June 01, 2017

A pretty typical Pretty Good but Not Great show from a year replete with such shows. The first set contains plenty of just-fine jams, but very little reaches out and grabs. It gets a bit better as it goes along, with Gangster snapping things a bit more into focus before a standout Overture. The return into Shimmy ain't half bad either.

The second set and encore have a little more gas. Almost 30 minutes of Nughuffer with a 17+ minute Orch theme embedded looks a lot untzier on paper than what actually transpires, but aside from a pretty unnecessary AC2B middle jam, this segment is aces. It's all danceable for the most part, but hovers comfortably just above boiling. I would've absolutely lost my mind when Magner takes it into Bad Touch territory. That moment is probably the highlight of the whole night. HDPF is about what you would expect. The second jam briefly steps into a sinister, Eastern mode, but walks away from it right as it kicks into gear. The encore is some heavenly cooldown music, with Magner in particular steering the jam into Blissco territory. A beautifully fitting high note to end on.

I originally gave this a 4 but upon further listening I think this one falls just short of a 5.

Favorite 2nd set of the year.

''I couldn't get enough, so I had to self-destruct The heat was on, rising to the top Everybody going strong, and that is when my spark got hot I heard somebody say Bisco Inferno''

The Shimmy jam has a solid, dark, dance jam. Nothing outside the box here, but I liked it. The Miracles first jam is a fairly straightforward type 1 jam. This is pretty solid, but ultimately nothing noteworthy here. The Miracles outro jam is just okay. Parts of this feel like a lot of treading water, and even though I don’t hate it, there’s just not much here that really grabs me. The Gangster jam is decent, but it’s just way too short to be worth relistening to. Overture starts with the usual DNB jam, but drops to half-time and turns into a great little groovy jam. They build this really solid into a much, much faster jam. The build is gradual and develops fairly nicely. The Cyclone jam doesn’t do much for me.

SJSS is standard. The Nughuffer story is about Allen and his birthday. Marc’s “ball so hard” comments get pretty cringy, but in general I don’t hate this story. The jam itself is pretty solid. Lots of digital drum FX going on here. The first Orch jam is fantastic. Magner has some absolutely great melodic placement here. Very dreamy, haunting stuff in certain places. Around the 7-minute mark, Magner starts teasing “The Bad Touch” using the vocoder. I wouldn’t call this a “jam” on the song, as it never really progresses beyond repeating the chorus vocals, but it is kinda neat. The Orch Theme outro jam is pretty mediocre. It’s also pretty obviously an AC2B jam almost from the start. The jam out of AC2B begins with a laid-back jam featuring Magner on his xylophone-y patch. I love these and wish they would have extended this a little bit more. Around the 9-minute mark they pick up speed and Barber has this great descending riff. First HDPF is the usual type 1 forgettable stuff. The second HDPF jam is really neat. The whole band is connecting here, and they build a multi-dimensional dance jam. They hit the peak really nicely here. I swear to god, if I were at a show and they started playing 42 as my encore, I’d be terrified that I’m about to hear a jamless 8-minute 42. The horror. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. The 42 jam is wonderful. This is Blissco, and has some beautiful, twinkly melodic interplay from Magner. I love this.

Highlights: Shimmy, Overture, Nughuffer, Orch (1), HDPF (2*), 42**

This show is fantastic from start to finish. I gave it a 5-star rating, which may seem high to some people, but there was never a dull moment and it was a total psychedelic dUNTZgeon in the Ogden that night. Orch Theme was absolutely bonkers, Sister Judy's was a rare treat, the Nughuffer jam is digitally insane, the House Dog is great for the era, and even the 42 encore goes Type II for a little while. All of Bisco Inferno from that year was super solid, especially this night and Red Rocks.