, attached to 1997-12-12

Review by n00b100

n00b100 The first set actually has some real treats, including an opening Funky Bitch -> 2001 one-two punch that gets the show off to a good start (especially the Bitch, which lives up to its name). The rest of the set can't really live up to that start, although the Tweezer has a laid-back funk jam that slows down and opens up at the end for some really nice major chord jamming (to differentiate it from all the other Tweezer laid-back funk jams, I suppose).

The second set has what looks like a really pedestrian setlist, but rises above that handicap in fine Fall '97 fashion. Saw It Again (much like Carini tends to) rumbles and snarls and then morphs into a slower jam that lets Trey abuse his guitar during the solo. The jam then cools out, almost ambient style, before Piper rises out of the ashes. And this Piper is a upper percentile version, as the Piper jam gets fast and furious (you can hear Mike's bass, somewhat muddy in the AUD version, working double time), then starts peeling off layers and goes double time for a hot minute, then shifts back into hard rocking mode, *then* cools down and lets Page drive the car, THEN rips back into another ferocious jam before finally relaxing and heading into Swept Away. There's a lot going on in this Piper, and it should be heard to be believed; it's a fine companion to the beloved 7/6/98 version. Swept Away/Steep are a nice breather for both band and audience...and then they go into Prince Caspian.

Caspian is usually not my first choice for second set jam vehicle, but (like 9/1/12) it actually works out, as Caspian's usual jam leads into a gigantic big-rock-arena freakout and a Llama-style rockfest, but with more facets than Llama tends to have; much like the previous Piper jam, the group modulates the jam's energy between Llama-esque machine gun fire and rein-back-the-stallions slow burning, before a chilled out finale that mixes guitar noise and moody space. And from this space comes a segue directly into Izabella; no, it's not 12/6's segue (what is???), but it'll do in a pinch and Izabella is as awesome as it always is (plus Trey remembers more lyrics!). And the encore brings some heat, too, especially a quicksilver Antelope that maps no new terrain but closes out the show in fine fashion. This may not be in the upper echelon of Fall '97 sets, but it has a big must-hear jam, which alone makes it worth a download.


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