, attached to 2012-06-23

Review by TheEmu

TheEmu For the most part, the first set here is straightforward and solid, with strong versions of Funky Bitch, Maze, and Moma. Aside from a rough start to Gumbo, there are few flubs. The obvious home run of the first set is Scent of A Mule, with one of my new favorite Mule Duels, including Page on theremin FTW, and some crowd participation. Also, props to Fishman for not playing the vacuum trump card there and letting Page have the victory. The YEM is good, too, though not amazing. It is, however, the first YEM of the tour, and contains a Mule tease and a bitchin' B&D segment.

Of course, the second set here is classic. A fairly rockin', though somewhat short Jibboo to kick things off, followed by a pretty solid Mike's. There is a little flubbage at the end of Mike's as Trey tries to play the ending chords while the band plays on. I also (if I can nitpick for a second) think Simple needs to come right out of those power chords and not the traditional Mike's ending, in order to keep the energy high. But that's OK, because what follows is money.

Simple gets really beautiful for about 90 seconds before vanishing into ambient space, which is nice enough. Light, though, is one of the top jams of Leg I. It starts in that odd Light fashion that never really sits well with me, yet seems to consistently yield deep creativity, and this version is the perfect example. The odd jam becomes interesting, with a wailing loop effect, and then becomes ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR! It rocks a little, then drifts into a Norwegian Wood-ish melody that you just have to hear. Kind of plinko-y, kind of NICU-y, but just fantastic, and not ripcorded. Trey lets things get weird again, before the whole thing dies away and Weekapaug sneaks in. But the 'Paug, too, has a few different sections; some plinko, some funk, a Divided Sky tease...really nice Weekapaug! Julius and Slave to close are pretty standard, and the now-rare Lizards as an encore delivers a humorous Trey-flub punchline that adds, rather than detracts from the gig.

If you were to take everything but Light from this show, you might be able to call this a three star gig (though high three stars, and maybe four). But the Light, IMHO, vaults this show all the way up to 5 stars. Simple>Light>Weekapaug is worth listening to again and again again.


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