2010-10-30 - 4th and B, San Diego

[TheBang]

Rick and Darren fucking killed it tonight. As mentioned, Nu Train and Rez/Cowgirl were off the hook, and there were lots of other great moments. They made up for Karl being under the weather.

And I met a fellow Hawaii dirt. How crazy is that? Sorry, I forgot your handle already.

[BrotherLovesDub]

Originally Posted by TheBang

Rick and Darren fucking killed it tonight.

how can that be? according to long time, hard core fans all they do is press play.

this is sarcasm.

[khouri]

I have to say, ALAF sounds far, far better live than on the record. Really, the whole Downpipe/ALAF/Dark Train opening works incredibly well. It might not be improvised but the guys definitely knew what they were doing when the designed the opening sequence to this tour.

As others have said, this version of Dark Train was singularly rocking. Tremendous groove, banging beat. Rez also had an almost Kitten-esque quality that night. And Moaner -- holy shit, it was awesome. A startlingly new intro/segue out of Dirty Epic. This is a song that's rarely remixed on stage so I was really glad to hear this version. Hopefully it'll emerge on a recording so everyone can hear just what a few changes can do to this ancient track.

It was obvious to me that Karl wasn't at the top of his game but I think he adapted his vocals well tot he situation. In some cases, like Cowgirl, he sounded more like the original album version, which is not something you hear live much given the song's evolution over the years. I also didn't miss him dancing around during the more instrumental tracks, it was fun to just dance to Rick & Darren's work to the sights of their silhouettes and not be distracted by Karl's madness. Nothing against Karl's madness, mind, but it was kind of a cool change of scenery.

The setlist was of course as expected, with Dirty Epic being the only deep cut. It was a beautiful version, though, one of the best live performances I've heard. It sounded to me like they've finally begin filter-fiddling around with Scribble, and the Diamond Jigsaw performance was really high energy and groovy. The only thing that really didn't work for me was Bird 1. Just not a good live track, at least not in the middle of the show.

[Rabbitwork]

Originally Posted by khouri

Rez also had an almost Kitten-esque quality that night.

glad to know i'm not the only one who heard something "kitten-esque" going on there. i was ready to lose my mind (i did anyway, but kitten would've been a real treat).

this was my first UW show (fan for 13 years and counting) and i could tell even from hearing/watching live recordings that karl was not his usual self at the start. once i saw a smile from him during i think it was two months off it was like a sign things were going to be alright. i do have to say that this is the first time i've ever been at a live gig (for any band) where i completely forgot i was watching a band perform music. an unusual sense of calm and belonging settled in about halfway through the performance and now that the show is over it feels like i went to an amazing place that hopefully someday i can return to, and not just a simple show with some boys of essex twiddling knobs and strumming guitars.

the born slippy performance nuxx was out of this world. met some awesome fans in line (not sure if any of you were dirts) and the crowd was great. amazing show all around.