Sunday night at the Garden was a great closing show to the first weekend of the Dozen. Plenty of fun tunes, great jamming and a very enjoyable theme made this a show to remember.

The first set opened in hilarious fashion, with Bishop Fishman blessing us with Sunday Morning (Trey on the kit). Nice opening.

Axilla was a nice energetic second song, which got everyone ratcheted up to 11.

Your Pet Cat was fun, although nothing extraordinary to my ears.

Back on the Train, however, was absolutely clinical. This one really soared, with amazing playing by Trey in particular (and some great stylings from Page).

How Many People Are You also had a pretty darn good jam section. This is a fu song and this version surpassed the Magnaball rendition in my estimation.

The unmistakeable Glide intro popped up next and was a great treat. Very well played by Trey, which was good to see in light of some sloppy renditions of tunes the previous nights.

Theme From the Bottom carried a powerful, if typical solo and was also a bit better from an execution standpoint that some versions I've heard the past few years.

It's Ice was the clear highlight. This one was a 15 minute springboard into jamland and really hit the spot after a very well played, but pretty in the box first frame.

More was a predictable set closer to a pretty unpredictable set. Feel good solo to close this one out.

Overall, a good first set. Personally, i'd put it just behind the first frames of the other two nights, but to be honest, each of those represents perhaps the best first sets I've managed to see. Great jamming found in It's Ice, and excellent versions of Glide, BOTT, How Many People Are You make this plenty of fun upon re-listen.

On to Set II, which I was hoping would be big and open and spacey. Well, this one did not disappoint.

AC/DC Bag had me hoping for a 12/30/97 blowout, but this slow version didn't manage to break free, despite a quieter than usual jam and tempo that seemed to indicate some intent. A fine opening nonetheless.

Wolfman's in the second set holds the promise of days gone by jams. Well this one delivered on that promise with aplomb. A fantastic solo with a rocking peak gave way to some funkier jamming, which was followed with an incredible spacey jam that concluded with some emotional and ethereal playing from all members. Twist emerged from the space in slightly forced, but not atrocious fashion.

Twist continued the sequence of jamming and wasted little time in breaking new ground. This jam traversed some new spaces and hit a nice major key section which hinted at returning to Twist. The band sticks it out though and finds some more territory to cover with Trey leading a full band build into a screaming peak. This one was awe-inspiring in the live scenario, as Trey was looping various screeching notes to build a very atmospheric and carnal peak, which may not hold up quite as powerfully on playback. Awesome version returns to the Twist vamp.

Waves concludes the incredible opening sequence of the set with a nicely executed type I jam followed by something I haven't heard them do in 3.0. The jam after the second chorus simply fell down a black hole into the nether realms of outer space. This jam was more IT '03 Waves than any other counterpart, with a depth and depravity that was uncharacteristic of the all too common major jamming we've seen lately. It was simultaneously unnerving and stunning and will probably not be everyone's favorite, but was the highlight for me. Incredible.

Miss You was a bummer, but not all that out of place after the deep jamming beforehand.

Boogie On was a surprisingly nice call, since this set wasn't really the dancey type up to this point. Definitely a good funky workout and felt a bit unique to me, without breaking much new ground.

The Velvet Sea conclusion was a guarantee and I also enjoyed this placement as the emotional conclusion to the night. Very well played and a good solo.

The encore was Sweet Jane and the joyfulness of this tune was palpable. Great version of a cover they do very well. More Trey heroics and just a big celebratory release. Excellent.

Overall Set II: Great space jamming, best set of the run? I know I'll keep the Wolfman's>Twist>Waves in rotation for quite some time.

This was a great show, a true Sunday space adventure, with some totally unique jamming and plenty of great song choices. The upward trajectory continues and the bar is set high.