The Good: I'm really ripping through these shows the last few days.
The Bad: None of them are really very good.
The Comcast Center show is, honestly, better in a lot of ways that nearly all of the Jones Beach run, but there's just nothing to sink your teeth into, and that's frustrating. And I'm not talking about 20-minute, multi-tiered space jams. There's not even any smaller bits of brilliance (a la JBIII's "Twist" > "Piper") to spice things up. It's just a nice rock show. Just.
I was happy to hear "Nothing" early on, but that's because it's one of my favorites. If this doesn't apply to you, you aren't missing a noteworthy version. "Train" through "Sparkle" are played with a lot of energy, and this is one of those sections where I can feel the dissonance between tape and what it was (probably) like to be there, in the June sun, while the boys ripped through these numbers. It was probably ecstatic. Here, it just sounds flat and a little faster than usual. "Jibboo" is a little extended, and easily the first set highlight, featuring some strange but strong soloing from Trey. Also: "Lawn Boy" and "Let Me Lie" is about the worst late-set song pairing in history, and I say that as someone who likes both songs.
The "Seven Below" opener for the second set got my hopes up quite a bit. This is one of my favorite jam songs and I loved the Hampton "DWD" > "Seven Below" pairing. This version doesn't do much but noodle around for 12 minutes, though. It's a solid Type 1 jam, and worth a listen, but if you come to it from the setlist imagining an abstract throwdown, you'll be disappointed. The highlight of the set (and possibly the show, oddly enough) is "Scent of a Mule." Page extends his piano solo section a bit, and in some really interesting ways, and when Trey comes in he adds to the fun by messing around a bit with his usual riff (this sounds like it starts as a mistake, but he builds off the mistake in a great way, and when he finally latches back onto the riff you know he was supposed to be playing in the first place, it's a great tension-releasing moment). "Heavy Things" actually packs quite a punch in its short running time, and I have to admit I love any show that brings a good "Heavy Things" and/or "Jibboo." I just do. And this show has both. The "Hood" is a long, patient, building version here, and really the last thing worth mentioning. It's not on the level of the JB version, but it's worth a listen, for sure. This is the second time in eight shows that the band has closed a mediocre show with a rather stratospheric "Hood." Hmm...
One more show before a night off. My hopes aren't that high at this point.
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