It was such an awesome show. I've seen Jaimoe, Karl Denson w/Chuck Leavell, and ARU at Brooklyn Bowl this year, and this was the best of them. I'm not sure how big the other venues were or what the crowds were like, but the energy for on Sunday night on stage and off was off the charts.

I can't speak for all the venues, but the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta seats about 750, and the Georgia Theater is a good bit smaller than that. Maybe 300-400?

I felt like the smaller, more intimate venue, plus a more lively and engaged crowd, was part of what made Athens better than Atlanta.

The more I listen to this excellent Z-Man recording of the Brooklyn Bowl show, the more amazed I am.

All Hail THE Z-Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so Lucky to be on a scene and in an age where the musings of the muses can so readily be captured, and channeled to world, sometimes in real time, by some VERY VERY VERY Masterful field recording experts.

work's got bt.etree blocked, but i'm wondering if the Athens show was taped by Jedi Master Sloan Simpson? if so, i'd bet his pull is mighty tasty as well.

EAPFTapers, and buy them a drink of choice at your next show.

I cant wait to give the Brooklyn Bowl show a listen.

As between Atlanta and Athens, I must be in the minority but I liked Atlanta better. ATH was more uptempo and flowed better, and it was out-of-the-gate full speed ahead from the 1st song. But I thought ATL was more adverturesome and the players were listening to each other even more than normal. And they had a handful of special guests with Jimmy's son, Oteil's brother (Kofi), as well as Townes on trumpet and Kebbi Williams on sax. A lot of the jams, especially with the guests, were free form and sometimes that slows the flow of a show. But it was FUN. And Oteil in particular was relaxed and really driving things with his playing, to a degree I haven't really seen since the 1990s.

The only real knock on ATL, in my view, is it took Jimmy a few songs for everything to click for him. His right and left hands were having problems sync-ing early on so he kept backing off of playing as aggressively (i.e., fast) as he normally does. But it also made for some interesting playing and phrasing from Jimmy too.

I was down front against the rail in Atlanta from start to finish, so I missed a lot of what other folks complained about there as far as bad sound/mix, rough crowd, etc. So that wasn't a minus to me. But I know how those things can also kill the live-show experience, so I see how other folks' perspectives could differ from mine.

As an aside, I know at least one band member thought the Atlanta show was the closest thing to the 1990s ARU that any of the reunion shows have been since 2001+. ... at least before the tour resumed up the east coast anyway.

The Georgia Theatre now holds 1000 per their web-site, which is up from about 750 capacity it had prior to the fire. That seems strange to me b/c the 'new' Ga Theatre feels noticeably smaller than the old Theatre. But the balcony no longer has all those movie theatre seats, so with SRO upstairs maybe total capacity goes up a bit.

The Buckhead Theatre is considerably bigger now than it was as the Roxy. Their web-site is a little bit confusing, but it indicates a theater capacity of 790 seated downstairs and 1600 with general admission lower-level. Someone in the know said he thought they sold 1600 for Atlanta, so that is consistent with the web-site stats. But 1600 just seems unbelievable to me, for some reason. The old Roxy was more like 750 seater for general admission, and was always positioned size-wise as in-between the old Cotton Club (~500) and the Variety/Center Stage (1100). I think what is confusing is the new Buckhead Theatre has so much event space off the lobby and upstairs behind the seated balcony, and no telling if they are considering that in their total capacity numbers.

Can't wait to give that one a listen. Have been listening to one show from the tour a week so I'll get there eventually.

I watched the Athens stream and it was a great show. I really haven't listened to the other shows yet, but there have been some interesting guests. Horns are a natural with this band. If they added horn players to the band, I'm sure there would be some debate, but I would be all for it.

I imagine, this reunion tour was like comfort food for these guys. So much room for all to be themselves. To play at their best. I hope it continues and I'm sure this tour brought a lot of new fans into the Zambi world.

I watched the Athens stream

Any chance you captured that for posterity's sake? Just asking....

Here is the attendance and gate figures for Nashville. 585 tickets sold with a capacity of 1000.

Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit The Cannery Nashville, Tenn. Aug. 6, 2015 $15,093 585 /1,000 1 / 0 $28, $25 NS2/Georgia Theatre Presents

Zambi, after listening to the Atlanta show again I do have to admit it's better than I thought at first. I'd probably lean to Athens, for a lot of the very reasons you mentioned, but the gap is not as wide as I first thought. There are definitely some of those experimental moments that are a big part of what ARU does, even if I still don't think all of them work. The jam at the end with Kofi and Kebbi isn't something I'm likely to listen to over and over again.

However, I feel on pretty solid ground saying Brooklyn is a notch above both. All the energy and tightness of Athens with the exploratory weirdness of Atlanta. The new songs in particular seem fully ripened in Brooklyn in a way that they just weren't earlier in the tour.

I agree with whatever band member said the Atlanta show was the closest thing to 90s ARU since the breakup. This whole tour is the closest to the real thing we have seen in 20 years, and to my ears, the Brooklyn Bowl show is the one where you can close your eyes and almost imagine it's 1992 all over again.

I was one of those folks complaining about the incessant talking and texting, but I am now just appreciative of the opportunity to see them again. I was just sure the show would be full of Panic fans who wanted to make the scene, so I was shocked when a host of people around me joined in on "Cheese Frog."

I had the opportunity outside The Buckhead Theater to tell Souvik Dutta (of Abstract Logix) thanks for doing everything he does. When I did, he blew me off, and Jimmy jumped in and said, "He is the architect!" I look forward to any release that may happen. Would love it if that Athens video pops up down the line.

New school year starting (I am a middle school administrator), nut I look forward to putting the Brooklyn Bowl show on this weekend in a comfy chair and a cold beverage or two. As others have said, a huge thank you to all tapers.

Blooby