July 10, 2007

[ After a day off following High Sierra they were ready to play. And it was good ]

[C pile] OK to Good Overture(2) / Voices / Have a Cigar / Robots

[B pile} Very Good to Excellent Overture(1) / Sven(><) / Pygmy Twylyte / Boom Shanker / MEMPHIS

Band Members: {Barber} / {Brownie}

[A pile] MVPs of the Nights / Remarkable / Best of I-Man / Crickets(><) / 42 / The Great Abyss

Band Members: { Magner } / {The Red Haired Andromedan}

{I} <>A surprising 'Overture" in that it really has a terrific jam where the tempo is decreased and Marc and Mags are frisky as they arrive to ..... <> ghaliSven - yes, Mags is the MVP tonight without a doubt, 2007, most of 2009, '99, '01 and 2016 are HEAVY, HEADY Magner years. But this year especially (through my senses and touring) Although pretty standard, it must be noted that Allen is a step above excellence here. Good vocals by the others as well. The final 4 minutes were treated to some good psytrance above Barber's nimble solos. What sticks to me is the bass / drum activity going mach 6 while Mags and Barber do the rhythmic tones and colors. <> Overture end - short but sweet. yet you've heard this 216 times before ( no complaint) <> M.E.M.P.H.I.S. ~> Well, this one's got balls! First jam is Marc laying low in the pocket being his evil self while the grand repeats, repeats and then repeats a nice little ditty while Barber strokes long chords, creating time and space for everyone to add their 2 cents. Not bad. What makes my d_ck ha_d is the 2nd /final jam :) It starts funky, sexy and straight from the gutta'. Extreme bass alert!! Now this is one creative, original jam....and we're still in the shuffling cards part. At 9:48 Allen announces a motion to bring forth Magner to the front with that 80's synth, which holds until marc pokes in again. <> The drum beat says it all, 'Voices'. Not an all-timer by any stretch but, it's all about the post ''So I call on the reigns of forces drawn in from afar'' jam. This one is is uhmm....BigBird on acid? It gets a little manic for a second before the carbon copy jam develops. Magner, once again, destroys. <> SET ENDING I-MAN ALERT!! The N.T.I.T.T.T.M.S. jam starts with Mr. Magner's ode to L.A. and ""Riders on the Storm" tastefully while Marc lets loose the melting lava patch on the bass. Not just a tease, but a full band jam. Well done. Off to tension jam land as these off key sounds come from everywhere, this is very cool. The more psychedelic and trippy, the more I likey, cause I KNOW the return to safety is just around a corner. Sometimes you get Blissed, sometimes you get funky and sometimes you are utterly confused. The diamond in this jam is all about the tempo play as well as what Magner contributes, which has been 777's all night. The halfway Barber solo is very nice. A few peaks, a few complex runs, some fuzz strokes...all this before 'over it goes, he's breakin' through''' More great Magner fills. I know, but it must be said...one of Magner's finer shows.

Set 1::: 8.30 / 10

{II} A Tale Of Two Segs Pygmy Twylyte ~> Crickets ~> The Great Abyss ~> 42 & Boom Shanker ~> Save The Robots

<> -Take Me Down To The Sunset Strip Where The Disco Biscuits Are The King Of The Beat- I really like how Barber turned it up a notch for the 2nd. This PT jam is very, very good. Barber is crystal clear and really pouring his heart out. A great version. >>> <> ketsCric - slow to a crawl ending > hit it Marc! This is great Sunday morning sexcapade soundtracking. The untz begins beautifully. Underneath Marc's evil bass just a poppin', Mr. Mags lays down some sexy synth and out of this world playing. His best tune of the night hands down. Then who shows up? Barber. At 6:30 of 13:00 we are officially in the jam of the night. The floor is shaking, and bliss is the new oxygen. Such an uplifting groove. Nothing but smiles and good vibes! The ending (beginning) jam is great! I totally forgot how psychedelic it was. Like if they had just gotten out of Drums>Space. This is the originality that makes this Crix an all-timer (IMO) <> The Great Abyss - the 1st jam is a little mundane but still has a good jazz fusion feel. The through the middle you get exactly what you usually do. It's some groovy, livetronic shit but a carbon copy nonetheless. I think Spacebird would have been a perfect spot here but that's the way it goes. The final 5-6 minute jam is where the G spot resides. Again, Magner man, this keyboardist surely ate his Wheaties this morning. <> 42 - The reason I find this version rise above others is 1- Magner 2- I'll pimp a great long disco fever jam everytime and this one works. There are dozens of versions very close with the same sections but I feel this one rises a little higher thus making us all a little happier. Great music is great music...no matter the cycle of repetition. Plus, this is one hell of a live tune. It's always long and ecstasy is surely to at least brush up against you. 1st Barber solo is typical fun. Allen tap tap tapping that cymbal while Barber creates a myriad of sounds underneath. One thing about tonight's show(imo): the tunes are not overly stretched out towards too much repetition / not being in the moment. But tonight all the tunes seem perfectly timed. Not too much Ferris wheel jamming going nowhere. Very purposeful approaches this evening. At 10:30 ish, the peaceful, ambient sound installs itself nicely. Creating juxtaposition. 80's synth sweeping over top like an Albatross while Barber plays in fast-paced mountain sheep trying not to die mode. Out comes the digi-pad, so it's an official 80's dance party now. If you're in that mood, this is a killer rendition...if not, go see Twiddle. JOKES, JUST JOKES. The absolute final 3-4 minutes are ramped up. Time to hit that peak. Marc plays such a beautiful pattern here. Another peak! Yep, it's a keeper!! <> Boom Shanker - next to Sept. 24-2009, this is definitely my favorite BS (hehe) I apologize ladies but this is some great fu___ng music. The first smile comes at around 4 minutes with the start-stop section of psytrance as it grows organically into pure desert rock / stoner rock of the highest kind into the double time kick drum announcing the "B" section I guess. The whole band is on. The final 6 minutes of this great version demonstrates the patience and terrific taste in what to contribute and when. They know the ending is power and power they play. Sad to see it leave but I won't forget this version any time soon. >>>> <> Robots - not the smoothest connection from 'Shanker' but we're in. I hate to say it but this Robots didn't get me in the soul. The first jam is just aimless strumming. The vocals and the bass are the highlights. The 2nd jam is much better, more focused and the last tune of the night therefore it does show. We have some DJ action and Barber playing tag for a bit (listen to Marc here!) This groove could have gone galactic but shit happens. Instead it simply goes round and round rarely escaping for some jamair.

Set 2:: 8.75 / 10 the sound is A+ (nugs)

May All Your Blues be LaBatts. peace.

Overture > Sven doesn’t look like something I’d typically like. I actually enjoyed most of the Overture jam. This is slightly more interesting than the typical DNB jam. Nothing outrageous, don’t get me wrong, but solid. The jam back into Overture, on the other hand, I didn’t care about at all. First Memphis jam is a pretty typical Memphis first jam. Barber has a neat lick that he repeats throughout this, but I just don’t think this develops enough. The second jam is really unique and wonderful. The band drops to virtually nothing and then develops this repetitive, ethereal sounding jam. This is really beautiful, and honestly the first remotely Blissco-y jam that I can think of in 2007. The first I-Man jam has a Riders on the Storm tease from Magner (and to a lesser extent, Brownstein). I didn’t find much in this first jam particularly interesting, although Barber’s Shred God act near the end is very well-done, and he sounds great. The second jam in I-Man has this interesting piano theme from Magner throughout. This sounds like it’s from something, but I can’t place what. In any event, while not mindblowing, I enjoyed most of this, and it has an airy vibe that fits really well here.

The jam from Pygmy into Crickets goes into the section immediately following the Crickets peak. This jam is totally forgettable. The first Crickets jam is initially pretty mundane, but as it progresses it grows into a really solid build toward the middle peak. I dug this. The jam out and into Abyss begins as this sort of disassociative jazz-esque jam with a driving kick underneath. This section is unremarkable and a little contrived. However, they eventually begin their descent into Abyss, and the rest of this is absolutely awesome, untzy trance. Dark, driving, and head down, the band embodies the famous “duntzgeon” sound here. The same sound carries over into the jam out of Abyss. Magner has this arp that permeates most of the early part of this jam, and Brownstein’s digital sounding bass fits so perfectly here. Magner drops some audio samples and completed the overly digital sound with the angel choir atop the rest of the band. I loved this, although I would love it a lot more if it weren’t so short. This only lasts 3-4 minutes before the band drops into 42. 42 is fine, but this is interchangeable with a million other dance jams. The Boom Shanker begins with the typical dub jam, but then changes up into an uptempo dance jam. This is very cool, and a great job of turning expectations on their head. This shifts much, much faster before an abrupt (and somewhat awkard) drop into the beginning of Robots. Both Robots jams are unremarkable to end the show.

Highlights: Overture, Memphis (2**), I-Man (2), Crickets (1, 2**), Abyss**, Boom Shanker*