January 31, 2010

Shows like this are why I love pre-Wristgate 2010. This whole outing bursts with ideas. KOTW is brisk and buttery, moving from a Mega Man X-like trance jam into a whooshing slice of blissco and back again. From Astronaut onward, things get very spacey. The Astronaut>42 jam takes on a lush acid jazz tone reminiscent of something like Thievery Corporation. The 42 jam is probably the only weak spot of the first set, which never really coheres in an interesting way. Things tighten back up about halfway through Bullets, leading into a sweeping, cinematic return to Astronaut.

PBR mostly feels like a warmup for the madness that is yet to follow. A triple Basis is usually a pretty good indicator for atmospheric, dark jamming and that's absolutely the case here. The beautiful slow build in the first 9 minutes evokes mid-80s Tangerine Dream in the best way. The massive Minions jam also carries more than a whiff of Krautrock to it. The Naeba palindrome shores up the more ambient moments in this second set with scintillating emotional beauty. Catalyst and the third Basis segment funnel all of this energy into exquisite duntzgeon hell.

Mr. Don doesn't stray too far outside of the margins, but it has that classic danceable prog-rock feel I expect from the track. The second encore is mostly just there to be silly, so I don't have much to say about it.

This is a 4.5 show to the letter. Just one blemish too many to say this is an unquestionable, timeless classic, but far, far, far above average.

<>Colodelphia - Home Again!<> What a great fourplay run to start the year in their west coast abode.

My favorite small indoor theatre in America after the Ryman in Nashville. The Fox is perfect, 700 people, where each audience member can see the stage perfectly with amazing sound. Plus....free Sushi bar :) Is that still a thing there?

Super show and run of course, the funnest Colorado tour I've ever had, well, WSP's '96 sit-n-ski tour is WAY up there [Ogden, Steamboat (2) & Crested Butte (2) are the 5 we saw but that's a whole different novel.

Anyway, the sound is primo, all 4 nights on Nugs. 'KOTW' jam-out is great here, Barber is a machine. "Busy n' Brilliant" might sum it up. The ''Astrojam ~> 42 ~>'' is one hell of a section. Dance fever and watch the pretty ladies spin,spin,spin inside those sun dresses.

The run ending "Basis' chunk into ~>Naeba ~> Minions ~> Naeba ~> Basis For A Day ~> Instrumental Catalyst ~> Basis For A Day' The Basis has a very cool intro through the first part into a lovely segue that's mellow and very well played....enter Naeba. This is the feel good section through Minions. The music. The tone. The patience, The minimalist approach. The goose pimple nature. It's here. The return jam to 'Basis' is really satisfying before the 'G.M.A.Y.F.M' outro. The ''Basis to Basis'' segment comes out with such compassion and absence of ego that your natural state of mind is instantly transformed into blocks of ecstasy in between the jam formula. In the words of Al. Schnier it's 'Wicked Awesome'. This...this is a very special section. wow. please take an hour and go there, now!

Only the Biscuits would come out for the 2nd encore after a hard-played 4 night run, exhausted and throwdown a Devo-ish Frog Leg sandwich with a thin slice of On Time mystery meat reprise. It might be only a 5 minute 2nd encore but fun all the same.

Afterwards, winter tour was going SO DAMN well until... Albany....always with Albany lol.

set 1 :: 8.70 / 10 {King of the World > Astronaut(1&2) > 42} set 2 :: 9.35 / 10 { everything minus 'Rikki' & (E2)

perfect strain for your Boulder brain: [Royal AK Automatic] earthy, peppery, and sour terps; no couch lock and PLENTY of giggles and silliness. yum

Gonna make Like Santa and leave your presence, peasse.