Built to Spill’s second major label release Keep it Like a Secret turned 20 years old in February. Doug Martsch is currently touring the U.S. playing the record in its entirety, but with a twist. While the entire record is being performed, the songs are played in a different order each night.
Following opening sets by Love as Laughter and Prism Bitch, Built to Spill took the stage with no backdrops, no additional lighting or any of the other bells and whistles that are commonplace at shows these days. It was music. Just music.
Performing the record in a different order each night was a good choice. Several years ago, I attended a Built to Spill show in Boston. At the time, the band was performing their first major label release, Perfect from Now On in its entirety. However, they were performing the songs straight through as recorded on the album. I revisited a review of this show at the Orpheum Theater in Boston in 2008 and found the biggest complaint of the show to be that the band performed these songs in the exact running order of the record. The reviewer found this a little boring because it removed the element of surprise. Perhaps the band heard these complaints and decided to mix things up a bit this time around. Whatever the reason, not knowing which song would be performed next did create a little excitement.
Martsch said very little the entire night making the music the main focus. They opened with “Time Trap”, which falls in the middle of the record but works well as an opener due to an extended intro. “Center of the Universe” fell naturally into its correct place in the running order followed by “You Were Right”. “Sidewalk” and “Bad Light” both occupied their proper place in the running order. “The Plan” preceded a collaboration with Caustic Resin, “When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough”. The main set ended with “Temporarily Blind”, “Else” and “Broken Chairs”. By the time they left the stage for a short break, only one song on the record had not been played.
They came back to the stage greeted by much applause to play a 5-song encore which included the unreleased track “Fool’s Gold”, “Gonna Lose”, “Strange”, and a cover of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets”. The show ended perfectly with an incredible version of “Carry the Zero” which featured the entire 9:30 Club audience on back-up vocals.
Enjoy these videos from the show, as well as, photos of Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, and Love as Laughter performing at the 930 Club on October 4, 2019. All photos and videos copyright of Shantel Mitchell Breen.
