I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2018] Spoon

I have been a fan of Spoon for years.  I’ve never seen them before, including when they played at XPN Fest a few years ago.  Since the song “Hot Thoughts” from the new album is so damn catchy, it seemed like a great time to see them live (especially at TLA).

It took the band quite a while to get going after Sneaks went off.  And I gather they were having technical problems throughout the night.  But it sounded fantastic out by us.  Brit Daniel said he’d tell us the story later in the show.

They played a great mix of new songs and old songs.  Daniel’s voice sounded perfect and he was full of energy–interacting with the audience–high fiving, making faces–and jumping all around the stage.

On my side of the stage I was just a few feet from bassist Rob Pope.  I enjoyed the way Pope came really close to the edge of the stage a number of times, practically leaning out above us.   Just behind him was drummer Jim Eno.

The other side of the stage, obscured by fog for the first half of the show was Gerardo Larios on keys and guitar and Alex Fischel on guitar and keys and all manner of sounds.  He opened the show with some interesting noises while shrouded in fog.  As the blue lights zoomed around the rest of the band came out and they started “Do I Have to Talk You Into It.”

And from there, the band jumped around their back catalog, playing songs from They Want My Soul and two songs from Girls Can Tell (lots of crowd reaction for these songs, which I liked a lot live) and a cover of Wire’s “Lowdown.”

I’ve always liked “I Turn My Camera On” so I was really psyched to hear it and to watch Pope play that pulsing bass.  I also love the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, so I was pretty psyched to hear four songs from it as well.  “Don’t You Evah” sounded great.

After “Do You,” Fischel played an instrumental interlude (called “Via Kannela”).  Everybody left the stage except for Daniel who laid down on the prop in the back.  He just lay there for the entire instrumental and then when “I Ain’t the One” started he sang the first verse or so from the prone position.

Back to Girls Can Tell for “Everything Hits At Once.”  I noticed that so far during this leg of the tour they been mixing in some different older songs at each shoe.  We got two songs from Girls, while other places got only one or none.

After a rocking “Can I Sit Next to You. They played a jam-filled “My Mathematical Mind.”  At the end of the song Brit held up fingers to get the band to play that many beats as they rocked out.  Two more from Ga Ga, a terrific “Don’t Make Me a Target,” and a catchy (even without horns) “The Underdog.”  This awesome section of the show was followed by the only song off of Transference, a rocking “Got Nuffin” which was followed by a set ending “Black Like Me.”

While the whole show was great, this end section just blew me away.

When they came back for the encore Brit told us that they were in the Dominican Republic for the One Big Holiday festival a few days earlier.  He said they made it to customs but their gear was stopped for a random customs check.  They said their was no way their stuff was going to make it to our show.  He thanked the crew for managing to cobble something together.   I’m unclear if this means that none of the gear they were playing was their own, or if they managed to get any of their stuff back in time.  That also explained the technical problems (even if we didn’t hear them).

I don’t know what their stage show is normally like, but what they had was perfect for this venue.  They lights were cool, the sound was great and the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

They started the encore with “Small Stakes” from Kill the Moonlight and then an amazing version of “Hot Thoughts”  (I loved how the interlaced vocals worked live).  I don’t actually know what songs are fan favorites for Spoon. I would have loved “The Ghost of You Lingers” or “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” (from Ga Ga–but how many songs can they play from that album?)  Or perhaps “The Mystery Zone” or “Written in Reverse” from Transference.  But they ended with “Rent I Pay,” a fun song from Soul.

All in all they played 19 songs and I was thrilled by the setlist.  It was a great show and I made it home before the Nor’easter hit.

SETLIST

1. Do I Have to Talk You Into It [Hot]
2. Inside Out [Soul]
3. I Turn My Camera On [Gimme]
4. Lowdown [Wire cover]
5. The Fitted Shirt [Girls]
6. Don’t You Evah [Ga]
7. Do You [Soul]
8. Via Kannela
9. I Ain’t the One [Hot]
10. Everything Hits at Once [Girls]
11. Can I Sit Next to You [Hot]
12. My Mathematical Mind [Gimme]
13. Don’t Make Me a Target [Ga]
14. The Underdog [Ga]
15. Got Nuffin [Trans]
16. Black Like Me [Ga]
17. encore
18. Small Stakes [Moon]
19. Hot Thoughts [Hot]
20. Rent I Pay [Soul]