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Doug Martsch Talks Built to Spill’s “Pefect” Portland Show
9/8/08, Rolling StoneIf music fans have any single person to thank for the recent trend of live performances of entire albums, it’s UK concert promoter Barry Hogan. Since 2005, Hogan’s All Tomorrow’s Parties series has seen the Stooges play Funhouse, the Lemonheads run through It’s a Shame About Ray and Sonic Youth tackle all of Daydream Nation. Earlier this year, Hogan asked Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch to perform his band’s beloved 1997 Warner Brothers debut Perfect From Now On for the first New York installment of All Tomorrow’s Parties, which goes down September 19. From that request came Built to Spill’s current tour, during which the Northwest quintet will play the album 50-some times between now and November.
“I don’t know what anyone thinks — some people like that record, some people don’t give a shit,” Marsch said a few days before the tour began in Seattle on September 4. “For me it was just a cool, weird kind of challenge and, you know, just a different thing to do.”
The second show was on Friday, September 5 as part of MusicFest Northwest, a four-day musical orgy of over 200 bands in 18 venues across Portland, OR. The Wonder Ballroom was packed to its 800-person capacity and a line several hundred hopefulls long stretched down the sidewalk in front, making BTS the biggest draw of the weekend.
In previous interviews, Martsch has admitted that Perfect From Now On is “a little slow,” and the performance proved it. Old favorites like “I Would Hurt a Fly” and “Kicked It in the Sun” stretched out over six- and seven-minute spans, swelling from one gorgeous, patiently built climax into the next. Cellist John McMahon, accompanying the band for the tour, bowed mournful chords over BTS’ swirling, three-guitar wash as Martsch played familiar leads note-for-note. Knowing the sequence songs would come in was comforting but left little room for surprises.
The energy level spiked immediately after the album’s final track when the band veered straight into “Goin’ Against Your Mind,” the raging opener of 2006’s You In Reverse. They encored with “Car” — delicately played by just Marsch, McMahon, and bassist Brett Nelson — and “You Were Right,” which sent the crowd into a frenzy. A little unpredictability went a long way.
Set List:
“Randy Described Eternity”
“I Would Hurt a Fly”
“Stop the Show”
“Made-Up Dreams”
“Velvet Waltz”
“Out of Site”
“Kicked It In the Sun”
“Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else)”
“Goin’ Against Your Mind”
Encore:
“Car”
“You Were Right”I like watching my 9-yr-old daughter in a swim meet beat a MUCH BIGGER girl for 4th place in the 50m backstroke!!!
Not a new question, but:
Is the latest consensus that the guys are going to keep this going or are they going out with a bang this year or are they leaving it open-ended
It’s all harmless speculation, I know…Hope you survived the shopping spree, Stefka. Late wishes for a good b’day…
CAESAR’S PALACE (Carbon/Silicon)
I wish we could see where the dreams all went
I wish we could see where the money got spent
I wish we could see that the greatest crime
Was to fool all of the people to spend all their timeI wish we could see why we need so much stuff
I wish we could see that enough is enough
I wish we could see that the goings got tough
Cause my living room’s crammed and my passion’s backed offValue what is necessary, leave what is not
And tell me what I’m doing in another shopI wish we could see that we’re outta control
I wish we could see that we binge out our soul
I wish we could see that we’re gonna have to stop
There’s no one in the church ’cause they’re all in the shopI wish we could see what is hard to believe
I wish we could see better to give than receive
I wish we could see that we’ve lost the plot
All this envy is coveting of what we ain’t gotValue what is necessary, leave what is not
And tell me what I’m doing in another shopI tried to give up smoking, I tried to give up drugs
I tried to give up smoking weed, but I have to walk the dog
I tried to give up drinking, but I think I need a drink
I tried to give up thinking that I was the missing linkIn the year of the dog will we understand worth
The happiness we’ll find in breath you draw on earth
The year of the dog is the year of the smurf
I don’t know what the franchise is worthValue what is necessary, leave what is not
And tell me what I’m doing in another shop
Value what is necessary, leave what is not
And tell me what I’m doing in another shopBrought up in the world of Caesars Palace
I’m being poisoned on a daily basis
They ain’t got food tasters in some of these places
Caesars PalaceBrought up in the world of Caesars Palace
And now I got so much stuff I don’t need
It’s a sickness, you can call it greed
Caesars PalaceBrought up in the world of Caesars Palace
It’s a sin, get the money in
Validate the parking, you can wash away your sins
Caesars PalaceBrought up in the world of Caesars Palace
And the odds are a trillion to one
And still I want some
Caesars PalaceFri., Sept. 26 – NYC
Built to Spill (doing "Perfect from Now On" in its entirety)
with Dinosaur Jr & Meat Puppets
A great read – thanks for posting!
"J and Lou were really socially inept people, they were kind of stunted, almost retarded," he explains. "They just weren’t able to communicate. I guess I kind of bridged that gap.
"It put pressure on me,I felt almost strange and uncomfortable just being a normal person around them. They were both so socially inept that I was the one who felt left out sometimes."
Tell it like it is (was), Lou!Uh, that would be MURPH!
