YEMSG 2023 - A Quick Recap

 Quick recap of the 4 shows from my in-person experience. I plan to do proper reviews of the shows shortly for completeness/comparison sake, but for now, here is my memory of them. Keep in mind, I had seats from shows #2 and #4 and I was on the floor for shows #1 and #3.

12/28 -
Overall strongest "normal" show of the run for me by a wide margin, but tied with 12/31 if you discount the "extra" nature of that very special gig. I thought the X Factor was flowing MAJORLY throughout. That Gin and Ghost to close the first set were pure insanity. Gin seemed like it had 20 peaks, I swear. And Ghost was annihilation.
Then you have the second set with the longest Wave of Hope in a year of massive Wave of Hopes (nearly 24 min!) going into a KICK ASS oldschool Mike's Song>14 minute Simple.
The four song encore, including only the second-ever performance of "Mercy" by Phish, was the definition of icing on the cake. I tell you, being on that floor for the pure insanity of the evening's closing S.A.N.T.O.S. (THOSE MOTHER EFFING LIGHTS SPINNING 1000mph!!!!) is something I will cherish for all eternity....


12/29 -
The first set was basically dead on arrival for me. I mentioned in this thread, but our train was delayed for an hour and we missed all of Free. I made it into the building during the final minute or so of The Moma Dance. Then, Maze was shot because people were in my seat and I had to get security to kick them out of the way. On top of that, my partner and I were having a bad day personally and this carried through the rest of the first set. I tried hard, but the above factors and the uber-pedestrian setlist totally killed it for me in-person. Bummer.
Thankfully set 2 was a million times better. We worked our issue out and got into it totally. This was my partner's first show (he is NOT a fan, lol) and he spent the evening laughing at the crazy hippies trying to "dance" to atonal outer space psych rock (Chalkdust>Oblivion) He thought the 23 minute Chalkdust into the 17 minute Oblivion was awful, haha. Can't say I expected anything else from him!
For me, I thought set 2 annihilated. Pure fire from start to finish and a massive step up from set 1. Chalkdust limped out of the starting gate but once the jamming began, they righted course and it was smooth sailing from then on out. Also, this set felt very, very DARK!!! Oblivion, What's the Use, My Friend, Sand, About to Run....with only the 2nd Carini encore EVER since that fabled 2021 version!!!!
Note: the Chalkdust and Oblivion are both incredible and up there with the best music of the year.
Harry Hood was killer and converted me for real. And the Carini destroyed in person - not a patch on the 2021 version, but when they ripped into it, the Garden EXPLODED!!!!
Final thought - set 1 was pedestrian, set 2 obliterated. Set 2 was as good or better than anything played on Night 1, imo. If you called this the show of the run based on set 2...I'd argue with you, but it'd be hard!


12/30 -
Easily the weakest show of the run, but if 12/31 and 12/28 were A+ shows, this was a strong B+/A-. In other words, not a classic, but it still KICKED ASS!
Like 12/29, this was a show of two distinct halves. The first set was much stronger, imo, than the second. Set 1 blew my mind - I got my Fuego and It's Ice!!! I never in my life thought I'd get to see an It's Ice!!! The Wolfman's Brother jammed early and felt like it went pretty deep - don't sleep on that. Turtle In the Clouds was a pure party - another one I dreamed of seeing but never thought I'd get to!!! AND THAT FUEGO!!!! When they ripped into the "WOOOAAAWOOOAAAWOOOAAWOOAAA" after Vlad the Impaler....holy crap on a cracker my head exploded (and so did the Garden). Then we got a nearly 14 minute Life Saving Gun (longest yet?!) that was pure nuclear bomb annihilation of the highest order. I can safely say it was the strongest one yet. It was like the SANTOS from 12/28 on steroids. Unbelievable.
To sum up set 1, it was like they came out with the mission to play a set full of uptempo rockers/party songs (KDF, Undermind, Turtle, Fuego, etc). It never let up, and while the jamming was minimal (Fuego was 17 min though!), the pure PARTY energy was ultra palpable. This set was a friggin' BLAST to attend!!!
Set 2? Not so much....Things started poorly with a good version of The Well that proceeded to produce no jam to speak of. It seemed like Trey realized it was the wrong set opener and purposefully axed it quickly in favor of Tweezer. Of course Tweezer was great but all too short. It actually had a really nice transition into Twist that felt natural (I definitely wouldn't call it a ripcord). Twist and Piper jammed pretty nicely but this was fast turning into the set I did not want. You guys have heard me complain about recent Twists and Pipers - I swear the two always have to appear together, no? Then my other favorite set killer Golden Age came up....Ugh, this was not going good. And a Slave to the Traffic Light on top of it all. Look, I got my Hood, so I'm stoked that I did get a Slave, but it didn't stick out as anything noteworthy. Long story short, I really kinda ended up just waiting for the set to end after a certain point, which is really unfortunate.
All in all, set 1 ruled and set 2 was a snoozer (for me, personally - eager to revisit it and listen better). Weakest show of the four. Hands down.


12/31 -
Set 1 is a big sleeper hit. I thought the Everything's Right and Tube were excellend and, despite the short run time (66 minutes), the set never felt rushed or purposefully neutered in any kind of "holding back" way. A great first set, if just a bit short (which is understandable, lol - this show was MASSIVE!)
Set 2 and 3 - what to be said that hasn't already been said?! Absolutely incredible from start to finish. Just go watch the damn thing on youtube - there's a great single cam from the rear of the venue that shows everything excellently.
Playing wise, the 20 minute Bag has to be one of the jams of the year, certainly top 10 or 15 (and that's saying a LOT!!). The rest of the show was surprisingly well played and the first set did NOT feel throw-away!! This show was a pure classic in league with those crazy 90's Halloween shows, imo. The theatrics and production were unbelievable and they had the tunes to back it up.
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++