2021-09-04 Commerce City, CO

 Onwards to night 2 of Dick's 2021!

9/4/21 Commerce City, CO

Set 1

Alumni Blues/LTJP/Alumni Blues - Killer, for being such a massive rarity! Seriously, this kicks major ass. Obviously rehearsed, they nail this one right to the friggin' cross. Talk about 'yer high-quality opener!!!

Turtle In the Clouds - HOUSE PARTY INDEED!!! Totally killer version, all fiery and full of spunk!!! Holy mother of crap, no joke, this Turtle is INCENDIARY!!! A++++ Type I version....

Blaze On - Up next is a 15 min Blaze On. Tonight definitely has a much "hotter" feel about it than the chill vibe of the last few gigs. This is much welcome! This thing borders on genuine rock!!! It goes along brilliantly doing it's Type I thing, then somewhere around the 7 minute mark, things start to get dark and wonky. We are in Type II!! Trey gets on the RoboHonk wah pedal, the jam gets super quiet like 9/3's Chalkdust, but not really. Everyone is laying back, picking their spots oh so carefully. This is glorious. Page on electric keys, Fishman keeping the general Blaze On pattern going....This goes on until almost 12 minutes! It's awesome! They took their time and didn't rush anything!! Then around the 12 minute mark, the jam takes a turn back towards the light. We are grooving hard, Page is on the piano, Trey is doing his melodic dad-rock thing....All is right with the world. This eventually evolves into the massive hose peak we were denied the night before. A return to the Blaze On chorus "completes" the cycle. Holy crap that was legitimately fantastic. A+++++++ Blaze On!!! DANG! MUST HEAR!!!

Cool It Down - See Turtle in the Clouds. It does its thing and rocks HARD! The FIRE is here tonight!! This show is kicking ass and taking names!! I mean, I guess it isn't really anything special so I'm not gonna highlight it, but it's great!!!

Ghost - Ooh, a 15 min Blaze On and a 13 min Ghost in the first set! NICE! Tight as hell, and rocking like a mother! It does it's amazing RoboHonk jamming until the 6:30 mark where we shift into Type II with the introduction of an upbeat bliss-rock feel. It proceeds excellently for a good long while. This keeps building and building and BUILDING! Around the 10 minute mark, Trey triggers a sustained loop and this propels them even FURTHER towards peakville! By 10:30, everyone is doing their swirling, blissed-out, dad-rock best and I guess you can call this a peak! Ok, at 11 minutes Trey hits a Divided Sky note and I'm officially calling this a peak. FINALLY! There isn't much to "narrate", you just need to go hear this. This is an exceptional shorter version of Ghost. MUST HEAR!!!!!!!! THIS WAS ONLY 12 MINUTES BUT FELT LIKE A 20 MINUTE SUPER JAM!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!!

>Ya Mar - A+ for energy and effort. Unfortunately it stumbles a a bit throughout, the guys having hesitancy and timing issues with the vocals at various points. See Cool It Down - it was great and fit the set perfectly, but is it a true highlight? No, not really.

Undermind - Super outstanding, A+++ Type I version. Killer. Trey uses the Robo FX to amazing effect. No, seriously, THIS THING IS PHENOMENAL! I haven't heard an Undermind kick this much ass since....ever?! And it's one of those songs that always delivers, so that's saying a lot! Holy crap, Batman! A++++

Tube - Hell yes! Keep it going, baby! For the sheer fire of the rest of the set, this Tube is pretty unique! It wastes ZERO time getting down to business after only the first verse!!! They drop into a super laid back funk zone, ala the late 90s, with Trey honking it up on top of nice electric keyboards and Fishman's breakneck rhythms. This is insane. Around the 4 minute mark, Page tosses in some choice synths for good measure! The jam begins to do the usual "bliss fast approaching" thing, but it's ok. How anybody could complain about a Tube this phenomenal....By the 7 minute mark, they are clearly building to another peak. The jam has morphed into the "upbeat, feel-good, classic rock" kind of sound. WE STILL ONLY GOT ONE VERSE!!! AND WE GOT OUR PEAK!! After a quick peak around 8:30, they finally go into the "bluesy" b-section and tear it up to the finish line.

This Tube:




David Bowie - After Tube, they should have just ended it. How the hell do you follow that up. That was even better than my much-loved Fall 2018 versions (yes, I think it tops them!). After an extra-lengthy ambient intro, the guys friggin' LAUNCH right into this sucker like a shot from a cannon! This Bowie is surprisingly tight and just as full of piss and vinegar as the rest of this incendiary set. What a great way to send us to the break begging for more!!!



Holy crap, what even was this set! There was SO MUCH ENERGY! For as chill as recent shows have been, this was the complete opposite!!! This was like 2011 energy again! Energy doesn't automatically equate to quality, but in this set it sure did!!! The Blaze On and Ghost both waste no time getting out there - both are definitely must-hear renditions. Alumni Blues, Turtle, Tube and Undermind all DESTROY!!!! And then, mother of mercy, THAT FREAKING VERSION OF TUBE! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS EVEN HAPPENNING TO MAKE THEM PLAY SO AMAZING ON THIS NIGHT?! 

Set 2

Everything's Right - Oh dang, a 25 minute version to open. You know this is gonna deliver the goods!!! Right off the rip, the jam goes into a late-night, chill-funk area that wouldn't be out of place in a Ghost or something. Very cool. Around 8 minutes, a brooding intensity begins to take over the jam. The chill-funk is still going strong but there is fire underneath. Fishman is doing lots of great drum fill work, "playing along" rhythmically to what Trey is doing!!!!
At 9 minutes, the first RoboFX turn up for a brief 30 seconds or so before being replaced by a more dreamy and ambient style of playing from Trey. At 9:45, he sets a subtle looper and the jam moves out of funk and into more abstract territory. Welcome to Dark Chill, everybody. Page on the electric keys, Gordo keeping it phat and tight. Trey is slowly and carefully picking his spots to insert his notes. Tasty RoboWah usage throughout on top of yet another looped note. At the 11 minute mark, Page tosses in his synthesizers!! This is grooving hard and grooving DARK!
Looper still going strong, at 11:45, Trey uses the "bullfrog" or "oboe" or whatever for a new sound. Page is fully on the synthesizers and Gordo is still keeping it heavy and thick. The jam is like a slow-crawling monster, just laying waste to the landscape....At 12:30, Page gets going with some "swirling" motifs on the synths. Trey backs off the bullfrog, but keeps a repeating note from the looper going. Fishman still has the uptempo-funk vibe happenning. We are just in some great darkness here, guys. This is awesome!! A very "textural" kind of jam. Everyone is just building the soundscape.
By the 15 minute mark, after some great synth soloing from Page, the jam begins to slowly head for some kind of peak. Well, the building blocks are being laid, lets put it like that. The suffocating darkness slowly turns to light. Trey starts doing some more melodic lines that the band pick up on and solo off of. Trey is doing good at keeping the RoboFX at bay. He is making do with mostly "normal" sounds and I really think it is paying off.
At the 17 minute mark, they commit fully to the bliss, but keep things very interesting, opting for slow-build ambience over Fishman's drumming rather than blazing to a dad-rock conclusion. The jam is getting very "goopy" and loose sounding! Right around the 18 minute mark, Trey again stumbles into a pattern that the other guys immediately lock onto. This builds us up the bliss ladder another step.
At 18:50, Page moves back to the piano and the ambience is turned sideways back into a rock/funk jam!!! Back to melodic guitar leads and ripping bass. It almost sounds like they could go into a Golden Age if they wanted to. Slowly a proper rock jam makes its way back to the surface for real - no more playing around with styles! This is around the 21 minute mark or so. But then at 22, Trey goes into a stoccato rhythm, Page moves back to the electric piano, and some funkiness returns! Make up your damn mind!
With lots of good "delay slashing" from Trey, then a move over to the wah pedal, it sounds like they have "successfully" averted another peak-in-progress. Right around the 24 minute mark, Trey is doing this incredible delay+wah pedal combo that sounds super aquatic and liquidy. Page tosses in the synths and the crowd erupts. Killer. Unfortunately, immediately after this, for some reason, the jam just effing STOPS outta nowhere. Like slamming on the brakes or something! What the hell was that ending....

That Everything's Right was insane. It felt very much along the lines of the Carini from 9/3. All over the place, but done very well. But that ending was total B.S. It was must hear, but they've also done better long-form jams this summer.

Fuego - UGH! Terrible botched intro.....Thankfully they correct themselves by extending the intro and launch into it with aplomb! Unfortunately this near-trainwreck at the start seems to startle the guys into delivering the most "about to fall apart at any moment" version of Fuego I have yet heard. Lots of hesitancy on the drumming and the timing of everyone's parts, etc. That kind of thing. See Ya Mar from the first set but even worse. Other than that, what they actually do play is strong, but this in no way is deserving of highlight status. Which is a shame, as the energy is still totally though, but high energy doesn't make something faultless. Reminiscent of the Rogers 2021 version but a little tighter on the playing. I mean, I'm being a little harsh - the guys recover good, but the first few minutes are extremely ramshackle and the rest of it doesn't do anything out of the ordinary.

>Farmhouse - Ah, the Abomination of Desolation - a set derailment in progress. First a terrible ending to Everything's Right. Then a sub-par Fuego, and now a damn Farmhouse to follow. Righting the ship they are not! And I LOVE a good Farmhouse! When all is said and done, this Farmhouse is delicate and lovely. Absolutely gorgeous! Just terrible set placement (imo)!!! Like, my goodness, this thing is gorgeous. That being said, it also sounds like every other Farmhouse and the set placement is terrible, so no highlight for you!

Mercury - Alright! Let's friggin' go! The deconstruction of Mercury continues - this is a measly 11 minute version (shortest to this date?!). Mercury is performed pretty tight over all with just a hint of "rust" in a part or two. The jamming out of this is pretty nice "plinko funk" (or whatever the hell you want to call it). Short and sweet and very pretty. Around the 9 minute point, we reach Type II - it sounds like the jam is going to become another monster! They turn the funk into a more upbeat and feel-good bliss groove. VERY nice! Unfortunately, this is it for the jam! It starts to move into a slightly rockier direction, but Trey loses faith and steers the band into Seven Below!!! Not gonna highlight this one as it seems to end just as it was getting going....

>Seven Below - JUST KEEP IT GOING AT THE MERCURY TEMPO! THAT IS A GENUINE SEGUE! WHY THE HELL DID YOU SHOVE IT IN LIKE THAT! This gets going with cool synth stylings and it gets some good playing going, but Jesus Christ, Trey...you just had to rush into it. Fishman put up a good fight resisting for a while until you made him slam on the brakes instead of, ya know, friggin transitioning into the song.... Seriously, what is this, friggin' 2010 again?!

THAT TRANSITION WAS HORRIFICALLY TERRIBLE IN EVERY WAY. SHAME ON YOU, TREY. SCREW YOU, BUCKO. THAT SUCKED!



>Drift While You Are Sleeping - At least out of the pretty good jam from Seven Below, we get a darn good transition into Drift!! The song sounds PERFECT after Seven Below! Good solid version. Not worth highlighting, but it's as good as most others! Always welcome by me!

You Enjoy Myself - Great version, but at this point, are we done yet?

Bold As Love - Never a favorite of mine.



All in all....dang, what a swing and a miss this 2nd set was! It had a ton of promise but just ended up kinda flailing! The opening Everything's Right was * ALMOST * as good as the 9/3 Carini, but even then, not quite (imho). The terrible ending followed by a falling-apart Fuego followed by a dang Farmhouse.....Then we get a "hey, this is going somewhere!" Mercury that has an all-timer segue handed to it on a silver platter, only for Trey to FORCE them to rush into Seven Below instead of transitioning smoothly. Yuck, yuck, yuck! Drift was fine, YEM was very good, and Bold As Love was BAL. They tried hard but it was just one sputter after another. What a shame, especially considering the first set was MUST HEAR! That first set was like fire on top of fire on top of fire!!!! Basically, forge the 2nd set and rush out to hear the 1st set!!!