The first MEMPHIS jam is pleasant, but standard fare. The second one is quite something, and honestly I don’t know if I like it or not. It starts off rather mysterious, until Magner comes in with a fat trumpet-y synth. It teases the upcoming transition to Spraypaint, pivoting into a very silly little upbeat melody that reminds me of both a rumba and Mark Mothersbaugh’s work on Rugrats. Meanwhile, Barber’s breezily funking along. When it finally comes time to transition, they struggle a little bit. Barber makes up for it with some extended soloing heading into the verse. Spraypaint isn’t anything mind blowing, but it’s chill and features some nice noodling from Magner and a smooth slide into Humu. I absolutely adore this Humu jam, which is such a grooving little slice of balearic-tinted Blissco. Allen eventually shifts everyone into something much darker and brooding, which peaks into a dark digital romp before transitioning into Helicopters. I can’t tell if that’s a Caterpillar fakeout or if Magner just hit the wrong button, but we get Portal instead. The D&B jam is a little clumsy but not bad; the half-time dark jam that comes next is much better. It brings quite a bit of weight into the set-closing return into Spraypaint, teasing RLH before the not entirely smooth transition. Still, the return does all it needs to, with Barber soaring with Magner’s angelic choir and Allen giving lots of tasty little tom fills.

The Munchkins jam is pretty anemic, with its most interesting segment being a slightly slowed down, chilled out version of the Munchkins riff. Definitely the weakest thing here. The Rockafella jam needs a minute to get going, but once it does it’s S tier stuff. Brownie puts out a really powerful bassline that immediately takes center stage, while Magner double duties between pads and a sitar patch and Barber lays down support. The landing could’ve been a little better, though. The Rock Candy/King of the World mashup is fun, as is the sawtooth dance jam that dramatically breaks into Waves. Another cheeky fake-out brings us into Housedog. Housedog doesn’t wander too far out of the box, but it’s a perfectly fine version for what it is. Magner plays a few more extra piano chords than normal once they return to the verses, which sounds great. They pull out one more switcheroo to get back into a very by-the-book Waves. The encore is a funky, fiery digestif of Ladies and I-Man, ending on a much stronger note.

I’d give this show a solid 4. Another underrated 2012 show with a few really beautiful moments among some overall competent if at times safe playing. The combination of botched and trick transitions screws with the head a little, though.

October 06, 2012

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