Live Trax Vol. 14

This is a below-average show by 2008 standards. That’s not to say it isn’t good—it is—but I think it’s fair to say it wouldn’t have been officially released had it not been Roi’s final show. It certainly is nowhere close to the level of LT13, which we listened to last week. And, it’s hard not to listen to this show and be drawn to Roi, even if a compilation of his finest moments would probably pass over this show entirely. I like how much stage banter you can hear, especially directed at Roi; surely this was intentional. Highlights for me are DON’T DRINK (great sound and Roi is on fire), DREAMING TREE (although Rashawn is the star of it IMO), CORN BREAD (one of my favorite performances), OUT OF MY HANDS (absolutely haunting; a shame we’re unlikely to hear it again so long as Buddy’s in the band), EVERYDAY (a particularly energetic version with great vocal fills and variations by Dave), TOO MUCH (Carter is great here), and RAPUNZEL (again, Roi is on fire). The only lowlight for me was Anyone Seen the Bridge; I never cared for the stop-motion, drawn-out style that was in favor around this time. A few other thoughts: OLD DIRT HILL is, for me, like SPACEMAN in that I’m hot and cold on it; I love the bridge, but the verses are kind of blah. I wish they’d segue it into WHY I AM now. SLEDGEHAMMER, in its first-ever performance, is solid. I’ve always loved the song, they just ran it into the ground, and Dave’s voice is no longer as well suited to it.