June 24, 2009

Onwards to one of the best runs in biscuits history with the end of june/early july 09. First memphis jam is absolutely Awesome, starts with some cool sounscapes by magner and moves into an epic like peak/jam around the 6-7m mark. Really great start to the show. Second jam is just as awesome, nice little scene setting by magner with a dope little riff by barber on top right into rockafella. Super spacy little jam though and def dig it. Cool major jam in this segue, great interplay between barber and magner. jam out of rockafella is just top tier biscuits with some awesome licks by barber, magner, and great high hat work by allen (underrated part of this jam). When the sbdbs first dropped from this run(livedownloads anyone?), this waves jam was one of the first things that really caught my eye. Love the first synth lick by Magner (plays in my head all the time to this day) over that speedracer theme. Barber really shines with the shredding on thr jam into the peak. Jam outta the peak around 13m is another that tends to get in my head a ton, even 16 years later. Love what brownie does in this jam with the slaps under the main synth Riff by magner. Some samples in this jam as well, meshes in really well (think its daft punk or some s*** but idk edm like that). Awesome awesome spacier, funky jam though throughout this jam, reslisten to it all the time. Fun little technoish jam in the 42 jam to round out the set. Brownie the real mvp of s1, such an awesome hour+ of music.

Tvm jam starts with some fun clavy lime organ riffs by magner. Jam then turns chaotic around the 13m point where barber pushes for a tempo change which queues up the move into abraxas. Start is nothing crazy, around 6m magner starts signaling the safety dance synth patch within an upbeat, dancy jam which is forshadowing the next move. If it wasnt for that synth, id think they’d be heading into kamole due to the upbeat, major jam but into safety dance we go. Really sweet jam though, great playing by the full band. Jam in safety dance is awesome, with the band building and building on the main theme til the theme in city rears its head. Extremely well done, really enjoy this one. Pretty standard spaga to start but around 13/14m Magner throws in this funky clav like organ riff and the jam starts taking off. Around 15m barber queues the tempo change and we start to gradually pick up speed. Decent segue into rivers which has a cool little jam, but nothing crazy. Show closes with Oname wa which i always forget even exists, like the song though (higher ground earlier in year is dope).

Give this show a 4/5, tons of relistenability with the first set (memphis and waves esp) and abraxas>safety dance.

The Memphis first jam begins fairly safely, with the band locked in a hip-hop groove. Magner has a really great melody that he plays throughout this on a sine wave lead, and in general this is mostly atmospheric vamping. As they get later in the jam and start building, the band switches to a major key, and Rock God Barber comes out to play. This peak is fantastic for a solid start to the show. The second jam is also very, very good. This is more spacey psychedelia, and while the theme never really progresses a whole lot, the band knew they had an interesting theme on their hands, and they sort of just let this play out for a while. Magner‘s choice of synth sounds here is perfect, and while I would’ve liked to see this theme evolve, this was very good for what it was. Rockafella begins with another atmospheric jam from the band, and they carry this theme out for a bit. Barber is pretty restrained here, and for the most part this develops really organically. Magner has some really great stuff as the band develops a big wall-of-sound build and peak before dropping back into Rockafella. Were this longer, it could have been ridiculous, instead it’s just very good. The first Waves jam almost feels like a Jigsaw Earth “chase” jam with the way Magner is playing. In any event, while this is fairly safe play, I really enjoyed this regardless. Magner and Barber are both absolutely locked in and playing fast and clean. The build and peak are both really well done. The second jam is very much a “feel” jam, with a really solid groove throughout. Around the 17:00 mark, Magner starts using a sample of something, though I can’t make out the words. This whole jam has a great funk groove to it that makes it hard to stop nodding your head along. The 42 jam to end the set feels a lot like filler. Magner has some great lines littered throughout, but this never really came together enough for me to feel fully drawn in.

TVM begins set 2 with about as generic a first jam as is possible. This is at least well-played. The second jam begins as generic The Very Funk, then turns into an uptempo, dissonant dance jam. This is dark and ominous, though I wasn’t all that blown away by the thematic work. Abraxas turns into a happy-go-lucky dance jam that sounds like it’s headed to B&C or Kamaole Sands, or something similarly major key. This turns into a really solid major key jam, even if parts of this are a little corny. Safety Dance begins with an almost circus-like jam from the band, particularly Magner. This continues for a few minutes before turning into a fairly obvious segue into The City. This jam and build are both really well-done, and the switch to The City feels so natural; I really love this. The first Spaga jam is the typical DNB stuff, although at least they manage to keep pretty focused. Magner has some nice plucky synths that he’s messing around with, and as usual Allen is on fire. Overall, I thought this was solid. The second Spaga jam begins with the usual type one theme, but around the 15:00 mark stretches its legs into type two territory. They develop a four-chord, descending theme, which has a very similar chord progression to Rivers. I get the feeling they initially wanted to do a clean segue into Rivers, but at the last minute they sort of pull back and do the usual drop segue that they were doing around this time. That said, the build near the end of the Spaga track is really fantastic, particularly from Magner. Rivers begins feeling like it’s going to maybe get into some type 2 territory, but instead they cut this short as well.

Highlights: Memphis (1*, 2*), Rockafella*, Waves (1, 2*), Abraxas, Safety Dance*, Spaga (2)

^^ Epicness in the DB. Very cool place to see a show. stage inside and the crowd is all general outside. A lot of drinkers but they are puppies...easily manageable. ^^

If you are not knocked down unconscious and smiling after set I, I hear Twiddle is in need of fans....I'm mostly joking.

**Recording Note (nugs) - the recording for this show is mint. perfect amount of audience energy without annoyance, great soundstage and everyone is nicely clear and thick in the mix; Marc is WAY up front in the mix which I love. everyone seems in mono except for Jon (right channel) and Mr. Mags seems piano left but some keyboards and samples right with some patches and sounds mono as well. thank you 'Enter Soundman' ! I started the tour the day after in AC and missed the previous night due to time spent at the border...wasted tickets (3) and of course heard all about it (the show). Them the breaks.

[set 1] Of course June 2009 is as good as it gets but the opening 'MEMPHIS' ~> 'Rockafella' just might be the most diverse, controlled, well played, high energy duo to start a show in the 2009 era. Just incredible. Not in terms of big ra-ra peak jams and solos into a brick wall but patience and long, mid-tempo jams and grooves. Psychedelic, post-rock-ish, jazz-rock and electronica of the highest degree. The Rockafella has a gorgeous intro jam. Strong vocals. The 8 minutes in solo jam by Barber is sweet as he passes duties to Magner on a church organ type patch(?) then back to Barber. Yes, this is a special night brewing.

The ending set block of 'Waves' ~> '42' isn't chopped liver. A 22+ minute unfinished Waves = 18 minutes of high tempo, high energy instrumental sections. Magner is having fun here. There are too many cool moments to describe, you will dig it is the promise. This is a terrific version! Jon is on another level here, I mean dirty, dirty jams and great back and forth with Brownie and his slap. The transition into '42' is fearless and seamless minus a missed lyric (forgiven :) and the final half of 42 closes s1 perfectly, such nice bass work...Marc, you are the greatest minimalist bass player. So much expression and vastness with the least amount of notes and chords. Make 'em count Brownie!

rating for set 1:: 9.65 / 10

[set 2] two sections: [The Very Moon ~> Abraxas(><) ~> Safety Dance ~> The City] + [Spaga > Rivers, e-Onamae Wa]

The opening TVM is a carbon copy of so many others until around 10:30 minutes in the tune where they leave the dock for a while and explore. Some very tasty space rock to finish off the tune and head towards the inverted 'Abraxas'. The middle jam is a funky little ditty groove opened up with some crunchy synth taps and impeccable timing. The rest is pretty average. 'Safety Dance' I'll skip this one. Not my favorite tune and not much added to this version to change my mind. I enjoy 'The City' as a set closer a lot, or in this case as a segment closer...terrific choice. Pretty good version nothing mindblowing.

'Spaga' ~> 'Rivers' (interesting combo) Gotta give it up for the redheaded alien drummer here. I do believe he attacks this version with a little more power than usual. It "seems" that way at least. Sexy jam at 6 minutes in-ish. Faster and rounder we go. That alongside the really cool keyboard/bass jam towards the 3/4 mark are worth repeating, the rest is pretty standard which is good but nothing out of the normal in terms of structure or quality of the instrumental parts. As a spoiled Biscuits fan with pretty much all of their live catalogue, I would not of chosen 'Rivers' as the show closer and/or "Spaga's" dance partner. It's not bad really in any way. Just, personally, something a little spicier. Great short but sweet 'Onamae' as encore. I love this tune as a "link in the chain" tune but no complaints.

rating for set 2:: 7.85 / 10

[Mob Boss] (not a beginner herb!) popular Rocky Mountain High I'm told. I have tried a couple joints of this and fell in love; if you see it on your local menu try an 1/8 or 1/4. It quite strong in thc count. citrus flavored. this hybrid was made by crossing Chemdawg and Tang Tang. This is truly a giggly, happy and confident strain if you ingest YOUR perfect amount and not over do it. You know that feeling.

Peace and forgiveness.