DC ROCK CLUB
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Monday, April 27, 2009

Dirty Spoon



Spoon at the Scoot Inn
Austin, TX
April 21, 2009


I'm pressed for time so I'm reusing my Twitter comments and supplementing them with a few notes. Quick Summary: It wasn't as good as when I saw Spoon at The Parish in October or when we saw them at the 9:30 Club but it was still outstanding.

8:09 PM: at Spoon show with @SideOneTrackOne

I went with John from Side One: Track One. It's always great to see shows with John. He's a funny guy but more importantly he makes insightful observations which I then steal for my review.

8:13 PM: Black Nasty is on now. Black? Not quite. Nasty? Good god yes.

Black Nasty isn't much of a front man. He just stands there and lets his x-rated lyrics take their effect on the crowd. I'm sure his style (a combination of Easy E and satirical groups like The Dead Milkmen) is quite popular with adolescent boys. I listened to Too Live Crew as a kid so I can relate. However, now that I'm a little older the gimmick grows stale after a while. One or two disgustingly funny songs is okay but 10 to 15 is too much.

8:21 PM: Britt Daniel now standing in front of me blocking my view. What a dick.

So, the lead singer of Spoon is standing right in front of me. Do I say something or play it cool? Of course I say something. I have a blog to write. Plus, I'm a jock sniffer/suck up extraordinaire. It's what I do people. Here's how it went down:

We both chuckled at the ridiculously raunchy lyrics of Black Nasty. So I suggest they cover one of his songs. Britt said, "Yeah, maybe. Of course, I'd have to learn one first." Then I suggest he drop a few of Black Nasty's lyrics into one of his songs. "You know, just work 'lick my balls' into The Underdog somehow." After that he left.

8:59 PM: Hoping Spoon busts out some new songs.

9:13 PM: Spoon delivers! Three new songs to start the set. All are winners too. When does the new album come out?

The three new songs were "Written In Reverse", "I Saw Light", and "Got Nuffin". The first had a dirty jazz vibe like something you'd hear in a smokey nightclub. There were a few piano interludes but as a whole the song had a pulsing rhythm that was hard not to like. The other two songs will be sure to please fans of their last album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

9:16 PM: Preview portion of the evening is over as they play Beast and Dragon Adored.

9:43 PM: Crowd getting into the show as they play more of the old stuff. Or people are just getting drunk. One of the two.

Spoon are consummate professionals. They're live shows have intensity but are never wild. There's never a sense of danger because they're always firmly in control. However, I noticed something when they play Austin. Their hometown shows are more laid back, the band is looser, and the show seems less calculated. Britt fucked up a bunch of lyrics and had to start one song over yet somehow this added to the experience. Does that make sense?

9:52 PM: Another new song by Spoon called "Is Love Forever?"

Before "Is Love Forever" they played "Me and the Bean". Daniel explained it was written by John Clayton. I assumed he wasn't referring to the the ESPN NFL Analyst so I did a little research. The song is a cover of a mid-90's Austin, Texas band called The Sidehackers. Ever hear of them? Me neither but I'm going to check them out now.

10:01 PM: Upright spooning at Spoon? I need to get away from the couple next to me.

10:03 PM: @eguild i'm dead center in front of the sound board. Good spot but the lovebirds next to me may force a move.

My only compliant was the annoying couple next to me. They were swaying back and forth like they were at the Junior Prom. It didn't help that the girl would periodically yell "I love you Spoon!!!!!" Also, I really didn't need to see the guy palming his girlfriend's ass like it was a basketball. A big, mushy, basketball.

It was an outside show on a weekday so they ended at 10:30. Some complain about the noise ordinances but if they allow me see a great band like Spoon and be in bed by 11:00, well, they can't be that bad.


Set List:

Written In Reverse (New Song)
I Saw Light (New Song)
Got Nuffin (New Song)
The Beast And The Dragon, Adored
Rhthm & Soul
Someone, Something
The Ghost Of You Lingers
Stay Don't Go
They Never Got You
Don't Make Me a Target
Me And The Bean
Is Love Forever? (New Song)
Don't You Evah
Everything Hits At Once
I Summon You
Trouble Comes (New Song)
My Mathematical Mind
Black Like Me

Encore
Chicago At Night
The Underdog
Small Stakes

4 comments:

Jimbromski said...

Nice Clayton pic. He looks like the Undersecretary of the Interior for Agriculture (Pesticides and Feeds) for the Hoover Administration.

Unknown said...

i'm really just here to look at that vincent gallo pic some more, but good review. i saw them saturday, they did six new ones, probably the same five you saw plus one called "mystery zone."

how did i not know that about "me and the bean"? no wonder it's always been one of my least fave spoon songs. i had multiple people today tell me i was crazy for liking "series of sneaks" more than "girls can tell." those people are wrong. "girls can tell" is the weakest spoon album.

Andrew said...

nice snap. i saw spoon on saturday at GW. i told them i was a prospective student since it was a festival type thing only open to current students. they killed it. it was awesome seeing the band in such a small setting and the new songs, especially written in reverse, were great

Jimbromski said...

feel like a dick for not knowing about/missing the DC show