The Blue Note travelled to other galaxies, reaching far and wide.... although it was the bands first show in Columbia, there was a great turnout and the band and audience fed off each others energy.... this old theater is a dump, truth be known, but it is small and intimate, and Steve made it sound terrific as usual... my favorite of the five nights that follow. The bigger cities seem to draw more slack jawed yokelers... the 9 threw down hard in Columbia (the setlist should be enough to have you drooling already)... thanks for putting this show up for download.

3/29/2004 COLUMB IA, MO
Review by Cory Ferber

SOUND QUALITY: Very good to Excellent. This recording sounds like it was made from the back of the room in a tapers section. It has clear sound with a large amount of audience noise in the foreground. Nevertheless, they are very excited and add to the flavor of this spicy recording. This is a truly classic sounding audience recording for anyone who has listened to a lot of live recordings. Its not perfect, but that is the actually appeal. It sounds like you are right there inside the room. When people yap or yell, you get goose bumps because they are so close. It reminds me of old school cassette days. Thank you Team 9!.

REVIEW: DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW!

The bands debut in Columbia is nothing short of astonishing. Although the band had not played their, its safe to assume some of the audience members are familiar with the bands music through CDs or seeing the band on the festival circuit. Its also safe to assume there were a lot of newbies seeing their first STS9 show. This puts the band in just the right mood to do something special. The band pulls out 10 songs debuted in or before 2001!! This show contains many of the bands most beautiful and inspiring compositions, following a theme that is hard to describe. I wish I could have attended this show because it is a transcending experience.

From the first moments of the recording, you can feel the excitement in the air. This immediately gets reflected on the band that opens up with an old school classic, MONKEY MUSIC. This is an interesting choice for a crowd who potentially is not as familiar with your music as some of the larger cities where the band has played over a dozen times. This song is nice way to ease into a show for both the band and the audience.

JEBEZ is a good demonstration of the healing power of music. David Phipps works his magic on this one, stretching and holding the chords like a rising sun, while also adding improvisational piano work over top. The rest of the band grooves along with their own twitchy interlocking jam.

EQUINOX, GROW, ONCE TOLD are a nice triple threat of structured composition into flowing house jam into sensory overload. The crowd really enjoys Equinox, assumingly familiar with the song from SEASONS 01. David Phipps does some incredible work on the end of Once Told while the others continually interact on a molecular level.

SURREALITY > EB get back to old school 9. The Surreality has a nice 2 plus minute introduction, showing the bands confidence to continue to stretch out different sections of a song at different times played. This is a core part of improvisational nature of the band. EB rips in around the 5:12 mark and sees the band lifting off into classic old school outer space jam territory. Hunter is way up front and all over the place, seemingly pulling and pushing the tempo, while Phipps showers the crowd with radiating notes.

The second set opens with the People are you ready sample of RILLY WUT. This song has matured a lot since its debuted in December 2002. Like most STS9 songs, its the small details that need to be heard to understand their purpose in jamming. This version, although seeming the same as everyone other one, is all over the place in new directions. The sequence from around 2:55 to 4: 46 is excellent. Even when you know every twist and turn of the song, there style of jamming right over top of a structured sequence leaves one in astonishment. This continues throughout the rest of the song.

The IMPROV is incredible! It is very old school sounding with hits of EB and Orbital. David Murphy lays down a flowing and pulling base line while the rest of band all display incredible talent in musical communication. This one leaves you breathless and gets a strong crowd approval.

Another great SQUARES AND CUBES (remix03), with an extended introduction and beautiful new sections starting at 3:35 and again at 5:48. The band then slowly climbs through the same musical sequence landing them once again in opening chords of the new section at the 8:44 mark. Like a musical soundtrack, the band reaches their crescendo and then brings it back down to ease us out.

CRYTSAL INSTRUMENT made its debut at Earth Dance 2003 in Golden Gate Park where the band played the band played out in nature surrounded by large tress and green grass. Billed under their alter ego name TZOLKIN, the band played an electronic drum circle for the 22nd Century. This song embodies three strong qualities of San Francisco: earthy, jazzy, and futuristic. This is an astonishing version with Jeffree stepping up out front. The first section seems light and airy while the second section is cloudy and foggy.

Through the haze comes some old school 9 with TWELVE! This song continues to shift overtime as different sections of the composition have been extended in time and the expense shrinking other sections. It has altered the jamming nature of the song while being able to keep the feelings in place. This versin is a slippery ride and should be heard.

A moving FROM NOW ON segues directly into a touching BARAKA. The band then encores with an double punch of WATER SONG > INSPIRE STRIKES BACK, very similar in nature to the Water>Dance pairing from 4/2/04. I was so mesmerizerd by these 4 tunes that I am speechless. It would need another 4 long paragraphs to explain my feelings about this sequence. An incredible way to close down this old school show.

During ISB, Hunter teases BOSSO PROFUNDO from 4:20 through 5:16, then lands at the common EVASIVE/MOONSOCKETS theme for a brief moment before moving back into the closing sequence of ISB. [See 4/2/2004 review.] I love this stuff! The ability to appreciate STS9 is something that deepens with your knowledge of the music. If youre a casual listener, or a new fan, sequences like this have little meaning in greater context while others find themselves lost in jubilation. Its all in the details.

stream sounded very crisp even for aud - great open to the second set - very enjoyable - thank you so much for putting this up here!!