, attached to 2021-09-04

Review by DevinB

DevinB A very unusual show, to be sure. The first set was fantastic. A classic strong first set. Blaze On is obvious the highlight, but don't sleep on Ghost or Tube. Turtle In the Clouds won't come through on the recording, but trust me: it was as a blast, too. Loved that Alumni opener as well.

Unfortunately, the second set doesn't live up to the promise of the first. It starts wonderfully with a monster Everything's Right featuring 20+ minutes of a patient, loop-driven jam. This is probably the high water mark of the run so far and demands another listen. Fuego seemed to have all the momentum in the world going for it, but the jam was sadly truncated by Trey in favor of...

(Wait for it...)

Farmhouse. Bummer.

Unfortunately, this set never really recovered. The rest of the set — nearly without exception — consisted of complicated, fully composed prog rock. The segue between Mercury and Seven Below stumbled a little, but was pretty slick overall. Drift While You're Sleeping got a nice little rise out of the crowd and YEM was, per usual, a lot of fun, but the bulk of the set was cerebral and, frankly, a little tedious. Not much room to dance or have fun. I didn't hate it, but it certainly didn't have the carefree dance-party feel of last night's second frame.

All told, this was not a bad show. It's worth a listen and I'm certainly looking forward to re-listening to several key jams. Unfortunately, I don't see myself sitting down and listening to the second set from front to back any time soon. Its technicality is relentless. It's best digested in small portions.


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