2023-10-15 Chicago, IL

 Tonight we finish Fall 2023, just in time for the shows next week!

10/15/23 Chicago #3

Absolutely AWESOME setlist on paper!

Everything Is Hollow - First version since Charleston 2019 (the show I missed, dang it!). This is killer!!!!! BRING THIS BACK!!!! This deserves rotation!!!

Timber - You know it's gonna be a good show when Timber pops up! And this version is excellent - the energy is through the roof and Trey's soloing is so perfectly patient throughout. Fantastic! Freaking AWESOME whole-band interplay and ensuing peak!!!! MUST HEAR!!! WOW!!! LET'S GO!!! A++++++ TIMBER!!! THIS SUCKER IS NUCLEAR!!!!


Ocelot - Trey's voice is indeed SHOT, @pbuzby . This sucker is almost 10 friggin' minutes long though, so that's gotta count for a lot. And by golly does it peak. HARD. Must hear!!! Maybe not the greatest of all time, but good lord they ride this one to the finish line in a big way.....

Vultures - First since Seattle? Really?? I could have sworn we had, like, two other ones in between. Huh. Trey's vocals kinda kill this one, but thankfully the jam is great. A bit awkward on the whole, but still a powerhouse. Nevertheless, it's too awkward and "not smooth" for it's own good and does not deserve highlight status, imo.

Monsters - Only the SECOND version?! Really?!?! First since Star Lake debut. Again, I could swear we got another one recently....This version slays. Trey just lets loose a rain of fire from start to finish. Great stuff.

Plasma - Nearly 11 minutes on this one! Dark and murky and swampy, wah-infused vibe to the jam on this. Trey leans HARD into the wah, nearly getting robo sounds out of it. This is must hear. It's all Type 1, but it's just spectacular soloing and jamming from start to finish. Awesome, awesome, AWESOME!

Mercury - I can't in good faith highlight this. A 7 minute Mercury?! What the hell?! I thought 9 minutes at Dick's was ludicrous (and that was actually an excellent version, truth told)!!!

>Stash - I'm calling that a segue. They got to the point where the jam would start in Mercury and just launched into Stash instead. What the corn, man.....Anyways, 12 minutes on this Stash. Thankfully, this Stash is MUST HEAR!!! No, it's not the robo meltdown from Mexico 2023, but it spits fire from start to finish and has a great, powerful peak from the band. A stellar Type 1 Stash for 2023!!!!

Leaves - Always most welcome!!!! MUST HEAR! FRIGGIN MUST HEAR!! A++++++++ X FACTOR TREY SHREDDING!!! SPECTACULAR!!!

David Bowie - Rough start on this Bowie to close, but the song quick coalesces turns in a BARNSTORMING rendition!!! The final 4 or 5 minutes is pure primo fire-in-the-ears!!!! FANTASTIC!!!


All in all, a slight mixed bag of a set. Some fantastic stuff (Plasma, Stash, Leaves, Monsters, Timber, Hollow), some not-so-great stuff (short Mercury, Bowie beginning section, Vultures, Trey's voice....). Not much else to say. Was highly enjoyable to listen to but also had that "not exactly cohesive" thing going on.

Onwards to the final set of Fall 2023:

10/15/23 Chicago #3

Set 2

Drowned - First since August of 2021! Rages the expected Type 1 hard until 6:43 when things shift into a decidedly funky and danceable groove!!! On another night, this would be the launching pad for a great Crosseyed, and hell, you can just about hear Trey teasing that sucker. Lots of wah pedal, backwards delay and robo FX!!! Sick! Only a few minutes worth of Type II, but it's a great little "teaser" jam!

>A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing - Then, at the perfect moment, they launch into tight and POWERFUL reading of this classic. Everyone is playing this sucker on overdrive - truly a KICK-ASS version!!! 11 minutes, bass synthesizer robo fx come out early, at the 2 minute mark while Trey is shredding it up on the wah. Cactus is ALL OVER this thing!!! UNDERWATER DARK ROBO CACTUS SUPREME!!! Then around 5:30, the jam shifts into upbeat bliss for a while before turning into feel-good dance funk around 7 minutes!!! We even get some Manteca-style teases as well!!! Total wah pedal destruction, those are friggin Manteca teases, I don't care. This is friggin' fantastic! MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!!! Hell yes!! FUNK IT UP!!!! THIS IS KILLER!!! Wow!!!

>Tweezer jam - Then at the 11 minute mark, we move seamlessly into a Tweezer jam!!! For 7 minutes! Super cool bent-note interplay between Page and Trey around 2 minutes! Then shortly after, Trey jumps back on the wah pedal and we go back to funking it up. Then in come the robo fx and synthesizers! Yo, this ASIHTOS/Tweezer is friggin' fantastical!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!! LETS GO!!! MUST HEAR!!! WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENNING ANYMORE?! Then around 4:45, hints of robo FX begin to happen and the jam starts to get a little abstract, teetering on the line between dark and light - which way will it go??? From here, the jam is in FULL BLOWN ROBO FUNK TYPE II. Very rhythmic, lots of blips and bloops, but also lots of unsettling bliss (which doesn't make sense until you hear it). THEN WE SEGUE INTO SIMPLE!!! YES!!!!!!!!!

>Simple - WHAT IS GOING ON!!! THIS JAM SEQUENCE IS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!!!! And this Simple is friggin SOARING!!! Spectacular Type 1!!! Wow! A+++ In the back half, it straight up melts into full blown, black-hole Type II. They could easily go into "Egg In a Hole" from this!!! This bit of ambience fades the song to a glorious conclusion....

Pebbles and Marbles - Who saw that coming?! First version of 2023! AND THIS SUCKER IS UTTERLY FANTASTIC!!!! Obviously well rehearsed, it climaxes with an astonishing bliss peak, ala a great Walls of the Cave. MUST HEAR!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! BANG YOUR HEAD!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Spanish Moon - First since Mexico 2019!! Again, sounds super rehearsed and KICKS SO MUCH FRIGGIN ASS HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP. MUST HEAR MUST HEAR MUST HEAR!!! FANTASTICAL!!!!

A Wave of Hope - 12 minutes on this one, it keeps the rocking fun friggin going hard!!! X FACTOR MAGIC AGAIN!!! This thing goes Type II HARD!!! Full on robo-haze, psychedelic rhythmic explosion!!! ROBO WAVE!!!!! LETS FRIGGIN GO!!! One of the most out-there jams of the entire year, a true must-hear!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!! RETURN OF THE SON OF BLEEP BLOOP WAVE!!!! FULL BLOWN TYPE II LIKE THE ISLAND TOUR TWIST!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! ROBOT HEAVEN!!!!!



>Evolve - Finally a much deserved cooldown!!! Super strong Type 1. Great stuff, if not exactly Must hear.

Loving Cup - Comparable to the face-melting MSG version from the summer, this one is another grand slam rendition. A++++ version. Facemelting, as mentioned. KILLER. Don't skip this!!! OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!!!! LAVA TIMES NUCLEAR EXPLOSION, DIRECTLY INTO THE EAR CANAL!!!!


Run Like An Antelope - "THREE ORANGE WHIPS"!!!! Really sick interplay between Page and Trey, with them echoing eachothers playing. They are listening to each other! A great little Antelope, this is no stuff to turn your head at. Maybe not an all-time classic, but 2023 Antelope's don't get much stronger than this!!! Killer!

SANTOS - Nuclear. Nuff said.

Tweeprise - To close.


Oh. My. Effing. God. What the hell did they do before this set to make them turn out a MONSTER like this?! Hands down in the top 10 sets of the whole year for me. Honestly? It tops my beloved second set from night 1 in Chicago. All 3 nights were monster shows, but this 2nd set was among the finest constructions of 2023. What a friggin' TITAN it was from start to finish! Nearly the entire thing was essential. Good god....

SEE YOU GUYS AT MSG NEXT WEEK!