the dharma blog

Built to Spill kicked off their summer tour here in Minneapolis last night. Bottomline: the boys from Boise rocked out (yes, they are from Twin Falls but that doesn’t have the same ring).

That band can dive into simply the most amazing jams. They play so tightly, and there is such a sense of movement, that you think every measure must have been carefully composed and rehearsed. But then they break it down into some funky feedback screaming experimental riff. It’s then that you just know they’re extremely talented musicians doing what they do.

Having three guitarists in addition to a bassist and a tight drummer gives their live shows layers of elements that combined make up a very intriguing sound. Something you can close your eyes to and try to dissect everything that’s going on.

They didn’t play any covers that I was aware of. No Neil Young covers, which was too bad. The crowd (and don’t get me started on the crowd… bunch of fucksticks) seemed to really want them to play Freebird. That’s fucking great.

Doug Martsch forgot the lyrics during one song, which was kind of funny, and he didn’t talk very much. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a band kick off a big tour before, especially after not really touring for over a year, and it was an unique experience. You could just kind of see that they were concentrating on the music, forgetting a bit about any showmanship. Fine with me. Also, the bunch of drunk Luke Wilson wannabe reformed white hats moshing and pushing in the front rows might not have been the people they really felt like interacting with. No, I won’t get started.

Their playing was tight, though, like I said. Energetic might be the best word.

Mike Johnson opened up. Formerly of Dinosaur Jr., though I also believe that that band is doing a bit of a reunion tour. Yeah… Mike Johnson by himself (and with a few members of Built to Spill as backup band “The Evildoers”) was a little depressing. Good, but a downer. Heavy music, I decided it might fit my own personal definition of dronecore. He kind of droned all the lyrics, and the music was loud and maintained a certain level that gave the whole thing a montonous, if still rockin’, impression.

Those are my initial thoughts. Built to Spill is a fun band, that’s all there is to say about it. Seing Martsch with his enormous beard and his “relationship” with his guitar made me want to move to the mountains and just fuck around with words (rather than a guitar).