This show became an adult today. It can now vote, open it's own bank account, get a tattoo, buy a lottery ticket, drink in most of Europe, and get a credit card to purchase concert tickets online to see other ridiculously good concerts such as itself. I attended it with some high quality individuals 18 years ago tonight and much fun was had by all. We located each other without cell phones or GPS devices and as you can see in this video, no one was recording the opener with a digital camera. How did we survive back then?!

The previous nights show had been a clunker, but this one was the dunker. That weekend we had met up with the Pharmer's Almanac Tour Extra People to help them hand out the small brochures to people to catch them up on tour so far (This is how the old-heads had to keep people up to date on tour news pre-internet) Where do YOU go when the lights go out? Nowadays I can be found hiding from my children, but back then the best place to be was in a venue when the boys took the stage. Hood here was perfect and recalled the Saturday before when they started the instant classic 12.11.1999 Spectrum show with a similarly filthy Hood. This Hood set the stage for another great 1st set. After a perfectly excuted and far too rare Dog Log, they launch into a trip-hop sedated Tube with Mike taking the lead for an ambient journey. A few songs later, the 2nd 1st set closing YEM in a week took us into set break on a magic carpet of deep funky bass lines and crunchy Page organ work. Trey caught fire and brought the mothership in for a landing with inspired play. A quick side note on this last official YEM of the 20th century- 1999 was a great year for YEM. 7.7.99, 7.15.99, and 10.10.99 stand out as killer versions that absolutely make it worth the price of admission.

The vibe at set break was amazing as friends of mine from high school got to know other friends of now new college pals, and soon we would be awakened for a second set full of deep improv. One of my personal favorite 2001s with Peter Frampton teases starts things off right, before Sand starts and everyone is asking the person next to them what song this was. I was immediately hooked on the laid back groove with plenty of palate room for future masterpieces. Horse -> Silent provides some perspective before Possum warms us up for a great quality Mike's Groove. Immediately the Mike's jam turns dark and minor with Trey vamping instead of soloing like he does nowadays. Full on band power steaming headlong into a beautiful Simple before an amazing Weekapaug starts on fire but then organizes itself into some rhythmic plodding that leads itself into a perfectly segues Buffalo Bill. This blazes back into Weekapaug before closing the set and the show with a great yet strange YaMar ->Monkey combo.

Hear this show for the flow but also for the heavy hitters sprinkled throughout. One of my personal favorites that comes in just under the radar