On Sept. 11, indie band Spoon made their Ottawa debut at the Bronson Centre
Austin, Texas’ Spoon has been a household name in the alternative landscape for well over twenty years, and on Sept. 11, they made their Ottawa debut at the Bronson Centre as part of a short tour that took them from Idaho to New Brunswick and finally to finish off at Chicago’s Riot Fest.
Lead singer Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno have been the mainstays of the group, operating with a rotating cast of multi-instrumentalists and bassists over their careers, and their bluesy, soulful take on the post-punk revival sound of the early 2000s has proven lasting and unique.
Before Spoon took the stage however, they invited fellow Austin band A Giant Dog to open for them on this tour. They immediately captivated the sold-out crowd with their genre-blending style of glam, punk and emo influenced alternative with musical intensity that was only matched by their erratic and dynamic stage presence. It’s easy to see why Daniel called them one of his favourite bands during Spoon’s set.
Spoon wasted no time getting the show started when it was their turn to take the stage; almost immediately after picking up his guitar – before his fellow bandmates were fully settled in – Daniel dove right into the opening strums of “Wild”, a highlight of their most recent album Lucifer On The Sofa.
The band then barrelled their way through the 16-song main set with unwavering vigor. During the second song “Mathematical Mind”, Spoon made a statement with an absolutely colossal ending filled to the brim with guitar feedback and old-school rockstar antics. They then upped the ante entirely with their classic “I Turn My Camera On.” which included a massive crescendo of loud guitars and keyboards overtop the tight groove the song rests on— all in the intro before Daniel even started singing.
Throughout the set, Daniel experienced some technical difficulties relating to what appeared to be the power into his pedalboard and his analog tape delay. Though at times this proved problematic, Daniel and the rest of his band were in full sync and handled it with professionalism. It was hard to even tell that they were facing these difficulties if you couldn’t see Daniel interacting with the guitar techs to try and fix the problem.
Technical difficulties nevertheless, the audience was roaring with enthusiasm for most of the set, erupting into massive cheers when the band played their two biggest hits, “Inside Out” and “The Underdog” to which Daniel remarked, “We need to come back here!”
Spoon took that energy and relayed it back to the crowd in a roaring rendition of The Cramps’ “TV Set” to close out the main set and then returned for a four song encore that ended with Daniel thanking the crowd prior to an explosion of noise and guitars with “Rent I Pay,” one of their most bombastic tunes. A fitting close to a night of pure indie rock bliss.
