Now I’m as jaded as the next twenty-year veteran but I’ve got to give this show some love! Especially the first set. I’ve been listening to all the shows in order for the whole tour and after reading the reviews posted here I had to say something in its defense. This was the eleventh show of the second leg of summer tour; second to last show and the boys are close to home and ready for a two-month break.

Sounds like they forgot the ending to the Crowd Control opener, which was a good song choice to me but not great. KDF is one of my favorite new Joy songs and this one rocks! No complaints from me on this one. Fish does show some weakness on Sloth but overall its good. Beauty is probably not totally loved by the community but this one is pretty solid if you give it a chance. Axilla rocks plain and simple, not the tightest one I’ve heard but good. Then a double shot of more old school songs, which I love, with a decent Foam and a rare Esther. Both songs are what I would call rusty gold, rusty playing on golden songs. Trey has some minor problems in Foam and Mike in Esther. A double shot of Fishman songs! ?? Complete with stage banter from Trey and Fish, which I love to hear. Ha Ha Ha is funny and rocking, and then you get the high-energy debut of Party Time. It sounds like the boys are having fun. More funny stage banter as a decent Tube is played by request as you can hear the crowd yelling for it as far back as Esther. Again, it’s good but not great. Now I think my favorite new Joy era song is Stealing Time and this one doesn’t disappoint, it just rocks! A second Page song in the first set is kind of rare with a solid Strange Design. Not bad and I don’t mind hearing this one. The following complaining is just me being a jaded vet, but getting TTE’d to end your first set is cruel at best, and it happened to me a couple of times in 2009. I openly don’t like this song. Even from a purely musical standpoint, this version is sloppy all over the middle. BUT! It doesn’t diminish how solid I thought the first set actually was, at least to my ears anyways...

I do concede that this is a loose, lackluster Tweezer to open the second set. It was not very tight at all to me. Taste was ok, again not great but a pretty good jam. Trey repeats the lyrics to open an average Alaska. And you can hear Page say, “Sing it a third time!” Then even more stage banter from Trey afterwards. Another song I openly dislike is Let Me Lie, and now I’m feeling a little more sympathy for the other reviewers, especially for those who were there. Blah! 46 Days is a good redemption song after that. This one has a good long jam that goes through a few different phases but kind of ends abruptly. Another lead vocal part for Page tonight as he croons a rare Sweet Nuthin’ which was pretty well played. I have not been impressed by 2009 Hood’s and this one is no exception. The playing is not that tight through the composed middle section but the jam is nice at the end and it’s been a good, solid set closer for years.

GTBT gets the encore spot tonight and this one has some messy parts from Trey but Page gets one more chance to shine on the last lead vocal, overall it rocks, as usual. The expected Tweeprise follows to send everyone home with a smile.

I’m going to give this show four stars, only to up the average score, but in my heart I know it should only get three stars at best. It’s a very controlled Page and Trey heavy show. Fish is pretty solid, as usual, and Mike just seems like he’s along for the ride tonight.

I would like to expand the highlights list to include: KDF, Beauty, Party Time’s debut, and Stealing Time to go along with the aforementioned 46 Days.