As others have pointed out, Murat '93 comes at a time in the band's career when their free-flowing, reactionary improvisational prowess really began to come into its own. August '93 is full of blank canvas jamming that really breaks the mold of the songs that serve as the point of origin, and this show is no exception (particularly Set II). David Bowie, Bathtub Gin, and Mike's Song all serve as excellent representation of the maturing exploratory interplay the band was tackling at the time and each becoming fan favorites.

David Bowie's extended intro section demonstrates plenty of rhythmic and harmonic quirks that increase tension with steady patience, making the eventual drop-in all the more satisfying. The jam in this section evolves quite a bit, forgoing the path to a crazy anarchy peak and instead opting to rely on controlled musical exploration, working in some fantastic allusions to Mango Song and Magilla. The final peaks absolutely soar (as they always do on Bowie).

Bathtub Gin 8/13/93 is rightfully hailed as a song-defining performance. As the jam charts point out, earlier iterations of this tune rarely left the typical Gin mold. In August 93, though, we see a 16-minute version laden with vocal ad libs and teases abound that reaches a flash point of explosive energy at higher tempo and then slowly descends to an unrecognizable Type II groove and morphs into Ya Mar. Though my unpopular opinion is that Murat Gin is not even close to the best Gin, I will readily concede that it is an important landmark in the band's and song's lifetime for its demonstrative musical creativity.

Like Gin, Mike's Song goes places nobody really expected it to. Once the jam drops into F, a number of sonic grounds are covered from a calm, floating bass solo, to a slow and brooding doomsday-like syncopation that gives way to a Ted Nugent nod. Some of the most incredible parts of this jam though are the seamless transition back to F# Mike's jam and the subsequent melt into a phenomenal Lifeboy.

Outside of these big hitters, this show brings with it a few select versions of other tunes, namely an eerie Lengthwise->Llama, a Foam with 94/95-esque dynamic flexibility, a textbook version of Fluffhead with an especially delicate ending, a powerful Lifeboy, and a closing, celebratory Suzy. There's more to love each time I revisit.