Bob Mould Band - St. Louis - 9.19.14

[Verbow]

No time for a review right now, but if Bob is coming anywhere near you GO! Unbelievable. He opened with "Flip Your Wig" and "Hate Paper Doll" for fucks sake! Run - do not walk- to see him!

[Verbow]

Ok so here's the full review. I took my brother to the show because I've been force feeding him Bob Mould's music for years, and he's actually been pretty into it. We got there about 1/2 hour after the doors opened, grabbed a beer and made a bee-line for the front of the stage. Got a great spot and waited for the show to start. Cymbals Eat Guitars opened. I've only recently become familiar with them, so I didn't really know the material. Add to that the vocals and guitar seemed really buried in the mix. But they did a good job for an opening band. Lots of energy, good musicianship, no fucking around.

The best thing about seeing bands in smaller clubs is that there isn't a bunch of dicking around between the opening act and the headliner. About 20 minutes after CEG finished, they broke down their stuff, Bob's guys did a quick check, and he was out.

I've seen Bob 4 times - first time in '98 on the LDAPS tour, which was kinda tense and he had the 2nd guitarist with him. It was a good show, but being that it was supposed to be the end of his rock career, and in reading his book that he wasn't real happy with the way things were going, it was different. No Husker songs, only one Sugar song, and that was that. The second time was on the Carnival of Light and Sound tour after Modulate - again, good show but odd seeing Bob up there by himself with the video screens and backing tracks. He was starting to break out some Husker Du songs, but the presentation was all wrong. Third time was in '05 with Jason on bass, Brendan Canty on drums, and Rich Morel on keys - that was a great fucking show. Tons and tons of energy, great mix of old and new songs, everyone seemed to be having a great time. This time was bar none the best of them all. Power trio format, tons of old songs mixed in with the best of the new stuff, Bob looked like he was having a fantastic time (lots of bouncing around and smiling and really getting into the whole thing). At 53 the guy has really made peace with the past and embraces what he does and enjoys giving people what they want.

So as they're setting things up, one of his roadies tapes the setlist right in front of me. I didn't want to look, but curiosity got the best of me. I couldn't believe it - it was like the songs you would pick for a Bob newbie to show them how great he is. So Bob and the band come out and rip into "Flip Your Wig". Everyone freaks out. Just a great moment. "Hate Paper Doll" was next, and then "Changes". Just a great start to things. I'm 34 and pretty reserved usually at concerts, but I was in full head bang, rocking out mode. It was fantastic. Somewhere around this time I caught Jason's eye and he pointed to me and I pointed to him and it was just cool to see him again (in case I haven't humblebraged enough about it on here, Jason and I became friendly when I went full on crazy for his old band Verbow). Next set of songs hit two of the highs from Silver Age ("Star Machine" and "The Descent") as well as the new single "I Don't Know You Anymore" and "Little Glass Pill". He also slipped in "Up in the Air" - just a perfect rendition. I honestly can't imagine Husker Du playing it better. Next block of rock contained the biggest cache of songs from the new album along with "Hardly Getting Over It" and of course "Hoover Dam". The entire show Bob was right in front of me, and I'm watching his hands - so many of these songs seem to have similar chord structures, because his hands are in a lot of the same places, but he gets just a ton of different sounds out of them. And he is still super quick - fingers flying all over the fret board during solos, just making it look so effortless.

Then they rip into "Come Around" from Beaster. I don't know how often Sugar even played that song live - but it was a great way for Bob to get some vocal rest and still surprise the crowd. It was almost surreal. Then we got "Divide and Conquer" and "I Apologize" - Bob was really into the old Husker stuff. He played those songs like a man possessed, grinning away the whole time. "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and "Mr. Grey" led into two old school punk as fuck songs - "Something I Learned Today" from Zen Arcade (!!!) and then "In A Free Land". I never though I'd hear those songs live, and the band did them justice. Bob and the band go off for a few seconds and come back out. Jason walked over to me and gave me his setlist, which was super nice and cool and made me the envy of the six people around me who gave a shit They closed with "Makes No Sense At All" and "Love is All Around". Again, this was the best I've ever seen Bob and at minimum a Top 3 all time show for me. They played something off of every Husker record, they broke out a Beaster tune, they hit us with the best of the new stuff. Perfect concert. Go see him if he's anywhere near you.

[paulhead]

Killer review!

[Verbow]

^ Abover you would have been in heaven!

[paulhead]

I had no idea he was playing there. Going off his tour schedule earlier this year I'm surprised he stopped there but very cool that he did.

[Verbow]

St. Louis usually is a pas through city - so we usually get like the weeknight shows I can never go to. So glad Bob hit us up especially on a Friday night. First Bob STL show in 9 years. Was worth the wait. Next time he comes through (on a weekend of course) you need to make a trip up here Curt. I'll buy you a beer. Coors of course.

[chogdog]

I've personally had no use for Bob Mould since the first Sugar album but that sounds like an absolutely killer set list and great show. I saw him on the Workbook and Black Sheets tours and back then he would play one or two husker du songs at most. He played a few more on his acoustic tours but they weren't as good as hearing full band versions. Would have loved to have been there.

[Verbow]

Chogs it was awesome. He really seems comfortable with the Husker Du legacy now as far as being able to play those songs and enjoy them. I was a little surprised at the lack of solo era songs, but he was in full on punk rock show mode. A lot of those songs wouldn't have fit that format.

[Rusty]

Great review! Sounds like an awesome show.

I saw Husker Du on the Flip Your Wig tour and it was mindblowingly amazing. Never saw Bob or Grant in any other configuration.

[Rockstar Aimz]

Great review Verbow. Where in St. Louis was the show?

[Verbow]

Great review Verbow. Where in St. Louis was the show?

Old Rock House. I had never been there before but it was very nice.

[Verbow]

Great review! Sounds like an awesome show.

I saw Husker Du on the Flip Your Wig tour and it was mindblowingly amazing. Never saw Bob or Grant in any other configuration.

Would have killed to have seen the original Du. You're a lucky man Rusty.

EDIT - also I was about 6 when you saw them. Kinda sucks for both of us

[Rusty]

Great review! Sounds like an awesome show.

I saw Husker Du on the Flip Your Wig tour and it was mindblowingly amazing. Never saw Bob or Grant in any other configuration.

Would have killed to have seen the original Du. You're a lucky man Rusty.

EDIT - also I was about 6 when you saw them. Kinda sucks for both of us

I was 6 at the time, too. What's your point?

[Verbow]

^ That your parents were cooler than my parents

[paulhead]

I'm too lazy to Google. Is Old Rock House in South City and/or ran by The Pageant people?