December 31, 2018

I won’t lie – I’m a sucker for the Hot Air Balloon opera. I think it’s a neat story, and harkens back to a time when the band was very obviously more creative than they are at present. While these songs still hold a soft place in my heart, the reality is that many of them are not necessarily songs I’m dying to hear during a show. Overture begins with a forgettable DNB jam, and Fiddler is standard (if slightly stretched out). TVM has a pretty piano intro, but the rest of the set is basically a throwaway.

Bazaar starts set two with another jamless song, and Mulberry’s has a pair of short jam in it as well. Waves and HAB are marginally better, but still nothing here I’d be dying to relisten to.

The Helix jam to begin the third set is the first jam in this show that makes me sit up and pay attention. This is dark and dancy. Unfortunately, even this is quickly tossed aside for some less interesting, “funk” jam. This jam is so long that it actually comes back around and is pretty neat before the Abyss drop. I’ll note this as a highlight, begrudgingly. Abyss is fine, and the short-ish RLH encore is…disappointing.

Highlights: Helix