2019-07-03 Saratoga, NY

Been about a 2 week break or so to dive into some Yes. Finally feel ready to continue 2019 with 7/3, Saratoga #2

Very interesting looking setlist with some rarities/lesser-played tunes throughout AND a Fluffhead>Guyuute to OPEN!!

Fluffhead - I can actually say I know what its like to get a Fluff opener (12/7/19) and it was something everyone needs to experience. Fantastic. The guys stretch the intro and jam on some themes before launching into the song proper - apparently Mike had some bass problems. It's a pretty decent Fluffhead, but Trey does struggle quite a bit in several spots.

Guyuute - Unfortunately, our favorite little piggy suffers the same fate as Fluffhead. It's not bad or horrible, but it's the very definition of a "JUST OK" version. Trey struggles in spots and the whole kinda feels lacking in spark. Actually, it's downright rusty in spots, almost falling apart a time or two!


Martian Monster - Got pretty funky, but as usual, MM is just MM


Llama - Good ole fashioned old-school fast Llama! Always a treat! AND THANK CHRIST IT DELIVERS!!! Trey goes bat-dookie insane playing with effects and ripping his fretboard to pieces. GET YOUR BULLETPROOF VEST ON! MACHINE GUN TREY IS IN THE HOUSE! Oh man, freaking AWESOME.


Steam - I guess Llama flipped the switch for them tonight! THIS IS A FANTASTIC STEAM!!! Trey is ON!!!! The whole band is FREAKING ON FIRE AND JAMMING LIKE THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT. SPECTACULAR!!!!! HOLY FREAKING HELL!


Poor Heart - Is Poor Heart. Nice Cactus solo!


Crazy Sometimes - Excellent album-ready rendition. Unfortunately it's doesnt smash your face like Llama and Steam did, but its still good enough to warrant inclusion on the highlights reel (especially after that opening trio of mediocrity...)


The Horse/Silent In the Morning - Timing issues and nothing special. Can anyone point me to a version of this song that does anything? It is ALWAYS the same, no matter the year or version. I like the song enough, but it just repeats and repeats and repeats...Enough already!


Sleep - Nothing special, but points for bustout. First version since 2011!!!


Drift While You're Sleeping - I love this song. But this is not its finest hour. As with the first few songs of the night, it is just lacking in any energy and feels about to nod off at any second. Pretty lackluster ending to a very lackluster set.


For set 1, grab the insane Llama and Steam and throw the rest in the garbage!!! 

-------------------------------------------------

After that mostly forgettable first set, let's hope the second is better.


No Men In No Man's Land - 13 minutes of primo super funk. Type II ambience at times, but never losing the beat. Extremely good - best thing this show by a long shot so far.

>Dirt - I love Dirt, but 2nd song of the set? What? Nothing special, but oddly Mike heavy which is nice. Dirt is ALWAYS welcome in my book

Plasma - Short but sweet. Some very nice dynamic playing, the guys bring it down and let it chill out like a late night cruise. It pretty much stays in this laid back groove fest for its duration before eventually morphing into WACTOOB. Very cool!!! Kinda like a giant segue piece than a proper song performance.

>We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains - And boy what a fantabulous segue that was!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!! One second we are in Plasma Jam, the next we are in WACTOOB without ever realizing it. One song literally just morphed into the other. Absolutely wonderful! Great full-band stop-start jamming and a full on Plasma theme reprisal (short but I'm counting it!).

>TWEEPRISE - WHAT?! IS THIS REAL LIFE?! WONT YOU STEP INTO THE FREEZER?! YES PLEASE!!!!! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! NOWHERE! LITERALLY NOWHERE! AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!

The fun concludes all too soon when all is said and done, but this Plasma-WACTOOB-Tweeprise combo is not to be missed!

>The Wedge - Yup, that was a segue. And they nailed it. Jeez, what was all of that?! What is this? Who are you? Where are we?! When is now?! Who is what?! What is happenning!!!!??? Ok, ok, for real now - this is a downright excellent Wedge. Very Grateful Dead-ish tonight. Trey's playing is loaded with country twang that is all kinds of tasty. A wonderful, wonderful Wedge!!!

>Sneaking Sally Through the Alley - NICE! Great set choice! GET IT LEO! Clavinet Hell. Let's get FUNKY! This sucker is exceptional. Everyone digs in hard and soon you'll be checking to see if this is some 1997 nugget you missed all these years. Awesome.

>Run Like an Antelope - Instead of letting Sally stretch her legs, we get quasi-ripcorded into Antelope. It's nothing special. Antelope is Antelope. It's hot and all that but Trey seems totally lost for what to do, content to let Leo and The Boys vamp it out behind him. If you bother with this, at least listen for Page. He's just tearing it up back there!

More - Wow! Sleeper winner here!! Forget Antelope and grab this sucker! This is the peak we were clamoring for! Wonderful More! Probably among the best I've heard!!!!

Slave to the Traffic Light - The perfect cool down after More. And a beautiful version it is - all the positive energy congealing into one beautiful piece of majestic brilliance. Ok, not really, but its a darn fine Slave and nothing to laugh at

Rock and Roll - Yes! Best Phish cover closes the set in rocking fashion.


ALL IN ALL, SET ONE BLOWS, SET 2 RULES. CAPICHE? GO CHECK THIS 2nd SET NOW!!!!
I would give this show an overall rating of probably a 3.7 or 3.8. That first set was just SO ho-hum, but the second set was loaded with "where are we going now?" energy. Awesome stuff.