Biscuits Internet Project

July 09, 2021

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7/9/2021
Mann Center for the Performing Arts - Philadelphia, PA
4.452
(31)
S1Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)1, Spaga, Run Like Hell > Spacebirdmatingcall > Tractorbeam Jam2 > SpacebirdmatingcallS2Astronaut > Running Into the Night > The Great Abyss > Clocks > Tractorbeam Jam3 > Astronaut > Running Into the NightE1Humuhumunukunukuapua'a45 > Run Like Hell5
1 FTP (Paul Conti)
2 Todd Terje (contained elements of Strandbar / Delorean Dynamite)
3 Eden (Spacecookie Mix)
4 unfinished
5 with Tom Hamilton (Guitar)

Reviews

V

vapingbaby

Aug 8, 2023

Can't say this was a favorite. Spaga starts off promisingly, with a great d&b first jam. The second jam stays safely in Type 1 territory, but Magner has some fun soloing. RLH is pretty perfunctory, but also a little disjointed. The drops into the composed sections all sound a bit off, almost like it catches them off guard. Spacebird features a funk jam that starts off pretty tediously but Magner shapes it up with a few well placed clav riffs. As he switches to a Rhodes-esque patch, the mood moves increasingly toward the ethereal. It’s actually quite nice, especially as a springboard into the first TBeam segment. I’m admittedly a sucker for Terje in the first place, so this Delorean Dynamite jam was welcome to my ears. However, it turns into quite a mess once it phases back into Spacebird.

They really whiff the opening of Astronaut. Magner doesn’t hop in right away, and Barber’s guitar sounds pretty out of tune. The jam also doesn’t really cohere, although there’s a beautiful moment when they give up and let the formlessness take hold before transitioning into Running. Running is pretty by the numbers, and once again Barber is too damn loud in the SBD mix. The landing into Abyss is quite abrupt, and the jam is pretty noodly and uninteresting. Magner works on injecting a little drama with a mysterious harp-like patch during Clocks which once again helps bring in some focus. Overall, the best moments of this show are when they let things breathe and embrace the spaciness. The Eden TBeam that follows is fantastic for this reason, which characteristically sits with an insistent low end arp. From there, it’s a mess again. The return into Astronaut is actually not bad if you like Barber shredding, but that’s about all it has to offer. Astronaut itself is slovenly, and the return back into Running is poorly handled.

I’ll be real, I didn’t even get into the encore this time. Gotta give this a 2.5. This was not coming together for them, and I have no idea why this is such a highly rated show on here. What a shame, as the setlist looked great on paper.