The Verdict:
I'd heard the "TweeZeppelin" (or whatever you want to call it) set before, of course, but I was surprised at how much I liked it this time around. And, in fact, the whole show is really good.
Though I'd heard the second set a few times, I'd never actually heard the first set, and I'm glad I finally have now, because it's a great first set. Despite opening with "KDF," my least favorite opening song in history, the song choice is otherwise fantastic: "Foam," a "Guelah" featuring an extended pause a la "Divided Sky," "Ha Ha Ha," "Walk Away," and another strong take on "Gin." In addition, there's the "CDT" with a flawless segue into and back out of "Whole Lotta Love" that kicks off the whole Zeppelin thing, and a probably-Type II "Wolfman's" that segues effortlessly into "Undermind." Whew.
And that's the set before the big Zeppelin medley. The thing that really struck me about the medley section this time was how short it actually is. It's about sixteen minutes total, and it's awesome, and one of the highlights of the year, but the rest of the set around it (and there's a lot left) is also really good and worth some attention. The early-set "Possum" is a great version, bolstered by another "Whole Lotta Love" jam in the middle, and after the Zeppelin-fest a strong "Halley's" that transitions strangely but effectively into "2001." This "2001" is my favorite version in a long time, because it does something other than just fills the space between the iterations of the famous riff with some music. There's a lot of solid funk and it runs for over ten minutes before seguing perfectly into another excellent late-2010 "Bowie."
As I complain about below, the rest of the show sort of rolls along on cruise control from there, but man, the last bit is really only frustrating because the rest of the show is so damn good.
The Live Review:
10/30/10: I'm gonna go ahead and start 10/30, but I likely won't finish today.
10/30/10: Ah, KDF. My least favorite opener ever.
10/30/10: I almost feel like I don't need to bother reviewing the second set of this show, anyway.
10/30/10: It's Tweezer and Led Zeppelin. That's pretty much all you need to know.
10/30/10: Anyway, back in the first set...after KDF, Cavern and Foam have both been solidly played and awesome.
10/30/10: Guelah Papyrus! Some interesting bass parts from Mike and Trey playing around with the usual guitar lines.
10/30/10: Long DSky-like pause before the drop in Guelah.
10/30/10: CDT next. This is one of those shows where either the mix is favoring Mike or he's just destroying everything.
10/30/10: He starts a weird circular jamming space that Trey follows him into right as I tweet that.
10/30/10: Weird, tense build now. Explodes back into the normal solo space.
10/30/10: Out of the usual drop at the end of CDT, double-time Whole Lotta Love jam.
10/30/10: Okay, so I've never actually heard the first set of this show before. That was awesome.
10/30/10: Whole Lotta Love lyrics from Trey now.
10/30/10: Page joining in now.
10/30/10: Seamless transition back into CDT.
10/30/10: This is not my ruined transition! This is not my boring Phish from 2010! This is not my calmly sitting in my chair!
10/30/10: Ha Ha Ha next.
10/30/10: This will always take me back to the Lushington set at Dick's now. :)
10/30/10: Ha Ha Ha ends with a Whole Lotta Love tease, then slams into Walk Away. This is some serious energy right here.
10/30/10: Walk Away is its typically epic self. Now Wolfman's finally slows things down a bit.
10/30/10: They've been doing the Wolfman's vocal jam a lot lately, but this one is above and beyond. Melts finally into a calypso space.
10/30/10: We're right on the lip of a plinko jam without totally falling over.
10/30/10: Okay, this is awesome.
10/30/10: Perfect segue into Undermind!
10/30/10: This Undermind jam is the perfect complement to that Wolfman's. Great pairing.
10/30/10: A very jaunty Gin starts up next.
10/30/10: Strong Gin with some Whole Lotta Love teases at the end. End set?
10/30/10: Nope. Coil.
10/30/10: Now I will finish my review. Sorry, it's been a hell of a week.
10/30/10: Rain Song and Thank You teases in Page's solo. Awesome.
10/30/10: Err...the set-ending Coil solo, I mean.
10/30/10: Tube opens the second set. So that's weird. I sincerely doubt we're going to get the massive Tube jam we deserve :)
10/30/10: Now Possum. They have this weird thing lately of starting off second sets with Possums. Not necessarily bad, just weird.
10/30/10: Whole Lotta Love jam in Possum.
10/30/10: I suppose I should have seen that coming :)
10/30/10: Typically strong Possum with another Whole Lotta Love quote at the end.
10/30/10: Here comes the Tweezer.
10/30/10: The glee with which Trey launched into that Whole Lotta Love riff in Tweezer was hilarious.
10/30/10: He has clearly been waiting for at least two hours already tonight to do EXACTLY that.
10/30/10: > Heartbreaker (w/ lyrics).
10/30/10: Fishman is barely managing to hang on to the caboose of Trey's crazy train at this point.
10/30/10: Tweezer -> Whole Lotta Love > Heartbreaker -> Tweezer so far.
10/30/10: Sounds like Mike lead the -> Ramble On there.
10/30/10: Great Page -> Thank You.
10/30/10: Really quick -> into Tweezer before -> Stairway.
10/30/10: For as awesome as that sequence is, I always forget how short it is. About 16 minutes today.
10/30/10: *total
10/30/10: That's shorter than Time Turns Elastic
10/30/10: Halley's is next. Solid version until a weird moment late in the song.
10/30/10: Can't tell if it was a mistake that eventually ended in a slow, ambient transition to 2001, or a key change setting up 2001...
10/30/10: ...that just came off sounding weird.
10/30/10: There's some legit funk jamming happening in this 2001, not just space-filling until the next riff.
10/30/10: 2001 -> Bowie. Trey throwing out what I assume are supposed to be Robert Plant screams over the intro.
10/30/10: Another awesome Bowie. We're having a little mini-Bowie-renaissance here in late Fall 2010.
10/30/10: Fantastic 2001 -> Bowie pairing, and then Show of Life'd.
10/30/10: Backwards Down the Number Line. This is going to be one of those great sets that should have ended earlier.
10/30/10: End this sucker at Bowie and you've got an amazing second set. But for the sake of some extra music...now it's getting boring.
10/30/10: I remember really feeling that way about 8/5/11. Flawless first 2/3rds of the second set, and then a totally lackluster...
10/30/10: ...Show of Life > Julius > Character Zero to finish. I remember even thinking at the show, 'Come on guys, shut the fuck up!'
10/30/10: YOU HAD IT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND AND YOU COULDN'T JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP
10/30/10: Having insanely ranted about that, in the meantime Trey was turning the Number Line jam interesting. Am chagrined, now.
10/30/10: GTBT to close the set. Could it have been anything else? :)
10/30/10: Sleeping Monkey, Tweeprise encore.
10/30/10: Except for the brief lull toward the end, that S2 was excellent.
10/30/10: Sure, the Tweezep stuff is the highlight, but the rest is no slouch, either.
10/30/10: I say it all the damn time, but Tweeprise is the best four minutes of live music you can ever experience in life.
10/30/10: Hahahaha...full on Whole Lotta Love reprise there at the end.
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