Spoon Triumph Over Sound Problems in Chicago

It wasn't Spoon's fault they couldn't hear anything onstage Thursday night during their set at the Aragon in Chicago. The venue has a reputation for shaky acoustics, but lead singer Britt Daniel appeared frustrated and concerned.

"In my 22 years of playing shows, I've never heard anything like I'm hearing," Daniel told the sold-out crowd who whooped and applauded, reassuring the band they could hear them perfectly fine. Daniel compared the sound issues to "the blind leading the blind down a really long hallway" and confessed he was trying hard to put on a good show. Despite the muddy sounds, Spoon surmounted the difficulties and performed a tremendous show, and Daniel told the fans, "You guys must be the greatest audience in the world."

The band opened their almost two-hour set with an acoustic version of 'Girls Can Tell'-era track 'Me and the Bean,' the oldest song they performed all night. Tiny lights attached to the equipment and a lone spotlight illuminated Daniel as he strummed his guitar alone. The acoustic portion of the show continued on second song 'The Mystery Zone' from the band's latest album, 'Transference.' Finally on the third song, 'Written in Reverse,' Daniel exchanged his acoustic guitar for electric distortion and was joined by the full band pelting their instruments.

The 24-song set mainly focused on the Spoon's past three albums, but a few from 'Kill the Moonlight,' like 'Small Stakes' and 'Someone Something,' seeped in. After playing a good number of songs, Spoon covered 'Modern World' by Wolf Parade then alternated between 'Gimme Fiction' and 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' favorites. 'The Ghost of You Lingers' conjured haunting sound effects and a shadowy light scheme, while 'Underdog''s horn-less and maraca-induced beats caused the audience to bob their heads. After playing a couple of more from 'Transference,' Daniel went back to his acoustic guitar for the life-affirming 'I Summon You.'

'Black Like Me' ended the regular set, but the band came back for a five-song encore where Daniel thanked the crowd for "still being here." They plowed through 'I Turn My Camera On' and crowd-pleaser 'The Way We Get By,' which triggered the audience into a mass sing-along. Spoon played their hearts out on the final encore, a rousing 'Jonathon Fisk.' After it ended, Daniel and drummer Jim Eno hopped off the stage, passed out a stack of set lists to audience members in the front row and shook their hands thanking them for being so great.