2010-12-30 MSG I

The Verdict:
I think my final few tweets about this show do a great job of summing up my thoughts. It's a strong show by 2010 standards as it follows the typical '09 template of One Big Jam In Set Two (as opposed to No Jams At All), and the jam itself shows some willingness to explore and innovate rather than just being a slight variation on a few of the jam styles that were prominent in late '09. So it's simultaneously encouraging looking toward 2011 and, well, another one of those shows where it's pretty fair to say you could listen to the big jam (in this case, an excellent "Tweezer") and go on your way without missing much.


Sure, the first set is yet another stellar 2010-style opening frame, and there are some interesting segues in between songs during a second set that's more like a second first set. But really, it's all about the "Tweezer" and the rest is nothing you haven't heard before.

The Live Review:
12/30/10: Cities opener. That bodes well for the three-day MSG run.   

12/30/10: CDT assures us that late-fall-2010-guitar-god Trey is still in full effect.   

12/30/10: Gumbo slows things back down in the three-spot.   

12/30/10: Quinn! I feel like this is going to be one of those S1s where the song choice compensates for the fact that there are no jams.   

12/30/10: Rough version of Quinn all the way around.   

12/30/10: Halley's > Camel Walk keeps the ball rolling.

12/30/10: Maze looking to pick up the pace a bit.   

12/30/10: Typically great Trey/Page tension in the middle of this Maze. Trey exploding toward the end.   

12/30/10: Driver is the cooldown song after that guitar storm.   

12/30/10: If I remember the last time they played this in 2010, it was a shuffle, sort of like the 'slow' version of Water in the Sky.   

12/30/10: Fish is a lot more understated on this version.   

12/30/10: Trey calls for a solo from 'Leo' during Driver. Gin is net.   

12/30/10: 'Next,' even.   

12/30/10: Gin is an extended Type I-only take so far, but Trey is shredding the crap out of it.   

12/30/10: Fat Man in the Bathtub is back from Halloween.   

12/30/10: Trey and Mike batter Timber into the ground, > Golgi.   

12/30/10: Character Zero to close the first set with a double-encore. Weird.   

12/30/10: Tweezer kicks off the second set.   

12/30/10: Trey clearly said 'Jennifer Dances' twice before laughing and starting the Tweezer riff.   

12/30/10: Fish and Mike are laying down an awesome foundation for Trey to develop an interesting riff over.   

12/30/10: Hoo boy, this is some serious Type I madness.   

12/30/10: Fading out into an interesting spacey bit, fueled by Trey loops.   

12/30/10: Great bassline from Mike to drive this section. Page getting into things with the synth, now.   

12/30/10: Building momentum now. Plinko-style jam.   

12/30/10: Trey adding some chords that dirty up the jam a bit.   

12/30/10: Jam dissolves into noise-haze. > Light.

12/30/10: Light is a Type 1 version in the typical Treypeggio mode.   
12/30/10: Theme, and a possible turn back into S1-mode. Not complaining about that Tweezer, though :)   

12/30/10: Neat little segue from Theme -> MFMF.

12/30/10: MFMF gets butt-slammed into a high-impact Axila I. Minus that pesky Tweezer, this is a great second first set ;)   

12/30/10: FLUFFHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD   

12/30/10: Mid-S2 seems like a weird spot for Fluff.   

12/30/10: 'Fluff came to New York' lyric.   

12/30/10: Boogie On ends on an angry, spacey chord, which sets up an ambient transition to 2001.   

12/30/10: Page is definitely bringing the weird on this version.   

12/30/10: Suzy is next, and closes S2.   

12/30/10: Antelope as the encore instead of the set closer.   

12/30/10: Shredmaster Trey is having a grand old time with this Antelope.   

12/30/10: Mike hammering the fight bell at the beginning of Tweeprise.   

12/30/10: At least I think that's what it was. Who even fucking knows anymore?   

12/30/10: This show was structured more like an '09 show than a '10 one: strong, standard playing
throughout with one big jam.   

12/30/10: The big jam, though, didn't follow the template of '09 and went in some interesting directions, more like '11.   

12/30/10: Maybe I'm just seeing transitions that aren't actually there since I know the future, but...   

12/30/10: ...it seems like when the band actually (almost sheepishly) jams in late '10, it's way more interesting than most 3.0 jams so far.   

12/30/10: I just wish it happened more than once a month. That Tweezer was cool, though.