Been a couple weeks since putting 2021 back on ice. It's been my weekend
listening project and I've just had zero listening time this past month
with lots of family drama and things to catch up on, etc
This morning looks to finally be the time to move onwards to a show I've been looking forward to very much!!
8/31/21 Mountain View (aka, the crazy setlist+47 minute Soul Planet show)
Refresh my memory - wasn't this show supposedly under-attended due
to local wildfires or something, hence the "special" setlist? I swear I
recall that being discussed...
Watching the webcast of this so let's see how it goes....
Set 1:
Glide - Sick! Glide opener! First since Alpine 2019, 8th version
ever played in 3.0, and currently the most recent version to date. Trey
sounds like he practiced, obviously, but there is some hesitancy with
their recall of the structure at times. 
This isn't a flawless performance, but it's mostly there and of course
A+ for effort/song choice. You can tell they are conentrating hard as
hell. 
Col Forbin>Mockingbird - Hell yes!! Sounds rehearsed as well,
lol (of course, it better be!). The guys sounds a little less nervous
than during Glide and it sure doesn't sound like there's been a damn
four year gap between versions!! I'm watching the webcast so I can't
keep track of times like usual, but checking Foobar, this is a 24 minute
reading of the pair! Dang, son! EDIT - for some reason my LivePhish
files have the two combined as one 15 minute track followed by a
separate 9 minute track of just Mockingbird itself. Strange error!
It's really funny - on the webcast there is one super-lengthy
single shot of Trey doing the "complicated" Mockingbird parts (like in
Reba on the Star Lake 98 dvd), and he is about to bust out laugh and
crying at the same time because he is trying SO hard to make sure he
nails his parts, lol. It's incredibly endearing and he follows it with a
terrific and passionate solo that will send chills down your spine....
It's not perfect - there are timing issues - but good lord he gets it
about 95% there. Killer!
Around the 12 or 13 minute mark, they reach the perfect conclusion
point. And Trey takes a minute to give everyone his best wishes
regarding the fires and talk about the venue and thank everyone for
coming out (I knew I remembered that....).
Wolfman's Brother - So now that everyone's face was properly melted, we go into what we all probably EXPECTED to get in the first set instead.
The actual reading of the song is downright terrific!!! Totally infused
with extra passion and vibe, Trey is scatting/guitar-filling it up from
start to finish. Watching the webcast, he his grinning his tail off and
the vibes are A+. I had to actually pick up my cat and dance around the room with her for a bit! This
Wolf doesn't go "deep" but hot damn if it isn't absolutely LOADED with
raging hot piss and vinegar!!! Total wah pedal abuse of the vulgar
variety. Type I Wolfy's don't get much better than this! 
Also, shoutout to CK5 for killer lights on this one.
If I Could - Oh how perfect! Off hand, I think this is the first
since Alpine 2019 or Mexico 2020 (for some reason I'm thinking that).
Too lazy to go check .NET.... It sounds SO GOOD tonight!!! No
rust at all, why the hell don't they play this more?! There is no reason
this doesn't deserve at least 2 or 3 plays a year, c'mon now....A+++++
version and it fit it's spot in the set perfectly. No seriously,
this one has a very lengthy and downright terrific solo from Trey at the
end. He looks like he's fighting back tears throughout. Seriously,
don't sleep on this one.
I Never Needed You Like This Before - Hell yes! Good call! Gets us up and rocking again. No time for tears tonight!
Love Fishman's crazy rock and roll drum fills throughout. Look at
Octopus Man go! I wouldn't call this must hear, but it's a fine version.
Stash - Ooh crap, a nearly 18 minute Stash is up next! The
composed parts are slightly loose on Trey's part but overall it's a
great read of the song itself. The jam starts quietly. The guys all sync
up on a pattern, then Trey switches on one of the robot FX and it's off
to honk town. Kuroda's lights are sick during this....The guys sit in
this strange funk zone for a bit, in the "liftoff" zone out of Stash,
and take their sweet time to build. Trey does his cycling through FX for
a bit until finding one he's happy with - he's doing lots of tap
dancing, spending more time pushing buttons than playing. Eventually, a great and sinister piano-led section evolves. Darkness has arrived. The
anxiety in your chest should be starting to build. Unfortunately, this
brief foray into Type II doesn't really yield much in the way of rewards
- it's a definite "what do we want to do" kind of jam. Eventually the
guys make clear move back to Stash itself for some tribal-tom-tom led
dark-bliss (that doesn't make sense?!). Page on electric keys, Gordo
headbanging away....the guys are just laying it down thick in the goop. Trey
is still playing around with sounds, to the jam's detriment, but when
Page moves to the synths for a ghostly tone, things finally start to get
interesting. This leads to a very cool, wah-led dark-funk section. The
guys are locked in and the jam is finally gaining steam! Robot Funk 2000
has arrived. Fishman going nuts with his fills thinking he's Neil Peart
or something. By this point, the darkness kinda dissipates into a more
"normal", Carini-esque funk style of jamming. Killer honky robot sounds
and tight rhythms, etc. Gotta watch the video to see CK5 jamming along
on the lights in time with the band!!! This only lasts about a minute
though before they magically return us to Stash proper and finish it
out.
Public Service Announcement - this was a perfect example of too
many options ruining a jam. I swear, 2/3 of it is the band trying to
move it forward while Trey clicks through his sounds, unsure of what toy
to play with. REALLY unsatisfying! They spend the duration moving from
section to section without allowing each part to evolve enough. Just as
soon as things start happenning they move the goalpost again. Really
annoying!!!!
There was a lot to like, but also so much "that could have been awesome!" as well, if that makes sense. A for effort, at least.
Weigh! - Oh hell yea! Another uber-rarity, and the guys NAIL it
to the board! Absolutely great version and perfectly played!!!! I mean,
seriously, this is an album-ready reading. Killer. Super tasteful and
"perfect" solo from Trey.
Bouncing Around the Room - Very nice tonight. Followed smoothly on the heels of that must-hear Weigh.
Gotta Jibboo - Up next is a super nice Jibboo! You know it's ON when
Trey gets the whale siren looper going! The jam begins incredibly calm
and chill. The lighting is so perfect during this, all nice
purples/blues/greens. The guys sit in this lovely chillfest, letting
Trey patiently pick his spots. And boy does he do it well. He's playing all the right notes, at exactly the right times, and the band is reacting exactly perfectly. They are CLICKING! After several ridiculously good minutes, the guys pick up the energy and get this sucker more rocking to it's conclusion. Sure
this thing is only 8 minutes, but it was 8 minutes of A++++++ playing.
That's worth more than anything. I'm genuinely calling this must-hear.
It was astonishingly great.
Moonage Daydream - And with MD, the set concludes with a friggin' bang. Terrific.
Wow, what a set! So far, this show isn't feeling overrated to me.
The rarities were great to hear, but they were PLAYED great, which is
what sets it apart. Stash wasn't successful, imo, but it tried. Wolfman
and Jibboo were hand's down the jams of the set for me. Both were just
exquisite. Glide and Forbin were played excellently when remembering
their rarity, and Weigh was so shockingly well-played it defies logic.
And then of course the outstandingly magical, otherworldly,
fall-in-love-and-kiss-your-girl If I Could. Hot damn.
This wasn't a set about jamming. This felt like a great celebration or something. And they killed it. Awesome set.
Had to wait til this afternoon to continue, but here we go with set 2 of 8/31/21
8/31/21 Mountain View
Set 2
Soul Planet - The one. The only. The legendary. The 47 minutes of awesomeness. As
usual, the song itself rocks good. Right at 5 minutes, the Space
Odyssey of the Century blasts off with the patented delay stutters we
have come to expect. Around 6 minutes, Trey sets a cool repeating loop
for them to solo over. The jam is still going lightspeed but it has a
darker, more quiet vibe about it. Like watching storm clouds ominously
approach from a distance, you know something big is on it's way.
At 8 minutes, the jam takes it's first major turn - Trey kills the
looper and lets rip a nice series of melodic leads. The common 2021
theme of darkness turning into bliss is well under way at this point.
Cool wonky delay from Trey coupled with lots of cymbal rattling on
Fishman and gorgeous piano tinkling throughout. By 9 minutes the darkness is long gone. Keep an ear out for Fishman - he is going NUTS throughout all of this!!!
Right at 10 minutes Trey hits one of "those" sustained notes. He
puts it into the looper so we have a constant high-pitch tone ringing
out. Fishman is still spazzing out on the kit and Page is still pounding
those piano keys, but the jam is starting get a certain power and oomph behind it. It's like we are heading downhill (with increasing speed - sorry, couldn't resist!). By
11:45 it sounds the train could run off the tracks at any moment! Trey
is patiently "picking" out notes, doing his cycling through FX routine. JUST LISTEN TO THE FRIGGIN WALL OF SOUND FISHMAN IS MAKING - SWEET MARY! Around
13 minutes, the piano starts to "swirl", Trey starts swirling along
with it, and the whole thing sounds like a Birds of a Feather jam gone
awry!!!! Down the tube we go! This is just a quick
transition section though - the guys all synch up and start rhythmically
vamping together before "breaking apart" again.
At 14 minutes the crazy, swirling, mess of noise turns into a quiet bliss jam with lots of cymbal rattling on top. The
jam is getting quiet. Things are finally getting REALLY interesting.
This is the point where they will either kill it or keep it going (and
of course we know which option they choose, thank you!). So by 16
minutes, Fishman is still nuts on the kit, but Trey has started to play
with wah and backwards delay while Page moves over to the synths! Trey
begins a nice descending motif around 16:30 that everyone then proceeds
to play around. Things are still in "bliss" mode, but they are fast starting to morph sideways!
At 17 minutes, the robo-synths begin to appear and the darkness is fast returning!!!! Trey
is mostly doing rhythm work, playing around with delays and textures.
Page is backing him up, using his creepy synths while Gordo gets his own
going as well!
By 18 minutes we are officially entering the wormhole of doom!!!! Hold me, I'm scared!!!
AND THE POWER DRILL COMES OUT TO PLAY!!!
So by now, we are 19 minutes in and in full-blown, Type II, Halloween
Hellscape, outer-space, robo funk insanity. The power drill play lasts a
solid minute or more to terrific effect. And everyone else is just DEEP in the robot mire by now!!!! How perfect that as I'm writing this, a thunderstorm is slowly approaching and it's getting darker outside by the minute!!!!!!
By the 21 minute mark, Fishman is keeping the fast tempo, but slowly adjusting it downwards. The whole jam is getting slllllooooowwww aaaannnndddd sssstttrrraaaannnggggeeee. Instead
of letting us get sucked in though, Trey almost derails it by
introducing a nice little picked motif that starts to move us back
towards brighter worlds. Around the 22 minute mark, it literally sounds
like Trey is setting them up to go into a Light, but instead he opts to
do some "screaming through space!" vocal scatting. We all know how keen
he is to "finish" jams these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if that is
what was on his mind here.
THANKFULLY he continues onward and the jam starts to build back
up again! By 23 minutes we are in a total blissed out, feel-good,
melodic soloing soundscape once more!! Keep in mind, Fishman is still
annihilating those poor drums!!!! Picture a super chill bliss jam with
MACHINE GUN drumming behind it, lol.
By 24:30, the overt bliss is morphing into a slowly-building classic-rock style hose fest. You can see the peak building from a mile away. Run for cover! There
are several moments where you think it is going to EXPLODE, but Trey
hits his notes wrong/not hard enough, and it doesn't happen, which just
leads to it continuing to build even more!!!!
But those boys pull a fast one on us!! No peak for us!! At 25:45 they bring it back on down....Fishman
FINALLY lays off the cymbals and the band returns to a full-on Soul
Planet reprise jam. You know Big Red was wanting to end it here,
probably, lol. But again, thank Icculus, it's not to be! At 27 minutes Trey jumps on the wah and we get a super-funky, wah and delay-led jam on the Soul Planet riffing.
At 27:30, Fishman slows down the beat for something much more heavy and
appropriate. Trey is in Robot FX land and Page is answering his calls
with some great electric key work. The jam is slow and heavy, but I
wouldn't call it sludgy (yet!). Oh, wait. Yes I will, lol. Check out that damn groove they have going at 28:45, with everyone just OUT THERE in Robo Funk Paradise!!!!
This sounds like a slowly dying robot, trying to claw it's way to the
shop before it runs out of battery life. And it's amazing!
Around 29:45 Fishman starts incorporating cool drum fills to switch it up and things take another strange twist. Trey sets a STRANGE repeating
loop that doesn't "work", but because it is so wrong sounding, it leads
the jam to move into places you wouldn't expect!
At 31 minutes it sounds like someone left their car honking outside at 3 am and they can't find the keys!!!
So at this
point, 32 minutes in, we are in Dying Robot Graveyard Hell or something.
Trey has like 10 weird loops going, Page is going bonkers on the synths
(gonna break out a theremin one day?) and Gordo is honking it up.
Fishman is trying in vain (and honestly succeeding!) to keep up with the
madness.
By 32:30 Trey begins delay stutters and this effing robot is MELTING. DOWN.
What is even happenning anymore.....
So, head in our hands, contemplating our human-based existence ruled
by our new robot overlords, we see a glimmer of brightness in the
distance! Around the 34 minute mark, Fishman takes the reigns on
this dying robot cow of a jam and reintroduces an actual, musical drum
pattern. We aren't into bliss yet, but Trey has returned to his normal
tones and killed the loopers, while Page is back on his good old simple
electric piano (or whatever). A nice, slightly chill, jam is gaining
more and more momentum with each passing measure.
At 36 minutes, right on the dot, the guys turn the corner back into melodic, feel-good, dad rock jamming!
So perfect!!! This goes until the 38 minute mark where, instead of
lifting off, the guys let off on the gas and turn this into a chill
kinda of Possum-sounding jam!! Excellent, patient, and oh so nice!!!! I
can get down with this! This continues on for even longer, until around
the 40 minute mark things get funky!
Trey steps on the wah and the tempo gets a bit more scattershot, with Fishman throwing in fills left and right. At 40:45, Trey lays back and the crowd ERUPTS! I'm not watching the webcast for set 2 - did they shut the lights off or something?
And then, like clockwork, just when you think things are winding down,
Page comes to the rescue with some ominous background synths to steer us
into a darker area again. Trey is using some of his cool octave FX for a
"chunky" robot tone, while Fishman is going tom-toms-galore on the kit.
Good jungly rhythm happenning!! Then at 42:30, Trey begins a feel-good
melodic lick and everyone latches onto him again, moving us once more
back towards the "light". Trey is still using his robot FX, but much
more tactfully.
Gordo picks up some of the slack as the guys head into a sick delay-led
section!!!! By 44 minutes we are in some weird kind of "wash" of sound
that is equal parts blissful and strange. Robot Bliss?! This
continues for a good, long while, with everyone just soaking it all in,
not in a rush. Page on the synths, Trey doing textured delay
"scratching" and Gordo, I think, doing his own synth bass stuff.
Then at 46 minutes, jungle funk rhythm continuing, Trey kills the robo
octave for his more normal lead tone and the guys start giving us a
great funk groove outta nowhere!!!!!!!!
AND THEN WE FINALLY LEAVE SOUL PLANET AND HEAD INTO...THE FINAL HURRAH?!?!?!??!!.......
END OF PART 1....
Set 2, continued:
>The Final Hurrah - Who saw that coming!!! Nobody! Hell yes!!! Funky as all get out!!! That segue was LEGIT. For
a second, it almost sounds like they are just gonna vamp the chorus,
but thankfully they end up actually playing the song. Check out those
awesome, sparkly, outer space synths from Page around the 1:45 mark!!!
Really great version all around, totally imbued with that residual X
Factor from the Soul Planet expedition to the stars....Terrifically
patient and oh so cool jamming in the back half. Absolutely must-hear. Probably overshadowed in the wake of SP, DON'T FORGET THIS BAD BOY!!!! If Soul Planet didn't happen, this would be my pick for best jamming of the show so far. A++++
>Theme From the Bottom - Somehow, the madness of The Final
Hurrah draws to a cinematically perfect close and Gordo takes his shot
to introduce the Theme bass riff and lead them into the next song.
Awesome segue! Theme is excellent. It's nothing super unique, but like
the set 1 Wolfman, it's just damn strong in every way! A+ Type I
reading!!!
Axilla II - The return of Axilla II!!!!! First since 1995!!! "Hot
damn, you'd think they would be content to coast to the finish line,
but I guess not!!! Bustout the uber-rarities some more, I guess! Now, if
you all recall, I'm not a lyrics guy, so I definitely would not have
picked up on this (lyrics just fly over my head unless I'm singing
along). Awesome that they brought it back though and you gotta love the
"don't shine that thing" jam we expected. I'm sure Trey was grinning like nuts, lol. Stop it! Stop Shining that thing in his face! Killer.....
Tela - Ooh, Forbin, Glide, Tela and Weigh all in the same show! When's the last time that occured, 1992?! So at this point in the set, it's like... this is awesome, but what is even happenning anymore.
Tela is Tela, but as with everything else in this glorious beast of a
show, it's just so damn good....As with Weigh, the guys really just
nailed it, as if they have been playing it regularly. Awesome. Tela fans
rejoice!
Harry Hood - And to close the set, what else would they possibly play?!
There's no point narrating this, it's effing MAGICAL and must hear!!!
Surely one of the best latter-day Hoods!! A definitely version to go
with most classics!!! They don't make them better than this these
days!!! Outstanding!
Fee - And the hits (and megaphone feedback!) keep coming! First
since Mexico 2020, what a great way to kick off the encore in such a
classic-loaded show. If I'm being honest, the megaphone sounds TERRIBLE,
but who cares....Great stuff!!
Wilson - Is Wilson. Finishes the show
All in all, hot damn what a friggin' show! I actually think this
is a tad UNDER rated (I would seriously bump it up like a point and half
from it's 4.4 rating on .NET). It was just a magical, next-level show.
And that Soul Planet is one hundred percent NOT overrated! That thing
keeps your attention from the first minute to the last and the
greatest-ever (?) Final Hurrah was like the incredible explanation mark
on top
A killer show, a SPECIAL show, and not one to be "too cool for school" about. It lives up to the hype.
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