I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 31, 2023] Sunset Rubdown 

I really like Spencer Krug’s other (one of many) band Wolf Parade.  When the Sunset Rubdown album Dragonslayer came out, I really liked it as well. Krug is a weird songwriter with an unusual sense of what a song should be like.

Sunset Rubdown more or less broke up after Dragonslayer for reasons I’m unclear about.  They toured throughout 2009 and then disbanded.  Sometime in December 2022, Krug decided to get the band back together for a Tiny Tour.

As Krug puts it

“Fast forward twelve-and-a-half years” from their final show in Tokyo in late 2009 “to Krug whimsically sending the band a group email about a possible reunion, after having dreamt about it the night before. Each of the members replied with an enthusiastic “Yes” that same afternoon, and a dormant volcano began to rumble…”

I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to go to this show.

When it was first announced, on December 6, it was at PhilMOCA and it sold out almost instantly.

Then on

December 9,  (Three days later) there was a message

OK, let’s go. Due to popular demand, the Sunset Rubdown show has been MOVED from PhilaMOCA to the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia! All previously purchased tickets will be honored at the new venue and additional tickets are ON SALE NOW! …but for how long?

Now I don’t go  to the Church, so I wasn’t going to go to this show.  But then later that day:

Damn, this sold out instantly. Should we move it to a bigger room or…

On January 5, the show was moved to Union Transfer and I bought my ticket the next day.

By the time the show came up, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to go.   There were two other shows that night that I was vaguely interested in.  But I decided to take advantage of this reunion. 

So I arrived pretty early and wound up talking to a guy (whose name I never caught) who was a MASSIVE Sunset Rubdown fan and indeed has loved everything that Spencer Krug has done.

The band was a little late to come on (which Spencer apologized for).  He also thanked Philly for being the biggest crowd on the tour (and noted it had to be moved twice).  He said this would be a really long show (which got everyone excited, although it was the same setlist as other venues).  But that’s fine.

Because as soon as the opening keyboard notes of “Snakes Got a Leg” started, the crowd went nuts.  Krug’s voice was exactly as it was on record.  And he was fun to watch–the way he knelt on his keyboard stool and occasionally knocked it over.

The crowd was 100% into the band and knew 95% of the lyrics.  One person even knew the lyrics too well, jumping the gun during a quiet part, which led to guitarist Michael Doerksen gesturing for the guy to be patient.

There is so much going on in a Sunset Rubdown song.  Krug writes complex songs with multiple parts and multiple lead lines–keybaord and guitar alternating and coming together again.

Drummer Jordan Robson-Cramer was amazing to watch as he played all kinds of complex patterns and some really fast fills.

After four or so songs, they called out Nicholas Merz to play bass for the rest of the set.  Merz brought Krug a coffee (“I forgot I asked for this.  I was feeling a littel tired before the show”).

From there, things got really interesting because Jordan Robson-Cramer and Michael Doerksen switched instruments.  Doerksen is a great guitarist, but Robson-Cramer must be able to do something that Doerksen can’t.  I mean why else would they switch?  Doerksen was an accomplished drummer, but Robson-Cramer played some amazing guitar parts–fast and intricate.  It was hard to take your eyes off of him.

They stayed in this configuration for a few songs and then switched back (once again, Robson-Cramer absolutely crushing the drums.  At some point Krug switched from keys to guitar, so there were two guitar parts playing.  I especially enjoyed the part where Krug tapped his guitar strings gently while changing chords–this created a cool staccato effect.

The one constant was Camilla Wynne Ingr.  She played keys and effects and lot of percussion.  She also sang backing vocals.

There were a number of pauses between songs.  Krug implied that it was because they hadn’t played together for so long that they were rusty–but they were tight as a drum with all of the complicated twists and turns of the songs.  Durig one of the lulls, a guy in front of me shouted to Spencer that his two kids (seven or so) were seeing their first ever show.  And the guy was so excited that it was Sunset Rubdown.  Krug enjoyed this and said they were flattered and that they would sing the next song jus to the kids.  Then he looked at the dad and said “your kids hate me now.”  I was very curious if the kids had known the music before or if the liked it at all. The music is weird an challenging with Krug hitting some high yelping notes and a lot of prog-rock excesses. It’s not exactly simple pop.  But whatever, good for all of them.

They played a few songs from each of the albums including a song that Wynne Ingr said they hadn’t played before this tour.  They also played a new song, with the promise that they were making new music together.

Throughout the set I got the feeling that Krug was especially fragile.  Whether tonight only or in general, I couldn’t really tell.  But he seemed to get a lot of pats on the back and nods of encouragement.  So I hope he’s doing okay.

After a short encore, they came out for “Dragon’s Lair” which is one f the songs I know best from them.  It was tremendous.

Even though I wasn’t sure if I needed to go to this show, I’m really glad I did.  Unlike the guy I met and wound up talking to (we had a lot in common, which was cool), I don’t need to see Krug every time he comes around again in the future.  But this was an enjoyable 90 minutes.

1. Snake’s Got a Leg ∝
2. The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life ⊄
3. Silver Moons †
4. Us Ones in Between §
5. Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings §
6. Winged/Wicked Things ⊄
7. Stadiums and Shrines II §
8. You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II) †
9. Coming to at Dawn µ
10. Idiot Heart †
11. The Empty Threats of Little Lord §
12. We’re Losing Light [new]
13. The Men Are Called Horsemen There §
14. The Mending of the Gown ⊄
    encore
15. Dragon’s Lair †