it can't all be wedding cake

Or, "More Ways to Run Yourself Ragged in SoCal, The Continuing Series." Conclusion to follow.

Britt Daniel, Belly Up Tavern, May 3, 2008: This hastily announced gig precipitated a hastily considered decision, but we were unanimous: Hell yeah, we could do it!

Spoon presents a textbook case in how my musical tastes ebb and flow. The albums I love, I really love, while the others drop off my radar pretty quickly. The gems are still lurking ("Vittorio E" on Kill the Moonlight, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" and "The Underdog" on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), but my interest doesn't necessarily follow. Though I had a great time at the last Spoon show I attended, I haven't enjoyed the crowds at more recent gigs (I recall a guy at the Fillmore shoving me to the barrier so that he could show the band his Texas tattoo). I figured we wouldn't have the same problem at an early solo gig in northern San Diego, however, and for the most part we were right.



Britt hit the stage with a boombox and an acoustic guitar--the latter a departure from other solo shows I've seen. I think the equipment affected his choice of songs, but he still carried off a good selection of tunes. Spoon is so closely associated with that taut, angular sound that it's easy to assume they spring forth, fully realized, from a hollow-body Gibson, but Britt showed that his songs have a folksier foundation, going as far back as "Metal Detektor" to the newer titles, such as "Don't Make Me a Target."

This show represented the second time this week I've seen a frontman apart from his band (three, actually, if you include an unexpected tête–à–tête at Pinkberry), and the results couldn't have been more different. Though not lacking for enthusiastic fans, Britt had a harder time keeping them in check. Granted, a typical Spoon show isn't a gabfest either, but at Solana Beach, a small, drunk contingent in the middle managed to interject themselves into several songs with loud talking, stupid comments, and off-beat clapping. Any thoughts I had about attending Spoon's Fillmore residency evaporated at that point.

I hate, however, letting a few idiots ruin my evening, and they couldn't take away from those gems that Britt and Spoon are capable of unearthing. For example, we got a Jam cover ("The Modern World") and after much lobbying by the aforementioned dumbasses, "The Fitted Shirt." In addition, Britt tried a couple of new songs that I'm sure will transform again before we hear them on the next Spoon album.

See also:
» come on back 'cos it's all still here
» turn to crystal form
» you're never coming back here again