The Verdict:
This show definitely falls in the same company as CMAC and Northerly II for me. It's an early-3.0-style show in the sense that it's mostly well-played, straightforward takes on "greatest hits"-type songs, with one big jam thrown in at the beginning of the second set. It's certainly not a bad show when it comes to shows of this type, but it feels like we've moved a bit beyond this template this far into 2014, and as a result 7/29 feels like a regression.
S1 has some interesting setlist choices ("Timber" opener, "GTBT" to close), but what you see is what you get, except for the "Melt," which deviates from the typical style outro jam to deliver something a little more smoothly undulating and strange. This is actually probably the jam highlight of the night.
The second set is, at first glance, all about the "Chalkdust," which is another monster version. For whatever reason, though, in a summer packed with extended "Chalkdust"s, this one didn't do much for me. It starts off promisingly enough, but then falls into that change-styles-every-three-minutes trap, and as a result it never develops in an interesting way. If the show ever elevates beyond the "Not very good" level of 7/15 or 7/19 to the "Not quite good enough" level of 7/16 or 7/25, though, it's in the rest of this set. "If I Could" features a short, beautiful outro jam, "ASIHTOS" breaks into a funk beat of all things near the end, and the "Caspian" > "Waves" sandwich inside of "Mike's" is more interesting than it has any right to be, considering the short running time of both songs. "Groove" lives up to its name and goes straight to yet another funk jam, and the encore is brilliantly chosen. If you can appreciate the little jamlets the guys have been recently throwing into shorter songs without needing a super-deep big jam to anchor the set, you might actually really enjoy this one. To me, it's still a backward step, but it's by no means uninspired.
The Live Review:
7/29/14: Timber opener. Is it just me, or are setlists way more interesting this year than anytime lately?
7/29/14: I mean, there are a lot of repeats, sure, but also lots more songs in unexpected places.
7/29/14: Nice Page and Trey interplay for an opening song. Good sign.
7/29/14: Straightforward Undermind. Trey providing some nice guitar lines, though.
7/29/14: Mellow-y beginning to 555. Bluesier than usual?
7/29/14: I have not tweeted for awhile because Divided Sky is happening. Solid, up-tempo, rolling version.
7/29/14: Once again, nothing great happening here, but good song selection. Like 7/27 S1 all over again. Halfway To the Moon is next.
7/29/14: There was an Ocelot in there somewhere, too.
7/29/14: So far, it sounds like trey might have finally learned how to stay the hell out of the way during a Page song.
7/29/14: I like Ocelot and KDF in theory, but when they both show up in the same set...bad news, man.
7/29/14: Split! Redemption for this immaculate-but-boring set?
7/29/14: Melt jam getting satisfactorily loopy (literally).
7/29/14: Once again, they've left behind the usual Split outro, which make-a me happy.
7/29/14: And now, back to it for the exciting conclusion!
7/29/14: Having a great jam like this at the end almost makes a set like this more frustrating.
7/29/14: GTBT set closer. What's with using all these show-ending songs at the end of the first set lately? Like it.
7/29/14: S2 opens with CDT. Haven't heard this version yet.
7/29/14: Trey conjures up a neat, bouncy riff almost right away as the jam starts.
7/29/14: Continuing at length here in the 'bouncy' vein. Lots of organ/electric piano. Slowly switching to Trey-chording.
7/29/14: Mike leading a funk-like section now with his bubble-bass.
7/29/14: Fade out. I'll be honest, compared to some of the others from this year, that didn't do much for me.
7/29/14: Not coherent, too many sections. Some nice interplay, but generally just sort of all over the place.
7/29/14: > If I Could, though, which is awesome!
7/29/14: Great little jam here, with Trey and Page riffing off of the outro part.
7/29/14: The Line is probably not the best follow-up to If I Could.
7/29/14: Birds of a Feather. I haven't called the 'jukebox set' for awhile, but I think we might hit it here.
7/29/14: Every time the guys start ASIHTOS and they all start singing in the wrong key, my blood pressure spikes.
7/29/14: Mini space jam in Birds and some interesting chording in ASIHTOS is keeping this from being firmly in greatest hits territory.
7/29/14: Okay, this is a pretty neat melodic jam in Caspian, too.
7/29/14: Waves has an interesting fade-out, with a nice sort-of segue into Groove.
7/29/14: Immediate funk jam in Groove, with 'Shock the Monkey!' lyrics.
7/29/14: CAEVRON!.
7/29/14: Golgi next. We've fully embraced the jukebox at this point.
7/29/14: I'm going out on a fucking limb and guessing that they're going to close with Antelope.
7/29/14: STUNNAR
7/29/14: First time for Wingsuit in the encore slot?
7/29/14: Wingsuit > Coil.
7/29/14: A bit conflicted on this show. More thoughts later on the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment