Finally, around 12:30, the JSB took the stage with a growling intro straight out of vintage Morphine; and a simple, “Peace from the East, we’re the JSB!” from guitarist & lead singer Craig Mercer. What followed was a 90-minute musical stream of consciousness that should have been required listening for every otherwise knowledgeable music fan who dismisses 'jam bands' strictly on the basis of association or stereotype.

The JSB began in metal-funk mode; then effortlessly and without skipping a beat shifted into a glam-rock groove with the quietly charismatic Mercer already dripping with sweat and leading the cryptic chorus of “Downtown has just begun.” He led the crowd in a mass toast, with the band shifting back into power-rock mode along the lines of Soundgarden’s classic album Badmotorfinger.

The second tune led off with a prog-funk volley that had the crowd buzzing, into the first sequence of the band’s signature “rocktronica” sound in which guitar reverb was brilliantly employed as a house-music kind of effect; along the lines of Kraftwerk or more recently Daft Punk. Mike MacDougall’s 7-string bass was unfortunately lost in the mix for the most part, but now and again shone through; he bears a striking resemblance, both physically and in playing persona, to Pocket Dwellers bass ace Gord “Jupiter” Shields.

The musical high point of the night for this veteran jam band concert-goer was the acid-jazz transition into the CD’s title track “Weight of the World”, which appropriately enough shares its name with a song from jam band royalty Widespread Panic. During this song, one fellow audience member felt the need to tell me that he was “about what sells” and that he didn’t think the JSB had enough hooks. In jam band vernacular, “Whatever, dude.”

“Running Through the Tall Grass” offered up a sequence for the true jam band ‘head, the grooves reminiscent of The Grateful Dead’s “Iko Iko”, “Only Women Bleed” by Alice Cooper and then a flashback to the glory days of the Allman Brothers. Shifting into yet more new territory “Medicine Chest”, with its audience-friendly refrain of “I like to smoke the high-grade,” and corresponding reggae-ska beat; this tune was inspired on the band’s hazy trip to Bermuda. During this song I was gently busted by one of the club’s security team for getting into the, ahem, spirit and thought, “This wouldn’t have happened at the Comfort Zone.”