December 28, 2011

I've been plumbing 2010-2011 lately on Nugs, since I don't think this era of the band is nearly as bad as some claim. This show is a great example, and an extremely Kind one at that. It's definitely subdued--very low on untz until halfway through Set 2--but beautiful, patient jammy passages await you. The smoky, contemplative character of the TVM>Bombs jam really sets the tone for the rest of the show. It's quite rare to hear Bombs as an atmospheric slow burner, but it works great. Confrontation and My Lady Survives don't really add much, but they don't take away anything either.

M.E.M.P.H.I.S., particularly in the first jam, occasionally almost sounds like 1.0 Biscuits with the amount of quiet storm restraint they deploy. Inverted Ladies, as with Bombs, is given the slow build treatment; while I prefer an inverted Ladies to hit like ripping a bandaid off, it works well and sets Cyclone up for the bandaid-off moment. The House Dog is, as with most House Dogs of its era, pro forma. As with the ending of the first set, it neither adds nor detracts. 42 is a solid encore, offering a tiny slice of trance jamming to close out on.

I rate it a 4. Extremely underrated show that goes down very smooth, even if both sets lose a little steam toward the end.