, attached to 1999-12-07

Review by n00b100

n00b100 The first set is fine, if entirely standard, but the Halley's Comet (now available in SBD form thanks to Kevin Shapiro) is absolutely worth hearing, as the band locks into an airtight, super-smooth groove right out of the gate, with Trey's solos spiraling around said groove like a DNA double-helix (Fish's work is invaluable here; it's remarkable how many different moods Fish can pull off with his drumming, including "Charlie Watts metronomic time-keeper" here). Trey's riffs start bubbling as the jam enters a lull, Page taking over as the digital loops circle overhead, then the jam coalesces once more and enters "bliss territory" ever so slightly reminiscent of the fabled Went Gin before the music seems to gently melt away, leaving loops and white noise in its place. That's a "best of the run" jam right there, and every bit the equal of anything you could find at Cypress.

Set 2 leads off with Wolfman's Brother, which is a nice dose of funk; the set basically nosedives from there (*man*, Jennifer Dances is a bad song), but then comes a strong one-two punch to save things. First up is Gin, whose jam books along at a sharp pace before heading into ambient waters, Trey and Page helping create a dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere, Fish and Mike keeping a foot in the real world (Fish, in particular, does some really interesting work). Simple then slides in to complete the combination, and while it's not the best Simple ever or anything, it's comes to a gentle ending and serves as a nice topper to the previous jam. The band throws out four straight rockers as set enders and encore.

A reasonably good show, with two must-hear jams, but (like much of this month) kind of uneven. Still, 12/99 has its own sound, and if you like it, you are pretty much guaranteed to like this show.


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