Disappears
The opening band, Disappears, were quite different from Malkmus' indie/classic rock. They played a kraut-inflected variety of shoegaze that was both familiar and strange at the same time. The vocal parts were not especially interesting, largely consisting of repetitive chants. On the other hand, the band was consistently challenging with shifting and driving grooves. The lead guitarist had some amazing guitar sounds that at times were reminiscent of Neu!/Harmonia's Michael Rother and at other times sounded like a transmission from an alien society.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Malkmus and company casually sauntered on stage quite excited about the fact that they were starting five minutes early. They played a somewhat-rambling hour-and-a-half set that was brought down somewhat by a less than exuberant crowd who talked amongst themselves for much of the show. Despite this, the band seemed to be having fun and were very chatty. Their loose but skillful style of playing was evident throughout but it was a good but not great show.
The set largely consisted of songs from their solid new album Wig Out at Jagbags from which they played ten songs. The songs benefited from the looser, heavier sound of their live incarnation, particularly the singles "Lariat" and "Cinnamon and Lesbians". Unfortunately, the sound mix was a bit muddy and the bass was overemphasized. The songs didn't exactly start or stop, they gradually came together then collapsed. Malkmus has grown into an amazing guitarist and he threw in improvised riffs throughout the set. Their drummer often added backing vocals that reminded me a bit of Bruce Springsteen.
Another highlight with great guitar playing was "Senator", from the Beck-produced Mirror Traffic. They played seven songs from that album and they fit well with the new material. For the encore, the played "Stereo", one of Malkmus' previous band Pavement's better known songs, which got the crowd a bit more excited. They ended the show with a very loose medley/jam while Malkmus left the stage, allowing the band to finish the show on their own. While I saw how they could be a great band, I was left with the feeling that I wasn't seeing them at their best.
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