My two cents on night one of the Bill Graham run…

I was standing Page side, four or five rows back this evening, and whenever that’s your situation, it’s pretty damned hard not to enjoy yourself, and I had a GREAT time tonight! While not the single best show I’ve ever seen, I felt this show was really straight heat… especially for a *Monday* night in San Francisco following a two night Gorge run!

Highlights -
Opening the first set, Martian Monster brought great energy and punch, and while Halley’s felt abridged, the segue into 46 Days was fire! Reggae and Ocelot both had some really standout moments too. With that said… that second set… Sally is simply a must hear. It was just huge, featuring cresting sonic apex after cresting sonic apex after cresting sonic apex… just a monster! The Golden Age got very dark and is worth your attention, and the same can be said of LxL. And speaking personally, When the Circus Comes is just a very special song in my life… finding it placed in this encore slot was touching and quite welcome.

As for “cons”… I don’t know - I always feel like these are pretty subjective… to each his or her own, really. That said - *for me* - I find myself getting a touch bored with the instrument swapping, so when they went that route in Ya Mar, it didn’t thrill me. My litmus test is in how interested I am on the relisten, and that’s typically pretty low with this type of thing. That said, if that’s what gets the boys feeling good and allows them to enjoy the groove that they are gracious enough to share with us… then by all means!

Great show. Can’t wait for night 2!