the jon spencer blues explosion w/ elliott smith and speedball baby @ the bowery ballroom.
homecoming shows are always a mixed bag: it's a relief to be back, so a lot of pressure is off, with family and friends around, making the performance fun. as a result, though, the edge can be taken off, meaning that sloppiness and self-indulgeness can easily creep in.
last night's show at the bowery ballroom, the first night of a 2-day set (this being the all ages show), thankfully, headed towards the former, allowing the jon spencer blues explosion to come home after various little tours over the past year supporing their latest album plastic fang. i managed to catch them in may 2002 as part of an earlier leg of the tour, back when they looked more vampirical and had to fight some dumbass who climbed on stage.
speedball baby were the first act on, which was a throwback for me since they were the openers for my first blues explosion concert, back in a snowy december toronto of 1996. so it was fitting that they played on a equally cold night, bringing their usual rowdy mix of dirty rockabilly and soul confusion. with a change in bassist (another button cutie) and drummer (another frantic water sprayer) since then, and an additional 5th person playing the occasional ace tone, they were a gutteral visceral force who have barely mellowed in the past 7 years. the vocals were a little unclear, though, meaning that ron ward's punkish bellows were often lost, although it's still important to be reminded that i live in a fucked-up town.
elliott smith was next, and his solo acoustic majesty was a misfit in the proceedings, although he fits into his own punk ethos. sitting crookedly in a ragged i heart metal shirt, he proceeded to play his little gems to a mostly rapturous crowd, evoking my memory of seeing badly drawn boy in a furnace of a record store back in august. however, after hearing his academy award nominated miss misery, some of the crowd started to lose interest and talk started to creep through the hall, breaking the magic for the fans. as well, elliott's left hand started to cramp, cutting short a few songs. however, he was able to spring back with humour, politely turning down a few metallica covers and confessing that his latest overdue album was out in a month or so.
then, almost immediately, jon spencer, judah bauer and russell simmons stormed the stage and proceeded to tear through their set like a well-oiled machine. of course, those closest to the stage were right into it and jon played it up with them, making me wish i was up there instead of being by the soundboard. however, it was still non-stop fun as they hopped from song fragment to chunk to extended break. jon's vocals going from yelp to warble to growl, judah's effortlessly strumming along and russell pummeling the shit out of his kiddy-sized drumkit, offering the usual heavy beat. there's a reason i've seen the blues explosion five times now, and they never fail to give it their all.
during the encore, they managed to coax elliott on stage to offer a triple guitar threat, leaving everyone warm inside as they headed out into the arctic air. i was even happier that the shwag booth had their free (with purchase) visual fang dvd and the 7" now i got worry radio promos collection.
tonight, though, i'm going to see kid 606, so i'll leave it to the other soldout crowd to realize yet again the blues is number one! if you've never been to see them, i recommend front row with a beer or a shot of hard liquor in your belly. at least once.