Comments on: Built To Spill @ Pitchfork Music Festival 2009

By: Curlyjefferson666

Curlyjefferson666 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:16:42 +0000

I thought built to spill did an amazing performance. And who ever was talking about tortoise, you didn’t miss anything. no offense.

By: nocturnalnectar

nocturnalnectar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:12:58 +0000

WOW! I am shocked by that review. I totally disagree. I have seen BTS about 6 times and that very well may be the most outstanding performance i witnessed. Martsch pretty much tore a hole in the sky. The jams were incredible and inspired. The music on the whole was transcendent and possessed the band and the crowd; well, the people around me anyway. I found it funny that the reviewer expressed concern for having to follow jesus lizard. No comparison. jesus lizard, though i was entertained, are cursed by the reputation of having a crazy lead man which consigns them to forced wackiness and showboating; whereas BTS doesn’t need any extra frills to provide entertainment, they simply perform excellent music and deliver the audience to a far out and incredible space; I was blown away and had absolutely no problem with the selection of songs.

On a side note, i must say the fumes from the generators or tour buses, or whatever, was horrible, and, in fact contributed to the many people who i witnessed passing out.

By: dan

dan — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:07:48 +0000

i am a huge built to spill fan and was so excited by the idea of the write the night with this band and boy….was i DISAPPOINTED!!!!!

stab, carry the zero, kicked it, and dipper were the only songs that even came close to my wishes. nothing off of wavers or normal years – LAME. everybody knows that they haven’t really made a great record since secret. the band looked so bored and scott the drummer looked like he was ready to go home before hey even started. i have seen this band 10 times and this was by far the worst show i have ever seen. shame on you doug!

By: solace

solace — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:36:10 +0000

wasn’t even remotely close to the best i’ve seen BTS play and i’ve seen ‘em about 15-16x going back to 1997 in Boise.

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:41:39 +0000

Well put Blood…

Your utter lack of substantive argument, and inability to read a review from an objective standpoint really highlights your ability to differentiate a good and average performance from a band (no matter how incredible they are).

I’ve always said, if you’ve got nothing intelligent to offer, bigotry is the most pointed and effective way to explain your opinion.

I also think its wise to read the entire blog post before you let the coffee, coke, or whatever else jazzes up your early afternoon, puke nonsense into the world

Great piece Erik!

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:12:02 +0000

Sighcadelc,
I think your positive memories of them in 99 have been over glorified in the last 10 years because Built to Spill totally ripped it Friday night. One of the best shows I’ve seen this year. I’m not too familiar with the whole BTS discography but I was blown away by that entire set. I have to get the rest of their albums after a show like that. The set saved my night, I accidentally got off the train at Ashland/63rd (the hood) and missed Tortoise.

By: beardedarmenian

beardedarmenian — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:53:05 +0000

I completely disagree with the review. During many of the extended jams that you and apparently the lame people around you were so bored with, BTS was locked in like I have never seen them before. Sure, it would take a lot of convincing to prove to me that it was a completely fan chosen setlist, but it was a crowd pleaser to those of us who actually like Built to Spill in the live setting. I thought they killed it and set the bar for the entire weekend.

By: Sighcadelc

Sighcadelc — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:49:40 +0000

All I can say is that for their first Chicago gig in 2 years, BTS did not deliver.

As a veteran of 11 BTS shows going back to 1999, this was the worst show I have seen by them, by far. Erik and Jon are dead on for most of the review. Plenty of downs and only a few ups.

BTS just did not bring it for a festival headliner. The execution, on more than few a songs, left a lot to be desired. The sound was terrible. The fumes were disgusting. And Doug + Jim were just not giving much.

BTS played a ton of slow to mid-tempo songs. They never even got it going until ‘Virginia’ which by then was an hour into their set.

I highly doubt the audience wrote this setlist since BTS has been playing this group of songs to death since 03. Overall, they packed it in.

suck it

By: Icculus

Icculus — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:21:20 +0000

Thought the Built to spill show was incredible. It’s so refreshing to see bands rip it up, extend the songs. That’s the best part of a live show for me.

By: dickie

dickie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:55:24 +0000

How can anyone argue with BTS doing extended guitar jams within and at the ends of their songs at Pitchfork 2009? Whether it’s Miles Davis, ,John Coltrane, Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, take your pick, the expository jam is what makes us get up and go see live music as it happens instead of replaying studio recordings over and over in the comfort of our own homes.

When the music at Pitchfork 2009 transitioned from Jesus Lizard to BTS, it was as if the bar had suddenly raised from worn out, three chord, has been, pathetic stage diving crap, to a level of musicianship by BTS that could build a technically and emotionally complex piece of art without having to pander to the fifteen second attention span of those who found the Jesus Lizard “compelling.”