The Verdict:
So far, 2011 has been less of an improvement on 2010 than I'd imagined. Despite the first two Bethel shows and the Clarkston > Blossom run, the band has mostly been focusing on honing that already-tried-and-true(ish) 2010 formula: long first sets with lots of well-played but uninteresting songs, and second sets that are pretty much another 90 minutes of the same thing. This is just made more frustrating by the fact that when they do occasionally bust out some improv, it's usually quite good. This trend continues from 6/8 up through (at least) 6/11, but somehow the first sets get even longer and the song selection gets even better. But still, the jams are (almost) nowhere to be found.
The Darien Lake show opens with a few mellow tunes ("Nellie Kane," "Mellow Mood," and "Buffalo Bill"), which I really enjoyed. From there, things get a little more normal in terms of song selection, and probably the highlight of the set in terms of improv comes when Trey deploys his pitch shifter for a brief time in "Undermind." There's another run of mellow songs later in the set ("Ride Captain Ride," "It's Ice," "Dog-Faced Boy," and "Brian and Robert") and that's about it. Fourteen songs total in the first set.
The second set works really well despite pretty much entirely lacking any sort of jam. "Golden Age" head-fakes at a funk jam for a moment, but that's about it. That said, the "Mike's" > "FEFY" > "Groove" sequence is amazingly well-played and even features a little plinko-style jamming near the end, "What's the Use?" has a nice, extra-ambient touch, and the rest of the set is a bunch of well-played, high-energy tunes that set up a great "2001" that includes some "WTU?" teasing and a full-on "Golden Age" jam.
So...yeah. Like I said above, it's about the best show the band can play without any sort of long-form (or even medium-form) improvisation. It's a fun show, I'll give it that. Your mileage may vary.
The Live Review:
6/8/11: Nellie Kane opener. Now that's cool.
6/8/11: Slow tempo, too. Fun way to start a show.
6/8/11: MELLOW MOOOOOOOOD
6/8/11: Buffalo Bill. Such a weird but great opening to this show.
6/8/11: KDF breaks up the weirdness with a strong version.
6/8/11: Wolfman's is next.
6/8/11: Short-but-great guitar-led Type I version, there.
6/8/11: Rift! Love Fish's drumming during the first instrumental passage. It's like he's playing around Trey's riff somehow.
6/8/11: KDF, Wolfman's, and Rift make this more of a 'normal' set than where we started, but that said, they're all great S1 takes.
6/8/11: Trey deploying the pitch shifter a bit for some Undermind fun.
6/8/11: Ride Captain Ride! Love their version of this song.
6/8/11: It's Ice is next. Trey having a little trouble getting started.
6/8/11: Solid It's Ice makes a neat swing into Dog-Faced Boy at the end.
6/8/11: Dog-Faced Boy > Brian and Robert.
6/8/11: Another great run of fantastically mellow songs there. Now, 46 Days.
6/8/11: No end set. Limb By Limb now. This is both the Mysteriously Mellow Set and the Endless Set.
6/8/11: Character Zero to presumably finally end the set.
6/8/11: 14 songs in the first set, great mix of rare tunes and covers. Sags a bit at the end, but worth it to hear the rest of it.
6/8/11: As with pretty much all 2011 shows so far, whether or not this is just another fun 2010-esque show or something interesting...
6/8/11: ...will hinge on how the second half turns out.
6/8/11: But we've really got this weird tale-of-two-bands thing going on with 5/27, 5/28, 6/3, and 6/4 sounding like 2014 or so...
6/8/11: ...and everything else sounding a bit like a Phish mix you'd put together if you'd only ever heard the studio albums.
6/8/11: Second half starts with Golden Age.
6/8/11: Ah, the days when Trey still knew the lyrics to Golden Age.
6/8/11: Golden Age stays mostly in Type I soloing confines until the very end, when it heads in a more clav-heavy funk direction for a sec.
6/8/11: Nice landing in Mike's, though. Mike's solo is fantastic.
6/8/11: Mike's lands in FEFY! Love it!
6/8/11: Groove is next and starts with a Golden Age tease from Mike.
6/8/11: Another fast-paced full-band Golden Age tease in the middle of the song.
6/8/11: Really neat jam happening in the Groove now. Sort of like a double-speed plinko jam.
6/8/11: Huzzah! What's the Use!
6/8/11: A little more ambient than recent versions, somehow.
6/8/11: Haze from the end of WTU? fades nicely into Theme.
6/8/11: Number Line is next after a particularly fiery ending to Theme.
6/8/11: Super-hot Number Line! Can hardly tell these guys have been playing for two hours already.
6/8/11: Piano outro > 2001
6/8/11: Some teasing of Golden Age to start.
6/8/11: Full-on Golden Age jam now.
6/8/11: Whole 2001 taking on a Golden Age flavor. Happy birthday tease in there, too.
6/8/11: Big chunk of WTU? in 2001, too.
6/8/11: Great 2001 smashes right into Hood.
6/8/11: Fish throwing down a particularly interesting beat at the beginning of the Hood jam.
6/8/11: Otherwise, pretty straightforward Hood to end the second set. GTBT encore.
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