Baghdad Scuba Review "Crimes of the Mind" Live at Party in the Park Madison, WI September 2, 2006

Sometime this past summer, on the way out of a show at the High Noon, we saw a stack of free stickers that said "Baghdad Scuba Review" on them, with a clipart picture of a scuba diver. Naturally, we each took one. It wasn't until Party in the Park that I actually noticed by this name on any schedules, however; when I saw that they were scheduled to play early in the afternoon I made a point of seeing them.

First realization: They are a jam band. I gathered this not, at first, from the fact that they have a bongo player, but from the fact that several people in the small crowd were hula-hooping, including one guy with three hoops going at once. So this, it must be acknowledged, is one quick strike against them. But for the potential traps they could fall into, they really don't -- and they manage to skate by with some prog tendencies, too! Their songs go on forever, but they don't really meander; it's pretty much all in the service of a clear song structure. So while I'm not terribly likely to run out and see these guys again, I'm glad I saw them at the park and I enjoyed what I heard.