July 18, 2008

King of the World begins the show with a short jam that is essentially just a transition between KOTW and Rock Candy. There’s no thematic work here, it is just the band getting from point A to point B. I wouldn't even necessarily consider this a jam. The same holds true in the jam out of Rock Candy back into KOTW. This could have been interesting because they segue into the “industrial“ portion of KOTW, however, this just ultimately has nothing interesting going on. The jam out of KOtw into Abraxas is very cool. This begins with Magner using this overarching sci-fi siren sound, which sounds like it’s pulled straight from Vangelis and Blade Runner. Around the 8:30 Mark, Allen ditches the four-on-the-floor beat for a breakbeat. Barber's tone here is wonderful, and Brownstein rounds out the sound with a distorted electronic bass. This entire section is extremely cool. When they switch to the Abraxas track, Magner comes up with the swingy melody using a plucked synth sound. This is awesome, and a great contrast from the overtly dark energy that Brownstein and Barber are putting out. While I liked this section, including the e-drums that Allen litters throughout the jam, ultimately I felt like they struggled to transition into Abraxas. This feels way too drawn out, almost to the point where you start to wonder if they felt stuck. In any event, extremely good jam overall. The jam out of Abraxas bored me to tears. This almost felt at some points like they were trying to get into Humu, but ultimately it was just the band trying to get back into the Rock Candy progression. This fell flat, big time. The Basis intro is much more of a rock oriented jam than usual. The intro riff that Barber comes up with is almost evocative of the main riff from Alter Ego. Eventually this gets into the darker, more Phrygian sounding sound of a typical Basis intro, but ultimately for the most part I didn’t care about this jam at all. The second jam features a two-chord progression that the band tinkers with for the overwhelming majority of the time. However, this is uninteresting once again. The Thieving Magpie bust out is a neat addition, though obviously jamless.

Papercut is such a weird song. I enjoy most of the composition, but the “classical” section is always absolutely butchered by everybody, especially Barber. The jam here is about a filler as they come. The jam out of SBMC has a fantastic groove to it, and Magner’s use of the Virus is great. There is no jam out of Tricycle, just an almost immediate drop into Confrontation. The jam out of Confrontation begins with a neat little theme, but this quickly gets old. Really feels like they’re treading water and just trying to figure out how to get slower to start Air Song. Air Song into Helicopters is more water treading, and short to boot. The jam in Helix begins with a descending synth riff from Magner. This turns into a solid jam before they hit the ending to Confrontation, and I did enjoy it despite the fact that it’s fairly one dimensional.

Highlights: KOTW (2**), Spacebird, Helix