May I gush a little? Just a smidgen? Well, thank you: I will. In the esteemed words of my dear friend, “I have a musical boner right now.” That’s right, I have attained musical nirvana. How did I reach such heights, you ask? Well, I was one of the fortunate few who attended the sold out Built to Spill concert on September 8th at Slim’s in San Francisco, and it was MORE than worth the mild monetary rape which I endured from Stub Hub. Since my focus as of late has been emerging music, I seem to have forgotten what a truly professional and seasoned band has to bring to the table; except for one or two minor screeching microphone issues, Built to Spill’s entire set and encore were flawless. They took the stage at 10:30, were off the stage at 12:00, and left us glued to the little portion of floor we had greedily guarded (beer in hand) all night long. Flat out professionals: no tantrums, no superfluous chatter (which only ever indicates the insatiably latent narcissistic insecurities that fuels many artists), no bastardization of fan revered favorites, just a solid hour and a half of music. None of us wanted it to end.
According to one of my music obsessed friends, Built to Spill has a “cult” following; I don’t like this term: I tend to envision tainted koolaid and matching reeboks signaling an untimely demise when I hear that word, which has nothing to do with a musical act talented enough to amass a sizable following after years of producing consistently good music despite minimal promotion by their weighty label–Warner Bros. Formed in 1992 by Doug Martsch, who is now joined by Scott Plouf, Jim Roth, Brett Netson and Brett Nelson, Built to Spill is no new-born and by no means a lightweight with four EPs, six full length albums, and three compilation and live albums (a list which doesn’t even include singles and appearances on other compilations). This concert was an homage to their earlier work as part of the “Don’t Look Back” concert series–the brainchild of London based promoters All Tomorrow’s Parties, which contracts bands to play their signature and/or albums in their entirety.
Hence the uninterrupted rendition of Perfect From Now On, which is comprised of songs that translate themselves very well to a live format. According to Martsch, “Perfect from Now On was basically a bunch of little parts all getting stuck together onto a record. And that’s why the songs are so long because there were a lot of ideas that [he] had that [he] thought were good but [he] didn’t think they warranted having a whole song written around them. So that was why it would change from part to part all the time. And a lot of the songs just flow from one part to another.” Ultimately, this created a album that seamlessly transitions from the studio to the stage and allows the audience member to experience each song tranquilly yet ferociously (an ambience that was facilitated and heightened by their professionalism). By welding different ideas into one musical thought, Martsch also opens the door for the freedom of experimentation during a performance without sacrificing content or melodic form; vis a vis: the concert at Slims was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very, very long time.
I must have listened to “I Would Hurt a Fly” approximately one thousand times in my childhood bedroom as a teenager, stretched diagonally across my bed with my legs vertically extended and my bare feet resting against my white-washed walls, and still hearing the song in person induced a euphoria practically beyond words. Seeing Martsch’s jagged rhythmic movements as he sang with his eyes closed and Brett Nelson lithely smoked about four cigarettes while playing guitar, both bathed in the halo of perfectly executed lighting merely embedded this album and band further into my collective unconscious. And I must say, now that Built to Spill and I have renewed our relationship, there “Ain’t No Sunshine When [Their] Gone,” as Bill Withers is wont to say.
