The whole show seemed like the band was being super patient with every song. The first set delivered some fairly standard tunes. Trey was using a different guitar (other than the one with the ocelot on the head) and I thought it was treating him very well through the first couple of songs. I guess he thought differently and after a trip to funk city during the Wolman’s jam he switched to the ocelot. The sunburst body of this guitar looked a little different than the usual ocelot that has been used for the majority of 3.0. Does anyone know if there is a difference?

ASIHTOS was also a highlight of the first set and ended a solid set that lacked the flow and it felt like there was more time in between songs than normal.

For the second set Trey ditches the collared shirt for a more relaxed look and Mike comes out in a scarf which means its about to go down and just like NYE 2012 Birds of A Feather started off the second set followed by a monster Ghost. I have never liked BOAF as a second set opener, but this one worked as a nice warm up for a 3 song run that basically makes the show and should all be considered noteworthy jams. Ghost takes its time to find the groove and then Kuroda lights up the audience behind the stage to kick the place into second gear. And then, Trey heats up and kills the rest of the song. Ghost started lingering so Trey starts up Theme. I wasn’t thrilled when I heard Theme starting up and I still wasn’t until the vocal breakdown in the middle of the song. Early on in the song Trey started tapping a foot pedal that made a hand clapping sound and I thought that might be a good sign. Sure enough after the “From From Froms” he started tapping again and Mike shifts it into hyper drive. Trey keeps tapping, but now with a different sound that leads the band through a superb jam. Right at the end of the jam it seems that Page wants to start The Birds and gives us some “They Attack” at the exact same time that Trey starts Cities. Trey was already committed so Page could only tease a little more of the recent Halloween favorite before giving way to the Talking Heads cover. Once again I was not thrilled with this song selection (at first). I don’t think of Cities as one of the 2nd set heavy hitters, but this one worked perfectly. Beautiful, Slow, Soft, Amazing jam that could have been stretched a little more, but got stopped short by a song that has recently been known to hit legendary status. This CDT is far from legendary. Trey holds the last note at the very end and I thought we were going to get a DWD. Instead, we get a weird ending and then another long break. You knew the guys had to be talking about something awesome that was about to happen. Bob Marley? Nope, YOUR TRIP IS SHORT! And Martian Monster came full force with all the sound effects.. This is a great ending to an incredible set. I thought the song was about to call it quits a couple different times until it caught new life and jammed even harder. The spaceship blasted off and we still have another set to go.

Third set: Dem Bones was awesome and I hope it’s not a one timer. Mike took lead on this fun little ditty that lead to a not so impressive NYE stunt. They got to show off their acting skills during the vacuum cleaner gag and I’m sure they are having a tough time coming up with new things after all these years. They get back in their playing positions when Mike starts an echoing “SUCK TO BLOW” chant. Then it goes dark with a loud pop that could be quickly confused for a gunshot. That’s when the heartbeat starts. For a split second I was thinking Dark Side of the Moon?!? Nope. Just midnight and a great version of the classic NYE song that slowly starts off another 30 minutes of solid relisten material. The Dogs fiercely cuts off Auld Lang Syne to really get this set going. Personally, I thought this song worked better as the meat in a segue sandwich like the last time it was played in between Light and Lengthwise. However, I’m not going to complain. I will take this song any way they want to bring it. The Dogs fit perfectly into a Tweezer that should not be overlooked when naming top songs of the show. This version builds up as patient as all the other songs to nicely fit the premise of the whole show.

Simple and Limb by Limb round out a strong trio of songs that will definitely get a relisten. Not too many more highlights to write about. Overall, I thought this was an excellent show and I can’t wait to hear what the next three nights have in store.