2023-10-10 Dayton, OH

 Onwards to show 4 of Fall 2023

10/10/23 Dayton, OH

Set 1

Sigma Oasis - 13 minute Sigma to open the show! Things rage hard as expected until around the 7 minute mark. Then the jam begins to take a dark turn! It never goes totally off the deep end, but it instead slowly turns back towards the light. The end of this sees the song peaking out in a massive, monster-sized bliss-peak of triumph and glory. This is MUST HEAR!!! FRIGGIN SPECTACULAR SIGMA!!!! WOW!!

The 9th Cube - Only 2nd version ever played!!! As with Sightless Escape in Nashville, WHERE THE F DID THIS COME FROM AND WHY HAVE THEY NOT BEEN PLAYING IT ALL THIS TIME!!! The guys NAIL it - obviously extensively rehearsed, this is arguably even better than the debut version!! MUST HEAR!!!! SICK!!!

Theme From the Bottom - An absolutely SOARING Type 1 version! Seriously, this is utterly ridiculous - rocket fuel multiplied by nuclear bomb multiplied by hose on top of hose on top of more HOSE!!! FRIGGIN HOSE!!!! HOSEPOCALYPSE!!!! Damn!

Cool Amber and Mercury - This sucker is jam charted, so that's a great sign! Arguably the finest version yet played! Bustout alert #2, first version since The Gorge 2021!!!! FACEPLANT INTO ROKK!!! The jam immediately gets cooking hot with Page taking the lead, going NUTS with strange keyboard sounds and vocal samples. Then Page lays back and lets Trey solo it up all chill-like. From here, they slowly ramp up the heat bit-by-bit until the song reaches yet another explosive apex. Pure machine-gun Trey facemelting of the NUCLEAR HOSE EXPLOSION variety!! HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP LETS GO!!! MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!!!

555 - Unfortunately, 555 is up next and bring the set to a screeching halt. The "clumsy" nature of this tune just feels like it sucked all the energy out of the set, but thankfully the dark jam in the back half is excellent as ever. For the sake of not highlighting friggin' everything once more, I'll restrain myself with this one.

Bathtub Gin - Well of course we HAVE to highlight a 15 minute Gin! Right away, Trey is playing fast and loose with rhythms, giving this a herky-jerky feel that is pretty fun. Then around 6:30, the jam starts to take off slowly with some dark heat. Trey sets some psychedelic loopers and it's off to the races. By the 7:30 mark, the tempo has increased to a good clip. Trey is soloing it up with Page doing his electric-piano thing in the background. Gotta say, the spacial placement of the instruments is not great - it's like everything is placed in the center of the stereo spectrum, making it really hard to pick out Gordo/Page/Trey from each other. It's like they are sitting on top of each other in the mix....Around 8:30, Trey turns on the 1999 pitch shifter and Gordo kicks on his FX. The jam keeps increasing in speed, ultra-funky-like, and it's like a crazy, not-really-danceable funk tornado! GOOPY FUNKY GROOVE TORNADO!!! By 9:30, the song is now basically speeding along at TWICE the original tempo!! By 10:30, we are in a chill-yet-fast Birds of a Feather type zone! Then Page jumps back to the piano and it's ON!!! Impending bliss-hose finale incoming!!! Get your seatbelts on!!!! And this is what happens for the final few glorious minutes of this X Factor Magic Gin!!!! Stellar!! MUST HEAR!!! Very unique!!!! WOW!!! CHECK OUT THAT ULTRA SMOOTH TRANSITION BACK INTO THE THEME AT THE END!!!!


This fall tour is just getting better and better and better!!!!

Broken Into Pieces - Only the 2nd version, if memory serves! Great set placement!! Great song - play this more!!! Damn strong, this is total classic-rock ballad perfection. Killer. Play this more, please!

Reba - Very good Reba, if not classic. The composed section is 99% flawless aside from 1 or 2 very brief moments of blink-and-youll-miss-it flubbage. The only downside is that the slower tempo gives it a more tired/relaxed feel that kinda hurts it, imo. The solo isn't amazing either. Tries hard but overall this Reba misses the mark for no reason in particular. Many people will call this excellent - and they aren't wrong. This was totally a "feel" thing on my part. Execution-wise, it was great!!! Still, worthy of a highlight! However, the final minute or so when the solo peaks is downright magic!!!

Chalkdust Torture - And straight into CDT to close the set! Very awkward transition and start of the song. Thankfully, it quickly coalesces and the thing shoots off like a friggin rocket ****, awkwardness be damned. Maybe not must-hear, but incredibly hot and does the trick!


All in all, this set showed a ton of promise but felt like the smallest of steps down from Nashville #3. This was mainly due to the "off" feel to the playing tonight. Not exactly flubby, but not always as tight as it should be. Still killer though - the Cool Amber, 9th Cube, Gin and Sigma are all MUST HEAR!!! Theme gets honorable mention as well. Great stuff! '

Set 2

Mike's Song - "yea...." Gotta love it when the set opens with a TWENTY MINUTE Mike's Song!!!! Return of the Son of the MSG version?! Not gonna try to super-narrate the whole thing but here we go. Rages hard as expected, then around 9 minutes we dive into chill-bliss, piano territory. Very unique! For the next several glorious, heavenly minutes, we are in a chill zone with Trey doing uber-melodic sustained holds Page on the piano. Extremely magical!!! Magic Mike's! This sections last a very long time, going all the way to about 14 minutes!!! Then at 14:45, we switch to a dark and suspenseful section, all hard pounding and riffage!!! Slowly they build and build and build until the whole thing is barelling down the tracks like a train out of control!!!!! By 17 minutes, the jam is friggin EXPLODING in a fiery, volcanic rage of guitar and band destruction!!! This is friggin SICK!!! MUST HEAR!!! This was yet another one of the best jams of the year!! Totally patient and slow-building!! No rushing, but always moving forwards!!!! Fantastic!!!! MUST HEAR!! And then back into the Mike's theme to close...

>Prince Caspian - A bit of an awkward (word of the night) follow on from that masterful Mike's Song. The guys are not locked in at all and the lyrics are a jumbled mess. It's all in fun and jest and it is just Caspian so it gets a pass, but in no way, shape or form is this must hear.

No Men In No Man's Land - Feels like we haven't had one of these in forever! Great to pick us back up after that dreadful Caspian. This sucker absolutely crushes. Basically, 12 glorious, fiery, rage-tastic Type 1 minutes of insanity like it's 2018 all over again. Fantastic little No Men!!! Must hear!!! Wow! A++++++++++++++ hose explosion!!!! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE FROM THE FRIGGIN SKY!!!! THAT PEAK! THAT PEAK! THAT PEAK!!!!


>Prince Caspian Reprise - As it says. Huh. How about that. HOW DID THEY FRIGGIN DO THAT!!! THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

It's Ice - First one since the MSG run. That version was terrific, so how will this one fare? Slowish tempo on this yet again. Trey is having issues throughout, but nothing dire. Just focus on Page's glorious piano and all will be fine. MSG version this is not. The composed sections are not a trainwreck, but I would definitely call them rough. This is like a 2018/2019 version all over again! A fine Ice for what it is, but you will never hear me singing the praises of this one.

Pillow Jets - Is this seriously only the THIRD version of this?! What the hell?! Play this more!!! This versions delivers as much as the last two - pure sonic noize destruction. Like a booming thunderstorm and crashing explosions of lightning from the sky. Must hear!!! Fantastic! This one goes EXTRA deep and dark, Gordo even breaks out the power drill!!

>Weekapaug Groove - Cool segue back into Paug! Typical modern day Paug reprise, except that this one reaches an excellent, red-hot climax. Shred-tastic. Maybe not must-hear, but strong enough to be considered highlight worthy!

Twist - Ah, a typical modern Twist to kill the set as usual....Thankfully, this one bucks the trend. Absolutely must hear! Super slow and downright bluesy! Stuff gets HOT!!!! MUST HEAR!!! Builds to the hottest finale you can imagine. Fantastic! Molten volcanic heat!!!

Slave to the Traffic Light - Absolutely stellar. Must hear!

encore:

Joy
Buffalo Bill
Wilson
First Tube

^^^^all great, not much to say.


All in all, this was easily my least favorite of the 4 shows so far. It started terrific then after Bathtub Gin it just became a bit too scattershot without the tightness in the playing to make up for it. This show felt all over the damn map - and it's long too, at 3 hours and 7 minutes on the LivePhish recording. There was a ton to like, and it was a very good show, but it absolutely felt like a bit of a step backwards, if you will.

Get the set 1 highlights I already mentioned. Then for set 2, I'd say Mike's Song, No Men, Twist and Slave are what you need.