overall the show was really great, although one of the most prominent thoughts in my mind after leaving is that it didn't nearly achieve the same effect as the 2014 show i saw, when the show felt like one giant psychedelic mesh that got progressively more emotional and intense as the show went on, climaxing with nadir. this show was, surprisingly, stoppy-starty, meaning each song was distinct, had clear transitions, and the show itself didn't feel like it had an over-arching "narrative" either emotionally or in terms of song structure or anything. At first this was a negative thing in my mind, because I have such a positive memory of feeling drained and blown away after the 2014 show, which really felt like it escorted me along a journey. But i realized that noah probably intended this show to feel different in this way. it seems like the buoys material has a stronger focus on the songs as songs rather than the songs as part of a trippy sonic environment that changes as it goes on. although i prefer the more immersive feeling of the greaper show, I do think he achieved what he was going for. the name "buoys" and the use of bubbly sounds, distinct percussion, guitar and piano seems to me like he's going for little "bubbles of sound," pockets of melody that seem to be "floating to the surface" and bobbing there. plus the buoys jams complement the homies jams really well.
Buoys was definitely the song that impressed me the most. partially because its the only new one that I listened to prior to the show, but I definitely get the feeling that noah was putting the most emotion into it. His vocal performance was really stunning, and those synth stabs were way stabbier than I could have imagined. i really do feel like that song is the emotional core of the new music.
Nadir was the closer, the last song in the encore, with the apoc ending. I was hoping he'd play it, because of how moving the performance of it was back in 2014. It definitely sounded great, but noticeably different in subtle ways that I wasn't expecting. The least subtle way was that unlike the first time, the strobes weren't pulsing in time with the music the entire song. this meant that it didn't have the same trance-inducing, closed-eyes-visuals-triggering effect as the first time, but it also allowed for more dynamic space in the music that I wasn't anticipating. without the strobes, and with his voice mixed higher than the first time, the focus was on the melody rather than the stabbiness of the synths, which I guess is how it ended up on the album too. but on the album and in the first performance, I mostly felt as if the song represented some sort of resolution or acceptance- a feeling of moving on in a positive way. but at this show, coming from subtle atmosphere changes in his performance, it felt as if he was reflecting on feeling that way- it was melancholy and resigned rather than hopeful. I was thinking this throughout the song, but it felt even truer at the end of the song, when rather than reaching the higher, triumphant note that he used to, he chose to go a third down, singing the tonic instead. he also started repeating "go get up again," then "need to get up again," "gotta get up again," and things like that. he repeated phrases like that until he let his voice fade further down in the mix, before the synths suddenly died and transitioned directly into the apoc voice sample, without teasing it like he used to. to me, all of this meant that it was a dramatically different experience- im not sure if anyone else in the audience was thinking like this, though.
Also worth noting- danny's visuals were killer, better than ever. I really feel like he's grown a lot as a visual artist in the last 10 years. the dolphin visuals were stunning, somewhere between waves on a beach, clouds creeping over the sky, and waves of electricity sweeping slowly across the stage.
Also loved the motorcycle interlude for nod to the folks
recording from the front balcony (for anyone else, I wouldn't bother downloading this until it's split/Eq'd...it's about 1 gb in size and will be super quiet)
