2022-07-15 Mansfield, MA

 7 15 22 Mansfield

Set 1

46 Days limps out of the gate to start the show. The song itself is pretty weak and not-hot, but thankfully they wake up eventually and deliver a smashing, fiery hot climax. Not essential but good stuff.

The following Water In The Sky is a very inspired setlist choice and works great in slot two. Maybe its just me, but it really feels like this one draaaaggggssss too much. Its solid, nothing more.

Then in spot 3 we get a big 16 minute Everythings Right!!! Song sounds good and punchy. The jam begins with some nice laid back grooving and pretty much stays there for its duration. Nice synths popping in and out. Moving into really nice upbeat bliss rock before slowly building a head of steam and getting a lot more rocking and climaxing with a very hot type 1 rock peak. Unfortunately, at 15 minutes, just as it deviates, Trey kills the jam dead!! What in the F?!? BOO!!!! IT WAS GOING SOMEWHERE YOU JERK!!!

All that said, that was a really, really good version with an immensely deflating/disappointing ending

And he kills the jam for Rift?! THANKFULLY, Rift is overall pretty good! It finally sounds practiced. Its not 100 percent, but its like 95% there. EASILY the best version played so far in 2022, by a very wide margin. It doesnt come in the ballpark of the insane 2023/2024 readings and Trey still totally butchers the ascending final riff, but this is a massive improvement.

And into a 12 minute Wolfman we go. Thankfully Wolfman is excellent. Nothing special but its REALLY GOOD. Youve heard many like this but that doesnt diminish its excellence. Massive soaring peak on this. Awesome. Until a better version comes along, ill call it must hear. Really, it just kills.

The set keeps going strong and we get more rocking with an excellent Maze. How come 2022 Trey cant play Rift but can deliver a great Maze no problem?! Good stuff.

A 12 minute Gin is next. It stays type 1 and basically is just a really good rock and roll machine, along the lines of that Wolfman. Maybe not essential but its strong.

The set closes with a roaring Rock and Roll. Definitely an inspired choice, this one, again, is just excellent.

All in all, this was a weird set. It took a bit to get going - its not until ER that they sound awake. There are some flubs and dragging tempos but also lots of rocking from Wolfman through the end. Even still, the whole thing seems to have this ever so slightly lukewarm vibe - lots of really good stuff but almost nothing is truly MUST HEAR (though Wolf comes closest).

Id say Grab Wolf for sure and Maze, Gin and RnR are all worth a listen. 

Set 2

Set 2 gets off to a bad start. Mike's is too short, though at least the jamming is great. Unfortunately the ending riffage is somehow totally botched. Ugh.

Hydro sounds pretty good aside from a small flub or two but the ending - most awkward ending ever since we get no Weekapaug!

And awkwardly into Carini we go!

The next while is just weird in a bad way. Carini is pretty good, developing a nice and gooey, kinda funky jam. Unfortunately, through credit where credit is due, Trey leads them flawlessly into Blaze On.

Blaze On does not jam, but it sounds interesting as they keep the gooeyness of Carini going throughout. Huh.

Then, instead of any jam whatsoever, Trey leads us again into a 14 minute Golden Age. The jam is good but the song itself drags. Thankfully the jam is pretty good, going into a cool rhythmic type 2. The best part though is the absolutely ridiculous segue into The Howling. Holy crap batman that segur was SICK!

The fun continues with a jammed out Howling that I would call must hear. Not much to say - its great.

Out of Howling and into Wave. Wave delivers a really good type 1 reading but ends even more awkwardly than Hydrogen did! Ugh!

The set ends on a high note with a (again, phrase of the night....) really good Hood. Some "extraness" about it for sure with nice bluesy jamming. The only part that sucks is how short the outro jam is!!!

Inspired encore of Bouncing, NICU and Slave. All are really good, lol, but nothing special.

Man, this was a frustrating show!!! Most of it was REALLY GOOD but they struggled majorly with crossing from really good into downright excellent.

The whole Carini>Blaze>GA>Howling is totally worth checking out for the amazing segues, but id say GA and Howling are the only must hears of the set (and thats a "weak" must hear at that)

I dont know what was wrong with this show - the energy was definitely there throughout, but at the same time the whole had this feeling of "this IS really good, but I've heard this exact same version a million times elsewhere".

Something like that. Love the setlist but this show was just....I didnt jive with it.