Live Trax Vol. 61

About 2005, I’ve said before, and others have said before, something along the lines of, “The setlists were pretty bad, but the band sounded great.” I wish I could say the same about this show. The setlist isn’t great (it’s not awful, either), but while the band doesn’t sound bad, it’s listless for much of the show. This is particularly surprising after the (what I think is a) powerhouse start of RAPUNZEL, ONE SWEET, STAND UP (Roi’s solo is pretty awesome), DREAMGIRL (it isn’t winning any songwriting awards, but it sounds beautiful), and SAY BYE (Dave and Roi are on fire). (Notice I left HUNGER off the list…) But starting with GREY ST., the energy level takes a turn for the worse. AM. BABY INTRO, GRANNY, WAREHOUSE, WHAT WOULD, TRIPPING, and DIE TRYING are all lower-octane than I’d like. DIE TRYING is particularly jarring in this respect, although it reminds me of how far the song has come live since it was first played. I might put this show on if the intention was to fall asleep to it in the background—literally. Otherwise it’s a skip for me.