Built to Spill Kick Off Four-Night Stand in New York

Posted on Oct 13th 2009 11:45AM by Mike Ayers
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As Built to Spill kicked off a four-night run at New York's Webster Hall on Monday night, one fan wanted to get his two cents in regarding the evening's setlist. After all, four consecutive shows would provide a lot of room to vary the material, so the fan chose his words carefully, shouting "Play some old s---, a--holes." But Doug Martsch and company did what any seasoned professional would do -- they seemingly ignored the comment by not really saying anything, as they had already planned to play their old stuf.

They opened with a blistering version of 'In Your Mind' followed by 'In the Morning' from 1994's 'There's Nothing Wrong With Love.' Later, oldies such as 'Reasons' and 'When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough' were also well received. Even 'Joyride,' which was only released as a single, showed up, most likely pleasing that lone shouter.

The Boise, Idaho-based band is currently touring in support of 'There Is No Enemy,' their seventh full-length that was released last week. Although the record doesn't contain the driving guitar-pop of 'The Plan' or the hard-edged blues of 'Goin' Against Your Mind,' they took the opportunity to showcase why they're the veterans that they are, turning the new song 'Hindsight' into a longer, jammed-out affair.

The highlight of the set was the nearly twelve minute closer, 'Conventional Wisdom.' Martsch had his eyes closed for the duration of the song, interacting with the rest of the band through a series of intricate guitar solos that at one point felt like they were going to just dissolve into nothing, but Martsch kicked it back in at what could've been the breaking point. Though it's a new song, it still proved to be worthy as anything they wrote in the '90s.