October 05, 2002

First, you should not be listening to this and NOT listening to Rich Steele’s remaster. The quality is absolutely marvelous. Hot Air Balloon is wonderfully played. Listening to this band during this era versus 2.0 will always have one stunningly stark contrast: from 1999 to 2002, Jon Gutwillig was a guitar god. The composition to HAB is played basically flawlessly, as is nearly everything on this night. The jam out of HAB is punctuated by Sammy’s rhythmic pounding, as he and Marc sync up on a pseudo-reggaeton rhythm. Barber and Magner both lie in waiting, allow the foundation to build around them. Brownstein lays on another chord, and Barber plays a siren-song guitar riff that clearly is an homage to Astronaut. He basically plays the lead Astronaut riff, and then departs, almost like he’s just teasing it. Then suddenly, the Astronaut. Good lord. This jam is dark and nasty, and Brownstein and Barber are on point here. Sammy’s kick drum feels so completely in command of the band, and they sink into a pocket that is near-impossible to not bob your head to. This jam is just absolutely unrelenting, and features Brownstein playing the Bombs bassline about 10 years before Bombs was written. Great stuff.

The jam out of B&C begins with a subdued, pretty jam with Barber playing some absolutely gorgeous riffs, buoyed by Magner’s sine wave synth. This is absolutely pure Blissco. And should be listened to by everybody. The first AC2B jam never ventures too far from type 1 territory, but the second jam is fantastic. Great, ethereal jamming by all four members. This is a perfect example of when they know to be patient and not lose track of something that sounds great simply because they’ve been playing it for 16 or 32 measures. The first Robots jam is fine, but the second jam takes things up a massive notch. I’m not a huge fan of their DNB jams, but this is a major exception as the band fires on all cyclinders. Brownstein and Sammy connect once again to hammer out some great rhythmic hits together in time. By the time we get to the peak, it almost feels too natural. What follows is literally an all-time great segment. The beginning of The Very Moon’s jam watches the band take things down to a much more calm, relaxed piece of improvisation. Then, almost as if on a dime, the band switches into darker, minor key territory and is off to the races. The switch to minor key here is so flawless and done by Magner, Marc, and Barber all at once. It’s shocking how good this jam is, and the comeback into TVM after Helix is just as great. Barber hits on some fantastic minimalist riffs and the rest of the band follows suit.

The jam out of TVM into Shem-Rah is the sole low point in this segment, as it’s just a couple minutes of killing time out of The Very Funk into the beginning of Shem-Rah. However, the SRB jam itself, it wonderful, Magner-led exploration. Magner takes the listener along for a ride through the soundtrack of some sci-fi spaghetti-Western, and his harmony work (while he leads) here is phenomenal. When people talk about “theme-building” and this band, this is what they’re talking about. Kitchen Mitts is standard, but after the improvisational assault of the previous hour and change, does it matter at this point? The jam into the beginning of RLH builds in a patient, thoughtful way, and almost has the feel of a Suspended in the Air jam for a bit. Very pretty stuff. The last RLH jam starts out with a dark, trancy sound, and develops into some phenomenal, soaring Blissco before plowing into the ending to close the night. Truly magnificent stuff, and a wonderful end to one of the best Biscuits shows on record.

Highlights: HAB, Astronaut, B&C, AC2B, Robots, TMV (1), Helix, TVM, Shem-Rah, RLH