7 23 25 Forest Hills
Set 1
A Free opener again - didn't we just have one a few shows ago?!
Unfortunately, I thought this one was rather bland and sluggish. Not
particularly great.
Thankfully things pick RIGHT the F up BOTT. A raging type 1 reading, it
feels extra colorful with nice Leslie and wah playing. Not must hear but
definitely highlight worthy!
Apply the same to the following Theme. A firmly ordinary type 1 version,
the likes of which youve heard hundreds of before, but like BOTT, its
very...powerful and weighty. Nothing special, it just has a great vibe
about it. Check it out.
And then, BAM!! OUTTA NOWHERE!! 15 minute hose explosion Cities! 
A terrific, terrific reading across the board. The extra funkiness is
properly jammed out, slowly morphing into the expected bliss rocking.
But they slowly keep turning the heat knob higher and higher and higher.
Eventually you reach a point where the jam just EXPLODES and
the hose rains down from above. The peakage on this is friggin magical,
honestly maybe even stronger than the Carini from last night. Some
definite x factor on this bad boy. MUST HEAR!!!
Thank God that wasn't just a fluke - from here the rest of the set
ascends to the freaking sky. The following Divided Sky is extra in the
best possible way. It feels like the paws goes on forever and the crowd
is just erupting. The song is extra high energy and all full of extra
oomph, tight playing and all. This version is an absolute beast, maybe even topping my beloved version from Charleston. Must hear!!!
After that, we get a NUCLEAR FRIGGIN BOMB reading of Timber. Yes,
this song is always hot and this year has delivered multiple great
versions, but honestly, no exaggeration, I think this version tops them
all as well! It's just OVER THE TOP fire and power. Absolutely CRUSHING! Another true must here!!!
"But wait, there's more!!!!"
And into a 17 minute Ether Edge we go!!! Ok.... 
and Good golly Miss Molly what a version it is. There have been
multiple jammed-out versions (surprisingly, of all songs), and while I
don't know if this tops them, it's definitely in League with the best of
them. This one stays firmly quote on quote extended type 1 raging.
Basically it's Cities on steroids. If you enjoy the pedal to the metal jamming style of 2023, this will be YOUR jam. All day. The boys just FLOOR IT and crush us to bits. Of course it's must hear, duh!
The set ends on a nicer and more calm note with The Squirming Coil. Not much to say, it's a fine version.
All in all, HOLY FREAKING CRAP WHAT WAS THAT SET!!!! Honestly,
that run of Cities through Ether was definitely as strong or strong then
some actual second sets I've heard. And you know what?? That run might
have just been as good as the sequence of the second set of night one.
Cities, Divided Sky, Timber, Ether Edge...Make sure you wear your flame retardant clothing to this set...
Set 2
Set two starts on an amazing note with Punch>Ghost. Punch is another
tight and slick version from this year, this one feeling even tighter
and more concise, in a good way, then others. The intro jamming is
shorter but oh so perfect. And the song is flawless basically. The best
part is the incredible outro where the song kind of does a hazy fade out
into Ghost.
The outro is one of the sickest mother freaking segues I've ever
heard in my life. No, seriously, THAT WAS SO BADASS YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
HOLY MOLY THAT WAS SICK!!!
Even sicker is this incredible 16 minute version of Ghost!!! Quickly
going type 2 around the 8-minute mark, the jam starts to slow into a
heavier more stomping kind of flow. Trey is inserting robo wall bursts
and the band is flittering back and forth between dark and light,
teetering on the edge but unsure whether to jump off or not. It's
incredibly sick and last until about the 12 minute mark. Just all kinds
of nasty and gnarly Godzilla stomping awesomeness. Somewhere around 12
minute mark they switch slowly back into rock mode and take us on into
the sky. X Factor Magic at its absolute finest.
Keeping the insanity going, we move on into a 15 minute Wave of Hope. An
absolutely incredible rendition, it feels like a 30 minute journey
instead. Raging like a nuclear bomb, like a heat-seeking missile, until
about the 12 minute mark. From there we just descend into the black hole
vortex of Doom. From there the song goes full blown Fuego meltdown
deconstruction mode. A glorious mess of dying robot sounds and wormhole
vortex destruction. HOLD ON TO YOUR SPACE SUITS WE'RE GOING INTO THE WORMHOLE!!!!
And oh so perfectly, you can hear it coming from 10 miles away, out of
screaming of that dying star, comes Whats The Use. Now, look, you and I
both know that almost every version is identical, and you're lying to me
if you tell me you can really tell them apart, but add this to the list
of "oh my God this is so good I've never heard one this good" list of
versions of this song. And good god did it work spectacularly coming out
of that Wave, really. Damn.
My God what even is this?! This is blowing my mind this is CRUSHING!!!
"BUT WAIT, THERES MORE!!!!!"
Just when you think that there's nothing else to give, we get a spacey,
hazy cloud of a 20 minute type 2 Ruby Waves!!! No seriously, there is no
type 1 in this. It immediately goes type 2, morphing into this hazy
kind of waaasssshhhhh of sound. A completely textural kind of soundscape
type of jam. Not really any proper soloing if you will, just one giant
cloud of psychedelic bliss. One of the most unique versions I've ever
heard and definitely another case of x Factor magic for the night. Must
hear, all day long. Its sick.
From here the big hitters come to a close and the show basically rages to a normal conclusion.
Numberline and Character Zero end the set, with Character Zero honestly
reaching must hear status, imo. Trey just goes banana sandwich on this
sucker abusing his poor old wall pedal to the fullest. This is the
definition of an a+ type 1 reading. Nuclear!
Very fun encore of Sneaking Sally, Wilson and Rocky Top. Sneaking Sally
is worth a listen as well, basically acting as C Zero Vol. 2. Just
straight funky fire!!!
All in all, while I was blown away by night one, holy moly in hindsight night one has NOTHING on night 2!!
Currently the show sits at a 4.1 rating, which I think is pretty
ridiculous. Hands down this is at least a 4.3 or 4.4 level show, again,
imo. And again in hindsight, haven't heard this monster gig now, I must
downgrade night one to somewhere around a 4.0. This second set...man. HEAVY HITTER AFTER HEAVY HITTER AFTER HEAVY HITTER!!!
Punch>Ghost
Wave of Hope
Whats the Use
Ruby Waves
All are downright spectacular readings with tons of proper type 2 magic
throughout. There is basically no meandering Bliss Rock in this show.
And thank God for it. I thought the show was so strong I would probably put it in the top
three or four of the entire tour. Maybe. Top five for certain (of the
shows I've heard so far!!!!!)
Damn ....
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