I love stepping away from the catalog long enough to forget how powerful these guys were in their prime.

The by-the-numbers first set it anything but, with hot versions of Llama, Foam and Stash. Check out Trey's Van Halenesque crescendo in Stash!

Antelope, while getting off to a slow start, is a vicious frenzy by conclusion. Trey in particular seems hell-bent on exploiting his 'Doc, over and over, Gordon increasingly left frustrated by the continual build. It pays off.

I should mention that the sound quality of the recording I've grabbed is pristine, so clear you can hear Trey's weird little mouthing's during Reba. And this Reba wastes no time in blasting the second set right into the stratosphere. The first few minutes of the jam cement this as best of the year, Trey and Mike speaking in tongues from the same mouth, Fish exploding all over his toms and Page, well, being Page.

There's some strange things afoot with the BBFCFM (it clocks in at over 11 minutes long). The ridiculously long pause elicits numerous shouts and requests from the crowd, my favorite being "Free James Brown!" Fish indicates the Trey and Mike are going to start doing something illegal with the microphones, then begins the count-in in the Count's voice (Sesame Street). Brilliant.

When Trey finally realizes he's supposed to count back in, he gives a hilarious laugh and apologizes to everyone. This prompts some great banter.

"You thought that was avant-garde..."

FREE JAMES BROWN!