2022-12-31 New York City, NY

 12 31 22 New York

And so it finally comes to an end...

Set 1

14 minute Tweezer to open! And its absolutely fantastic!!! X Factor all over. The usual high energy funk gives way to reflective melodic playing. Very cool Leslie playing. Super slowly they spend their time working it skyward, culminating in a massive and lengthy peak section. This Tweezer is a little BEAST!! Must hear!!

The fun continues with a smashing Halley>SYSF combo. Both are super high energy and absolutely COOK. Total rocking! Halleys jam somehow reaches a natural point where they do a blinl and youll miss it spectacular segue into SYSF. Seriously, the segue was NUTS!!!! SYSF rocks to high heavens, eventually going type 2 and spending several excellent minutes slowly deconstructing into an abyssal "bottom of the ocean" kind of jam, winding to a close.

That duo was SO SICK! MUST HEAR!

Just as good is Rift!!! Again, massively high energy, they actually PRACTICED IT! It sounds terrific, tight, and nailed to the bone! Trey completely nails his parts and, again, this is so damn good I gotta call it must hear. Its essential perfect!! Wow!!

After a rocking Cavern, Trip rips back into a standalone Tweezer jam. Nice and lengthy at 6 minutes, hard funk turns into melodic robo bliss rock before finally hazing out into a badly placed, momentum killing Shade.

Good version as always but it definitely deflates things a bit.

Thankfully the set concludes on a high note with an "excellent but not must hear" Mikes Groove. Mikes in particular is really strong. Borderlin muse hear for that - it cooks!!! If only it was longer!

All in all this was a great first set! It cant compare to 12 29 or 12 30 but on its own its strong, pretty much from start to finish.

Honestly, remove Cavern and the set straight through that Tweezer jam is must hear with special notice to Mikes Song as well.

Good stuff!   

Set 2

The 2nd set opens with a high energy combo of SANTOS into 2001. Neither are noteworthy but they are good picks to get us up and rocking.

Up next is a 12 minute Kill Devil Falls. Heck yes! The song is high energy but the jam begins really laid back and chill for a long while. Slowly it kinda starts to build back rocking energy bit by bit. Unfortunately it never lifts off and just slides downwards into chill bliss. There is a BRIEF 20 seconds or so where it flirts with darkness and even the power drill comes out! All that being said, this jam never feels aimless. Its completely CHILL but its chill with a purpose! They are absolutely leaning hard into this "vibe" just building this landscape. I normally hate excessive chill bliss but this is something different and inspired, flowing like a river from start to finish. Even the reintroduction of KDF at the end is flawless! Id say there is good X Factor on this and im calling it must hear!

The set continues with Mercury, a measley 7 minute rendition....and boy does sucker sound LAID BACK like an early 90s west coast hiphop album. The vibe is fantastic. I mean its nothing you need to purposely seek out, but its really nice while its here.

Out of Mercury and into a 10 minute Light. Initial rocking gives way to awesome way pedal porno funk around the 6 minute mark. Type 2 here we come! The funk slowly gives way to soaring, high energy rocking. Welcome to Peakville! This sucker just burns, yo!! Must hear - this Light is friggin AWESOME!!!

Set 2 concludes with excellent versions of Waste, Drift and Numberline (obvious nod to the whole 40th thing). All 3 feel imbued with extra passion and emotions. None are particularly hot, but they all feel like there is genuine "weight" behind them. Very chill, but also just powerful. Good stuff for sure.

All in all, set 2 was pretty enjoyable! KDF and Light are both must hear. The whole traded the energy of set 1 for a uniquely laid back vibe. Not sleepy or low energy, just really relaxed in an excessively comfortable way, like sinking into a nice couch or something.

Very good stuff, if not amazing. Definitely some emotional heft to it, imo. 

Set 3

The set opens with a wild medley for about half an hour of a bunch of different songs, weaving in and out of each other, similar to the zaniness of 8/7/21 set 2. Not much to say, you gotta hear. Its super FUN and oh so Phishy! Great gag idea, the Time Machine!

Surprisingly it works better as a listen than you might expect. Its pretty awesome. The BoRhap>Jungle Boogie is amazing and special shoutouts to the Interntional Meatstick from 2010!

A truly ripping Carini (no, for real!) gives way to a fun reading of New York New York. Trey then rips back into a Tweezer jam. The jam is less successful than the one in set 1 and he axes it for Caspian.

Caspian tries really hard, spending 4 whole minutes attempting to go deep and getting nowhere.

Infinitely better is the following Crosseyed>Piper. Crosseyed goes into some cool, melodic introspection like KDF while Piper is an unbelievable nuclear bomb (no, for real!). This duo is absolutely must hear.

Following the obligatory ALBTD, First Tube closes the set in rocking manner.

An emotional Show of Life into Tweeprize is the perfect encore to wrap up 2022....


All in all, another pretty dang enjoyable set! The Time Machine Medley is must hear, as is the Crosseyed>Piper, with special shoutouts to that Carini!!

I was pleasantly surprised how strong this show was MUSICALLY. I was really prepared for the usual New Years "lets get through this and get to the gag" kinda thing. But the music was passionate, energetic and emotional throughout.

A really, really good show!