The Verdict:
This one-off show in Chula Vista is another weird one, in what has so far been a tour of shows that have bounced from amazing to below par, sometimes a few times within a single show. The first set The first set starts off as a run through a neat selections of songs that's satisfying in a Plain Jane first-set sort of way: the boys are playing with a lot of energy and that always-elusive flow is really working. This culminates in a multifaceted "Wolfman's" that is about one movement away from being worthy of inclusion in a second set. Then, the guys dig deep for some oldies, but where the setlist looks the best near the end of the set, the playing gets really shaky..."Timber" and "Tela" are both a bit of a mess, which detracts from the precision of the rest of the set.
The second set provides one marquee jam in the "Golden Age." Trey butchers the song proper (as per usual), but the jam itself goes from funk to space and then to space-funk, so you know I love it. However, it ends suddenly in a weird segue to "Gotta Jibboo," of all things, and that sets the tone for the rest of the second set. It's standard late '14 fare, with great improvisation, but only in the form of mini-jams that often get yanked just as they're getting interesting. Sometimes this new S2 style works for the band, when the segues really work, but here a few of them are just too sudden and too awkward, and the "clever" transitions really mess up some fantastic playing. The "Carini" > "Piper" > "Caspian" > "Tweezer" sequence is great, but you'll have to wince every few minutes when they switch songs, which takes some of the fun out of it. If they could pull off these transitions more reliably, the momentum of these sets would mesh brilliantly with some of the fantastic improv they've been laying down lately in < 5 minute increments...but they're not there yet, it seems.
The Live Review:
10/25/14: Well, there have certainly been better show opener choices in history than Devotion To a Dream.
10/25/14: High energy Bag in the two-slot. I'll just pretend the show started here :)
10/25/14: Standard version, but with some extra horseradish mustard. Weird, awesome, sort-of ->
My Sweet One.
10/25/14: Long pause before the last 'naaaaaaaaaaaame.'
10/25/14: They could play Moma 300 times a year (like they actually do) and I wouldn't mind. Love this song.
10/25/14: Halley's Comet next. Standard S1 stuff so far, but great song choices and higher energy than usual. Hoping it'll break out.
10/25/14: Sudden end to Halley's. That was weird. Funky Bitch next.
10/25/14: Weird start to Wolfman's Brother, too. Not 10/21 shaky, but a little shaky.
10/25/14: Wolfman's ending with a vocal jam.
10/25/14: Okay, back out of the vocal jam into some psych-funk.
10/25/14: Great version of Wolfman's there.
10/25/14: Jamming Destiny Unbound with Page on the clav.
1025/14: Timber, after a little Destiny jam. Trey is having some trouble finding the right key.
10/25/14: Holy Tela!
10/25/14: Loving the setlist here, but dipping back into the oldies seems to have made their playing rougher than in the first half.
10/25/14: Wingsuit. If it's the end, it's good placement for a new song after the oldies.
10/25/14: Second-set Free opener. Putting in a request early for 'decent harmonies.'
10/25/14: It'd be nice if '12 Trey taught '14 Trey how to play and sing Golden Age.
10/25/14: Neat looping in the jam. Page with some gorgeous piano overtop of it. Coordinated left turn into funk now.
10/25/14: Pink Floyd-sounding reprise of the Golden Age riff now, into space jam. Awesome.
10/25/14: This totally wacky space jam is still managing to be pretty melodic.
10/25/14: Trey's garroting of the song > Jibboo was somewhere between a ripcord and a natural fade.
10/25/14: Fantastic soloing from Trey, actually. Page is playing off of him wonderfully. This is a great (short) take on the song.
10/25/14: Golden Age > Jibboo is the first legit highlight of this show, unless you like slightly-better-than-usual versions of Wolfman's.
10/25/14: CARINI. Now things is serious.
10/25/14: Jam starts w/ really dark and creepy melodic solo from Trey.
10/25/14: Few moments of bliss jamming at the end of that Carini, then a somewhat smooth > Piper. Probably not a ->, but maybe.
10/25/14: I love Fish's drumming on this song, always.
10/25/14: Trey and Page really minimalist now. Mike showcase.
10/25/14: Page going nuts on the electric organ (?). Really fast-paced, almost Birds-like jam. Really cool.
10/25/14: Trey reasserting himself with a wall of distortion.
10/25/14: Really weird and sudden drop into Caspian. The segues tonight are just flat-out weird.
10/25/14: Neat, drone-y mini-jam out of Caspian...into Tweezer! Nice segue.
10/25/14: Woo jam in Tweezer. Brings back some great memories :)
10/25/14: This one's way more funk than bliss-rock though. After the woos, Trey goes digging for a bit while Mike takes over the wheel.
10/25/14: Another segue out of the funk jam into Rock and Roll. Huh.
10/25/14: This is such a weird fucking set.
10/25/14: Can't decide if great mini-jams and decent segues make up for lack of further exploration.
10/25/14: I guess I could just dance to this rock and roll station, and it would be all right.
10/25/14: Super short RnR > YEM. Clearly the band thinks they're kicking ass. They might be. I'm still not sure.
10/25/14: Solid YEM. Vocal jam is a bit yodel-y.
10/25/14: End set.
10/25/14: First set had some great song choices but really up-and-down in terms of energy and clarity.
10/25/14: Second set was of the 'mini-jams with segues' variety, but some of the segues were weak
and the jams left me wanting more.
10/25/14: Lots of small moments worth hearing, so I'm not disappointed...but a very weird show. I blame the lidocaine.
10/25/14: Suzy for the encore. Tweeprise next, presumably.
10/25/14: Yup.
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