March 15, 2010

Overall this is a nice & dark Biscuits show. Second set blows the first one away pretty comprehensively, but there's really nothing bad about the first set either.

Step Inside & Strobelights are both warmups. I was expecting the 7-11 to go maybe a little further offroad than it did, but it's still pretty respectable. The trance jam leading into LBB isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's a classic gathering storm build that they do so well. The tempo drops pretty sharply, as one might expect, when LBB fully forms. While Magner flirts with some quick plucked synth riffs, the best segment here is the ending dub jam where Barber unfurls some gnarled, knotted solos. It almost sounds like he screwed up what he originally had in mind and was like the hell with it, time to lean into the noise. Closing out the first set is a beautifully bipolar Mr. Don which goes from murky cronch to a soaring, gossamer peak. Everything here is pretty good, but little of it reinvents the wheel.

Don't let the fairly nonchalant DTTB opening fool you: this second set grabs and doesn't let go. The DTTB peak sounds a lot like dirty 2.0 Phish in a good way. It fizzles out into a patient Crickets opening featuring a really awesome bass solo from Marc. We need more 3 minute long Brownie solos! After the verses, Crickets gets right down to its usual frantic business in the jam. The second Crickets jam breaks everything down to begin the ascent into a thrilling if fairly orthodox Basis featuring the 2010 "All Your Basis Belong to Us" motif and more pluck synth patches from Magz. It stomps right into the inverted Shimmy. Shimmy's middle jam is pretty by the books, but it's a welcome breather. Brownie either teases Radiohead’s National Anthem to start off the Shimmy end jam or it’s coincidentally just as minimal and insistent of a bassline. When Magner hits a few pad washes, Brownie shifts into something both bouncey and brooding which kicks everyone else into gear for the Basis reapproach.

I’d say this show is a 4 out of 5. Everything's pretty solid, but there aren't so many individual standout moments.