May 17, 2007
Reviews
tpace
Mar 10, 2022
Best 'Gangster' ever behind Valentine's at the Ogden in '09.
also, as TreeMac stated this is a great Boop, at around 6 minutes Magner gets downright psychedelic before the jam kicks in all hands on deck.
Beautiful show....a rockin' show...a glimpse to what was to come in the following week. Which might be top 3 weeks of all-time quality Blissco.
like a swiss watch....
Treemaculate
Apr 18, 2021
Boop opens the show with a 2-minute long ambient space jam. This is awesome. Always. First jam is all Magner. He has a lot of neat stuff going on here, and Barber is mostly content to just stick in the background. Magner’s leads as they get nearer to the return to the composition are so catchy that they honestly feel rehearsed at points. The funk jam doesn’t do much for me, and the “yeah yeahs” that Magner and Brownstein add feel very corny on re-listen. The jam out of Vassillios turns into DNB, and I don’t even find myself tuning out here. They often have a tendency to turn these jams into mediocre meandering, but this is an exception to that rule. Generally very good overall. The Commercial Amen jam turns into an “LSD” jam. This is generally very nice, and has some samples from Magner throughout. Barber and Magner do some interesting trade offs here. I won’t label this as a highlight, since it’s basically just a jam around the LSD theme, but it’s enjoyable anyway. The intro jam for Gangster is absolutely phenomenal. I’ve seen some say this is a relative of the 10/23/07 Ladies > Gangster, and I’d totally agree. Magner’s general timbres here, the minimalist nature of this drawn out intro jam, Barber’s restrained play, this all makes for a wonderful 9 minutes of hypnotic dance jamming. Fantastic. Technically speaking, this is a jam out of Amen, but it’s ultimately really a Gangster intro.
The second set begins with Brownstein noodling around on the Lunar Pursuit bassline. They start Spraypaint, and before turning into Shelby they coast along with a mediocre dance jam. Not sure what happened at setbreak, but the focus, minimalist play of the first set seems to be gone. The jam out of Shelby suffers the same fate for the most part. There are a few minutes where the band hits a neat stride, but the momentum they have is destroyed by the weird Ape/Robots mashup they do. No clue what they were ultimately trying to do, but this was terrible. The jam out and back into Spraypaint is a forgettable, but relieving end to a boring and at times awful segment. Bazaar has an honest-to-god jam out of it, a rarity. After a couple minutes of slow playing out of the outro, the band winds up in yet another ambient space jam. This is still awesome, I don’t care what anybody says. This turns into an uptempo jam before dissolving into the middle of Robots. I feel like they missed out on a nice drop here, but such is life. The second Robots jam doesn’t do anything for me. Encore is jamless.
Highlights: Boop (Intro**, 1), Gangster (Intro**), Bazaar**
All-Timers
- S1Gangster
Track Notes
- S1Little Betty Boop
This enjoyable Boop opener starts with a short prelude featuring a dark ambient soundscape (used numerous times in Spring 07). While the first jam is relatively short, length isn’t everything. Magner’s playing leading up to the peak is superb and absurd, as he absolutely goes off. All Boop peaks should aspire to be as explosive as this one. The band was clearly feeling things as the funk jam features a few “yeah-yeah” vocals every 4th measure. This groovy jam eventually shifts gears and peaks with great soaring Barber before the final drop back to Boop.
- S1Vassillios
After a few minutes of feeling things out, this Vassillios jam speeds up and takes on a drum & bass vibe, with a taste of Pilin It Higher. Allen drives this section and Magner complements nicely with psychedelic synths. Barber finds a lick he likes and all four members start building around it, methodically moving the melody along until perfectly dropping into Commercial Ame
- S1Commercial Amen
Dropping into a halftime beat with an almost hip-hop feel, Magner shines early in this jam, employing a standard piano patch with some reverb. From here everything gets gooey and psychedelic. Brownie’s bass tone fits the mood and Barber is fully engaged, as Magner deploys some samples, leading into a full-on Hallucinogen “LSD” jam. (Check out the Hallucinogen “In Dub” album if you never have). The jam certainly embodies its namesake and takes its listener on a journey. After the “LSD” jam they drop back into double-time DnB and briefly return to Commercial Amen, finally using a wash of synths and ambient noise to transition out of the song.
- S1Gangster
Only the 6th ever played, this all-timer starts with an ambient segue in from Commercial Amen. The opening jam here is serious business. Allen provides the driving, danceable rhythm as the rest of the band rides the trancey wave. With only minor hints that this is going into Gangster, dark, psychedelic jamming continues for several minutes. They don’t drop into the main Gangster theme until the 9 minute mark. This extended Gangster jam could be considered a precursor to the legendary Ladies>Gangster from 10/23/07 later that year.