Live Trax Vol. 68

The release reminds me of why I took 2015 and 2016 off from seeing the band; Boyd was so bad when I saw them in 2014 that I just couldn't bring myself to do it again. The band sounds good (and the mix is great), and Dave's voice is mostly very good, but Boyd ruins a lot of otherwise great songs: NANCIES, CRUSH, SATELLITE, #41, TOO MUCH, JIMI, RAPUNZEL, and ANTS. This makes it very difficult to listen all the way through. On the other hand, WAREHOUSE, BLACK AND BLUE, BELLY BELLY, LOVER, GREY ST., LITTLE RED BIRD, and BARTENDER are all quite good. I actually love SEEK UP through the beginning of the first verse. At that point, Dave seems to lose some confidence with his singing, there are no dynamics, and the Boyd factor comes in, culminating in his gut-wrenching (and not in a good way) solo. If you're okay skipping around a show (which I'm generally not), there are some solid performances in here that aren't represented elsewhere.