrontation > House Dog > Confrontation segment that follows is anything but. There is a drop segue (so no jam) between Confrontation and House Dog, but the House Dog (sans intro verses, completing the other unconventional version from 4 days previous) is tracked out at over 40 minutes long. The first jam is a bit stronger than average, with a later 2000 style spacey breakdown in the middle. The second jam is excellent, with two distinctly peaked themes lasting well over 15 minutes. The first is a gorgeous hypnotic trance vehicle, reaching its peak shortly after the 18 minute mark. The second is a more Barber-led jam, which spends most of its journey in a triumphant bliss territory that is not common in a Party Favor jam, but not completely unrecognizable either. Finally, there is a rare House Dog outro, which contrasts the ugly, industrial synth effects with pleasant minimalist guitar playing. It builds to a strong Confrontation peak to end the segment. The set-ending Shimmy is an absolutely perfect execution of the standalone Shimmy. It remains in sinister type one territory for the entire jam, but it is so flawlessly executed that I can’t even complain. This one is evil.

Three Days makes its official fall tour debut, and it’s a very strong version with a thoroughly Barber-led jam. It’s still a bit overlong in the composition—even though I do enjoy this cover a lot—so it loses some points there. The rest of the second set is a long medley segment beginning with Triumph. This Triumph is easily the best version played yet, in a month where all the versions have been stronger than average. The jam explores every pocket of Triumph improve before it reaches a gorgeous, full-band crescendo around the 9-11 minute mark. From here it breaks down into ambient psychedelia as it heads toward Reactor. The Reactor jam is demented, breakneck trance. It’s very soundy, but on paper, and in execution, it’s a very safe jam. The jam out of Waves features some very catchy Barber riffs, but it’s an unfortunately short journey. Dribble once again features the Strobelights intro. It’s considerably more focused than the wildly exploratory 9/7, but also looser than the compositionally rigid 9/1. After breaking out of Strobelights territory just after the 7 minute mark the jam settles into a mid-tempo groove, and builds to a strong full-band crescendo before returning to Dribble territory. The Dribble outro is a fast-paced groove that features liberal, yet tasteful, use of the Gates of Hell patch. This powerful jam leads to a strong Reactor peak.

4/5. The obvious highlights are the House Dog (especially the second jam) and the Triumph. Shimmy is solid as is the Dribble, but the big second set segment isn’t as strong as it could have been.

Stray Observations: After Plan B, Brownie says that it’s good to be back at the Majestic, where, rumor had it, the band had played one of the funner shows of the past tour. This of course refers to 4/7/01.