(Not sure why my other review cut off, but .net wouldn’t let me edit it... Second time lucky!)

Hola from Mexico!

I hope everyone here is having as much fun as I am. The Moon Palace is a fantastic resort — thanks to the hard-working staff here for making us all feel so welcome, and thanks to CID for putting on such an awesome event.

Now, with the niceties out of the way... come on people — as it stands currently, the best you can muster for this show is a 3.7 rating? Really?! I’m not saying this one of the all-time greats, but I feel it certainly deserves more.

I’ve done 3 Mexico runs so far, and last night’s show was easily the best I’ve seen here. I’ve noticed a pattern of Mexico shows being consistently underrated, and I won’t speculate why (plenty of debate on this elsewhere), but this one takes the cake.

Last night featured many of the hallmarks of a brilliant show:

* An outstanding setlist structure... Just look at it!
* Noteworthy bust-outs
* Fan-favourite treats
* Fluid segues
* Teases and callbacks galore
* Deep jams
* Dance parties
* Tight playing, with the band clearly dialled in (and no noteworthy flubs, unlike the night before)
* A monster encore

Perhaps some of the magic didn’t translate well to the webcast or tapings? There were some truly magical moments that maybe you just had to be there to experience — Piper in the rain was beautiful. The crowd going hauntingly silent during Lizards, taking in every note. Seeing Trey with a smile on his face all night long!

I’m not saying the show was perfect. The second set was going to be hard-pressed to compete with the first. Some might say the placement of Lifeboy was bad (I disagree, but can appreciate the sentiment). Newer songs like Sigma Oasis haven’t really found their feet yet.

But there was just so much to love despite these minor shortfalls. I heard one of my favourite 2001s, that was equal parts dance party and exploratory jamming. Bathtub Gin reached some stellar peaks, with a cohesive Shafty segue. The band were firing on all cylinders when the rain fell as Piper was opening up. And the encore was such a treat, with the concluding finish into Shafty being the cherry on top of what was a very fun show.

Just my two cents — but I hope in time people are able to appreciate this show as much as I did!