October 25, 2023

Maybe my opinion will soften with the passage of time but this was a standout show from a standout Fall that utterly knocked my socks off on first listen and has done so each time I've eagerly returned to it. Even just looking at the setlist, I knew we were all in for a treat.

What I love the most about this show is the dynamics and the accompanying patience. The plus sized TVM opener really sets the tone, with a slow-burning and poignant opening jam. My husband did not believe this was tdb when I first put it on. The energy carries into Running, which is perhaps not a standout but felt 100 percent like the most thematically appropriate followup. Then comes the true beast of this show: Tourists. I've always loved this song, but it's going to be really tough to beat this version. Aside from the transition jam, it doesn't really stray too far from home but at the same time it's so fully realized. Just 20 minutes of pounding pure Disco. Everyone sounds like they're having the time of their lives up there. Magner's piano work throughout this show is incredible, but he really lays on the late 70s glamor in an incredible way. And then it gives way to an absolutely insane inverted Ape. I've never been a huge fan of Aquatic Ape, but the inverted jam is Allen and Barber ripping through the veil and into Shred heaven, or hell, depending on your perspective. Falling and Shem are both pleasant enough, but hardly stand out compared to what came before.

As a note to whoever posts the setlists, that opening s2 jam is one long tease on Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert, itself a masterwork of improvisation. It's stuff like this that makes me think you have to admire the Biscuits even if they're not your cup of tea. Their repertoire of musical knowledge is truly astounding. Anyway, s2 is a bit safer but not necessarily worse for it. The HAB>WIC is pretty standard midtempo stuff, but the transition is silky smooth with everyone exercising the right amount of restraint to set the table. I've seen a lot of Discourse about WIC doesn't feel like it's been totally set free, which I understand but don't totally agree with. The version here is spookier than usual, with lots of echo from Allen and Magz. The jam into Evolve is full of danceable tension (and I think I hear Brownie teasing Freeze a little). Once Brownie switches to the synth bass, the floodgates open. There are a few times in the Evolve jam I expected a little more out of Barber, but overall it's a powerful take that packs some emotional heft. The transition to Spraypaint is such an out of nowhere left hook (but not in a sloppy ripcord way) that it gave me a double take. Spraypaint cools down the pace considerably to make way for the Blissco'd re-entry into HAB. Maybe not the most exciting part of the night, but a necessary respite. HAB is always such a fantastic show closer, even when it stays pretty textbook as it does here. The encore is fine but fairly apocryphal, as is tradition.

Again, maybe it's premature to give this a 5. But I don't care. It's a 5.

R.I.P. to all affected in and around Lewiston. Crazy. Take the day and night off to be close to one another and absolutely tear the fucking roof out of existence in Pork Cheddar Friday & Saturday!

'“It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style. They affect us just as vulgarity affects us. They give us an impression of sheer brute force, and we revolt against that. Sometimes, however, a tragedy that possesses artistic elements of beauty crosses our lives. If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are no longer the actors, but the spectators of the play. Or rather we are both. We watch ourselves, and the mere wonder of the spectacle enthralls us.”'

• Oscar W -