By Kellie Abrahamson
There aren’t many bands touring today that I’ve wanted to see more than Built to Spill. Back in ’99 I, like many others, heard Keep it Like a Secret and immediately fell in love with the Boise band. I missed them when they came to town in 2003 (I was busy being pregnant with my son), so when I heard they would be making a stop at the Freebird this year, I immediately cleared my calendar and started taking my birth control pills again, just in case. That they were coming with rock legends The Meat Puppets was the icing on the cake.
I arrived at the Freebird just before 9 pm and there was still quite a line to get into the club. Not surprisingly, the show was sold out, leaving people hoping to buy tickets at the door either sorely disappointed or incredibly desperate. Some friends of mine had a spare ticket and, upon overhearing them talking about it, one poor ticket-less soul offered to buy it on the spot. They agreed to sell it for face value but immediately regretted the decision when another frantic fan offered $80 while the original guy was getting cash from an ATM. To avoid an all out bidding war in front of the Freebird, they kept their end of the bargain and reluctantly sold it to the first guy and we headed inside.
After some mingling and drink wrangling, Seattle-based Helvetia soon took to the stage. The guitar-centric threesome consisted of Jason Albertini (formerly of Duster) singing and alternating between guitar and keyboard, and two members of Built to Spill filling in for the band’s usual bassist and drummer. Admittedly the first half of their set was far better than the back half, but Helvetia was altogether a decent way to kick off the evening.
While The Meat Puppets were setting up, I headed to the ladies room where I overheard a conversation that would be the overall theme of their set. Three girls were standing by the mirror talking about the show and one asks who’s playing next. Another chimes in with The Meat Puppets, to which the first girl asks “Are they local?” It never occurred to me that most people haven’t heard of The Meat Puppets or that a good two-thirds of the crowd that night was guilty of just that. When the Kirkwood brothers and drummer Ted Marcus ambled on stage, only a handful of people knew that they were in the presence of the men who helped influence Kurt Cobain. Everyone else applauded politely. As they worked their way through the set, you could see small glimpses of recognition on the faces of the crowd when the guys played ‘Plateau’ and ‘Lake of Fire,’ both famously covered by Nirvana during their MTV Unplugged performance. It wasn’t until the end of their performance when they rocked their minor hit ‘Backwater’ that the audience got their “a-ha!” moment. The applause was far more enthusiastic by the end of their set.
It was nearly midnight by the time Built to Spill finally graced the stage. Now, I had never been to one of their live shows before but I did spend some time on YouTube in the weeks leading up to the concert, so I knew I was in for a treat. Truth be told, I didn’t realize how much of a treat experiencing this band live would be. Their set spanned the band’s entire catalog, with songs from each of their six studio albums. Jacksonville fans love Keep it Like a Secret and the guys must have known it because they played at least five songs from that album, kicking off their set with ‘Broken Chairs.’ Other crowd pleasers included ‘Big Dipper,’ ‘Liar,’ and a terrific cover of Brian Eno’s ‘Third Uncle.’ Built to Spill is known and loved for their extensive guitar work, but it’s a whole different ball game when they perform live. Frontman/guitarist/lyrical genius Doug Martsch threw caution and bed times to the wind, giving us extended guitar solos during nearly every song. A musician’s musician to the end, Martsch didn’t interact much with the crowd apart from a polite “Thanks” after each song, choosing instead to tune his guitar or fiddle with some equipment in preparation for the next one. By the time they were wrapping up their final song (‘You Were Right’), it was nearly 1:30 am. Of course no rock show would be complete without an encore, and wow, did they deliver! The guys came back on stage after some seriously deafening applause to play ‘Made Up Dreams,’ complete with a mind-warping instrumental interlude that easily lasted 20 minutes and included a brief cameo from Curt Kirkwood tooting a whistle at various points during the song.
All in all, the evening far exceeded my already sky-high expectations, so much so that when I found out Built to Spill and The Meat Puppets were playing in Atlanta a few days later I had to be talked out of making the 5+ hour drive to see them all over again. While it would be too much to ask for to have these two phenomenal bands tour together again, I will jump at the chance to see either of them live next time around. Here’s hoping we get that chance again very soon.
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