, attached to 1998-10-29

Review by JesusFreak

JesusFreak This was my very first show. It's hard to put into words how much of a surreal heavenly experience it was. Every moment was magic. The band was on fire on this night, their playing was so tight. This show had all the energy of a tour opener, but without any of the rust. The band was already in tip-top form, as they had been playing a lot of random gigs in the weeks leading up to this tour...

Set 1 - Julius is flawless, perfect. From that point on, I would never be the same. On paper, Roggae seems strange in the 2nd spot of the opening set, but it truly worked well on this night, in the intimate beautiful setting of the LA Greek. The band then changes gears lightning fast with Llama. This Llama rages pretty hard and is honestly a little scary. I think it sounds how insanity probably feels. Then it's right back to beautiful music again, with Limb by Limb. It's a lovely version with a really cool ending, in which Trey goads Fish to keep going until he really goes all out with the drumming finale. The 2 acoustic songs are really great, and I think it's safe to say that everyone loves both Driver & Sleep. All the banter between the band members in this set was a really special memory for me, given that it was my first experience seeing this band live. The whole show had such an intimate feel to it. Frankie Says was haunting and cool, and was followed by a Birds of a Feather that is furious and totally flawless. An A+ version of Birds. McGrupp is gorgeous, and Page takes this one on a bit of a journey, before a rip-roaring Zero punctuates the set.

Set 2 - Even to this day, I still feel this is one of the best sets of music I've ever heard the band play. I return to these tapes often. Possum is good for sure, but the meat of this set really begins with Moma. This Moma is absolute butter. So smooth, so creamy, I just wanna spread it all over my toast. The Reba that follows is an exceptionally rare type II version that launches into outer space before hard rocking its way back to Earth and transitioning flawlessly into Walk Away. Of course, at that time, I didn't know it was the first Walk Away since 5/7/94, but it's pretty cool knowing that now. Trey absolutely shreds this Walk Away jam, and then the band launches seamlessly into Simple. The transition from Walk Away>Simple is one of the most seamless transitions I've ever heard the band make. It's like the 2 songs became one on that night. Simple peters out gorgeously into the most hauntingly intimate version of Albuquerque I've ever heard. This Albuquerque is perfectly placed, as is the Bowie that follows. I love this Bowie. Like so much of this set, this Bowie is haunting and beautiful, and Trey absolutely shreds it. Then, after a set like this one, it only made sense for the band to come out for the encore and play another hauntingly beautiful tune. Something was exactly that, flawless, haunting, beautiful, and unexpected.

Looking back on that night, I remember sitting there after the encore was over, with my jaw dropped and my mind blown. My buddy and I just sat there wide-eyed in silence for a few minutes before we eventually stood up to depart. I had never heard music like that before. This show definitely changed my life.


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