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Spoon was spot-on, from start to second encore
Spoon does not disappoint at The Pabst.  
By Julie Lawrence RSS Feed Twitter Feed
OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer

E-mail author | Author bio
More articles by Julie Lawrence

What is a blog?  For us it is a short blurb that we write when the mood strikes us.  It can be first person, funny or informative. In short, a blog is whatever we want it to be. Published Oct. 9, 2007 at 10:31 a.m.
Tags: spoon, pabst theater, britt daniel, jim eno, ga ga ga ga ga, gimme fiction, cactus club, merge records

It was as if I had temporarily forgotten that bands were supposed to enjoy what they're doing up there on stage.

It's interesting how, if you attend enough shows, you start to get the impression that many artists are more or less going through the motions on tour. Not that they don't sound good and not that hearing great songs live isn't exciting regardless, but if you really start to analyze it -- and I do -- it becomes obvious from time to time that cycling through the same set list is less than thrilling.

It's an easy thing to empathize with -- that is, until Spoon comes to town and immediately sets a new standard for live performance. Forget justifying the hardships of life on the road, forget the repetitiveness and the whole tortured artist bit. Forget sitting in your seat through a rock 'n' roll show.

Last night Britt Daniel and crew reminded a packed Pabst Theater crowd -- most of which was on its feet from start through second (yes, second) encore -- why it pays for live music and may very well have spoiled this town on what a concert experience should be.

There were no frills, no fancy stage decorations, but there was Daniel, center stage, in his tight white pants and a huge smile on his face that said, "I'm having as much fun as you guys are."

Spoon wasted not a moment's time in the spotlight with mindless banter, allowing for a complete representation from its latest "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" and nearly all of 2005's "Gimme Fiction," pausing a total of three times in two hours -- once to praise The Pabst Theater and its staff, once to praise "crazy Milwaukee crowds and their Tallboys" and once to say hello to 10-year-old Sawyer, the son of Cactus Club owner Eric Uecke.

There is something to be said about bands experimenting on stage and attempting to create an environment never achieved on hard copy -- that's actually why most people go to concerts. But rare is it that a band can successfully conjure the surreal while staying in touch with what makes hundred of people get up and dance, which is to say, the familiar fever of their favorite songs.

Ten years ago, Spoon was just another four-piece band treading water in Austin's emerging indie scene, and getting dropped from Elektra Records for less than stellar album sales. But by the new millennium the band was starting to get pegged as "the next big thing," and although it's decidedly difficult to measure the degree to which a band truly becomes the ambiguous "big thing," it's safe to say the band's new home, Merge Records, is more than pleased with its choice.



More Information ...
The Pabst Theater
144 E. Wells St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 286-3663
http://www.pabsttheater.org

6 comments about this article.
Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Uecke on Oct. 11, 2007 at 4:34 p.m. (report)

Thanks for mentioning Sawyer...they are(believe it or not) his favorite band, and when Britt not only said hi as they walked on to start their set, but talked to him during and after the show, Soy was beside himself. What an unaffected, kind group of people Spoon is..........

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Posted by bobcastro on Oct. 10, 2007 at 5:06 p.m. (report)

Great performance, but at ACL Festival the horn section added another dimension to the experience.

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Posted by T15 on Oct. 10, 2007 at 7:54 a.m. (report)

Great Show.

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Posted by EliCash on Oct. 9, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. (report)

Damn. Why do I have to be too broke to miss out on a show like this? ....bummer....

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Posted by curlyboy1978 on Oct. 9, 2007 at 12:48 p.m. (report)

It was good...wait no great show! Bring on NP next week w/ Neko!!

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Show me the other Talkback
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