Another incomplete piece of history from Hunt's. Lots of tape hiss on this one makes it a little hard to listed to, but it's still worth it for all the crazy segways between songs.

Check it out if you need to hear everything from 1987.

Following a heavy September, featuring the most shows played in one month thus far in the band's history, the band returned to Hunt's, a smaller venue that the band had played in its very early days. It was clear at this point that the band had begun to pack the small bar and it wasn't long before they could no longer play there. While the AUD from the spreadsheet is particularly hissy (I'd give it a D rating, easy), it is still pretty clear that there are a handful of people in the audience.

Following a brief Peaches opener, the band plays a slinky A-Train. This show features Mike particularly high in the mix, and his tone is very jazzy. He's particularly nimble in this YEM, and at times, sounds like he is echoing shades of Jaco (not sure if this was an effect or what). YEM is particularly standard, except that it moves into Golgi, one of the first of many segues in this show.

Really, this whole show is almost a segue. While the Golgi here is generally run-of-the-mill, I love the treatment Mike gives it, particularly in the bridge. Awesome. I wish the audio quality was a bit better. Slave is nice, but very short and doesn't really end and instead goes into The Chase.

While the band had been tinkering around with The Chase for a while as part that had been excised from Lushington (see 5/11, 5/20), they always remained the Lushington chords (almost like it didn't want to die quite yet). In this version, Lushington's last remains are gone and the band instead begins Fluffhead. Oddly, the band had completed the full lineup of the song that would remain until today, put it onto a demo that would end up on Junta, but continued to play the song with bits scattered about. Even weirder is that this Fluffhead goes back to the Fluffhead>Fluff's Travels>Fluff that the band was playing in the spring. It's odd that the band laid down a developed version and then backtracked, but it wouldn't be for a while until the version that we know was totally solidified. Perhaps they weren't quite ready to make the full jump. Also possible is that the missing Sept shows indicate more development that we just don't know about.

The weird part about this Fluffhead is that it doesn't finish, but moves into a wild DEG (rare in that DEG was played, but also in that it never finished [one of only 4x]). Then, DEG doesn't finish either, but chugs into a fast-paced Possum. Nothing unusual with Possum and the band catches its breath.

The David Bowie here is something to check out, mainly for its similarity to the Junta version. Like the Fluffhead and Golgi from 9/27, this one is extremely similar to the album. Trey definitely uses some of the same licks in this version as was laid down in Revere Studios (check out 6:25...then listen to Junta at about 5:25....or listen to this verison's 7:41 and Junta's 6:35). I guess the point is that if you're not careful, you'll hum the Junta parts without knowing it. The ending is similar too, which is great because the album version is so crisp. I don't see a < here, though.

Bag is standard and moves right into ÷ which is insanely fast. In another transition, it moves into the opening chords of McGrupp, which is short, but nice, and also quickly moves into another song. Clod here comes straight from the McGrupp closing and is quite powerful. While the ending isn't strong, it does devolve into a very short Makisupa, which almost sounds like Windora Bug when it begins. While I imagine the Makisupa went off into deep space, it's clear that the recording cuts out.

This show is notable for its liberal use of the short segue. Really, if the band played this list today, everyone would be flipping out. Some of the band's strongest and oldest material, synched together tightly, and played with solidarity. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of creativity, but it's also hard to tell because of the terrible sound quality. I'd take a listen to the Bag>Divided Sky>McGrupp>Clod section, and also the Bowie for its eerie Junta-twin qualities. Nothing particularly must-have, though.

I love the smoothe, up-close-vocal and in-the-pocket roll when YEM breakdown kicks off and in the transition to Golgi. It feels like these may be a hangover from Take the A Train earlier in the set.

There is some considerable hiss in the recording I have, but the crunchiness of the recording pays off for me in the backing vox on Golgi being a perfect spot.

Slave fades in and out, but I suppose my brain wants to fill in the spaces and appreciates taking it way down low. The Fluffhead recoding breaks down in the end, but up till that point, it feels like a driving Fluff, with lots of space between the instruments, giving them space to come back in together perfectly. Kudos to Mike for staying perfectly cool during a hot mic Possum start