February 12, 1999
Mercury Lounge · Austin, TX
13 songs5 segues3 sets
Set 1Morph Dusseldorf, Voices Insane, Three Wishes, Basis for a Day* > Helicopters* > Basis for a Day*
Set 2The Very Moon > Shem-Rah Boo > Down to the Bottom* > Helicopters, Once the Fiddler Paid, Eulogy
Encore 1Mindless Dribble*
Footnotes
Basis for a Day - A very Magner-dominated trance jam. It begins in a pretty simplistic form, with Magner utilizing the 98 style synths, but he gradually layers in more symphonic effects as the jam builds in intensity. Barber steps to the forefront in the final minutes of the jam, sounding equally like he could be building to the end of Basis or the beginning of Helicopters, before he finally gives away the destination.
Helicopters - On the heels of a groundbreaking version two nights prior, this Helicopters jam begins in much the same way. Magner's repetitive synth lines anchor the jam, giving Barber room to explore. His playing, and the overall tone of the jam, is particularly melancholy much of the way through. The jam builds in intensity, but doesn't definitively move into major key territory until after the track change. Like the jam into it, this Helicopters jam doesn't show its hand until the very end.
Basis for a Day - Excellent Basis ending on an excellent Basis > Helix > Basis sandwich
Down to the Bottom - Very spacey trance gives way to cacophonous weirdness before building to a strong Helicopters ending
Mindless Dribble - An impressively long Dribble for the encore slot (over 25 minutes long). The first section is stretched out as long as it possibly can be, making the mind-melting conclusion even more satisfying.
Setlist data from the Biscuits Internet Project (discobiscuits.net).