Just listening to the show now - Twist in particular. There's something going on with Trey's playing that I can't put my finger on. Patience? Languor? What sounds like a complete freedom from care and worry? Either way, this Twist is just *incredibly* lively and attentive - great four-corner playing.

The DWD jam doesn't tease the Vegas '03 Piper so much as draw on similar musical materials. (Pedantry break!) Same rhythm pattern, briefly, but different chords. Tunes like DWD often feature IIIb-IV chording from Trey, which curves the sound gently away from the funky minor (i) chord that's the homebase of the jam.

This DWD is like that, pleasurably so.

The 2/16/03 Vegas Piper begins with that same maneuver from Trey, but instead of

i (implied) IIIb-IV

he crosses an unexpected IV-VIIb-I bridge (which is a I-IV-V progression in a new key)

before tumbling back down to an equally unexpected I-VIIb-IV pattern, which is the climax of the jam. In other words, instead of a funky minor-key jam sliding (conventionally) into its relative major, he switches (via a clever little progression) from minor to major, with the same root.

The effect is galvanizing partly because the newfound major key chucks that ever-so-slightly downbeat minor key right out the window, clearing the air. Definitely one of the most intoxicating jams I've heard them play.

OK, pedantry off. HEY GOOFY AHISTORICAL NOTION: the 'plinko' style was invented during the 2/26/03 Stash. ;v)