When it comes to Austinites, there are very few bands that can garner a collective swoon of appreciation the way Spoon does. It might not even be too farfetch'd[*] for me to say that for a good amount of people here, Spoon is a band first before a utensil. The fact is we love Spoon, and for some time now, they've awarded this appreciation of ours with a regular showing every July - this year was no different. Just like the Texans at the Battle of the Alamo[**], Spoon set off to hold a three night stand in the Lone Star State. Lord knows what's compelling them to hold three straight nights of goodness, but no one here's complaining. Even though you can't have too much of a good thing, I restrained myself to their first showing.

With the temperature that day being well over a hundred degrees, Spoon took to stage amidst a heat exhausted crowd, but you could never tell with the way we greeted their arrival. An untamable cheer rushed the dust and smoke clear out of the dirty air as Jim Eno camped at his drums while Britt Daniel, leviathan that he is, stepped forward to meet his towering mic stand. Without a word, they began their set, and so the night started. Not counting their one stint in Milwaukee two weeks earlier, it had been quite some time since the boys wooed a crowd with their song. With an experience that ranges well over a decade though, they hardly need some practice. By this point in time, Spoon are invariably rock stars, demi-gods in the niche of practice they chose to rock in. No need for the large stage crew, the fiery pyrotechnics, all the quartet needed to prove their stardom was the crowd and the one punk that brought a laser pointer "for effect." The first song played from the set fought for it's right to be heard over the crowd, until eventually, we remembered why we were there - to listen to some damn good music. In addition to the new discography inclusions from Got Nuffin' and their yet to be recorded album, Spoon played a hearty set that spanned their entire career, dipping into Soft Effects and even Series of Sneaks. Spoon never disappoints and with these three dates coming in as some of their last for '09, I would hardly hold any reservation that stops me from checking them out if they were to show up in my city in the future...

* I think that's just a pokemon...

** Davy Crockett and all them boys were actually there much longer than three nights.





Various Songs From Spoon (all songs are right click - save as):
June's Foreign Spell
Me and the Bean
Jonathon Fisk
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
The Underdog

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Otherwheres - It's my birthday, and I'll post late if I want to - annual birthday mix comes tomorrow!

Labels: Retrospective, Stubb's