Eggy’s summer leg of the Here and How Tour continued last night in Dillon, Colorado as part of the town’s local free concert series that takes place every Monday in the summer. The Dillon Amphitheater is one of the most gorgeous venues in the country, situated on Lake Dillon with a gorgeous mountain view behind the stage. While the weather was much cooler than the early summer heat I had just arrived from on the east coast, it felt absolutely perfect for last night’s show.
The Captain Midnight Band, out of Nashville, opened the show with an hour of energetic play, their set highlighted by a rollicking “Midnight Moonlight” weaved with some of their catchy original songs. These guys are on tour now in Colorado before heading back to their native South later in July.
Eggy took the stage promptly at 8 for a two-hour time slot, easing in with the hypnotic synth drone of “Beaming.” The quartet was ready for some jamming immediately and floated into a psychedelic space led by guitarist Jake Brownstein’s confident leads. Keyboardist Dani Battat stuck to chords of both synth and electric piano underneath, building tension as drummer Alex Bailey matched that effect with some amazing, fluid playing.
Hitting an early peak, the band moved into “Finding and Losing” next, bassist Mike Goodman digging in on the slinky funk groove as Brownstein began the jam with some long, drawn-out leads. The guitarist then moved into some gritty MuTron tones as Battat sprinkled bright synth over the groove, the two lead instruments developing some hypnotic interplay as a foundation of organ was introduced.
Bailey executed some fluid fills to keep things moving as the band built toward a peak, not sustaining it for too long before dropping into a calm and contemplative space, Brownstein moving over to stand near Battat as the two musicians engaged in some amazing back-and-forth interplay. Building up from there, Eggy executed a flawless segue into Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” driving the cover to a blazing hot peak, Battat joining Brownstein’s big leads with some searing Moog synth lines, acting as if it was a second guitar.
Some melodic textures in the outro led to a quick romp through “Lake Monster,” an appropriate play given the venue’s setting. Things really began to take off with “Shallow Rivers,” Bailey beginning the jam with a driving beat as Battat worked the song’s opening riff into the mix. Building momentum, Goodman threw in fast runs of active riffs as Brownstein hit on a cool early peak melody.
Coming down from there, Bailey kept the momentum up as the rest of the band took a more exploratory role, Brownstein hitting some sharp rhythm riffs as Battat threw in some subtle synth and then clav, the jam coming close to the opening of “Searchlight.”
The funky vibe broke into more anthemic territory as Brownstein moved into lead work, not taking the easy route to a peak but instead going for more gorgeous and contemplative work, Battat’s floaty synth pads elevating the music through the evening air as guitar and keys once again engaged in some fantastic interplay.
Chasing each other up and down the scales while periodically linking up on a similar riff, the two musicians sported huge grins through this whole section. Brownstein went into a more textural role for a bit as the band began to build up toward a peak, Bailey’s fluid play rising in intensity as Goodman and Battat linked up on some supportive riffs underneath the guitar.
Exploding into all-out mayhem, the peak was infused by a descending lick reminiscent of “Hell In A Bucket” as Eggy built rolling builds up to a final, glorious payoff, Bailey’s lightning-fast fills really making an already-phenomenal jam even better.
Without missing a beat, the conclusion of the peak saw Brownstein let loose a few massive chords before leading the band perfectly into “Atomic Age,” the quartet once again displaying their mastery of the segue.
Returning to the funk vibe from earlier, Brownstein’s easy chords laid down a foundation for Battat to take the lead on an elastic synth patch, eventually returning to some pad work as Brownstein’s delays took over the forefront of the jam. Bailey hit some percussive synth samples that shot like lasers across the crowd as he increased the speed and intensity alongside the guitar, but things faded away before too long into a repetitive major-key space.
Goodman pushed to the front with some beautiful melodies as Battat and Brownstein went full bliss, colouring over Bailey’s sparse beat with very intentional melodies. Patiently cultivating this vibe, things spaced out as Battat brought in some pitch-bent space-age synth pads, inspiring a brief solo interlude of his before kicking off the piano intro to “Sister Golden Hair.”
This America cover brought some serious heat to the set, picking the energy back up after the gorgeous slow “Atomic Age” with blistering Brownstein leads through a sustained peak and reprise of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.” Tying up several other loose ends from earlier in the set, Eggy brought back “Atomic” (though not the complete ending) and “Shallow Rivers” before closing the main set with an absolutely electric pairing of “Must Come Down” and “Golden Gate Dancer,” getting the Colorado crowd up and dancing before walking off stage.
With ample time to stretch out on the encore, we were treated to nearly 17 minutes of “Woah There,” Eggy taking their time on another spectacular set of peak builds – just when you thought they couldn’t possibly build the energy higher, they’d uncover a new vein of inspiration and keep going. Bailey really shone on this final jam, whirlwind fills accentuating the rest of the band’s work as Battat brought in some sweeping Moog to add to the tension.
Dropping back into the chorus, we got one more great peak before Eggy ended off the show on a fantastic note. The band continues tour this weekend in Montana and Wyoming before wrapping up the west coast leg with a date supporting Lake Street Dive in Idaho. This band is ON FIRE right now, so DO NOT MISS an Eggy show if you can get there - see their full list of upcoming dates here!!