July 6 - Morrison, CO
J. Eubanks | North Texas | 07/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With the exception of the excruciatingly slow "Turn This Around," every song in the first set is worth putting on single-track repeat in your stereo. "San Jose" begins it all, and "Got What He Wanted" sent chills down my spine with the jam starting at the four-minute mark. "Up the Canyon" gets a facelift, and people who have only heard the bluegrass version might like this funk remix of it. "Eat My Dust" by David Grisman is a rare treat (the band had not played it since 2000 prior to this concert), followed by "Long Gone" and a riveting but unfinished "Latinissmo." As stated, you're not losing out by skipping TTA, but "Round the Wheel" is a must-listen, and a great example of how to kick a song up into overdrive but then gently and fluidly wind it down to a genuinely pleasing ending.The second set starts on Disc 2 with a marvelous "Shantytown" opener followed immediately by a seven-minute drum solo with an ever-increasing tempo. "Tom Sawyer" and "Hotel Window" are nice foils to each other, and Robert Randolph does a great job on his steel guitar cameo in the latter. Disc 3 opens up with the Talking Heads cover "This Must Be the Place," which extends into a series of jams punctuated by a "Land's End" quickie and topped off with the set ender "Smile" (which - not to be biased or anything - is my favorite SCI song). As an encore, "Sittin' On Top of the World" fits the bill nicely and gets silly at the end with a fast and furious bluegrass jam that must be heard to be believed. As with the April 6 show in Austin, however, the first set blows the second into the water with a nice mix of the familiar, the new, and the old."