A Tale of Two Sets on Night 2 at MSG.

I was on the floor where the energy was high amid the boozy jostling. TITC got the Garden swaying and laughing, an ideal start to any show, and Moma Dance kept the groove flowing. I've been a KDF fan since the legendary Set 2 opener on 7-31-15 in Atlanta and rejoiced even as the crowd didn't love the choice. Then we hit the mid-Set 1 doldrums with a series of fairly well executed but pedestrian versions of Set 1 staples. Nothing particularly memorable to recount...until the unexpected and very much welcome return of the Beatlest/Eric Clapton's classic WMGGW. Yowza and hallelujah! A made-for-Trey cover on a night of many covers (not a complaint). WOTC takes us into the break.

My favorite 3.0 Carini is 10-18-13 in Hampton where Page led the band into a joyous major chord exploration. This Set 2 opening jam evolved into dark, spacey territory with lots of dissonant Page synth. Not for beginners. BOTT is functioned as a palette cleanser before the group began a jam-laden, mostly exuberant quartet of Gin-Golden Age-2001-Sally that launched the assembled into rapturous celebration. Trey went deep in Gin (another not always sunny Set 2 jam) but segued to bliss in Golden Age. 2001 was fully deconstructed with start/stops and Woos, and Sally finished the Connect Four on another welcome note (lots of notes, really). CDT and longer-than-usual HH round out the set.

Mirroring the Set 1-Set 2 dynamic, the first encore Show of Life was deliberate and contained, while the brisk (9:07) Antelope finale was a bit of a mid-NYE run catharsis.

Solid show worth a re-listen on LivePhish if you couldn't make it to MSG!