May 13, 2006

I love you TreeMac but man, you are one rigid critic lol. I thought for the 4th time ever played Step Inside is excellent, bordering on tremendous; Allen makes a big impact in that combo. Respect always. Peace

Wow. What a Spectacle intro! This is gorgeous and hypnotic. The band almost gets lost in their own jam, which is just an awesome indication of how much they’re consumed in that moment. Great stuff! The first Boop jam has a classical tease from both Magner and Barber. Beyond that, this is totally filler. The jam out of Munchkin begins really nicely. However, this devolves into just playing as fast as they can with no real intention or direction. Second Boop jam is the usual “funk” nonsense. Meh city. Floodlights does nothing for me here.

This version of Step Inside is very long — nearly a 20-minute long jam. Unfortunately, this is mostly filler, with a couple cool parts littered throughout. Would have loved to see them crush this, as I love the song Step Inside, but this one just didn’t do it. The Helix jam, I’m going to note as a highlight. They are very locked in, and the band communication here is great. It’s also very Magner-centric. All of these things, I love. However, this theme just isn’t all that great. I’m still noting it as a highlight, but this is not nearly as good as it could be. Another unjammed Abraxas? Why? Somehow this Nughuffer jam is one long type 1 jam. Ugh. First Memphis jam is a lot of Barber wailing, lots of noodling. Most of the second jam is the same. This just doesn’t do anything for me at all. Basis on the other hand is very cool. Magner is all over this jam, and there are parts that honestly evoke the JP8000 jam from The History of the Biscuits. Very cool stuff. Have a Cigar encore is fine.

Highlights: Spectacle (Intro**), Helix, Basis*