SET 1:

555: not thrilled about this as an opener. Don’t mind opening with new songs but this doesn’t do it for me in this slot.

Kill Devil Falls: sure, that’s more like it. Decent type 1 peak, sticks to the standard formula.

Bouncing Around the Room: meh. Weird flow to start the set.

Reba: sure. Fast by 3.0 standards! Pretty nailed composition too, considering the pace. They practiced this one. Jam section is vanilla but very well done from Trey especially. Ripping end with a big guitar peak, then whistling and so on. Quality vanilla Reba, nothing exceptional but very clean.

Waiting All Night: big fan of this straight after a Reba jam. Great version. Clean, with organ high in the mix and some Mike bombs that get a cheer. They take some time after to decide on a call.

Birds of a Feather: god, I wish I could drum half as well as Fish does on the verses of this one. Below average version.

Halfway to the Moon: oof, this doesn’t add much to the set. >

Sparkle: not the smoothest version. >

Sample in the Jar: yeah, not into this flow at all.

A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing: too little too late. Trey develops one or two interesting ideas in his solo but it is short.

Stash: maybe we’ll get something going here? Well played composed section outside of one small mistake from Trey after the ‘woah’s, nice and fast too. Jam starts in a jazzy space, nice playing from Page here and in the whole jam really. Trey and Page build up some really solid old school tension and then peak it. The peak is so close to being great but Trey misses a few notes and then is way off at the very end. Close to being a great version but unfortunately isn’t quite one.

The Squirming Coil: looooool at Mike’s high pitched screaming during the final chorus. Good solo from Page, nice and lengthy. Ever the MVP of 2014. Page dedicates the song to Pollack at the end.

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SET 2:

Golden Age: an… interesting choice to have this open set 2, but I prefer it here than ripcording a jam later on. Trey forgets a few lyrics, film at 11. Keep an eye out for Trey playing one (1) chord with wah at 6:30 and the rest of the band changing course on a dime within a literal second. These guys know each other so well. Funky jam finally picks up a fun riff at 9:20ish and becomes groovy as hell - total four headed monster 10 minutes in. Page is a funk machine! Crowd loves the direction things are going at 11:30 and roars its approval. Totally searing clav at 12:50, jeeeesus - this becomes a theme of the ‘14 Northerly run. All of a sudden Fish moves to end the jam and collapses into freeform chaos as 14:30, while Page lays down some g funk synths and Trey loops some effects. Then - bam, all of a sudden Fish reforms the jam at 15:30! Trey signals to bring things quieter again, there’s a brief move into a slow feel, and then the jam falls apart once more into synths and space. Funk fans should definitely check this one out! Great set opener. Crazy that all this is accomplished in a hair over 17 minutes. >

The Mango Song: yes!!!!!!! Wow!!!! What a call from Trey. That’s ballsy. Love this song and it’s done well.

Sand: cool spot for this. But this Sand is extremely short and is aborted within 6 and a half minutes - it grinds to a total halt with the ripcord into Piper. You can tell Trey is checked out of the jam by the 5 minute mark. What gives? Disappointing. >

Piper: well, here’s hoping this is good enough to justify that ripcord. They speed through the lyrics and get into typical fast-paced old school jamming, kind of like a 2000 Piper but with less Trey shredding. Some stop-start work at around 6:30 and the move to funk is inevitable from that point onwards. They lock in on a percussive feel at 7:30, good stuff. Listen to Mike shredding it up with those fast runs! Trey lays down some effects at 8:40 and Fish, just like in Golden Age, takes this as a cue to end. Not sure if it was indeed a cue to end or if Fish misinterpreted Trey’s intentions, but again just like in Golden Age Fish starts up a new beat at a different tempo. Seems like it’s gonna get really interesting with Trey’s delay-based playing and fiery Page piano, true type 2 stuff - but Trey has other ideas, moving ->

Halley’s Comet: I mean sure, solid transition. Not crazy about the placement though. Mike doesn’t come in with the ‘doop joop’ vocals until the ‘what would you do’ verse. Song feels incomplete without them! Kinda awkward and uncertain version. At the end Trey is clearly angling towards some other funk tune, and then ->

Wombat: lol at this point why not. Love this song and the weird vibes of this set suit it here somehow. There’s clear intent to take this one for a ride very early on after the composed section. Meatball tone from Mike at 4:30 leads to a flurry of Trey and Page interplay at 5:00 – feels uncertain until 6:00, when the rhythm section locks in on a beat and suddenly we’re off. MASSIVE Mike bomb at 6:40. Sort of airy and indifferent space with fluttery guitar for a couple mins, pretty pleasant. Trey pushes for something faster at 8:30, and soon after we’re in a shuffling space with Fish hitting a great beat that reminds me of Jim a little. Unfortunately the guitarist can’t find inspiration here and once again hard rips > Chalk Dust. There’s length to this Wombat but unfortunately not a ton of substance. >

Chalk Dust Torture: okay. Man Fish really wants to make this show something - listen to his kick drum work at 5:30ish - WOW. Actually a pretty good type 1 rager here, Trey sounds more comfortable with type 1 playing this show than with boundary-less improv.

Slave to the Traffic Light: standard.

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ENCORE:

Julius: Page out on the organ to start the jam. Fun. Trey’s solo is standard and then it’s over. Low-key version to close the night.

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OVERALL: the flow is just all over the place tonight. One or two good highlights in isolation - mostly that Golden Age really - and then a whole lot of meh. The momentum shifts and abrupt transitions between energies in both sets really sink this show for me. I’m a lot lower on it than .net is it seems. Check out Golden Age>Mango>Sand and maybe Reba and Waiting All Night.

3.2 stars.