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Originally Posted by jordanbball17
Yeah, Bend was a little more disappointing, to be honest. All of us had been at Gorge, and none of us expected Stefan or Carter to be back (very surprised others did).
However, they're definitely operating off of a very limited choice of songs, as evidenced by everything we saw last night having been played at Gorge. I know I know, what else can we expect after seeing a 3 night run, but usually there's at least a 1-2 song difference between shows. They were definitely tighter as a group (someone finally gave Tony some sheet music), but it took some of the fun out of it knowing what to expect.
If I had tix to Irvine and had seen any of the Gorge/Bend shows, I would consider selling them if Stefan and Carter weren't back.
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We went to the gorge and N1’s uncertainty of “WTF is going to happen” and all the speculation made it super interesting. We felt the format was kind of cool and different. Probably in the minority here, but the horns were really bleh. They felt forced. Without the bass and drums they were just “there” and didn’t add much. Love them in full band. Warehouse N1 was not pleasant to listen to.
However, we felt Bend was good! They obviously cleaned up some things between shows. Honestly, our hearts sank a bit when we thought it was the exact same set list. It wasn’t. It felt like Dave picked the songs he felt let this format shine. And it did. Energy was low at the beginning and it was hard not to feel crappy with the smoke, heat, and missing band members. From what I understand, there was serious chatter about canceling the show because of the air quality.
Great versions of grey, lying, bayou, and YMDT. Buddy and Tony were in a groove and as much as it feels weird to say it…. YMDT was one of my favorite versions. Buddy was playing so hard the kit kept moving. He played through it. Hell, he even moved the mic with his head mid-song.
I’ll just saw I appreciate going to live music again. The format was/is unique and it was special. We met some more friends this year and it was a blast. Now it’s time to rest!