FROM MICHAEL LEAGUE:
Hands down, my favorite gig of the tour to date. First ever show in Wales, one night after our biggest concert ever (London). Small-ish club, intimate vibe, truly unbelievable crowd. Bob Reynolds owns this one. Palermo opens the set with an energetic solo from Maz. Bob takes a rare solo on GØ, then McQueen rocks the envelope filter for a very extended solo over the bridge. Justin takes it out on Minimoog. Gemini is slow and full of mojo. Maz and Bullock get weird on the vamp. Bill and Justin trade on Minimoog and Rhodes. On Outlier, Bullock takes a cowbell phrase from Larnell and develops it as Justin drops in little intermittent treats. Bill phrases his butt off on Rhodes during Semente. Justin bops through Young Stuff on trumpet, and Larnell and Michael get on the same wavelength during a bass solo. Big Ugly is the song that won’t end with three (yes, three) guitar solos from McQueen and a reprise after Maz takes the first section. The band encores Shofukan with an unbelievable tenor solo from Bob (his first ever on that tune) and an extended drum and percussion shenaniganza with Larnell and Marcelo. The crowd sings the hook until the band reemerges for a second encore. What About Me? gets a tour of the stage left keyboard station (Nord, Moog, Rhodes, and clavinet) from Bill as McQueen and Justin paint underneath him. Larnell lights it up to close out the night.