TVM connoisseurs must check out this version. In the preceding Crickets jam, they pretty much fake-out the Crickets peak and suddenly slow it wayyy down for a segue into TVM, but the highlight here is the jam. After a few minutes of captivating, quiet, delicate jamming, Sammy switches it up for a half-time feel and Brownie adds a great funky major bassline, sounding like a Hope intro. From there Sammy switches back to the faster “two-step-on-her-hands” feel and they build up to a glorious TVM peak
The outro leaves funk behind for a poppy trance jam. It builds to a peak and settles into a chaotic, almost industrial progression, before a tempo shift towards the ending of 7-11.
•with 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' (Stevie Ray Vaughan) tease
•The jam stays in Very Moon territory before a tempo shift (accompanied by Rivers of Babylon teases). The buildup to the 7-11 ending is steady and lovely.
•The absolute gold standard of unbroken Very Moon first jams. It departs Very Moon territory for a drawn-out and extremely tense theme, gradually building (first chaotically and then triumphantly) back to The Very Moon.
The first jam is spaced out and exploratory, moving from type one noodling to a passage of type two full band jamming. From here the jam builds up to a strong Very Moon peak.
The first jam out of Very Moon enters spacey ambient territory immediately, but Barber soon develops a simple, driving theme that pushes things forward. It builds with eminent patience and steadiness across a variety of themes to a powerful crescendo section. From here the jam reaches dizzying heights, building to one of the strongest peaks into Helicopters, or any song, ever.
The first jam breaks down completely into tense, spacey territory with melancholy Magner synths and Barber strumming. As Sammy and Brownie return to Very Moon territory, Magner and Barber craft a mellow trance theme, and the rhythm section ebbs and flows in and out of type one territory while the melody remains largely type two. As the jam begins to creep back into familiar territory, Barber delivers a monster of a peak.
The second very exploratory Very Moon first jam in a row, and this version is demonstrably stronger. Nearly nine minutes long, the jam makes a deep dive into sinister trance territory, sounding at moments like the best B&C jams of 1999, until about the nine minute mark when it begins to build to a profoundly weird crescendo that slowly transforms into Very Moon territory.
The beginning of a trend of very jammed out Very Moon first jams. This version doesn’t compare to what the band would deliver in fall 2000 and spring 2001, but it is tense and atmospheric, and by far the most significant exploration of the section at this point in history.
•Probably the only Barber-on-bass jam that didn’t feel like musical treading water. The jam doesn’t always click, and is almost always incohesive, but the experimental factor alone makes it worthwhile.
•Sammy on bass & DJ Mauricio on Roland MC-505 (Mauricio enters halfway through 'The Very Moon')
•Standard Very Moon funk until the 14 minute mark, when the jam breaks down and restarts as a very minimalist trance jam. The transition of Sammy to bass and Mauricio to percussion is handled with extreme care. Eminent atmosphere as the jam transitions to a Crickets intro.
Brownstein sticks close to the Very Moon bass line, but Magner begins to push the boundaries of type one very early on. By the fourteen minute mark the band locks into a great type two trance passage. This theme breaks down around the nineteen minute mark and dissolves into gorgeous ambience for a great segue into Voices.
The first "unfinished" Very Moon, and one that would set the stage for that song's development. Around the eleven minute mark the jam shows every sign of heading toward the ending, but Magner introduces trance synths, playing the standard ending riff as the jam gradually begins to break away from the structure. From here we are treated to a much more fleshed out exploration of this section. At sixteen minutes the jam is definitely in Voices territory, and the band revamps the jam for a gorgeous psychedelic Voices intro.
