Photos and words by Rosi Lamela
In the ’90s I was busy listening to mainstream grunge bands and trading mixtapes that consisted of things that were trending on the top NYC radio stations. There were bands I never heard of and bands that I paid little attention to that played local dives or had early slots at music festivals. I was very deprived of what was happening because we were selling our souls to the popular sounds we were told to listen to.
As an adult, now in my 40s, I am being introduced to some great indie bands and there are a handful of them that were around in my high school years that I have only recently discovered. Built to Spill is one of those bands. The first time I heard “Carry the Zero” was only a year ago. When I first heard the song I thought,
“Well this is something I would have loved years ago.”
To my surprise it was on an album they put out in 1999. How I missed so many of their albums feels like a tragedy now.
Fast forward to me surviving the ’90s and the pandemic, I made it to White Eagle Hall last Friday to hear them play for the first time. The venue was sold out with their hard core fans. You know you are at a show with die-hards when you hear the chatter of band facts and the reminiscing of past shows.
Blood Lemon started the gig off and Lisa Simpson’s soulful voice over some grungy riffs warmed up the crowd. I unfortunately did not see their playlist online from the show but after listening to their self-titled album, I did recognize the song “Bruise” and “Whistleblower”. They played “Do You Love Me Now?” from The Breeders which made me feel a little better that I did not fully miss the ’90s in high school.
The next act is a little hard to explain, but I’m going to try. Wetface is a solo project of Jordan Minkoff and he is hilarious. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious about some of his songs being written right before the show or whether he was making up songs as he played. He is a great entertainer and I loved his song about the mayor of Jersey City and NYC meeting on the Hudson to discuss merging the two cities. His ’80s loops on his keyboard were ridiculously impressive. His banter with the audience was quite the scene.
Built to Spill opened up with the song “Conventional Wisdom” which got a lot of approval especially since Doug Martsch went off on his guitar into a whole jam session. The sound of his guitar has this incredibly nostalgic sound to it and hearing it live it gets you in a whole other way.
They played a mix of songs that spanned through Martsch’s career as the only consistent member of the band. They played “Distopian Dream Girl” from their 1994 album There’s Nothing Wrong With Love and some of my favorites like “The Plan” and “Carry the Zero” from Keep It Like a Secret. I also loved their cover of Cate Le Bon’s “Are You With Me Now?” They ended the show with the song “Pat” and “You Were Right” when they came out for an anticipated encore.
It was a great show all together. It got me amped up again and reminded me that I am lucky that I get to go out there with my camera as I listen to the music I missed years ago. The Rock Gods keep on playing through the decades so kids that missed out get to head bang as adults with white highlights in our hair.
Built to Spill have a full year of touring ahead of them (tour dates here) and will be releasing a new album titled When the Wind Forgets Your Name (via Sub Pop) later this year. Check out the video for lead single “Gonna Lose” below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
