My first show. Was a long time coming as I was "too young" to hit any shows in the 90s or 2000. It was a Thursday night show so I recruited a friend to make the 4 hour trip down from college to a "hometown" show, stay the night, head back north to work Friday night. We ended up making it to lot late. We walked around for a few minutes and had to head in. First memory was the heat coming out of a venue I've passed by 1000s of times. The seats I pulled were 1st row balcony, around mid court.

Set I:
Lights went down and Rift kicks up, took me a while to soak it all in, after years of wondering it was finally happening, I was THERE. Rock and Roll has always put a smile on my face and it is probably due to this show, the lyrics, significance. After casually and eventually religous listening over the better part of a decade the moment was not lost on me. Guyute next, at this point I was starting to focus solely on the music after taking in the atmosphere. Driver was nice, not the best execution but has some decent work by Trey. As a Round Room fan I enjoyed Waves, but nothing too special compared to what came next.

The highlights of the first set are without a doubt Simple and Jibboo. Jibboo gets a lot of love but don't sleep on the Simple. It starts patiently and keeps that element throughout. Delicate interplay, especially between Trey and Page on the grand. The middle section picks up some steam but keeps the theme of the initial part of the jam. The final segment opens up with deep growls from Trey and takes on a more electronic feel. There really isn't much to subtract or add to make it better, quality version all around. The floorplan was set with the Simple as it carries over into Jibboo. They quickly drop in and again the interplay between Trey and Page stands out (something present throughout this show). It has high energy and multiple peaks even before it gets a dose of funk around the 12:30 mark. From 14 - 17 minutes you can still hear the Jibboo but it almost sounds like it is being mixed with some other composed riffs, not saying it is but it definitely has that feel to it. The final minute or two before the return Jibboo is splattered with peaks. A perfect song for any high energy activities or long drives.

Set II:
A Feb '03 Tweezer, drops into funk early on with Trey and Mike taking charge. A few "bahwow" freakout moments from Trey reminiscent of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun that pop up a few times after. Trey keeps the lead which include several minutes of running up and down chords where I imagine he carried out his "scan the crowd intently" look with a mild head bob/groove. Some wandering but a quality version overall that grinds to a halt. PYITE had a heavier intro/build up from Trey and has a nice way of falling into Fast Enough for You. Nothing too noteworthy about this version.

Much like the first set, the last two songs shine. Seven Below enters with a slow build and quality interplay between the band. I love Seven Below in general but it always gives Page a nice song to step forward. Halfway through you get some notes from Page that remind me of early Vida Blue material and in comes the funk exchange followed by a few "pindrop" electronic notes heard in Simple before completely returning to Seven Below. Pebbles and Marbles closed out the set getting some distortion from Trey halfway thru venturing away from the song as Page and Fishman maintain the Pebbles feel. Encore lacked after how they closed out the second set, the reprise had a little heavier feel but that's about it.

Overall, a show with some quality jams and highlights from Feb 2003.