BUILT TO FORGET
October 17, 2003 Austin, Texas -
With two opening bands hardly doing anything inspiring to draw a
crowd (one played a horrible cover of the Band's 'Weight'), I met up
with April and Paul at Casino El Camino and was coaxed into drinking
on an empty stomach. Perhaps that's the reason why I was able
to make it through the entire Built to Spill set, which was a
complete and utter disappointment.
Yes, they sounded good, yes they played a
lot of old material, but after seeing Doug Martsch's
solo performance at the Mercury last summer in support of his solo
album, it seemed a certain mojo was missing from the full Built to
Spill lineup, a stage filled with guitars, riffs, and extended jams
that allowed for the crowd to really 'feel' the music come alive.
The extended guitar solos and jams lent
a hippyesque jam band atmosphere to the proceedings, one not too
unlike the devotion experienced at the
Modest
Mouse show that took place on the same stage. The crowd
was nowhere near the intensity of the Modest Mouse show, and while
people seemed to enjoy things, no one was ecstatic. After
ignoring almost every perfect track from 'Perfect From Now On', Doug
and his jam boys pulled out a plethora of new work, and seemed to be
hitting its stride with a nicely done version of 'Sidewalk', gently
extending its pop quickness with an eight minute guitar laden trip.
It seemed like the real show was ready to begin, with the unseemly
warmups out of the way, Built to Spill could unwrap some of their
audio delights.
Instead, after another new song, I headed for the bathroom when they
launched into a cover of Neil Youngs' 'Cortez the Killer', a twenty
minute loving tribute to the Godfather of Grunge and all that crap
that dirty Canadian represents. I should have headed for the
door, for when the tediousness of the guitar jams finally ended,
Doug meekly thanked the crowd and walked off stage, to return a
couple minutes later for the encore - would it be some great Built
to Spill songs? Nope, just a cover of a Clash song followed
this time by an even quicker disappearance.
And sadly, now you know.
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