2012-12-30 New York City, NY

 Night 3 of New Years 2012!!!

12/30/12 New York City

Set 1

Runaway Jim - Always nice to get a Jim opener. This one is very chill. Great moment when the guys bring it all down to a whisper. The crowd erupts and the guys launch back into the song. It is a really well played Jim that DOES build some nice heat by the end. Unfortunately, this Jim is just too sleepy to do it's job as opener effectively. Could've been better in a different slot.

Cities - Gotta love the crowd singing along again! Really, freaking nice version!!!! The chill that Jim established carries over and does this version wonders. Exceptionally funky and chill in the BEST way. Silky smooth as Brent Mydland would say Unfortunately it isn't jammed out as much as we'd love it to be, but what is here is just downright terrific on all fronts.

Divided Sky - Not the tightest version out there. Not flubtastic, but there are definitely much better ones in 2012. A fine reading on the whole, but nothing special or worth seeking out specifically.

Back On the Train - Chill vibe still prevailing. Really excellent version. Type I of the highest order!!! Pretty lengthy too. It's much better than I'm saying it is.

Ride Captain Ride - Final one to date, I think. Why?! This is a great song for them to cover and it's been a very enjoyable addition to the sets this year! This is a fine version but nothing worth noting whatsoever.

Ocelot - No heat tonight. Only chill....8 minutes to go still and this is the sleepiest little kitty cat I've ever heard. A pretty excellent Ocelot that just takes its time to build and build and build. Not much to say. It's excellent! Terrific peak!

Ya Mar - A+ Type I perfection. Studio-album ready! Check out Gordo's awesome bass solo at 5:40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A++++++ YA MAR!!!!!!!!!!

Horn - Is Horn. Pretty much the last song I want right now....

My Friend My Friend - Nothing special. Is the snoozefest over yet?

Run Like An Antelope - See Myfe.



A decent set. Played fine and song selection was ok, but on the whole, holy freaking hell WAKE THE F UP!! PLEASE!!! A chill set is ok, but this was overkill. I'm buzzed on adderall and caffeine and STILL am about to fall asleep. Holy hell. F this set!!!

Set 2

Down With Disease - Decent reading of the song. The jam portion begins properly at about 7 minutes. Trey starts some riff-vamping and you know we are heading away second by second! The jam slowly dissolves into a blissful and uplifting section by about 10:30. The guys all sync up on some motifs and ride it out for a while. A "nice" Disease! Love when the crowd roars at 11 minutes! Around 12:30 the mood shifts back to darkness. Things are getting bluesy and rockier again. Very cool. You can hear the jam getting darker and DARKER with each passing second!!! At 13:15 we have Trey on Wah Pedal destruction that is all kinds of NASTY!!!! By 14:20 we are full on into Outer Space Whale Siren 1999 Land. NICE!!!! This is AWESOME!!!!! The jam stays in this til the end, with the guys absolutely destroying worlds. I feel fine today but for some reason my "Review Juices" ain't flowing properly. On any other day I'd be raving about this sucker. This Disease is a MUST-HEAR BEAST!!!!

>Twenty Years Later - A perfect song choice out of the spiraling abyssal darkness of that DWD!!! Feels like a segue between DWD and Carini more than anything, but it's terrific for keeping the darkness going strong!!!! Killer stuff.

>Carini - 15 minutes of Type II outer space darkness of the highest order. Don't feeling like giving a play by play, but this is one of the THE jams of early 3.0. Easily one of the top 5 or so jams of 2012 in my opinion. This is MUST-HEAR.

>Backwards Down the Number Line - Welp, after one of the best jams of all time, what did we expect Trey to follow up with? Of course... But thankfully this turns out to be one of the best damn Number Line's ever played!! Holy hell, it is literally PERFECTION in every way. 10/10 A+ Number Line!

Julius - See Number Line. A+++

And now the home stretch of my favorite "is the show over yet" tunes? CAN THEY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLACE THESE SONGS ANYWHERE ELSE BUT THE END OF A SHOW?!?!?! Total buzz kill for me.... Dang....

Slave to the Traffic Light - Ok, it is absolutely, stunningly great tonight. Just A+ beauty all the way around. Good stuff.

Harry Hood - Great version. Good enough to highlight but in the grand scheme it sounds like every other Hood. YMMV.

Show of Life - I like this song, personally, but after this show...good lord....NEXT!!!



All in all, I think this show is massively overrated. I'd give it a solid 4.0 or so. Objectively, it was a fine gig with 2 of the best jams of the year (hence the overrating!). For me personally, you MUST grab the Disease through Carini. That is the "bare essentials". Number Line through Hood are all great but nothing you haven't heard before.