March 09, 2007

Buddha has a solid jam to begin the show. This is nothing too far outside of the box, but it’s a really solid dance jam with a great pocket. The Strobelights jam has this really poignant bassline from Brownstein that Barber and Magner play on top of in a great way. I enjoyed this a lot. The RLH jam is mostly a Rio jam, with Magner teasing that throughout. I enjoyed this, but wouldn’t call it a highlight. Songs of Joy is obviously jamless. The jam out of Astronaut has this great dark energy to it. Barber’s little plucky guitar is neat, and felt playful in the right way. The jam out of Gangster back to Astronaut has a lot of potential, but it feels like they just never really hit the next level to me.

The Abraxas jam to begin the second set is alright. This feels a little too straightforward for me to note as a highlight, though it did keep my attention for the most part. The Ladies jam has a neat little Strobelights and Martinis tease (I think?), which develops into this somewhat repetitive jam. Pygmy has the usual midtempo “funk” jam that turns into a dancier uptempo jam as they get nearer to Confrontation. While I think the peak is played well, basically everything before it can be skipped. The Spaga jam is pretty straightforward DNB. Brownstein seems to be teasing Robots at some point prior to the peak riff. The second Spaga jam has some cringeworthy moments. Not sure what Aron was on this night, but he was in a mood apparently. The first HDPF jam is a little unique in that they don’t just get stuck in the normal 5/4 rhythm immediately. I’m not particularly interested in the theme they craft, but at least this is a nice changeup. Second HDPF jam is solid. Nothing too amazing, but I enjoyed it.

Highlights: Buddha, Strobelights*, Astronaut (1), HDPF (2)