my first show, most of it hangs out on the dark side

Starts off with the rare combo of Venusian 1, Venusian 2, this show comes out of the gate swinging, both are well played standard versions of under 5 minutes each.  Slow Jam 1 softens things up a bit and develops nicely with some Iron Lung quotes as a jammy vibe develops, stretching the song out to 15:30.  The band is patient, as they work their way back from the Iron Lung quotes, Amby provides a little Chicago shoutout, which gets a crowd response, but straight back into the earlier patient groove.  

Time to cash those cheques.  I was blown away by Grim Reaper at this show, its the first live lasting impression I have of Gizz.  Amby channels his inner Belushi and has the crowd in the palm of his hand.  White pants Aussie power move on full display, and the crowd is BOUNCING, led by Stu.  Oddlife, I really like this one, my live introduction to the banana.  Just forbodding enough to make it dangerous and enticing.  Amby on vocals and the pace quickens and ends in setlist malfunction.  Jimi Hendrix shoutout > The Book.  I appreciate the Oddlife, The Book combo immensely now, at the time, not so much.  The drum solo doesnt do much for me, but it is fun to see the band all get down and watch Cavs.  The drop back into The Book is amazing.  That was nice.

Doom City switches the vibe, but just for 30 seconds. Doom City is such a great song I forgot to make notes.  The debut of Lava, sticky like peanut butter.  starts off with an inspired and meandering opening, i cant remember if the album version is like this.  There is an eerieness to this entire show that is pretty well summed up in that Lava intro.  Its that fine line between danger and excitement, and the risk of getting caught, but just squeaking by, knowing that if you arent hurting anyone and you mean well then its fine.  And it builds, the cycle begins, and the light grows brighter, and its mysticism, and its progress, and its the inevitable. Wrapped up with Stu and Joey facing Cavs, always a good sign.

Ambergris, like a satanic lounge act playing on a cruise ship in hell, on a lake of Lava as mentioned previously in the setlist.  Joey nailed that solo, btw. They tell a story about Woodstock 99 before Preseumpous, but I cant tell what is being said.  The lounge act on the boat from hell is morphing, think caterpillar to butterfly, but who the fuck knows with these guys.  The most danceable groove of the night develops, and Joey summons some 1970's funkateers playing in double time.  Ambys vocals hit just right, the morphing is almost complete, enter the Lord of Lightning .

Leah Senior melds perfectly, and that eerie vibe is back in full force, only to enter a torrential rain, complete with a guy in the sky launching nonagon lightening bolts down on anyone unluckey enough to be below.  Lightning!  Woooooo!

enter The Balrog, the guitar lick before they go into it proper is great.  I really disliked this song at first, but its grown on me alot.  Well played version, Stu gets some nice guitar moves going.  This is 1 of only 2 with Narration by Leah, and its a fairly rare song to begin with.  A little trapdoor tease before it ends?

Iron Lung, only the 7th time played but already well on its way to being a setlist anchor, clocks in at 11:32, and just when you think things are back to normal, the eeireness is back curtesy Amby's vocal delivery and surrounding chaos, slowly workling its way back to the chorus? like the chaos of the last 4 minutes never happened.  great ending, great earlyish version of the song

FAFYL - The longest song of the night at 15:51, brings a finality with it.  Its a recap of the eerie and bizarre story we just witnessed.  But the perspective is of hope for the future, and is undoubtedly uplifting, in sharp contrast to almost everything else played tonight.  This is all the sunlight pouring out at once, its the final effort, twisting and turning, convulsing.  The translation of some deep cosmic stream of information, needing to be refined and translated.  Twisting knobs, pulling leavers, knowing you are not in control, and being unable to say no. Float Along Fill Your Lungs.  Breathe a Deep Breath.  the spaceship has landed.  done.

This is a masterfully written setlist, but I could definately see why people would avoid this show.  There is a multicam video of this show, and 2 audio sources.  I had this video on youtube, it is no longer there