I Just Read About That…

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2024] Built to Spill / Kicking Giant

I have seen Built to Spill five times and have enjoyed every show.  This tour promotes the 30th anniversary of the album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love.  I thought I knew this album pretty well, but it turns out that I really started getting into them with the album AFTER this one.

But I was still really excited to see this show.  They announced a show at Franklin Music Hall which bummed me out because I don’t really like that venue (and it was the same night that I had tickets for at least 3 other shows).  But then they announced this show at Asbury Lanes which was awesome.  I grabbed a ticket right away.

I couldn’t go to that show, which did leave this show.  But I already had tickets to see St. Vincent, so I’m missing this show.

Last time that BtS toured, they came back through the area a second time about four months later (Philly in May, Bethlehem in September), so I secretly hope that they will do that again maybe early next year?  But they played a lot of shows on this tour, so I’m not holding my breath.

The name Kicking Giant sounded familiar

Turns out that they’re a band From Olympia circa 1994, with releases on K Records.  That pretty much tells me all I need to know about them.  I’d probably enjoy them live, but I probably wouldn’t listen to their records.

A review of their live show last year says

The beauty of Kicking Giant’s set was how quickly it erased the three decades separating the band’s inception from today. Yu and drummer-vocalist Rachel Carns still played with a shaggy enthusiasm that veered occasionally into discord. Their music pulls from the same punk and garage-rock sources that fed the Cramps, but uses it to express more starry-eyed feelings of romantic yearning.

2024 really is the year of reunions.