Last night’s Tokyo Police Club show at the Doug Fir captured the vibe of being packed into a basement for a house party, except for the fact that floors were not nearly as sticky and the band was way more professional and polished than whomever Dave could bribe to play for a case of cheap domestic. The devoted showed up in full force last night, ready to sing along to to tracks that date back to the group’s first EP, and the group complied with an enthusiastic and lively set.
David Monks mid-rock-out maneuver
The band kicked off the show with a modification to their recent setlist by opening with “Breakneck Speed”, slightly altering the lyrics to say “it’s good to be back in Portland” in a nice bit of showmanship. “Hot Tonight”, an effervescent highlight from their most recent album Forcefield soon followed, and set the mood for the evening. The new material mixed in well with the old material, with the group focusing heavily on songs from the Champ era in filling out a twenty song set.
We were even treated to a couple of new songs, with bassist/singer David Monks giving a bit of the backstory for “PCH”, noting that the events of the romance took place on that highway that was, to paraphrase, not that far off from here. Another highlight was fan-favorite “Bambi”, complete with an extended intro that did a great job in disguising what was to come, as well as early cuts like “Nature of the Experiment” and the infectious “Your English Is Good”. For the encore, we were even treated to a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”, which managed to accomplish the difficult task of captivating this crowd packed with hipsters.
A good look at the friendly fellows
Openers The Domestics did a great job with their pop-rock set, effectively setting the mood for the rest of the night. The local act kept the audience’s attention with a varied setup, switching between instruments and vocalists, all the while delivering punchy and engaging songs. They will definitely be a highlight on many bills around town.
Edgefield is easily one of the best venues in Oregon, and it is too bad that we were unable to see more shows there this summer. However, if it ends up that we only make it out to Troutdale one time this year, Wilco certainly did their best to make it worthwhile. The band entertained the sold-out crowd with a career-spanning, thirty song set that captured every aspect of the group’s sound.
If you look closely, the cat from the Star Wars cover is hanging out by Glenn.
Wilco kicked off the show with a mini-set of their entire new album, Star Wars, entering the stage to the noisy opener “EKG” before playing straight through the entire record. The crowd ate it up, with a fair portion having already memorized many of the lyrics from last month’s surprise release. The new material translated well live, with the band staying faithful to the record, besides Nels Cline adding some embellishments and Glenn Kotche indulging in an extended drum solo between songs.
To Jeff’s delight, it finally got dark enough.
Once “Magnetized” closed out the “opening set”, Jeff Tweedy greeted the crowd and the band launched into a roaring version of “Handshake Drugs”. For the most part, the band kept the energy up during the main set, flying through uptempo numbers like “Dawned on Me”, “Heavy Metal Drummer”, and “I’m the Man That Loves You”. Wilco did not just stick with the fun, bouncy songs though, as they played a varied set that covered all the assorted genres the band has flitted with over the years. The group delighted the crowd with their moody, noisy freakouts in “Via Chicago” and “Art of Almost” as well as the introspective favorite “Jesus, Etc.”, but the audience truly came alive with the epic, extended guitar workouts of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” and “Impossible Germany”.
For the encore, Wilco went retro.
For the encore, the band eschewed amps and went old-school with a full acoustic lineup, with even keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen picking up an axe at one point. The band began with a solemn rendition of “Misunderstood”, featuring an ending that stood in stark contrast with the way the long-time live favorite has been performed–instead of an ever-escalating repetition of the “nothing” part in “I’d like to thank you all for nothing at all”, the band gradually played softer, with members dropping out, finishing with Tweedy whispering the final notes in a powerful moment. Bassist John Stirratt then got a turn at the mic as the band played “It’s Just That Simple” from their debut A.M., followed by an even earlier selection as they played “We’ve Been Had” by pre-Wilco group Uncle Tupelo. Special guests (and Portland residents) Peter Buck of R.E.M., Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, and Scott McCaughey joined in for the second of two Mermaid Avenue selections, livening up “California Stars” with an extra dose of familial feeling, before the band closed out with a relaxed take on “A Shot in the Arm”.
Wilco proved once again why they have been consistently one of the great live acts of the past two decades, and we wish we could have seen more of Speedy Ortiz’s opening set. Unfortunately, Portland’s terrible Sunday traffic only allowed us to see a handful of songs from one of our favorite new bands, but we liked what we heard, even if most of the crowd seemed relatively indifferent.
The first day of Project Pabst had a better lineup, but the second day offered just enough that made spending a second day in the heat a worthwhile proposition. At least it never got as hot as it did the previous day, though there was little to no escape from the sun, aside from the odd bit of shade and the PBRcade. Still, water refills were once again free, even if that did not make up for the fact the organizers made no adjustments overnight.
Alvvays delivered the most season-appropriate music
If there is one thing you can count on when you travel in Oregon, it is that random traffic jams will occur without any reason. A massive slowdown on I-5 added another hour to our travel time, forcing us to miss the majority of Alvvays’s set, an unfortunate result considering we were really excited to see how one of our favorite new artists from 2014 performed live. However, we can authoritatively state that, from what little we heard, Alvvays’s bouncy, shimmery pop-rock was a perfect soundtrack to a sunny outdoor festival. Though attendance was lagging at this point in the day, at least there were a devoted few that sang along to closer “Archie, Marry Me”.
Aimee Man and Ted Leo had easily the best stage banter of the festival
Though I have been a fan of Ted Leo for years, I had yet to give his collaboration with Aimee Mann a shot. However, The Both won me over with their ripping set, with Aimee and Ted displaying a tight chemistry that was only matched by El-P and Killer Mike. The music was an intriguing mix of the two styles, though I tended to prefer the moments when Ted would kick it up a notch with flashy-but-efficient guitar solos. The stage banter between the two was a definite highlight, including a memorable bit where Aimee poked fun at Ted’s love of all things Tolkien, with Ted responding by totally owning it and singing an impromptu version of “Frodo of the Nine Fingers”. Also, for the record, Ted can change a broken guitar string faster than any performer that I have ever seen.
This was the act the crowd appreciated the most
Passion Pit generated the best crowd response of the day, but my reaction to the group has always been the embodiment of the shrug emoji.
Buzzcocks still going steady
Since I spent several years listening to Singles Going Steady, a truly essential compilation for anyone who has ever dabbled in punk rock, the Buzzcocks were the “living legends” reunion I was looking forward to seeing the most at Project Pabst. Judging by the packed backstage area, I was certainly not alone in this sentiment, as one could easily see other performers like Ted Leo singing along to the words of some of their classic hits like “Why Can’t I Touch It”, “What Do I Get?”, and “Noise Annoys”. The group tore through their discography at breakneck speed, with guitarist Steve Diggle constantly asking the sound mixer to crank up the volume. Just hearing “Ever Fallen In Love” and “Orgasm Addict” live made Day 2 worthwhile in and of itself.
Weezer finished off Project Pabst with some flair.
There are few bands with whom I have more of a love/hate relationship than Weezer, and considering my age it should be easy to spot exactly where that dividing line occurs in the band’s catalog. I think the surest example of how people my age should not be lumped into the catch-all “millenial” generation is that we would never cheer as loudly for “Back to the Shack” as we would for “My Name Is Jonas” or “The Good Life”. I ended up sticking around longer than I anticipated since the group did a good job of mixing in some of their genuinely great songs with their later hits that played well to certain segments of the crowd, and I can certainly admired the well-oiled machine that Weezer the performance act has become.
Project Pabst was a solid success this go-around, but hopefully they will learn from a few of their mistakes from this edition as they set up plans for next year. Hopefully they can create a lineup as exciting and varied as the first two editions.
Random Notes
Number of free water refills: 2
Number of beards longer than mine: 1
Number of comments on my shirt (Dinosaur Jr. Green Mind cover): 2, including a “Best Shit EVER!”
You might not expect it, but The Antlers can really bring the thunder live. The band may be famous for its delicately gorgeous ballads, but they certainly know how to build to a climax and drop the hammer, and it makes for an excellent show. I was excited to see the band headline the Crystal Ballroom last night, since I was finally getting to see them play a full set–previously, I had only seen them play a quick SXSW showcase event and half of a shortened set at MusicFestNW, and each time they had left me wanting more. It turns out that even ninety-plus minutes is not enough either.
Up close and personal with The Antlers
The crowd was disappointingly sparse, though those who did show up were often enthusiastic in their response. Previously the band had played the Doug Fir, and the jump up to the cavernous Crystal Ballroom may have been a bit overzealous; if they booked the show at the Wonder Ballroom, it would have been much closer to a sellout. The good news is that the acoustics and sound system of the Crystal, which often frustrate and stymie even the most experienced acts, proved to be a good fit for the band’s haunting chords and gorgeous melodies. Occasionally Peter’s guitar would find itself buried in the mix or a trumpet would pop a bit too much, but these were very minor concerns.
The band overall played brilliantly, with Darby and Tim mesmerizing the crowd with their ability to simultaneously play keys and horn parts, and Michael Lerner serving up some bombast with his work behind the kit. The drums are often overshadowed on the album by the other instrumental parts, but they help the songs take on a whole new dimension live, giving real weight to the low end and providing unexpected rhythmic kicks–for example, in their stunning performance of “I Don’t Want Love” from their previous album Burst Apart, Lerner would add an extra beat on the kick drum leading into the chorus that helped drive the anticipation for its big release, and helped create some great tension by utilizing a snare pattern that danced around the expected beat with the final chorus. Peter also showed signs that he is an underrated guitarist with some sneaky displays of his chops, ranging from a couple of excellent and tasteful guitar solos to a one-handed pull-off chord technique that helped spark even more intensity from their performance of “Putting the Dog to Sleep”.
The Antlers up on the big board.
The band took an intriguing approach to their setlist, primarily running through their latest album Familiars front-to-back, with older songs filtered in on occasion. There were murmurs in the crowd for older material, namely from their classic album Hospice, but they still showed their appreciation for the newer material. As the night went on, the band gradually loosened up in their interactions with the crowd, including a memorable exchange where Peter acknowledged the “holiday” and pulled an April Fool’s Day prank by signalling that they were about to play a new song, before quickly correcting the record. What made this simple joke even better was Darby’s confession soon after that he had panicked a bit, wondering what it could possibly be that they were playing since they had not written any new material yet, as well as Peter’s suggestion that the audience come up with better stories of the “prank” the band had pulled.
Though The Antlers never played “Two” or “Bear” as some members of the crowd requested, the show did feature intense performances of “Kettering” and the heart-wrenching “Epilogue”, and the arrangements of the newer songs also infused them with an extra vitality. Perhaps word of mouth will lead to a better turnout the next time the band plays Portland.
I didn’t get a chance to see the first band, but the second openers Shaprece was pleasantly delightful. She had a wonderful voice, and the use of a cello helped add an extra dimension to the glitch-pop R&B that other artists like fka Twigs are popularizing.
A few weeks ago, we linked to a piece from Talking Points Memo that featured the inflammatory headline “Face It, Live Music Kinda Sucks.” As expected, the article does not improve from its initial comparison that “live music is the grownup birthday dinner of cultural events”, and it certainly does not fulfill its stated promise of providing an “airtight case” of that assertion. Sometimes an essay can overcome its terrible arguments with some creative and compelling commentary, but there is absolutely nothing in the article that resembles anything that can be construed as entertaining.
Here is a breakdown of the author’s argument: 1). People don’t want to hear bands they don’t know; 2). Musicians can be boring/play for too long/other people suck; 3). Live music isn’t as good as studio recordings; 4). Good bands don’t get booked; 5). People suck and do bad things and somehow this is the result of live music. This last part didn’t get its own bullet-point, but was apparently tacked-on at the last minute to score some social commentary points, which is depressing in and of itself–you may have admirable aims in tackling issues of racism, sexism, and other forms of harassment, but if you use a lazy argument it just hurts your overall point, especially if it lacks relevance to the specific issue at hand. It is completely unproductive, and results in turning off the potentially impressionable as only the converted hear the message.
Even if one ignores the extraneous social commentary, it is not as if the author’s primary arguments have any merit. For the first point, there is the tautology that the author admits to in his own goddamn article that “nobody likes things they don’t like”, but there is no elaboration of this basic concept. Sure, it can be annoying to hear crappy opening bands, but for the most part it is rare to hear genuinely awful bands, so maybe it is possible to endure a half-hour of light annoyance in order to hear your preferred choice. Of course, as rare as it may be, there is always the possibility that you can find a new favorite band from an unknown opener; even if the success rate is rather low in this particular context, it is roughly equivalent to what you would find just scanning the radio.
The second and third points are even more ludicrous. If you like a band so much that you are paying money to see them live, why would you complain that you may be forced to endure a three hour show? Most fans appreciate hearing as much of a band’s catalog as possible. Of course, the solution for someone who thinks that a concert is running too long is rather obvious: leave early. The other argument has the appearance of some legitimacy, since it is true that there is often a fundamental tension in seeing a band live. It is a struggle for musicians to satisfy the demand of sounding similar to the studio recordings with which their fans are familiar as well as making the live experience worthwhile by offering a unique experience, but seeing how a musician handles that clash of expectations is half the fun of a live show. Some bands succeed, others do not, but that is how most things go in life. However, the fact that the author cites Beck as an example of a musician’s failure to meet those conflicting expectations casts some doubt on his ability to discern as to what makes a good performance; over the years, Beck has done an excellent job of assembling various groups of musicians that do a fantastic job of recreating and reinterpreting his studio albums in a live setting, including during his recent Morning Phase tour.
The final point is just dumb, and is undercut by the author’s own admitted shittery. Congratulations, you were able to book shows despite the fact that your band was terrible (and judging by the photo you submitted for this piece, I have no problem believing this to be the case). In general, most venues care much more about their bottom line and simply will not book bands that fail to bring in an audience; half-assed sociological assessments do not usually enter into the picture. Good work on earning a few hundred bucks here and there by putting on a terrible performance, Mr. Kennedy, but there is a clear reason why we in the public at large have never heard about your musical exploits. Despite the fact that you didn’t give a fuck about your audience, it doesn’t mean that most bands follow your model. I have seen Of Montreal perform a gig for dozens in a basement bar in rural New Hampshire and play a sell-out show for thousands in New York City, and they played with the same gusto and enthusiasm for both shows. In other words, there’s a reason why they are the ones that still have a musical career.
Related to this discussion is the recent questions asked by some about the relevancyof live albums. It is difficult to think of a less vital position to take, considering that if you do not believe in the endeavor of creating a live album for fans you can choose to simply not to buy the album–it is not as if the existence of these albums crowds out the market for other non-live albums. But the answer is simple: fans find value in these recordings. At their most basic level, live albums benefit from the extra energy that infuse the performances, from both the musicians themselves and the presence of the crowd; even if the listener is not physically present for the show, there is still some benefit in hearing a live recording because of this factor.
These albums also allow fans to hear exciting new variations of their favorite songs; the studio recordings do not have to be a “finished product”, and bands can tinker and deconstruct various elements and rebuild them into something new. As an example, with each of their tours Eels emphasizes different parts of their sound and offer intriguing new takes on their songs, whether it be fuzzed-out rock on Electro-Shock Blues Show or delicate ballads on With Strings. Live albums also offer fans the chance to hear amazing displays of musicianship and improvisation; there are those that are content with hearing one version of Pearl Jam’s “Black”, but there are thousands of others that enjoy hearing Mike McCready create different beautiful solos with each performance. Plus, there’s always fun in hearing particularly memorable stage banter that a recording might capture, as many Pearl Jam bootleg devotees can attest.
The point is that live music is great any way you find it. There is no need to be an ass and try to find reasons to hate it.
I woke up this past Saturday morning with absolutely no plans for my weekend, but after a quick perusal of my Facebook feed, the circumstances changed dramatically. The Thermals posted a flyer for a show they were doing that night at Level B, having decided to make the trip from Portland down to the Capital City to bless us with their presence. So with the choice now between “doing nothing” and venturing downtown to see one of my favorite bands play an intimate show in my hometown, I easily decided to go with the latter. Despite a rather sparse showing from my fellow Salemites, the band did their usual excellent work and hopefully had as great a time as I did.
A personal souvenir from the show
Since this is the third time we’ve covered a Thermals show in a year*, we’re not going to spend too much time discussing the intricacies of their set. The band focused mainly on their most recent album, sprinkling several cuts from Desperate Ground throughout the set, while making sure to cover crowd-favorites from their classic The Body, The Blood, The Machine; a personal highlight was hearing “Power Lies” from the underrated Personal Life make an appearance. The group has been hard at work writing material for a new album, and I’m glad to say that it looks like there was good reason that I had trouble recognizing a couple of songs, since the setlist confirms new tracks “The Walls” and “I Will Find My Way”. The new songs definitely did not represent any drastic change in style, and instead fit naturally into the band’s set, which should provide comfort for their fans.
Throughout the show, a reel of “Betty Boop” cartoons was shown by a projector behind the band, seemingly selected at random. The resulting juxtaposition provided a couple of noteworthy moments**, the highlight being that an Alice in Wonderland-themed episode appeared as the band played their cover of “White Rabbit” in an alarming moment of synchronicity, something that which Hutch himself remarked and Kathy noticed as well. Though the crowd was not nearly as raucous as they were the last time The Thermals came through town, we were able to convince the band to indulge us with old favorites “Overgrown, Overblown!” and “No Culture Icons” for a mini-encore. After the show, it was great to see Hutch and Kathy and Westin hang out with the crowd and appear sincerely grateful for those that turned up; hopefully the band will make this a regular gig, though it may help to do a bit more advance notice for a Salem gig.
A view inside of the theater with the ad for the show
As for the openers, they represented both the old and the new of the Salem scene. Years (the young folks) performed a set of catchy 90’s-era punk with what I assume is some heavy influence from Pavement, while City of Pieces (the old folks) taught the crowd some lessons on the classics, with a style that was reminiscent of The Cramps with their tinge of psychobilly. Years could use some seasoning, not necessarily to brush up their chops but to work on their songcraft a bit, yet they probably have a bright future ahead of them. However, City of Pieces was a blast, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of their sets around town, as their presence assures that it will be a fun night.
**The selection of cartoons included a rather racist episode made things uncomfortable for those paying attention (though the band was thankfully too busy to notice).
Portland music fans come in all shapes and sizes, but the one thing that unites them is their enthusiasm. They may not know how to dance, and they may not know all the words to a song, but dammit they’ll clap and yell like hell to show their appreciation. Usually when a band like The Flaming Lips tells a Portland audience at this crowd is “the loudest they’ve ever heard,” the assumption is that they’re being polite; however, considering the sheer number of bands who as they pass through the Pacific Northwest take the time remark about the intensity of the crowds, the evidence indicates that this is a genuine fact.* But sometimes the Portland crowd’s passion gets the best of them.
Though The Hives have faded a bit from the mainstream, they still remain one of the best live shows that you can go see. Singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist always is a delight with his theatrics and stage mannerisms, and drummer Chris Dangerous is worth the price of admission alone as he flies through each song at warp speed while at the same time keeping perfect time. A couple of years back, due to a scheduling snafu, we had tickets for two concerts at the same time, and as a result we had to race across town and were able to catch only the last ten minutes of The Hives’s set. But even though we only heard the last three songs, we still came out feeling pumped and eager to share the fun that we had, including the fact that Pelle had the audience on the floor at one point.
My favorite memory of The Hives is from a show they performed back in 2008 at the Roseland Theater, in support of The Black and White Album. Even though there was an extra-long delay between the opener and the main act, the band was quickly able to win over the crowd with their infectious energy and an absolutely blistering performance, as they tore into all their hits from Tyrannosaurus Hives and Veni Vedi Vicious. At one point in the show, Pelle climbed up a giant stack of amplifiers and into the Roseland’s balcony to sing one of their songs, a feat that I haven’t seen replicated since. Each member got their time to shine, and the crowd ate it up.
As expected, the band left their mega-hit “Hate To Say I Told You So” for the encore, and when Nikolaus Arson launched into that memorable riff, the crowd lost their minds. Everything was fine until the band hit the breakdown, when Dr. Matt Destruction received his moment in the spotlight as he played the riff on his bass. There he was, motoring along, and the crowd was clapping right there with him, except…the audience was seriously dragging behind the beat and everything sounded like ass. Dr. Matt Destruction, being the professional that he is, didn’t miss a beat and kept chugging along. Meanwhile, Pelle heard the carnage that was taking place, and his face clearly indicated that he felt shocked and appalled at what he was witnessing. He looked to the crowd, and asked the immortal question in his best Swedish-accented English:
“Port Land…Where’s your rhythm?!!??!”**
Pelle then proceeded to clap, and set the beat for us, and eventually order was restored. I will never forget that moment, though I get constant reminders whenever I go to a show and I see Portland’s “rhythm” in action. And thus, I can say that this Treme clip is just about the most accurate comment about Portland ever seen on television.
*Makes those “records” that you see for loudest crowd at Autzen Stadium in Eugene and CenturyLink Field in Seattle seem a bit more accurate, and not just the result of fancy acoustics. Also, having seen shows on both coasts, I can speak to the volume of Portland crowds personally, for what it’s worth.
**Note: the emphasis on each syllable of ‘Portland’ is something that Pelle did throughout the night, and is an accurate transcription.
We do things a little differently around here when it comes to the traditional lists like “Best Albums of the Year”, since we like to take the extra time to see if we may have missed anything. But we admit we can’t resist the opportunity to look back on other highlights of the year, so it’s the perfect time to create an arbitrary ranking of the best concerts we saw this year.
Over the course of 2014 we saw a grand total of 32 different concerts (including two separate festivals), giving us close to an average of three different shows a month to see national touring acts. Considering that we had to travel at least an hour to and from all but one of these shows, allow us to shed our modesty for a second and say that this was quite the accomplishment. Luckily, not a single concert could be even remotely considered a dud, so it makes narrowing down the list to just ten shows that much harder. That said, we think that these shows are worthy of special recognition, and we invite you to use the tags to read up on our reviews for each performance.
Cloud Nothings put on a great show, but will have to settle for a spot just outside the top ten.
Honorable Mention for The Thermals playing a show in Salem and making the town seem like a real cool place for once.
10. The Men, live at Dante’s
9. Hamilton Leithauser, live at the Doug Fir
8. The National, live at the Les Schwab Amphitheater
7. Modest Mouse, headlining Project Pabst
6. TV on the Radio, live at the Crystal Ballroom
5. Queens of the Stone Age, live at the Keller Auditorium
4. Beck, live at Edgefield
3. Neutral Milk Hotel, live at the Crystal Ballroom
2. Death From Above 1979, live at the Crystal Ballroom
1. Slowdive, live at the Crystal Ballroom.
It’s no surprise that the top of the list is loaded with reunions, though the exact order goes against what probably would have been predicted at the beginning of the year; the biggest shock remains that shows at the Crystal Ballroom ended up being the venue to house the best shows, though that speaks to the ability of each of those groups to overcome any obstacles that tricky room could toss their way.
Let’s hope that any shows we see in the next year live up to the unbelievable standard that this past year has set!
Over the course of more than a decade and five albums into their career, there is still no band like TV on the Radio. They are sui generis, a singular entity that defies easy characterization but continually produces gorgeous and engaging music. As great as their studio output is, it gives but a glimpse of the true power of the band, and that’s its live show. Last Thursday’s show at the Crystal Ballroom was a thrilling experience that capped off not only a wonderful year of concerts, but proves that more than ever we need to be thankful for the band’s existence.
Inside, they don’t take as much care in lining up the names for the concert calendar
On record, TV on the Radio exerts an air of precision and carefulness; even when the songs are filled with hisses and layers of ambient haze, there is still the notion that this “noise” is meticulously constructed, with the particular vocal styles of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone also contributing to this perception. However, their live show moves away from their more artfully produced side and instead brings out their dormant punk rock tendencies. This was established in a dramatic fashion at the very beginning of the show, as waves of haze and noise filled the air like an aural fog machine before Tunde ripped through and delivered a thrilling rendition of one of their earliest songs, “Young Liars”. Though I have my doubts that most of the audience had an previous familiarity with the song, by the end of the first chorus it didn’t matter, and they provided an enthusiastic response.
Tunde was moving around the stage and wringing the emotion out of every note, often with the aid of his unique physical mannerisms that in the hands of a less capable performer would look ridiculous but were clearly genuine expressions on his part. Dave Sitek spent most of the set furiously strumming his guitar, and though it was nearly impossible to pick out his singular contributions it was clear that he was making an important contribution to the general atmosphere of each song; he stood in direct contrast to Kyp Malone on the other side of the stage, whose stillness amid the chaos portrayed an almost zen-like quality to his guitar-playing and vocal parts. In their live performance, the brilliance of the composition of the bass and drum parts become much more apparent, and Jaleel Bunton and Japhet Landis helped not only to keep everything grounded but offered thrilling personal touches of their own. While Landis seemed to struggle slightly with a couple of the turnarounds in “Lazerray”, he more than made up for it with his handling of the tricky rhythms of “Province”.
TV on the Radio performing “Golden Age”
The set focused mainly on the new album Seeds, with the band performing most of the album, including a stretch of four songs in a row that indicate the band’s confidence in the material. Considering we here at RIJR think it’s one of the top albums of the year, we were fine with this decision. The band sprinkled only a little bit from the rest of their catalog throughout, with Dear Science and Return to Cookie Mountain getting a handful of songs each. For the most part, the intention was to keep the energy up, and so fast-paced rockers like “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age” dominated the setlist in favor of the band’s slower songs (though a re-working of “Blues From Down Here” showed the versatility of their more balladesque material). As expected, “Wolf Like Me” was a thrilling highlight, with the crowd absolutely losing its mind during the band’s ferocious performance.
The band seemed to genuinely enjoy their visit to Portland, and the crowd was glad to benefit from the extra shot of energy that comes with the final stop at the end of a tour. But there were other things that were understandably on the band’s mind, as Kyp and Tunde both took time between songs to express frustration with the recent current events and promote positive social awareness in the audience. This included a memorable segment that involved crowd participation about “light” and “dark” and Tunde running through and high-fiving the audience. All of this led up to the final song, the moment that I had been hoping all night to hear once again, and that was their electric performance of their early hit “Staring at the Sun”. It is one of the highlights of desperate youth, blood thirsty babes, but it takes on a whole new dimension when performed live that few bands in history can match. It was a sensational conclusion to not only a brilliant show, but to the year in general. Thanks to that performance, I’m going to have to reshuffle my list of top concerts of the year, but that’s a great problem to have.
After taking a five year break from visiting Portland, Spoon returned last night for their second show in less than six months, but even with the quick turnaround the fans last night were excited to see the one-time locals once again. Breaking free from the tentativeness of their previous festival-headlining slot at MusicFestNW, the band seemed energized to bring their show back to a more intimate venue with a devoted audience. It makes one wish that Spoon would stop by every month of the year.
Hopefully we won’t have to use this photo for the next concert as well.
It was clear almost immediately that the time spent touring in support of their excellent new album They Want My Soul was well-spent, as the band sounded crisper and more spirited than they did at their show this past summer. Even during moments when it seemed like not everyone was in sync, there was still a feeling of calm that they would let any temporary road bumps slide and they could line up again soon enough. This palpable sense of trust in each other allowed the band to flash some showier stage tricks (like Britt Daniel pulling a Johnny Cash and aiming his guitar as a gun to add an exclamation point to some of his licks) or recover quickly from quick fuckups (like Britt dropping the mic in “The Way We Get By”).
At this point it is nearly impossible for Spoon to come up with a bad setlist, considering they’ve released six stellar albums in a row, and as a result the band can choose freely from a deep catalog. Though it was a bit disappointing for me personally to have Girls Can Tell shut out, that was balanced out by hearing hidden gems like “They Never Got You” from Gimme Fiction and “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga made up the lion’s share of the set, with a punched-up and dramatic version of “The Ghost Of You Lingers” being a standout of the early part of the set. Driving numbers like “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” and “Don’t Make Me A Target” got the crowd bouncing along, with more than a few totally cutting loose during main set closer “Got Nuffin'”.
Britt takes stock of the audience
The encore kicked off with the fantastic “Black Like Me”, though it was a bit disappointing to have the crowd not respond en masse with the “yeah”s and “oh yeah”s. I suspected that the cover that the band played was from The Cramps, and I was proud to see that my suspicions were confirmed as they indeed played their song “My TV Set” (while I try to be as knowledgeable as possible, my expertise is not perfect, and I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the band). Spoon finished the night with “a song that I wrote in Southeast”, and the audience was overjoyed to hear that the ebullient “The Underdog” was a local product. We can only hope that Britt comes back for more inspiration soon.
A Giant Dog were the first openers, and they were an energetic group that kept spirits high; it was nice to hear Britt plug their other show that night at Dante’s, noting though that if you saw him there to not talk to him because he wanted to truly take in their music. Future Islands, despite all the accolades they’ve received so far, did little to impress despite my intention to approach them with an open mind; instead, I feel as if it may be necessary to note specifically what it is that bothers me about their sound, but I don’t want to take away any more from the main act. Spoon delivered a superb show, and it’s wonderful to see their career continue to thrive.
Rust Is Just Right 