The Verdict:
Happily, the second Bethel show is just as good, if not better than, the first. "Theme" is another weird/fun opener, and the rest of the set continues with interesting song choices, including an extended rock jam in "Cities," a twelve-minute Type I "Halley's" (!) and a plinko-infused "Jim." The highlight of this very-2015-seeming opening set, though, is by far the propulsive rock-jammed "Gin" that segues into a heavy version of "Manteca" and then back into "Gin" to close the set. It's for real.
The second set begins with an excellent "Disease" that first recalls the just-finished "Gin" jam and then, later, the delicate, melodic outros of both recent versions of "Waves." "Number Line" gets one of those Type I jams that are so energetic that you almost prefer it to a deeper jam: Trey guides the band into and then back out of a tension-and-release segment pretty much perfectly. The "Makisupa" that follows prefigures the "Page's house" joke that will pop up now and again for the rest of the summer, and though the "Hood" and "Bowie" that round out the second set don't go anywhere new, they're both longish, satisfying versions.
In short, damn. The band is two for two so far this year. Excited for night three.
The Live Review:
5/28/11: Theme opener. That's fun.
5/28/11: Hard-rocking Theme outro > NICU.
5/28/11: Slow-tempoed but busy-sounding Cities is next. Loving Fish's beat.
5/28/11: Great straight-up rock solo from Trey in this one.
5/28/11: Rarely does Cities seem to just get rocked the hell out. Today is that day.
5/28/11: HELL IS COMIN
5/28/11: Ripping lead in the Halley's solo, and then Fish changes the beat COULD THIS BE A REAL HALLEY'S JAM?!
5/28/11: Mike droning on the bass, Trey and Page skedaddling over top of it.
5/28/11: Type 1.5-style Halley's jam tops out at about 12 minutes (!) > Jim.
5/28/11: Jim featuring a plinko-style jam during the build to the second verse. Awesome.
5/28/11: Gumbo is next. Not only are many of these songs going in interesting places, I'm loving the song choices.
5/28/11: Extended jazzy outro from Page.
5/28/11: Quinn!
5/28/11: Whoa. Trey is exploding. It's been a good set for him.
5/28/11: Butt-slammed into Limb By Limb. Not really a segue, Trey just started LxL while there was thirty seconds or so of Quinn left.
5/28/11: Trey shreds the end of LxL > Horn.
5/28/11: Gin as the set closer. Page starts us off with a bang, and now, entering the jam, Fish is laying down a mellow beat.
5/28/11: Trey leading a bit build-up now.
5/28/11: So this definitely isn't going way Out There, but it's still the real deal. Exciting jam.
5/28/11: 'Crab in my shoe mouth' lyrics now over the jam.
5/28/11: Grungy-style Manteca jam.
5/28/11: That was great. End set.
5/28/11: Disease opens the second set. Trey rips right into it.
5/28/11: Momentum of this new jam section actually reminds of the Gin we just heard.
5/28/11: Going back to a muted soundscape a lot like the end of the Waves soundcheck and 5/27's Waves jam.
5/28/11: If this is where a lot of jams are going to land in 2011, I'm not going to complain.
5/28/11: Maybe if they're still doing it in August I'll complain :)
5/28/11: -> Free. Nice segue.
5/28/11: Loud-but-short Free > Number Line.
5/28/11: Sort of circular jam happening now.
5/28/11: Tension-y, almost evil Number Line jam here.
5/28/11: It's no Blossom '10 Number Line, but damn.
5/28/11: 2011 Trey is actually a bit better at leading the band into hairy territory and then leading them back out smoothly.
5/28/11: Case in point, this goddamn Number Line, which is incredible.
5/28/11: The move out of the tension jam into a reprise of the Number Line outro was like melted butter.
5/28/11: Makisupa is a great cool-down song. Nice choice.
5/28/11: Trey throws the improvised lyrics over to Page and Page 'smokes a big spliff.'
5/28/11: Now it's Fish's turn. I'm pretty sure he just said 'Corn.'
5/28/11: Trey was watching 'House.' In his house.
5/28/11: Everyone screaming 'MIKE'S HOUSE!' while Mike takes a bass solo.
5/28/11: Okay, now we're all screaming about Page house. Page solo.
5/28/11: 'This is what it sounds like...in Fish's house...' > Hood.
5/28/11: Trey struggles a bit with the heavy-metal composed part, but the jam starts off in a really interesting direction.
5/28/11: After a long, patient stay in mellowland, the jam is starting to build up a bit now.
5/28/11: Nice Hood peak > Cavern. This set just ain't letting up.
5/28/11: The hits just keep coming. Cavern > Bowie.
5/28/11: Starting off mellow, similar to the Hood.
5/28/11: Good extended but guitar-led version of Bowie to close the second set.
5/28/11: A Day in the Life encore.
5/28/11: That was a great show. Sure, the jams were necessarily as deep as a top-tier 2015 show, but man.
5/28/11: Both well-constructed sets, Cities and Halley's got extended in S1, and a legit jam in Gin -> Manteca -> Gin to close.
5/28/11: S2 had a strong Disease jam with a cool segue and extended takes on Number Line, Hood, and Bowie, not to mention the 'House' bit.
5/28/11: The first two 2011 shows have been better than almost all of 2010, and that makes me happy.
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