Spoon at the Ogden Theatre

"Yeah, I kinda' like that one song they do..."

April 5, 2010- Denver, CO
I've gotten to the age where it doesn't take much to get me to a concert. In the previous 3+ decades of my existence, I usually wouldn't see a live show unless I had a few of the band's albums, had followed them for a few years or just really, really wanted to see them. I'm not a hardcore fan who can name EVERY track a band will perform. For the most part, I'm okay with that. I've seen random stuff, even venturing into the dreaded "adult contemporary" genre. Spoon? Sure, I kinda' liked that catchy "Underdog" song that popped up everywhere from my iPod to Monday Night Football a few years ago. But I didn't know the band. It's rather old fashioned, but sometimes the best way to decide whether or not you like a band is to see them live.

Aside from a catchy tune, Spoon had something else going for them; I knew that they were from Austin, Texas. About 18 months ago, I had the chance to visit Austin, caught a random live show, and agreed with the common statement that the city really IS the capital of live music. Hey, isn't LIVE music what rock n' roll's supposed to be about? Thus, I felt no shame when, in my book, I dubbed Austin "the heart of rock n' roll" (Huey Lewis can blow me).

The night started off well enough. We went to Emilio's Super Chef on Colfax, about six block west of the Ogden Theatre. We were treated to a spontaneous (and subsequently awesome) pre-show party of our own. While we were eating some fish fajitas, three crackheads wandered in, sat down a few tables away, and ordered drinks. About 15 minutes later, two of the crackheads did a "dine n' dash" while stiffing their third member with the bill. Of course, the third member was passed out, unresponsive and required the paramedics to come and haul his ass away on a stretcher. Thus, I've learned a new way to avoid paying your tab-- pawn it off to the passed-out crackhead. It's astonshing that I haven't thought of that before.

When we finally got to the Ogden, we had missed the opening act. Somewhat deliberately, too. I can't recall their name, but I'm sure they played a short and unoffensive set. The second act was a group called Deerhunter. I'm sorry, but the movie of the same name (which ended in a depressing manner with someone blowing their head off) evoked nicer thoughts from me. Deerhunter, the band, is composed of four "floor starers" who dress like unemployed record store denizens and have songs that feature the words "ooooooh" or "whoooooooaaaaa" or "ahhhhhhhhhhh". The lead singer/guitarist looked like he'd been on the Botulism Diet for the past 17 years as his skinniness was quite disgusting. When your bassist is the most animated member of your band, you have a problem. Potentially the worst band I've seen since Tomahawk. Call it the "Curse of Radiohead and U2", but both guitarists played at the upper end of their necks; with both hands maybe 6 inches apart; in a constant whale of squeeky sound. Their set 58 minute set lasted about 57 minutes too long for my tastes.

Spoon arrived about 45 minutes later and quickly erased the memories of the wretched Deerhunter. Again, I don't know their songs, but each was kept short and distinctive, which kept me wanting more. Comprised of a lead singer/guitarist, a bassist/sound guy, a keyboard/sound guy and a drummer, they ran through a wide assortment of sound. Each "sound guy" seemed to trigger in additional pre-recorded tracks at times; similar to what the guys in RUSH like to do. In that regard, they almost did double-duty as DJ's. I was quite impressed, as Spoon's overall sound was mixed incredibly well.

The songs didn't mesh together. Each had its own identity. Furthermore, they seemed to be having fun up there. Sure, they looked like "American Beatles" with their mop-top haircuts, but they didn't look bored while playing their music. When they got to "Underdog" about six songs in, they pulled off a different version of the tune. Without the jazzy brass instruments from the studio tracks, they substituted keybaord and guitar riffs, as it made the song come alive. A special "live" version that sounds different, but just as equally cool as the studio version-- hey, I'll clap for that.

They featured a low-key light show with four lighted backdrops and... well, I guess they were old Christmas Lights ...strung around their equipment. A nice, whimisical feel that seemed to capture the band's tone. Like they were saying; "hey, where here to play some tunes... oh, here are some LIGHTS to make it funky". Of course, the necessary Rock Show Smoke Machine was also running. Towarss the end, the band brought up a few additional musicians to finish their set. At this point, we were even subjected to the return of Scrawny Boutlism Diet Guy from Deerhunter (thankfully, he was nowhere near the microphone, too).

After well over an hour, Spoon ended their intial set (yes, it included "that other song I kinda' like: Don't You Evah") they took the obligatory break before the encore. They returned for a slimmed-down version of their current single "Mystery Zone" (aka: "hey, that's another song I know").

I left the Ogden having modified my thinking process a little bit. Instead of "hey, I kinda' like that band", it's now "hey, I like that band". I had left the "kinda'" behind. Believe it or not, but in this age of iTunes instant downloads (and torrent stealing), the best way to decide if you dig a band is to see them live.

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