December 28, 2006

Great show! Underrated (I guess ;) Not a 5 star but a very solid 4 worth a few playbacks...even with a TB of SBD Bisco to chew.

The jam out of '7-11' into 'Run' is so damn happy and uplifting...a very cool version.

The 'Mindless~Shimmy-Songs of Joy' is the highlight of the night and one of the better segments of a very hot New Years run...consistent quality. The segment from Mindless through Shimmy is straight from the city of miracles. And the Songs of Joy bustout? TREMENDOUS!!!! beautiful.

The I-Man has a few interesting jams with the first one being the touchdown. Let's hear it for '06 IMans, man!

The recordings were starting to sound real good at this time until the dynamic peak of 2009 onwards. Well, except for a big chunk of a certain year from 2006 to 2010 but that is for the PT forums; a place I hate lol. Phantasy Tour was cool in 1999 and there abouts then it became toxic with "know-it-alls", prix , and lacking in kindness.

I just came for the chicks.

This show begins with a wonderful ambient jam. This lasts five minutes or so, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. Awesome stuff. The DNB jam is absurd. I am not generally a fan of their DNB, but this one is awesome. Magner has this awesome arpeggiated patch that dominates the jam, and it has an almost cacophonous sound to it. Great stuff. The 7-11 first jam gets a little bit outside its usual type 1 jam, but is otherwise forgettable. The second jam is a straightahead dance jam, but Barber and Magner have some great little riffs throughout. Around 11:20 in the RLH track, Magner teases “Electric Avenue” twice, which is a cool little tease. I noted this jam as a highlight, but considering that it’s 16 minutes long or so, it’s surprising that there are only a couple of parts I really connected with here. First RLH jam is basically the first jam of the night that does nothing for me at all. Second RLH jam does nothing for me. Third RLH jam has a nice little four-chord progression from Brownstein from the very beginning, and Magner plays around with the pan flute patch for a bit. I’m going to call this Blissco, even if it’s not totally in that arena. I didn’t care at all about the Floodlights jam. I will say that Barber’s vocals in I-Man are powerful here. He seems to be really energized, and he’s really belting out a lot of the lyrics and hitting some runs he doesn’t normally do. I noted the first I-Man jam as a highlight here, because it is interesting. I’m not even sure how to describe it – this is not a rock jam, not a dance jam. Allen throws out an array of drumbeats to keep the band pushing ahead, and Barber plays an ascending arpeggio riff for most of this. Second jam is forgettable, although there’s a really cool Songs of Joy tease from Barber, which is a nice nod to what’s to come in the second set.

Mulberry’s to start the second set pleases a few people in the crowd greatly who can be audibly heard screaming for it. Neither jam goes anywhere. Dribble first jam doesn’t do much for me, although there is a cool “what do you do with a drunken sailor” tease from Magner. Second Dribble jam is very good, and has a distinctive theme throughout. The switch to Shimmy is admittedly a little unexpected/out of nowhere, but the jam itself is great. The jam out of Shimmy into Songs of Joy almost sounds like they’re going to Buddha ending for part of this. As they get very close to Songs of Joy, this gets absolutely beautiful, and has a very happy, Blissco’d out jam before the switch to Songs of Joy. The Ladies jam has a great feel right out of the gate. Brownstein teases the Solstice bassline for most of the jam. This is catchy and a great rhythm. I generally enjoyed most of this jam, and the drop into Solstice has a great, short, ambient section. The Solstice jam back into Ladies features more of the same bassline, but under these circumstances I'm okay with it and enjoyed this a lot.

Highlights: Svenghali (Intro**, 2**), 7-11 (2), RLH (3**), I-Man (1), Dribble (2**), Shimmy*, Ladies, Solstice