Live Trax Vol. 7

A perfect show. How cool is it that we have official releases of the first and last full-band shows of 1996? Comparing them shows just how much the band developed in the span of 9 months. Of course, during the intervening time they met Béla, which I’d argue outside of the original five plus Tim was the most important meeting in the band’s history. You can feel throughout this show how much energy and depth Béla and the Flecktones give to the performance. As to the show, where to start? SEEK UP is full of energy. I love the intro to NANCIES. SAY BYE is a classic version, one of my favorites. Béla elevates TWO STEP to another level, and I’m having a hard time thinking of another example that has a jam in the middle of the song. CRASH… all bow down to Paul McCandless for giving us the best version of all time, bar none. Love the scatting in the bridge following SO MUCH. Opening the new year with TRIPPING… chef’s kiss. LIE IN and #41 are great, although I prefer performances from 97 and 98. MINARETS is something else, and Victor’s solo at the start of TYPICAL is mind-bending. We’re getting to the end here… the jams are good, but they don’t set me on fire. ANTS is fantastic, and no better way to close this show out than with WATCHTOWER for the encore. A truly classic show for the ages that follows my personal pattern for all-time greatness: SEEK UP opener, ANTS closer, and WATCHTOWER encore. The show is so great that it overcomes Dave’s clearly-strained voice.