Last time I saw Sparklehorse (May '96) I wanted to wring Mark Linkous'
neck for being a moody, disinterested little shit. He was pissy that
night 'cause very few people showed up, so the ones who did were treated
to a lackluster encore-less performance about which I bitched so much on
list that it started a big discussion (on P2 I think) about why bands do
encores anyway. :) No need for lengthy discussions this time. They were
brilliant.
We were treated to a mix of stuff from both albums--a little heavier on
Vivadixie than Good Morning Spider. Perhaps my **only** complaint this
time is that they could have played longer. But what they did play was
nevertheless one of the best shows I've seen in a while. The rockers were
even bigger, louder and more mindblowing than on the albums and the quiet
songs were beautiful. Jonathan Segal, ex-CVB multi-instrumentalist, was a
great addition on fiddle, guitar and xylophone (!). Highlights for me
were Happy Man, Rainmaker, Hammering the Cramps, Sunshine and Saturday,
but there wasn't a dud in the bunch. They even looked like they were
having **fun**. Imagine that. :) Mr. Linkous has redeemed himself for his
past sins in Philly. I'd say, "Make sure you catch these guys on tour,"
but that was the last night of the tour, or so they said.
Oh yeah... I liked opener Varnaline a **lot** better than on "Sweet
Life"--the only album of theirs I have. Live they sounded like a strange
amalgam of Galaxie 500 and early Bob Mould playing at Grant Lee Buffalo's
house, which is not a bad place to be. I'm tempted to buy their first
album.
Steve Kirsch
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
