Pictures courtesy of my friend Mark who got pretty close.
They’re no longer Austin’s best kept secret but I think they’ve maintained their “indie cred” with the correct crowds who decide such pretentious things. I for one just like them because they do great Power Pop and have an awesome, infectious bass-drum element. Last night I finally got to see them during their special three-night engagement at Stubb’s. It was a homecoming of sorts for the band yet they don’t have a new album out, just a three-song EP.
After my friends and I endured two really trying opening acts (The Atlas Sound either struggled for the words on Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer” or he was failing at being deep), Spoon hit the stage to prove they are the biggest thing from the region since Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett. Mark would know more of what was on the set list, I only own the last three albums so I just recognized the hits: “Small Stakes,” “Don’t Make me a Target,” “Don’t You Evah,” “The Underdog,” “You Got Your Cherry Bomb.” For their rather sudden, second encore they did “I Turn my Camera on.”
Sadly there are no pictures of the performance. The evening when my vacation begins, our digital camera decided to break. When? Sometime after Ayako’s cake and then. Why? No idea. What’s the problem? The lens isn’t displaying what it sees, thus it doesn’t take an actual picture. More about the camera later. Maybe it was for the best, I tend to get pretty mixed results anyway. Mark was really close to the stage, when he sends me his I’ll amend this story.
My own personal, customized Spoon shirt being printed at the gig!
I did manage to get this really cool, impressive element of Spoon’s show with my iPhone, the T-shirt booth. Normally, there’s the booth with all the swag: shirts, CDs, posters, so on. Some bands have memorable designs (Matthew Sweet, Aquabats, They Might be Giants, Sarah McLachlan) and a few have been huge disappointments (St. Vincent, everything but the girl, Garbage, Van Halen). Spoon took it a step farther by having a company let you design your shirt on the fly. The choices weren’t elaborate but it gives the fans a more personal connection to the show, band and memory by getting something almost as unique as an autograph or photo. Unlike the others in my vast collection, I couldn’t wear it the day after (Remember those guys in high school? Yeah, I was one of those jerks and still am). The printer provided instructions stating it has to sit in the bag for two days to set, then I need to turn it inside out, use the heat of my dryer for 45 minutes and then it will be wearable. I should definitely post it.
Now to sit back and wait for Spoon to release a proper album.
Jul 13, 2009 Update: Mark sent me his pictures! They’re pretty good for a first-generation iPhone.
Wow, I was actually at this same show. Good stuff. Thankfully I skipped the opening act(s) and got there when the band and the crowd was good and warmed up. I don’t revere these guys like apparently 80% of the attending audience did, but I can respect their take on this type of music.