This week's #ThisDealInHistory is pulled from our 10/10/2003 show in Ann Arbor, MI.
There was always a LOT of energy in the crowd whenever we played in Ann Arbor -- we're definitely feeding off that audience energy in this #TDIH cut - it opens with a favourite chord progression of ours that never really morphed into an actual song but was still performed frequently as we experimented with different styles, sounds and ideas.
In this case I'm laying down the changes while Dan riffs on a super-high melodic lick. Sounds like he's got his whammy pedal (or equivalent) cranked to the "Max Pitch Shift" setting. I always enjoyed when Dan got way out there with tones like this, hence my intermittent whoops of encouragement that are heard in the background. He plays that awesome octave line at 0:30 and then inexplicably stops and returns to his regular bass tone (prob much to my disappointment at the time). Darren takes over in the "cool sounds" department with his funky bongo work at 0:55 (all the while keeping a drum groove going).
Following a key change at 2:30 we begin (from 2:57 - 3:24) weaving in and out of this dissonant harmonic relationship that I've mentioned before - in this case Dan returns to the key of C while I'm playing various licks that incorporate a lot of C-sharps, A-flats, etc. - obviously in a different key (and definitely not planned) but interesting sounding nonetheless. We eventually settle in to a chord progression that takes us to the trigger cue for "Glide" somewhere around 4:45 with Dan locking into the trigger at 4:58.
Alert ears will hear me briefly tease a snippet of "Ray Parker Suite Pt II" at 5:08 - i might have been suggesting that we play that instead of "Glide" but was clearly (and correctly) waved off, so into "Glide" we go at 5:40. Somebody called the "halftime" cue for the bridge section at 6:20 but we quickly return to the regular tempo for the rest of the main head.
This jam starts off with a SERIOUS left-turn key change (E-flat to A-minor) which is always enjoyable to my ears, as abrupt key changes often serve to jumpstart new melodic and harmonic ideas.
Dan takes the rhythmic lead while the keys play sparse chords with a simple synth melody - part of my attempt to reduce the number of notes i was contributing to the groove.
A super-cool section at 9:18 - hypnotic bass line, a driving drum pattern and a weird string bit on top.
Note - at 9:58 Dan can be heard repeatedly playing the guitar lick from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train". Placed so completely out of context, it sounds pretty great!
11:05 finds us in a quasi-dub/halftime groove which develops majestically over the next six minutes. I really dig that syrupy shaker part that starts at 12:25 as well as the spacey synth that follows shortly thereafter.
It appears that there are just drums, bass and synth solo (very little background keyboard) until the chord change at 13:29 which, to my ears, has succeeded in creating a very dark, sparse and dramatic musical scene until that big synth pad opens things up on the change.
The melodic idea at 16:01 becomes the cornerstone for the build and transition back into "Glide" at 17:38, which takes us to the end. -Jamie
