July 17, 2015

The AFOB opener is the typical middling funk stuff. Meh. The inverted HDPF is admittedly neat. First HDPF jam is boring as all get out. The second jam begins with some haunting darkness from everybody in the band. My only concern when they get a great feel like this in a second HDPF jam, leading into another song, is the inevitable awkward shift from 3/4 to 4/4. The shift here happens at the 18:20 mark, and it’s not noticeable at all. This is one of the better time signature switches I’ve heard from the band, and it’s notable just for that. The transition into Lunar feels really off, partially because of Allen’s insistence that he switch back and forth between acoustic and electronic kicks. This is often jarring to me, and it’s absolutely the case here. Something feels and sounds off the entirety of the drop into the beginning of Lunar. The jam out of Lunar is very short. She’s Gone is not the right song for this band. Morph is pretty short and straightforward.

Help > Slipknot is standard, but the jam out of Slipknot into Confrontation is really neat. The jam out of Confrontation has some great interplay between Barber, THam and Magner. Hamilton brings out such great energy in Barber, to the point that if they announced him joining the band I probably wouldn’t mind (though he probably would). Almost feels like a pseudo-Life During Wartime tease from Magner here. Overall this is really solid, though nothing too far outside the box. The first few minutes of the Overture jam are very solid. Magner does this up/down arp that I absolutely love and it’s just got kind of an overall disorienting feeling, but in a good way. The Waves jam is very good right from the start. Brownstein hits on a VI-VII-I progression that works really well. Feels like they pull the ripcord a little too quickly here, but such is life. The Us & Them jam turns into dance party central, somewhat surprisingly. Magner here is phenomenal, and while this is again not far outside of any boxes, it’s a very nice jam to end a solid show.

Highlights: HDPF (2*), Slipknot, Confrontation, Overture, Waves, Us & Them

Inverted housedog is so good here. They take the first jam for a much needed walk. Im also a sucker for hall and oates but the star here is housedog