November 23, 2001

Plan B has a drawn out type one jam. King of the World is jamless. Confrontation begins in that characteristically light, airy space, but pretty soon turns into a Barber shred-fest. The segue into Story is cool, sounding at times like a Helicopters or Run Like Hell intro, but that is hardly a stretch. The jam out of Story is a bit better, evolving into a triumphant, full-band trance jam. It’s still a bit too short to do anything groundbreaking. Voices is standard, and after Voices the band brings out two guest singers to provide backing vocals for Sister Judy’s (and much of the second set). They don’t add much.

Home Again is standard, as is Pilin’. Svenghali provides the first really interesting jam of the show. It starts off as the standard, enjoyable dnb fare, but the breakdown into Crickets is excellent. Great use of dub rhythms and a great sound profile from Magner give this jam character. Crickets has an unconventionally tense first jam, but it’s still a good bit too Barber shred-happy to move the needle much. The funk jam is stronger, with an awesome Magner-led groove theme that builds to a very organic crescendo. Reactor is the standard frenetic, aggressive jam, a little bit more drawn out in the middle but still type one. Spacebird manages to carve out an enjoyable, symphonic theme within the song strictures, but it’s a far cry from the monumental September versions. The Spacebird outro is dnb from the get-go, but doesn’t reveal it’s ultimate destination for a few minutes. Nevertheless, it’s pretty staid as far as dnb jams go. Coat has probably the best utilization of the guest singers, but it’s still Coat (though I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it’s nearly twice as long as any of the September versions, even discounting the minute of filler tracked on.).

1/5. The only must-hear jams are the Sven > and Crickets funk, and even those are pretty low priority.

Stray Observations: Barber refers to Coat as one of the harder songs in the repertoire. I have to believe he’s being sarcastic. This is the final Coat, as well as the longest.