Yet ANOTHER day home early due to rain, so I continue 2021 with 10/22 Phoenix...

10/22/21 Phoenix, AZ

Set 1

Julius - Excellent version to open. Strong enough to warrant a highlight. Very long, almost 10 minutes in length and full of energy tonight with that chill 2021 flavor undercutting it a tad bit. It's like a laid-back heat on this sucker. Great version, seriously!!!

Martian Monster - THIS IS AWESOME!!!! Like Julius, that chill 2021 vibe adds to this, giving this MM a uniquely laid-back and aquatic type of vibe about it. No face melting, just straight bliss paradise. I've never heard another like it and it's fantastic! Must hear!

>Soul Planet - Trey basically ripcorded that MM but it's ok because....18 minute Soul Planet!!! The jam begins immediately around the 3 minute mark! Trey doing those delay slashes before Fishman amps up the tempo with a strong rat-a-tat-tat groove. Mike is laying it down all over this while Trey lays back and lets Page solo. This soon evolves into Page on the piano while Trey is doing a blissful melodic motif.
---Then suddenly, around 7:45, the bliss subsides for a darker tone. Fishman is still going 1000mph on the drums and Trey is doing lots of great noodle work. Page is pounding the piano, playing off of Trey. This is a jam on a mission! Around 9 minutes, subtle robo FX start to appear, influencing the direction of the jam. Things are dark and kinda eerie. Fishman still blazing, Trey picks up the heat himself and starts ripping it up while Page goes absolutely ballistic on the piano. This is like a guided, heat-seeking missile on it's way to a deadly impact!!!
---Holy crap check out that Robo-delay peak around the 11 minute mark!!!!! Avoiding the inevitable impact and explosion, somehow the jam dies right down to a hazy blissfulness by the 12:30 mark. Synthesizers and robo FX are making their mark. This jam doesn't know what it wants to be, but I'm along for the ride!!! This lasts a while until around the 14:30 point when Trey returns to a more natural sound and the jam starts another slow build to a (hopefully) peak section. For sure, this time.
---By 16:30, the synths are blaring, the jam is shooting skywards, and the proverbial nuclear bomb is in the process of dropping. THIS IS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!!! NUCLEAR ROBOT EXPLOSION!!!!! X FACTOR SOUL PLANET FRIGGIN MAGIC!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST WHAT IS GOING ON!!!! THIS IS MINDBLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DUDE. DUDE......Sure it wasn't the Shoreline version, but it ended up damn well being the next best thing!

>My Friend My Friend - Genuine segue. How about that, eh?! Sure it's insane and spooky and scary, but after that Soul Planet it's a positive let down, lol.

Bouncing Around the Room - Is BATR. Finally some relief from all the grinding insanity!

Scent of a Mule - Yay! The rare Mule makes an appearance!

More - Is More. Very odd set placement that doesn't do it any favors. Good version but do I really need to highlight this? I mean, it's a fine version, but what version ain't?

>Ghost - And just as you think the set is done for, they whip out a 15 minute Ghost. Hell yes. A wonderful bliss-rager. Light on the funk, but it delivers in every other way. Not exactly must hear, but still a wonderful little Ghost. This is fantastic, there just isn't very much to actually say about it. It gets in it's "lane" and rides that road hard. A+++ little Ghost! It's basically 15 full-throttle minutes of blissful exuberance in the best way! DON'T SLEEP ON THIS GHOST! Terrific peak with a wonderful Julius reprise to tie it all together!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!

All in all...wow. Not perfect from start to finish, but there were multiple MAJOR moments in this set!!! Soul Planet and Ghost are hands-down must hear X Factor material, and the opening Julius and Martian Monster more than pack a punch. After Soul Planet the guys seem a little lost for how to one-up themselves and the set flounders, but it's never less than enjoyable. And HOLY CRAP THAT GHOST PEAK!

Great set, if slightly flawed!

Set 2

Loving Cup - Loving Cup to open a 2nd set?! That's new and exciting! Even better? It's hotter than the sun. Killer version! I mean, it's as hot as any other Loving Cup, so you know it's great! I probably don't truly need to highlight it, but know that it's another strong one!

Mike's Song - As with Julius and MM, the "2021 Chill Vibe" is present in full force on this. Not an all-timer or anything, but a very nice little version with some serious GROOVE (as it always should have!). You won't remember this tomorrow, but enjoy it while it's playing today.

>I Am Hydrogen - Great to get, rare as ever. Doesn't really need to be highlighted.

>Weekapaug Groove - Very nice and chill. See Loving Cup - a fine version that does the job but nothing to get overly excited about.

Everything's Right - Hell yes, a 26 minute version?! This better be great! The song itself is extra hot and loaded with an energy unusual for 2021 (you know what I mean). The jam begins and immediately drops into a darker kind of chill zone. Fishman keeping rhythm while Trey quietly does melodic noodles on top, Page answering Trey directly with his keys. This is absolutely wonderful, seriously.
---Around the 9 minute mark, the chill remains, but Fishman introduces a more driving rhythm. Trey finally breaks from the "noodling" around 10 minutes and the jam moves into a feel good area, more upbeat aquatic keys and nice melodic leads. The first signs of robo FX come around the 12:20 mark. Trey jumps on the robo honker and Page moves to the synthesizers. ---Things are getting dark again....The guys are being extremely patient, but never lacking for direction - THIS IS WHAT PERFECT JAMMING SOUNDS LIKE!!! Everyone doing their thing, moving the jam naturally, but never too quickly or impatiently!!!!
---By the 16 minute point, the jam is moving upwards once more, slowly becoming more upbeat without actually going into bliss. Trey is doing these sustained bends while Page is playing classy and suave over on the piano. Then, out of friggin nowhere, at 16:39, the rhythm changes again into something much more uptempo!!!!! The blaring synths come back out to play while Trey is using the robowah to great effect.
---THIS IS FRIGGIN INCREDIBLE!!! Seriously, this jam is SO good!!!!!!! On .NET, they say this section sounds like a jam that could have risen out of a Chalkdust Torture, and that is exactly correct. Then at 20:40 something changes once more and the jam moves into a genuinely blissful and downright cheery section! This is fantastic! Around the 24 minute mark, the blissful rock turns into a slightly latin, Twist-style groove before suddenly dropping out into a jazzy outro. The jam literally just fades out in the weirdest way. Killer....

WOW! Great jam! Doesn't top the Ruby Waves, but it comes close! A top 10 or 15 jam of the year, imo. DONT SKIP!!!!

>A Life Beyond the Dream - Great call out of the death of that jam. They could have played Sea of Stars too and it would have been great. Not really anything special - it sounds like every other one - but still killer.

Cities - Totally unexpected and feels weird coming out of Dream like that! Excellent Type I, but unfortunately way too short for its own good and comes to an end just as it should be lifting off.

>Harry Hood - Excellent reading of Hood tonight. Played tightly all around, the chill vibe of the night gives it a wonderful flavor in the "build up" section after the lyrics.The slow-build nature of the, well, build-up is terrific. I mean, they must take 7 or 8 minutes slowly working upwards bit by bit, taking their time, never lacking for ideas, just savoring every moment of this Hood. This Hood is terrific! Eventually it hits the peak before the "you can feel good" section and the song just friggin EXPLODES like a nuclear bomb! THIS HOOD IS MAGIC!!!!

Suzy Greenberg - Suzy is Suzy

Cavern - Is Cavern

All in all, a very uneven show with multiple MASSIVE peaks!!! In the first set, Julius, MM, Soul Planet and Ghost are what you need. In the 2nd set, really, just grab the incredible Everything's Right and the X Factor Harry Hood. Great show on the whole, but the 3.7 rating on .NET is pretty approrpriate.