Built To Spill – Live @ Southgate House

(all photos by Keith Klenowski)

(Built To Spill was in Cincinnati at the Southgate House last weekend. One of our new contributors Grant was in attendance and files this report.)

My introduction to Built to Spill came in 2001 when I heard Albert Hammond Jr. play “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss” on Q101 as the Strokes were guest hosting an afternoon set before their concert that evening. The band’s set that night was amazing but nothing could get that song out of my head. Having missed the name of the band, it took me weeks before I finally discovered that the band was Built to Spill and the album I had been searching for was Ancient Melodies of the Future. I picked up Keep It Like A Secret the same day for good measure because I figured how could I go wrong?

It was with this same “How could I go wrong?” attitude that I decided several weeks ago to make sure I didn’t miss Built to Spill’s show Friday night at the Southgate House. Due to a prior engagement, I sadly arrived too late to catch Disco Doom but was told they were great and from the sound of their MySpace page, I’m going to look into them further. Despite my late arrival, I showed up at the sold-out show just in time to take my place in the back before Doug and crew took the stage.

When the band took the stage they began tuning their instruments and before anyone noticed, they were in the midst of an epic opening jam that would have certainly made J Mascis or Neil Young proud and probably even a little bit jealous. It felt like the band was trying to pummel the crowd into submission before they got into the remainder of the setlist. They succeeded because as the opening number ended, it was clear they had the crowd right where they wanted them. Personally, I was too transfixed on Doug to really remember much of the setlist. I’ve obviously seen pictures of Doug before but I still couldn’t get over the fact that that voice was coming out of the gruff, bearded guy on stage. I was also fascinated by the frenzied, spastic fits which seem to possess him while he delivers his vocals. I also spent some time wondering how I would explain Built to Spill to a stranger to their music. To quote my friend Jeremy Rickert, “It’s like if you gave Bonnie “Prince” Billy the range of the Pixies.” I think a stranger would be well served by such an explanation. I think he or she would also be well served to go out and see Built to Spill as soon as they possibly can. This was evidenced by the random people losing their minds to the music I noticed from time to time. You know, the ones you see at shows who are completely oblivious to anyone or anything around them other than the music being played. I love seeing people lose themselves like that during a show.

I left the show feeling like I just saw one of the more underrated bands making music today. I also left feeling like maybe I was the stranger to their music that I was thinking about during their show. I realize that I haven’t gone back and revisited their records nearly enough. This realization couldn’t come at a better time. This weekend gave me enough time to go back through their older albums while I wait for tomorrow’s arrival of There Is No Enemy.