R5/W08: 11-15-1996 Kiel Center, St. Louis, MO

[blatboom]

Set I:

Wilson - cool slide show I guess takes the place of some missing footage in the very beginning.  Mike's outfit, lol.  same thing he's wearing on 12/6/96.  You just gotta love watching Trey work a room.  oh yeah, the Wilson rocked.

Divided Sky - Tight playing at the start with a nice long pause...I can't wait to hear Trey play this song again with something resembling this tone.  I like the wide shots the best, wish we could see more of the light rig and less of the crowd (not complaining!)  The ending seemed a little off, but still a rocking Sky.  Trey with the fist pump afterward.

Bouncing - it looks like Fish is trying to get something adjusted by the monitor man.  Lights are cool during Bouncin'

Character Zer0 - so much better when it's not an inevitable closer IMo.  still got way overplayed, but it was sorta new here with a different structure than the latter versions

PYITE - love the beat during the opening section.  Nice to see the Landlady dance.  The cameraman is cutting the heads off!  That was sort of a rough PYITE actually

Prince Caspian - nice intro right here.  Trey's really strumming those chords.  CK is cutting loose on the lights a bit on this one.  Love the tones Trey is using in the jam.

Ginseng - love it!  one of my faves in the bluegrass arsenal.  the pants are dazzling me!

Train Song - a couple Mike tunes back to back.  I dig Train Song a lot.

Chalk Dust - time to get everybody moving again.  Mike's so solid.  even in '96 before he supposedly had his big coming out party, he's Mr. Reliable.  Cool lighting when the jam kicks off.  Like the full arena shot during one of the peaks.  Killer Chalkdust, probably my favorite thing in the set from a visual and aural sense..

Taste - Trey kicks into this right out of Chalkdust.  4th BB song of the set.  Trey pumping his fist after those big chords.  More cool lighting.  Nothing too crazy here, but Taste was just getting settled in it's final incarnation.  Still a solid rendition with high energy.

Cavern - love Cavern.  I'm never sorry to hear them kick into this to close a set unlike so many of their other surefire closers. 


Solid 11 song set.  Nothing was out of this world, but the last 3 numbers rocked which is a great way to head into setbreak.


Set II:

Makisupa - trippy beginning.  the Keil Center looks mighty hazey.  "stink kind"  Some killer playing out of Page.  the cameraman appears to be twirling at the end..

>Maze - money segue--this pairing works well together.  like the "searchlights" look from CK.  more killer Page, Trey's freaking out. the lights!!

McGrupp - sweeet.  this is definitely one of the songs I wish I had gotten to see and hopefully I'll get to now..they seem to be right on with this one.  The accompanying light show is impressive.

Melt - love a mid-set Melt.  nice jam..it's crazy how Trey just spots people and focuses on them.  Fish is an animal btw...more great lights, they appear to be much more of a factor this set, maybe it's just me..I've said it before and I'll say it many more times:  I love the Split outro.

MWSIY>Malkenu - lovely music>zany hebrewness

>My Mind's - they forego going back into TMWSIY...this song's alright.  It definitely scores big for it's M quotient.

Mike's - wonder how many people had caught on by now.  forgot all about the Tramps for Mike's Song...these dudes are nuts, plain and simple.  meanwhile this jam is completely sinister.  cue the FOG!  very nice sound to the jam...builds to quite a peak.  killer Mike's

Monkey, Sleeping - not one of my faves.  I think I liked it at one point, don't know when it turned for me.  I can tolerate it here.  not sure if I've seen Trey and Mike turn and bow their heads when Fish sings before  :lol:

Mean Mr. Mustard - "myself, Mike, Moses over there, Mr. McConnel over there...and we also wanna thank Mimi"  lol.  John Popper makes his entrance and the crowd goes wild

>Weekapaug - Popper starts ripping it up when this one kicks off.  Trey starts to play off of him, but Popper's pretty loud in the mix so it's hard to hear...only 1 verse to this Paug but it was a fun one.

Encore:

Funky Bitch - more Popper.  great song to go out on.  Some good Trey/Popper interaction.  I'm sorta meh when it comes to the harmonica tbh...still it was a fun Bitch and perfect capper to the show.


Wow. I loved this.  First set started out just OK but with great songs, but really ended with a bang.  The second set was where it was at for me though.  All the M songs were great.  Mike's held the jam of the night, but there wasn't much else besides that in the way of big jams, just a lot of fun and solid playing.

Thanks so much for putting your pick out this way August.  It means a lot to me to get my hands on any show on video and this one's a winner.  A.

[ytowndan]

Wilson - Gets the crowd moving. 

Divided Sky - A practically flawless version.  Everyone was on fire.  Beautiful ending as well. 

Bouncin - Cool down. 

Character Zero - Not a big fan, but it picks things up energy wise. 

PYITE - I prefer this one in the opening slot, but I'll take it anywhere in the first set.  Played well. 

Caspian - This one has grown on me a lot in the last year, or so.  Solid version.

Ginseng - Some bluegrass for your ass! 

Train Song - Pretty standard.

Chalkdust - Great energy and well played.  There's a real nice peak around 5:20. 

Taste - Sometimes I really like this tune, and sometimes I can't wait for it to be over.  Guess it depends on my mood.  This particular one is pretty good.  It's a shorter one, but it has a nice flow from start to finish, and you can tell that Trey is really into it. 

Cavern - Good way to cap it off. 




Makisupa - I'll take a Makisupa opener any day!  Some funky Page stuff here.  Works its way nicely into....

Maze - Really great energy here.  Nice Page solo, and Trey's section was nuts.  Great peak.  Really enjoyed the lights here. 

McGrupp - Great version.  Beautiful Page section, and everyone seemed real "on". 

Melt - Some nice tension in the jam.  Great work by CK5 as well. 

TMWSIY > Alvenu - Good stuff.  Played very well I thought. 

MMGAMOIO - Standard.  Some more bluegrass. 

Mike's - The meat of this set.  Nice tramp section.  I really dig how it went so far out, and came right back into the theme.  Great energetic version. 

Monkey - A nice breather after that. 

Mean Mr. Mustard - Played very well.  Popper made the perfect entrance! 

Weekapaug - Popper madness!!!  He's probably one of my favorite guests.  Great way to end a great set.

Funky Bitch - Great encore with some more Popper action!   


Big thanks again to Auggie for hooking it up with the DVD.  I had never seen this one before.  Overall this was a very solid show.  The first set was well played, but there was nothing "special" about it.  The second set brought some HEAT!!!  Highlights for me were Mike's, Maze, Melt, Week and Mike's pants. 

Solid A. 

[blastoplast]

Aren't Mike's pants always a highlight?