January 17, 2009

Rivers begins the show with the usual 3-minute type 1 jam. This isn’t bad, but nothing noteworthy as usual around this time. HDPF first jam is pretty typical, not all that interesting. The segue into inverted Crystal Ball is very cool, though it feels like they let this stretch on a little too long. They do a middle jam in Crystal Ball which is extended a little bit more than usual, but ultimately pretty squarely in type 1 territory. The jam out quickly turns into a HDPF 1 jam, and the resulting return is just okay. The second HDPF jam begins with Magner on the square wave lead, and they develop some really great stuff rhythmically. This is initially in 3/4, and to be honest it feels like they get stuck a little bit trying to make the transition. They eventually get out of this with minimal damage having been taken, and the resulting dance jam is very solid. Magner has some great harmonic stuff here, and Barber has his share of interesting melodic choices as they get to the Waves peak. In particular, Barber’s work around the 5:10 mark is sublime. This is a fantastic peak.

The second set begins with Killing In The Name Of, and for a change of pace the band actually jams out. The jam begins as a plodding death march, but eventually shifts uptempo as they prepare for a transition to the middle of Crickets. The resulting jam is actually relatively solid, a true testament to the band as frankly this should not have worked. The Crickets peak does not feel as forced as many around this time did, with the band showing decent restraint before the big chord switch for the peak riff.

The first jam in Crickets is one of my favorites of this era. The jam begins with a Magner on the pan flute patch, and Barber simply strums a couple chords with a lot of delay. They’re clearly setting something up, and shortly after the jam begins Brownstein switches onto the MIDI keyboard. I believe this is the jam that ultimately sold a lot of fans on Brownstein using the MIDI keyboard. This is an instance where rather than it just being passable, or tolerable, it actually adds a very interesting dimension to the jam and takes it to the next level. The Reese bass tone (that somebody clearly set up for Marc) works really well in jams like this, because it provides a great texture to Brownstein’s bass tone, that frankly he probably couldn’t accomplish with a standard bass guitar unless he was running several effect chains at once. Even then, I’m not certain he could achieve the same affect. In any event for the first few minutes hear the band mostly follows Magner at on this voyage with the pan flute as the band’s proverbial captain. Around the 8-minute mark, Brownstein adds a second chord to the theme. Again, this is a nice development for the band, because it shows Marc was able to continue his quarterback role with a lot of these jams even on keyboard. Barber follows Marc’s lead, and around the 9-minute mark, Magner adds in some simple layers on the top of the jam, setting aside the pan flute patch. The result is that things open up a lot more ant and the band clearly begins to build toward something. Interestingly, after a minute of a build the band pulls back a little bit, and Magner returns to the pan flute patch. Almost like they forgot to put a cap on this. Barber begins this repeated lick – the kind that he often uses for transitional periods of jams – and it seems like the band changes directions. The band vamps a little bit for 2-3 minutes, while Magner lays spacey synths and pads on the top of the jam, and Barber continues this transition riff. The band begins another build, but this time it’s Magner taking the lead with a I-VII-VI-VII progression. Marc switches from the keyboard back to his bass guitar, and the band begins a build around this theme. The build is absolutely fantastic 2009 Bisco, with the one caveat being that it feels like Brownstein tries to drop back in the crickets a little too soon. Oh, and Barber flubs a note or two in his peak riff, but the rest of Barber’s play here is absolutely unreal. This jam is absolutely fantastic, and you should check it out, now.

The second jam in Crickets begins with a fairly straightforward Crickets dance jam, but eventually shifts to halftime and the band plays a reggae/dub jam. Brownstein in particular has some awesome bass lines beginning around the 28:42 mark. That last note that he hits in this riff is great. Barber also has some really catchy riffs during this dub section as well. From here, the band shifts back uptempo and eventually slides very cleverly into the middle section of KOTW. They sort of dance around the composition for a little bit, and after a short while they just leave. The jam in KOTW is pretty unique. Around the 6-minute mark, the band has a sort of bridge section. Brownstein is on MIDI keyboard again, and Allen cuts the beat completely. Barber begins playing a 5-note loop, and for the next two minutes or so he is out of time with the rest of the band. I should be clear here that he is not out of rhythm or tempo or anything similar. Instead, he is playing in 5/8 time on top of the band playing in 4/4 time. This is very cool, and I really wish they would have a stretch this out further. With that said, the resulting jam is absolutely awesome. This feature is loads of e-drums from Allen, more MIDI keyboard from Marc, and mostly textural play from Barber and Magner. Magner at one point is using a gated patch that has the exact same gate and sound as lead synth from The Great Abyss. Overall, this is a great, hypnotic jam with major duntzgeon feel to it. There are a couple points where it almost feels like you as a listener are hearing Marc learn and try new things on the MIDI keyboard, but overall this all sounds so cool and digital that I don’t really care. Regarding Gangster, I think that technically this version qualifies as unfinished. Usually, after they finish the call and response section where the drumbeat cuts out, there is a final section with the ascending progression before they start the jam. In this case they begin the jam immediately after the call and response section. I’m not even sure that they’ve ever done that before (or since, I guess). I can’t say much about the jam out of Gangster. The first few minutes have the entire band in this plodding march once again, and they stay in this until essentially the last minute or two of the jam. In the last couple minutes, Brownstein switches onto the MIDI keyboard, and there is some potential prior to the drop into I-Man but they simply don’t get a chance to breathe. The first I-Man jam begins with an interesting Brownstein bassline, and the rest of the band sort of fills in around him. They eventually lead to a pretty nice build-up here, and I generally enjoyed most of this jam, even if it becomes fairly paint-by-numbers after the first minute or two. The second jam is firmly in type 1 territory, and never gets outside of the box. Lastly, the Mr. Don encore to end the show features a 2-minute jam which is essentially only a build to the peak. That said, Barber’s guitar playing here is absolutely fantastic, and leads to the peak in a very satisfying way.

Highlights: HDPF (2*), Crickets (1**, 2), KOTW*, I-Man (1)