Sky Church is not your typical venue. For one, it houses the world's largest indoor video screen, a wall-spanning behemoth that towers over the stage. For two, its geometry is, well, interesting; the floor is far wider than it is deep, and the ceiling is 70 feet up. And last, but not least, it's the front lobby of the Experience Music Project. This leads to some interesting reactions from the unsuspecting late afternoon museum crowd, many of whom appear confused despite the "You are witnessing a real live Sound Check" sign thoughtfully provided by EMP.

The audience for the show is somewhat less confused than the earlier crowd. They're ready and waiting the moment that Silkworm takes the stage. Guitarist Andy Cohen , bassist Tim Midgett, and drummer and Silkworm webmaster Michael Dahlquist formed Silkworm in Seattle along with Joel R.L. Phelps. Following Phelps' departure, the remaining three members gradually relocated to Chicago, their base of operations at this juncture. Tonight, they're glad to be back, and the crowd is glad to have them. For this series of shows, they are joined the keyboards of Matt Kadane (who also plays guitar and sings in The New Year (his band), plays drums in Consonant (Clint Conley's other band), teaches at Harvard, and is working on a history Ph.D. at Brown; it's a wonder that anyone can get a hold of him—or any of the participants on this tour, for that matter).

Although abbreviated in duration, Silkworm's performance is by no means short on quality. The set is executed with heartfelt power and precision, running the gamut from searing indictments to cynical observations to plaintive yearnings to pensive musings, sometimes introspectively contemplative, sometimes breathtakingly exuberant, all within a framework of exceptional musicianship and phenomenal energy. It's a fantastic warmup for what is yet to come.

"Rick Harte had a dream, and now we are here in Seattle," says Mark Kates, by way of introduction. It's a momentous occasion, and the gravity of that introduction is palpable as Mission of Burma take the stage. With the opening salvo of " Secrets ," the immense video wall erupts in flames, and the atmosphere turns incendiary as Inexplicability continues with a vengeance. Not everyone takes this affair completely seriously, though. "It's like Frampton Comes Alive, only uglier," notes Peter Prescott; Clint Conley wonders aloud if all six members of their last Seattle audience are there. That was then; tonight, the room is packed, and the crowd is receptive and wildly enthusiastic to a stunning first set, complete with the debut of a new Peter Prescott composition,"The Enthusiast." Despite the odd misplaced lyric and occasional spontaneously-detuning instrument, the first set is a blazing sonic powerhouse.

The second set launches with a vengeance, beginning with the rolling piledriver of " Fun World" and progressing from strength to strength. Another debut takes flight, Roger Miller's "The Set-Up," originally written for Mission of Burma in the early 80s. No Man recorded the song on 1992's How the West was Won; Mission of Burma's version blows it clear out of the water. Some days it pays to delve into the past. The encores are, if anything, even more pyrogenetic than the set, beginning with a cover of the Dils classic "Class War" and ending with a full-throttle, take-no-prisoners rendition of "Dumbells."

Despite Peter's urging, no attractive women in the audience were reported to have gone to the sound booth and given Bob Weston a big wet kiss on the lips, even though he deserved all the lip he could have gotten.