Live Trax Vol. 70

The first time I listened to this release I thought to myself, "Fantastic mix and solid performances, but nothing is knocking my socks off." The more I've listened to it (as I write this I'm at the tail end of an an 8-hour flight, so I've gone through it another three times), the more strongly I feel this way. Highlights include CRASH (everything comes together so nicely), DREAMGIRL (not their best song by any stretch, but the music is beautiful), TRIPPING (just an all-around solid mid-2000s performance), STONE (Stefan's pick scraping doesn't bother me; it adds unique texture), LOVER (Roi bringing the heat), TWO STEP (I don't love the front half, but the back half is great), STEADY (very well performed), and WHAT YOU ARE (a great closer). On the lowlights side, I love me a Roi-and-Boyd #41, but the Everyday outro post Fall 2000 is completely unnecessary and maddening; it doesn't ruin the song, but the outro is a fast-forward. #34 isn't as compelling as I hoped it would be. I find Rashawn more annoying in WAREHOUSE on this release than I do now! And OLD DIRT HILL, while not bad, just doesn't do it for me.