September 15, 2001

the 'Basis For An Aquatic Ape Day' is the segment of the fall; and you would be wise to include the terrific last half of Reactor, especially from 4 mins in through the reprise(5 minutes or so); Barber jumps in cannonball into the jam, an energic up and down scales-sort-of-jam while Marc really lets loose underneath. A kind and dance-worthy Immense. 'Sound 1' is incredible with the ending and the works; Sep '01 is the month of the stellar Sound 1's. Lastly, the 'Home Again' is hot as well. Excellent controlled mania jams.

Incredible recording Man of Steele !

'I blew smoke signals to the wind, begging the universe to mend our broken fate line.'

Note: all time-stamps refer to the nugs version.

Pygmy Twylyte, the first in two weeks, opens the show. The jam has two fleshed out themes, and both are fantastic. Magner’s vaguely introspective synth lines that form the basis of the first jam are among the best of 1.0. The first theme breaks down ever so slightly around the 7 minute mark, and settles into the groove of the 7-11 middle. This is considerably stronger than the 7-11 jam from the previous night, and the return to the song is excellent. The trance jam is the perfect execution of a peter-down-to-nothing jam, beginning as fast-paced Bisco trance and descending into mellow ambience. Spacebird is another of the great fall versions, clocking in at well over 20 minutes. The first half of the jam is pretty interesting, with some great Magner lines, but at the 15 minute mark the jam makes a hard turn into some more challenging, abrasive jamming. It’s maybe not as pleasant listening as the first part of the jam, but it’s certainly interesting and well-executed. This passage turns out to be relatively brief, as hints of the Spacebird ending come creeping back in around 17:30. It isn’t the strongest version yet, but it’s a solid addition to the canon. Spy is standard. Lai > Vassilios > Lai goes pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to. The jam out of Lai is type one the whole way, but pulls off a strong transition into Vassilios. The jam out of Vassilios is much more interesting, textural and atmospheric, and it sounds at moments almost like a Crickets funk before it makes the return to blissful Lai.

The Sound 1 is widely cited as the best ever by people who likely haven’t heard any other versions (just kidding, but I’ve always found the near-universal choice of this version as the best-ever a bit perplexing when there are so many other quality versions). Magner comes up with some catchy synth lines early on, and an absolutely infectious hook around 6:30. Barber slowly wrests the lead away from Magner, and after a breakdown around the 10 minute mark he begins to build to the peak. Home Again is a surprisingly strong version, with some Barber riffs that do not quite fit into the typical Home Again sound. Reactor is less than ten minutes (perhaps foreshadowing how badly neutered the song would become after 2001) but the jam still manages a decent mid-tempo exploration before returning to the song proper. After the Reactor, the band launches into a mellow and groovy Basis intro. There’s some solid atmosphere, but for my tastes there’s nowhere near the appropriate level of energy when they finally do drop into the song. The Basis middle jam is much more enjoyable, and ironically is probably the higher-energy of the two. There is a strong Aceetobee ending vibe running through much of the jam, but nothing that I would call a tease. Barber peaks the jam very nicely. The main jam is pure melancholia. The gorgeous atmospheric jam builds up until around the 30-31 minute mark and then breaks down slightly before Sammy kicks up the tempo and shifts to dnb. The Ape > Basis was always my favorite jam of this segment, but on this relisten it didn’t hit me quite the same. A lot of the jam seems to be treading water up until the final minutes. These final minutes are definitely spectacular—there’s a great theme beginning around 16:30 that builds to a minor-key crescendo before a masterful segue back into Basis peak territory—but most of the jam is nowhere near as compelling. The double encore consists of Shelby and The Tunnel, and both are standard.

4/5. The Pygmy, Basis > Ape, and Sound 1 are three all-timers, but the entirety of both big segments are great.

Stray Observations: This is the first middle-only 7-11. There are Dribble ending teases in the Basis intro.