Built to Spill

[Oweihops]

I hate seeing shows at Pearl St., although that was the venue where I first saw Wilco back in 1999. Built to Spill was initially slated to play at the Calvin Theater, and I was excited because my wife and I purchased tickets in the center of the first row balcony. But the show was moved just a few days ago (not enough tickets sold?), so Pearl St. it was. The room isn't all that bad, I'm just generally allergic to giant herds of standing people. And for that, the Built to Spill show did not disappoint; Pearl St. smelled like 1000 beer farts.

 

But the show was amazing. The first openers, the Drones, were pretty dreadful. I thought they put everything they had into the performance, and appreciated that, but the songs were just boring, for all of their brute force. The Meat Puppets were everything the Drones were not: fun, lively, and with a sense of regionalism and music history guiding their sound in every song, regardless of how fast or psychedelic or goofy it got. I didn't know what to expect from them, never having heard one of their albums, but I was seriously impressed.

 

Built to Spill--well shit. They're on tour right now specifically to play the album Perfect From Now On in its entirety, in order. I've never seen a band do this, and it was remarkable. The crowd was more into this show than any concert I've been to in recent memory, and I think it's because they played that album, and faithfully. People's enthusiasm was not just for the band, but for their creation, the epic record that most everyone in the room has some presumably special connection with. The basic trio was abetted by two extra guitarists and a cellist/keyboardist. If this tour stops near you, I highly recommend. The setlist:

 

Randy Described Eternity

I Would Hurt a Fly

Stop the Show

Made-Up Dreams

Velvet Waltz

Out Of Sight

Kicked It In the Sun

Untrustable Part 2

Goin' Against Your Mind

Big Dipper

Car

[intodeep]

I hate seeing shows at Pearl St., although that was the venue where I first saw Wilco back in 1999. Built to Spill was initially slated to play at the Calvin Theater, and I was excited because my wife and I purchased tickets in the center of the first row balcony. But the show was moved just a few days ago (not enough tickets sold?), so Pearl St. it was. The room isn't all that bad, I'm just generally allergic to giant herds of standing people. And for that, the Built to Spill show did not disappoint; Pearl St. smelled like 1000 beer farts.

 

But the show was amazing. The first openers, the Drones, were pretty dreadful. I thought they put everything they had into the performance, and appreciated that, but the songs were just boring, for all of their brute force. The Meat Puppets were everything the Drones were not: fun, lively, and with a sense of regionalism and music history guiding their sound in every song, regardless of how fast or psychedelic or goofy it got. I didn't know what to expect from them, never having heard one of their albums, but I was seriously impressed.

 

Built to Spill--well shit. They're on tour right now specifically to play the album Perfect From Now On in its entirety, in order. I've never seen a band do this, and it was remarkable. The crowd was more into this show than any concert I've been to in recent memory, and I think it's because they played that album, and faithfully. People's enthusiasm was not just for the band, but for their creation, the epic record that most everyone in the room has some presumably special connection with. The basic trio was abetted by two extra guitarists and a cellist/keyboardist. If this tour stops near you, I highly recommend. The setlist:

 

Randy Described Eternity

I Would Hurt a Fly

Stop the Show

Made-Up Dreams

Velvet Waltz

Out Of Sight

Kicked It In the Sun

Untrustable Part 2

Goin' Against Your Mind

Big Dipper

Car

 

I'm so jealous. They are not coming near me and i would love to see this tour.

[chanman1128]

Really great show, so much fun.

 

The first band stayed on way too long though....i believe almost an hour. That was just sort of ridiculous because there were two openers.

 

There was way more energy from the crowd than the last time I saw them at the Avalon...everyone was feeling it.

 

Great job BTS

[mechanical_bird]

I'm seeing them tomorrow night in Philly. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a show in my life. Perfect From Now On is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time.

[Steph]

hi! i'm new to posting here. i am a huge wilco fan and started reading the boards earlier in the summer...which by the way i find to be very pleasant and well run! i live in boise, idaho, where we were treated to an amazing visit from wilco last month (the eagle, id., 8.20.08 show..it was truly amazing!). honestly, it was totally unbelievable that wilco played here, let alone at a venue such as the winery that they did. it was a dream come true for me, as well as many others i'm quite sure. my husband and i ended up driving to see them in bend, oregon the following saturday, and through a friend of mine who ran the show in here in boise putting us in touch with jason, wilco's tour manager (who is such a great guy!), we were treated to not only seeing the show as guests of the band, but also got passes to an after show party where we met jeff, glenn, nels, and john (who were all so cool and 'real')..it was totally surreal and something i never would have even thought to hope for...the whole night was unreal. i have some pictures, but feel kind of funny posting them.

 

anyhow, the reason that this thread brought me out of lurker mode, is because, being from boise, i am also a huge fan of built to spill and it surprised me to see them mentioned here. i am always excited to hear about people knowing about them and liking them. like the guys from wilco, everyone in built to spill are also super nice, down to earth guys. i am proud to be able to call doug martsch a friend, and i can tell you that he is one of the nicest, most genuine, sincere, appreciative guys in the world, let alone the business. if you ever get the chance after a show, try saying hello to him and you'll see for yourself how cool he is.

 

they played a perfect from now on show here in boise before they set out for their tour and it was amazing!! i am so happy that people are excited to be able to see them on this tour, and to hear good reviews!

[stickman]

I saw this tour at one of the stops in LA at the Troubadour. The first band (local I'm assuming) was alright, put a lot of heart into it and I could see that Doug Martsch was digging it from the window up in the green room. The second band, Quasi, was just as good as I could have hoped for. In fact I went as much for them as I did for Built to Spill. Sam had this goofy look on his face for most of the songs...kind of made him look like a skeleton or ghoul. Afterwards I saw Janet, the drummer, at the merch table and was so star-struck that I forgot to ask about the new album. Built to Spill was great. We were about three feet from the stage and as the original poster pointed out, you could tell by the energy and light chatter between songs that listening to them play the album straight through was very special. (I heard one lady say to her friend that it was like she was in college again). Anyway all in all a kickass time.

[Steph]

The basic trio was abetted by two extra guitarists and a cellist/keyboardist. If this tour stops near you, I highly recommend.

oh i meant to say that the other two guitarists are jim roth (who's been playing with them for quite a few years now) and brett netson (from caustic resin and also has collaborated with doug/bts for many years); and the cellist is john mcmahon, who played on the actual album.

 

another thing i forgot to mention, it turns out that nels cline knows brett netson. we'd been to see BTS in bend a few months prior to seeing wilco there and also got to hang out after the show, so in conversation with the wilco guys we brought up having just seen them in boise, and that the last time we were in bend we were seeing BTS, to which nels inquired about brett. i am just always so intrigued about the connections that so many musicians have..ones that you would never really expect, like that one for sure! so i passed along a message to brett netson from nels cline and brett replied needing to get in touch with him. i'm sure i'm just a big geek, but i found that whole thing to be a little crazy.

 

but again, i am so happy that my two favorite bands are joined, in a sense, on this message board.

[Steph]

hey again...i just found some great video footage posted on the BTS message boards from their Philly show if any one's interested. it's towards the bottom of the thread:

 

http://builttospill84818.yuku.com/topic/948?page=1