May 27, 2018

Bionic Helix is interesting. Why they would just randomly bust this out is beyond me, but okay. The jam here after they exit the Bionic Helix segment is fine, but they never get really far beyond just okay. As they near the end of the jam, they seem to lock in on a new theme that I think has potential, but they switch to Tetris fairly shortly thereafter. The jam out of Tetris sounds like it’s headed for Sven almost immediately. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit, even if it felt a little predictable. Tunnel has a brief, forgettable type 1 jam. The first several minutes of After Midnight are throwaway, but once they drop the four-on-the-floor beat, they get into some really nice, mysterious jamming. Magner has some solid work here, both texturally and as lead. Helix peak is fine.

The second set begins with one of my favorites, Rivers. While this version isn’t particularly stellar, I have such a soft spot for this song that I’ll call it a highlight. The Don jam is quite good. Beginning in solidly Blissco territory, around the 12-13 minute mark, the band shifts to notably darker territory. Barber has some mildly bluesy phrasing in some his riffs here, which works well with the spacey backdrop the rest of the band has crafted. This leads fairly fluidly into Tricycle. They don’t overpeak this or allow it to overstay its welcome, which is nice. The jam out of Tricycle is not for me. Barber plays this alternatively ascending and descending riff that just feels uninspired, and sadly Marc follows suit. They’re clearly listening to each other here, but not a whole lot of creativity coming from either of them. Magner seems like he’s trying to get them on track with something else, but they never really get there. The last few minutes of this jam are also ruined by Barber noodling around with the siren. Gross. First Orch Theme jam has some nice rhythmic stuff in it from Brownstein, but ultimately never reaches the next level for me. The jam out of Orch Theme has a nice spacey vibe to much of it. The last couple minutes get into a lot of shrilly Barber, but for the most part I enjoyed this. On paper, Therapy looks like a terrible way to end a set. This is so dead wrong. They flesh this jam out massively, and turn this into a really nice dance jam. This is probably my favorite jam of the night. On Time encore is (for a change) actually decent here. Magner leads the way with some atmospheric leads that I imagine echoed out against the walls of Red Rocks. Not a bad way to end the night, despite looking terrible on paper.

Highlights: Tetris, Rivers, Don, Orch, Therapy*, On Time