This might be one of the more glossed-over shows of Summer '25 - lots of heat in the couple weeks that followed this, not to mention the buzz that the sixer in Ardmore generated. That said, this show was a real turning point in the tour and features an absolutely off-the-wall second set.

Mirrors was a good ease into set one, pretty regular intro and jam and set the tone for what would be a less-than-conventional set. Let me mention real quick that this show was taking place in a repurposed Baptist church in downtown Columbus, complete with stained glass windows on either side of the room, and I think this first set really fit that more refined, mellow vibe. Things picked up slightly with One Chance, but nothing necessarily remarkable - I did take particular pleasure in screaming "where you keeping all the weed in this town," after a frustrating visit to a local dispensary pre-show. Anyways, pretty standard groovy dance jam ensues, Magner does some cool synth stuff but ultimately doesn't get very deep or land on any super memorable themes. Postcard was the big jam of the set and Max and Barber definitely seemed lit up about it in the recap episode of TDAD. For me - Meh! Lots of repetition, lots of predictable peaks and valleys, and while it was nice to see the band play in a different mood and tempo than we're used to, it didn't really resonate with me in the way it seemed to with many others. I'm 21 and I wanna dance, maybe I'll appreciate it more in a decade. King of the World bustout was a good palette cleanser after the sleepiness and was played pretty clean for a bustout.

Second set, from the jump, was pretty special. The Jigsaw was a fun personal synchronicity, as I was ranting to a friend before the show about my burning desire to see the song again - the 26 minutes this portion comprises felt much shorter in the room, and the tail end is pretty clear heading towards Space Train, but very fun dance music all around. Space Train gets way too much hate but this version is a little lacking - quick segue into an excellent, chunky PBR makes up for it.

Pimp itself was pretty cool, but the segue to Cyclone is where things really take off. Immediate acceleration into hard techno-style jamming, Allen absolutely playing the shit out of the drums, Magner making fun squiggly space noises, Barber shredding and getting a little synthy with his new(ish) rig. If you're listening to the recording of this show and you pick up at the start of Cyclone, you are immediately dropped into full-throttle Biscuits. Fast, hard, clean playing, and great coordination between Magner and Barber especially. The composed section itself is incredibly listenable and astoundingly well mixed for the raucous, dense sound that we heard in the room that night. Breaking into the jam, we start to hear each band member rapidly cycling through various sounds - synth-y, natural, dark, light, etc. About every three minutes, the theme completely changes, ranging between melodic, uplifting, poppy dance music to dark, minimalist techno. When Magner picks up with the clicking sound in the back is perhaps the best segment, rivalled by the major-key ending that's reminiscent of many BTT jams.

Jigsaw is fucking nuts. Almost sounds like the sonic devolution was not intentional but a clever segue out of some sloppy playing, but that doesn't really matter. Deep, bassy frequencies, glitchy electronic tones, Allen's guru bathed in reverb and delay - a perfect psychedelic breakdown to close the set. Why don't they do more Space-esque spegments like this?

Clean Confro to close the show, good peak at the end, fun intro jam, vocals sounded good IRL and hold up on recording.

Great show.

June 26, 2025

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