After playing four shows in New York, Built to Spill headed south to the beautiful Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia in support of their most recent release, There is No Enemy. The band brought two talented opening acts along for the ride.
Violent Soho
Violent Soho opened the night with an aggressive and high-energy performance. In the tradition of garage rock, this band combined elements of grunge and alternative rock. Reminiscent of The Hives, this second-wave of grunge rock crunched through distorted songs driven by chord progressions and the occasional alternative rock breakdown.
Disco Doom
Built to Spill could not have found a more perfect opening act. Providing the perfect segue between bands, Disco Doom toned down the aggression but maintained a high energy level with densely layered tracks that built upon themselves. The band's tracks frequently lasted for several minutes and the songs utilized multiple layers of guitar work over heavy crunching baseline.
Built to Spill
Built to Spill took the stage almost immediately after Disco Doom. Band members set up their own equipment. This was a very refreshing change of etiquette from the usual rock-star lethargy. They also cut back on the time in-between acts, ensuring that audience members would maintain the high level of energy afforded to them by the opening acts. The result showed.
Opening with Traces from their 2006 album, You In Reverse, Built to Spill sounded fantastic. Their music transcended recorded version of the songs. Frontman Doug Martsch impressed the audience with a combination of complex guitar work and vocals that were right on key. The band's sound relies heavily on effects pedals, whammy bars, and guitar slides; all of these effects were greatly enhanced through the live performance. The band combined melodics guitar work with heavy crunching riffs, often stringing these song parts together with spacey interludes reminiscent of Pink Floyd.
Setlist
- Traces
- Distopian Dream Girl
- Stab
- Nowhere Lullaby
- Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
- Wherever You Go
- Else
- Nowhere Nothin' F#ckup
- Stop the Show
- Planting Seeds
- Sidewalk
- Unstable/Pt. 2 (About Someone Else)
Encore
- The Weather
- Goin' Against Your Mind
Setlist Arrangement
Built to Spill played a good combination of old an new material, and everything in-between. They played a handful of songs from each and every of their seven studio albums, not relying too heavily on new material.
This was also a refreshing change of pace from bands who sometimes play new and unfamiliar material ad nauseum at the risk of losing the energy of their audience. Many bands can record great albums; however, only a handful of bands can put on a great live show to match their content. Built to Spill is one of the talented few.
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