The Verdict:
Similarly to the first Lockn' night, the 8/28 show starts off with a relatively forgettable first set. The setlist, with the potential exceptionally of a particularly egregiously-placed "The Line," is really solid in a festival-y way, but the entire set feels rushed. None of the songs are jam vehicles that get unexpectedly truncated or anything, but there's a three minute "Martian Monster," and "Halley's," "Moma," and "Bag" in particular seem like they don't get a chance to develop into even a decent Type I affair. The one big bright spot in this set is the also-short "Possum," which, like a few versions lately, goes the '93-esque tension-and-release route. It's awesome. Oh, and "First Tube" closes the set, which I guess is neat in a "rare placement" sort of way.
The second set is similar to something like 7/19/16 II in how it's a constant, hour-plus-long flow of great ideas but in the midst of all those great-but-not-deep versions of songs there's also a satisfying tentpole jam.
"Carini" is up first, and goes dark immediately, with Trey deploying all sorts of echoes and distortion to drive the jam down into the mud. Emerging slightly with a nasty riff, he slowly evolves it into the "CDT" riff and we segue into that song. This is a pretty standard version of that tune, but at the last moment, Trey seems to be doing something different by chording instead of playing but the rest of the band doesn't pick up on it and the song ends in a minor crash...that segues nicely into a '16-style "Twist."
So far, "Carini" and "Twist" have offered up some good ideas, but the band hasn't really stretched its legs yet. Fortunately that changes with "Light," which is an excellent departure from the normal type of jam that comes out of the song. After breaking away from the Type I outro, the entire band, led by a great beat from Fish, departs on a few gorgeous, patient minutes of a quiet melodic jam before bringing it up slowly to a more typical bliss ending. It's one of my favorite jams in awhile.
That's the definite high point of the set, but the energy carries over into a filthy "Tweezer," a heavy "No Quarter," a complex "2001," and finally a "Hood" that comes close to matching the Chula Vista version's intensity.
It's truly one of those "all killer, no filler" sets that the band has been dropping more and more often lately. This bodes well for the Dick's run.
The Live Review:
8/28/16: Sample opener.
8/28/16: YOUR TRIP IS SHORT
8/28/16: Troy using the echo to great effect during this Martian Monster.
8/28/16: A surprisingly short and sample-filled Martian Monster segues into Axila I.
8/28/16: Moma Dance now.
8/28/16: Short Moma Dance, too. Halley's Comet is next, with Trey letting the crowd sing a bit of the vocals.
8/28/16: > Bag. Mid-set seems like a rare placement for this tune.
8/28/16: Trey with a sparse start to the Bag solo, leaving Page some pockets to play around in.
8/28/16: Short Bag, too. Good song choices so far, but feels a bit rushed. FYF is next.
8/28/16: > 46 Days.
8/28/16: Band builds up energy for the first time in the set with a hot 46 Days, and then...The Line'd.
8/28/16: Limb By Limb, and then Possum to finish the set.
8/28/16: Trey with some great blues licks during this jam.
8/28/16: Machine-gun tension bit.
8/28/16: Holding the tension for an absurdly long time. Crowd goes nuts at the release.
8/28/16: That was a super-short Possum, but a really good version. I like that they've been bringing the tune back to its roots lately.
8/28/16: First Tube to close the set. Sorry, I jumped the gun.
8/28/16: I love Fish on this tune.
8/28/16: Carini opens the second set.
8/28/16: I know I always rave about PYITE as my favorite set opener, but this one's up there, too.
8/28/16: Super dirty tone from Trey to start the solo.
8/28/16: Nicely developed mini-jam that moved toward a slow -> CDT.
8/28/16: Trey dancing around the solo a bit like he wants to push CDT to Type II land.
8/28/16: Rather than the typical outro riff for CDT, Trey just hits a fuzzy power chord a few times.
8/28/16: Seems like he was trying to launch a jam, but it just confused everyone else and the bottom fell out. > Twist.
8/28/16: Another minimalist, pitch-shifted Twist jam.
8/28/16: I like taking this song in this direction, but it seems like what they've been doing with it since late '15. Like, every version.
8/28/16: Short Twist > Light.
8/28/16: Trey struggles a bit with the initial chords in Light, but now there's a great Type I jam developing.
8/28/16: Awesome Fish beat driving the jam into a new direction.
8/28/16: Neat, low-key melody solo from Trey.
8/28/16: That was something you rarely hear these days: a melodically interesting jam that patiently builds from near-silence over time.
8/28/16: The end, of course, was a '15-style bliss chord progression. But getting there was way more rewarding than usual.
8/28/16: > Tweezer.
8/28/16: Trey going echo-crazy during the composed part of Tweezer.
8/28/16: Super momentum in this Tweezer. Great Type I solo from Trey and now a chunkier, more percussive bit.
8/28/16: Quick wind-down and a nice landing in No Quarter.
8/28/16: Trey just ripped off a great No Quarter solo. Moving immediately from the end of the tune into 2001.
8/28/16: 2001s have had a new sort of verve to them lately. That one was no exception, even if it was a bit short.
8/28/16: > Hood.
8/28/16: I'm curious to see how this version goes after the Chula Hood permanently altered the earth's orbit around the sun.
8/28/16: So far, Trey is taking the melodic gorgeousness of the Light and Tweezer jams and applying it here too.
8/28/16: Excellent but not earth-altering Hood > Tweeprise.
8/28/16: Loving Cup encore.
8/28/16: Great show. The first set fell a bit into the 'average-great' category, but the second set mixed together...
8/28/16: ...two great 3.0 traditions: a tentpole jam and lots of interesting little jamlets dotting the set. Very little filler.
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