the Date: Sunday November 7, 2010
the Venue: 9:30 Club (DC)
(Photo credit to Steve “FiZ” VanSickle)
This was the Dropout Boogie Tour, split-bill with the Black Angels and Black Mountain. We only watched the Black Angels cuz I’m getting old and I need my sleep … especially on a school night.
The Black Angels is a psychedelic rock band out of Austin, Texas. The current line-up consists of Stephanie Bailey (drums), Christian Bland (guitar, bass), Kyle Hunt (keyboards, bass, guitar), Alex Maas (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards), and Nate Ryan (bass, guitar). I had seen these guys a few times before and was really looking forward to this show. My brother-in-law, who’s also in a psychedelic rock band, went with me … this was cool.
The setlist had a grand total of 16 songs! The Black Angels pulled songs from all three albums, but slightly favored their new album that was released in September of this year called Phosphene Dream
as well as their first album Passover
. Every song was beautifully drenched in reverb and distortion providing an excellent psychedelic experience. Stephanie completely destroyed the drum kit while Alex’s vocals were never lost in the mix of fuzzy guitars. The show was amazing, long, and ferocious! Wow.My favorites of the evening were You on the Run, Bad Vibrations, Black Grease, The First Vietnamese War, and their last tune, Young Men Dead. This was simply an amazing show!
(Photo credit to Kyle Gustafson)
Full setlist (not from this show, but from one around this time … sorry, best I can do): You on the Run / Bloodhounds on My Trail/ Bad Vibrations / Entrance Song/ Mission District / Manipulation / Yellow Elevator #2 / Black Grease / Science Killer / The First Vietnamese War / Haunting at 1300 McKinley / The Sniper / Better Off Alone / Phosphene Dream / Telephone / Young Men Dead
with a drop of blood
you will take them out, for me …
(produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel - I saw White Rabbits open for Spoon back in 2008). This was a perfect opener for the night … I knew it was going to be a great night of music.
, 
, 
, and their recent, self-titled release, 
. From the very start, Interpol put on a great show with tons of energy, especially Daniel who danced with his guitar the entire night. There were so many great tunes, but my favorites were Say Hello to the Angels, Narc, PDA, Lights, Evil, and the final encore song, Slow Hands. Without question, the highlight of the night was their new song, Lights, which sounded fantastic and Paul’s most powerful performance of the night. Just superb!
opened. He’s a solo, singer/song-writer. We had seen this guy before - back in 2007 when he played at a clothing store in Georgetown (kind of weird, but kind of cool too). He’s got a nice sound. Nice way to start out the night.
, the band’s recent release. My favorites of the night were Barrel of a Gun (including the Guster fan tradition of counting down with their fingers … 4, 3, 2, 1), This Could All Be Yours, Satellite, Happier, Either Way (this is just a beautiful song), Airport Song (where Guster fans shouted “so dirty” and threw ping pong balls onstage at the appropriate moments), and Hang On.
. Spoon has always been one of those bands that can back up great albums with a great live show. Britt and the boys did not disappoint. Even though it was still light out these guys absolutely rocked. Some of my favorites were Don’t You Evah, I Turn My Camera On, Don’t Make Me a Target, and You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb. What an amazing start to the night. We love Spoon.
. Some of the kinks still needed to be worked out with the new songs because the band had to abandon Half Light II (No Celebration) just after the first verse because of a drum machine malfunction. Oops.
. Double-awesome! These Ohio boys did not hold back. Patrick’s performance was flawless. He absolutely destroyed the drum kit and by the end of the night was completely drenched with sweat. Dan’s gritty guitar playing along with his bluesy howling and wailing were simply amazing. All in all, the show was a great mix of tunes and an impressive display of the band’s expansive talent.
. What an experience!
, like Wilco (the song) and Bull Black Nova, as well as some older stuff like Passenger Side, Kamera and A Shot in the Arm. There were tons of highlights, including Via Chicago (where Glenn went nuts), Impossible Germany, Reservations (where Nels went nuts), Ashes of American Flags, Handshake Drugs, Heavy Metal Drummer (where the crowd went nuts), and I’m the Man Who Loves You. There was even a singalong when Jeff asked the crowd to sing Jesus, Etc. to him … we didn’t sound so great, but it was fun.
. The Pixies are Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Charles Thompson; vocals/guitar), Kim Deal (a.k.a. Mrs. John Murphy, a.k.a. Tammy Ampersand; vocals/bass), Joey Santiago (guitar), and David Lovering (drums). They are in a word, PERFECT. They started each night with the Doolittle B-Sides including Weird at My School, Bailey’s Walk, and one of my favorites, Manta Ray. The die-hard fans, like myself, loved it, but when they started into the official album with Debaser, the entire crowd absolutely lost their shit. It was magical.
. They played two nights at the 9:30 club and luckily we picked up two-night tickets.
album and songs that are not even released yet. Yup, the boys played a few brand-spanking-new tunes that will hopefully make an appearance on next year’s new album.
