I've been loving these guys for a few years now, as has the rest of the music nerd nation, it seems. One of my good friends was raving about
Alligator for a long time, and I was on the fence when it was coming out. (Interestingly, he saw them in Brooklyn with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! opening during the
Alligator era, and over half the crowd left after CYHSY! were done ... foolish hipsters.) I finally saw them live opening for Arcade Fire on the
Neon Bible tour and right after
Boxer was released, and the devotion (esp. to
Alligator) has grown since then.
I've now seen them a number of times, most often in festival settings, and it's been amazing to me the extent to which they just bring it - emotional, cathartic, a big time high. I'm thinking specifically of seeing them at Bonnaroo this year, Pitchfork last year and Lollapalooza a couple years ago. Those shows were all just silly good ...
Needless to say, I was excited to see them at the Ryman. We skipped Owen Pallet and hung out in downtown Nashville instead, something I don't do all that often. This included beers at Robert's and then greasy goodness and more beers at Broadway Brewhouse. We headed into the venue about 10 minutes before they started, and the crowd was good and into it, standing up and cheering, etc. (Nashville's been on a streak of good crowds lately ... I hope this keeps up.)
My biggest beef with the show was that it felt a little phoned in to me. The intensity that I've gotten used to with them was just not quite as apparent. There were some great moments, but it never completely gelled for me. On top of that, it just kills me when bands decide to leave out their strongest material ("Secret Meeting," "All the Wine," "Ada," "Start a War"), the stuff that really made them who they are. I know they have to change it up sometimes (which bands like Wilco are sometimes terrible at doing, which also bothers me), but the changes were for the worse at this show.
However ... they completely saved what was a mediocre show from my perspective with an acoustic, no amplification, hear-a-pin-drop version of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" to end the show. Wow. The last time I saw this go down was Jeff Tweedy at the end of a Wilco show playing "Acuff-Rose" unplugged at the edge of the stage. A fantastic end, a ho-hum lead up.
Runaway
Anyone's Ghost
Mistaken for Strangers
Bloodbuzz, OH
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Afraid of Everyone
Available
Conversation 16
Apartment Story
Sorrow
Abel
Green Gloves
England
Fake Empire
90-Mile Water Wall
Mr. November
Terrible Love
About Today
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (acoustic, edge of stage, no amplification)
