You could call me a new fan of the band- I jumped on the wagon when dripping tap was released as a single- This was my second show, the first being the October 2022 show they played at the radius (although I can't say I was able to zone in on that one at the time, because I was in and out, helping a friend set up a pizza party for the band after the show, but that's another story). I am a huge Phish fan and jam band fan, and I appreciate gizz for being unique in their own ways. All of that being said, this show blew me away! They jammed way harder than I remember them playing at the radius... It's funny because prior to the band taking the stage, I recall talking to a stranger who was adamant that they are not a jam band. After streaming some of the RR shows and witnessing the music that took place this evening, if you can't call these guys a jam band, then I don't know what is. Again, since I'm pretty new to all this, relatively speaking, I am very curious if the level of jammage taking place this tour is commonplace or not- please let me know either way.
Show started out with Pleura and O.N.E, which I was very happy to discover when I got home, are played in opposite order on LW- an album I am yet to dive into, but one of my friends at the show is in love with. Shout out to Woo-Woo. I introduced this skeptical bastard to their music and has latched on to the teet like none other. I fear we will soon lose him to a culture of jam that he has so relegated for years. Considering he has had as much time as me to fall in love, his grasp of their catalog is impressively deep. Anyways, these songs fucked hard and was excited to listen to the studio versions when I got home. Not much jamming happening in these two but as straightforward songs, they grabbed my attention.
They pulled a seemingly random fan up on stage to introduce Nuclear Fusion, and we all giggled at the randomness of it all. Confirmed later on the stream, as the lucky gentleman was right next to the streamer as he was pulled up. Extra shout out to Kobayashi Streamus-- you're a fucking lege, mate. Keep up the work it's greatly appreciated.
Minimum Brain Size grabbed my attention like Plura and O.N.E, not necessarily for how deep it went as a jam, but it's just a song that crushes and is exciting to experience live without much prior knowledge of it. And that was kind of the theme of the night! having seen 100's of jam band shows, tonight was like experiencing the genre for the first time all over again!!!! I went from being like, "I know this!" to, "Wait what the fuck is this?" to "I'm scared and confused" to "idgaf this music is sooooooo glonky it tickles my insides". I was witnessing myself falling deeply in love.
Metal sandwich time!!! Gaia > Motor Spirit > Great Chain of Being > Gaia blew me away. Again I'm familiar with this type of jammery, but being able to relive what it feels like to be lost in these moments was so frickin exhilarating, plus discovering GCOB is very exciting, and cannot wait to learn more about Gumboot Soup. Very Metal, very jammy, very cool.
Witchcraft, Satan Speeds Up, and Trapdoor were a mix of all of the above for me. Metally jammy goodness, the likes of which no other band that I know of can do. Their metal is sooooo demonic, I can't help but giggle and grin with nervous glee (I'm mostly nervous these are actual demonic incantations/witchcraft and they're casting a literal spell). Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed being lost in this stretch, but then...
The River went straight up type II. Apparently, the band was at the Dead and Co show the night before and seemed to have been influenced? Again, idk because I'm such a baby gizzard, but unless this type of jammage is commonplace for them, they gave us something special. At one point I had turned to a friend when I thought they were transitioning into another song, saying this sounds super Dead-y. Seems like they may have actually covered Drums>Space?? Regardless, this river ran deeeeeeep. I found myself rocking the fuck out as hard as I have at any other show. These guys are keeping me dancing deep in the set and dancing hard. I still hate dancing...
Evil Death Roll was another deep jam that was equally as interesting and boogy worthy and blew me away as well. These two jams are worth many relistens, and feel so lucky that I have another community that rivals the other greats in terms of collecting and sharing live music. (Thank you!!!!)
Besides Gaia and Trapdoor, Magma and Boogieman Sam were the only songs I really knew tonight. Magma also went deep and evil, although pretty much stayed type I. Incredible metal build and Cavs was hammering the 32nd note fills for like 32 measures, and really tied up a wonderful build with explosive energy. Boogieman sam was a nice and much-needed cool down, and included Dripping Tap tease to end the show.
This was an amazing show, but tough to rate given my lack of context of what a typical show is like. I'm giving it 4 ⭐️... for now
See yall slizzards tomizzle!!!!