ROSETTE GONZALES Bass player Brett
Nelson and the rest of the band, Built to Spill, rocked
the house at the House of Blues.
By Anthony Bromberg
Daily Bruin Reporter
Long guitar solos and airy, wafting vocals may not be uncommon
on the indie-rock scene, but guitar played precisely and skillfully
over Neil Young-like singing on mature, tightly crafted songs is
always at a premium. Add rich grooving bass lines and a solid
drummer with long hair and a gnomish smile and nine-and-a-half
times out of 10, a club can be filled.
It follows logically then that when the boys of Built to Spill
come to town to play at the House of Blues, it promises to be a
rocking few hours.
Built to Spill’s concert centers itself around soaring and
crashing guitar lines and solos, and the airy, wailing voice of one
of the remaining torchbearers of traditional rock ‘n’
roll, Doug Martsch.
The bandmembers all came out wearing drab T-shirts and equally
unflashy pants ““ Martsch even sporting what looked like olive
green cargo shorts. They looked less like rock stars than guys who
might have showed up to check out the plumbing.
The normal guy persona was enhanced even further at one point in
the show when the bandmembers paused between songs to wish their
friend Charley a happy birthday. Martsch took one hand from his
guitar and, shielding the light from his eyes, searched out Charley
in the audience. Upon finding him, Martsch raised his fist high in
the air in recognition.
Martsch stood in the center of the stage in front of a
microphone with his guitar strapped over his shoulder. Surrounded
by his bandmates, his balding head sweating beneath the light, he
didn’t seem awkward, but he wasn’t quite comfortable
with all of the attention the crowd gave him. As soon as the first
guitar notes were plucked, the audience silenced beneath the
melodic melding of versatile noodling and emotional witty vocals,
there didn’t remain any question as to how incredibly
talented Built to Spill’s frontman is and how he belongs
right in front.
He stood there singing, eyes closed in concentration, leg
immersed in full tapping, and head swaying with the rhythm as his
band rocked through the fast numbers.
The group played a wide mix of songs dating back to much of its
earlier material ““ when it was on an independent label
““ to a Velvet Underground cover and, for good measure, the
obligatory single from the new album the members are touring to
support. The crowd was given a view into some of Built to
Spill’s hardest solo laden numbers, as well as a couple of
cuts spared down to only Martsch and a single guitar.
As solid as the performance was, it was anything but problem
free. From the very first song Martsch seemed to be having trouble
with his various pedals, even having to scrap the intended first
number a few chords in. There were also issues with the equalizers
as one band member or another often looked offstage and signaled
for an adjustment.
Also, early on in the night Martsch informed the crowd that not
all of his material would be up to par.
“I’m kind of sick. So, I can’t sing some of
those high things,” Martsch said. “My voice may or may
not go where it’s supposed to go.”
The crowd, which was comprised mostly of young males, was not
particularly disturbed by this setback and Martsch made it through
most of the songs with relative ease and a strong voice. In one of
the final and most popular songs, “Car,” Martsch had to
turn away from the microphone. The crowd picked up the lyric where
he left off and sang with him through the end of the song.
The enthusiastic crowd arrived only for the main act ““
Built to Spill’s predecessors on stage, first a group with a
hippie-ish Ozzy Osbourne-type singer and then The Delusions, a
solid BTS-esque outfit, played to a half-empty room.
The House of Blues, besides the slight technical difficulties,
set a relaxed mood for the jamming band, as well as providing an
acoustically good venue. The audience was allowed right up against
the stage, as a lighting scheme comprised mostly of reds, whites
and blues illuminated the band.
The band closed the show with a rollicking rendition of Lynyrd
Skynyrd’s classic anthemic rocker “Freebird.”
They cut the verses short and embraced the guitar solos, only
altering them slightly from the original southern classic. At the
end, amidst loud clapping and several false endings, Martsch opened
his eyes while banging out the finale and surveyed the scene as a
smile close to disbelief crept across his face.
Built to Spill then revealed its one major flaw as a live show.
It refused to play any encores.