The chance to hear a band perform arguably one of the best records ever written in its entirety does not come often.  For me, this was one of the most anticipated shows of the year.  Add on great line up of opening acts consisting of the Meat Puppets and Dinosaur Jr, and you just can’t miss.   Extensive touring is nothing new to Built to Spill and they decided to play a series of shows  in the middle of their current tour to play Perfect From Now On from start to finish. 

Built To Spill agreed to take part in the Don’t Look Back concert series which was started in 2005 and has featured Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation and Girls Against Boys playing Venus Luxure No. 1 among others. However the first full fledged tour that I can remember in this genre was back in 2003 when Primus toured with a two set show.  The first set featured Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety and the second a mix of new and old songs.  I saw this show at the Hammerstein Ballroom and it was a memorable show.  

When Built To Spill signed with Warner Bros. Martsch brokered a deal that allowed him to retain a large degree of creative control over future albums. Many artists that signed to major labels around that time were not able to pull that off.  BTS produced its first major label release which ended up being Perfect From Now On. The history of this album is near legendary.  The album was recorded three times.  Martsch played all instruments on the first try, but he did not like the sound so he invited Brett Nelson and Scott Plouf to help record.  This second attempt was finished save overdubs but a hot summer drive from Bosie to Seattle destroyed the tapes .  Left without any other options, the band continued to refine the album and recorded it a third time which was released to critical acclaim on January 28, 1997.   You can read more about the recording process here in a great archived interview with Martsch’s and PFNO producer Phil Ek.  

The show started right on time at 7:30.  The Meat Puppets put on a loud but decent set with their power chord garage sound.  Dinosaur Jr’s overall mix suffered a bit from the over-driven (and overdone) triple stack Marshall amps behind front man J. Mascis in this small venue.  I was actually concerned that BTS might suffer the same fate.  However, Martsch is known for his perfection tendencies and created a perfect sound for the set.  From the opening note of “Randy Describes Eternity” the band was crisp and replicated the album perfectly.  The crowd fervor was fueled with fire as Martsch sang the album mantra of ”I’m gonna be perfect from now on/I’m gonna be perfect starting now.” That moment put the show in proper perspective.  More than 11 years after its release, these songs sounded are relevant, important and perfect.

BTS only took breaks for a few technical difficulties.  After guitarist Jim Roth broke a string, Martsch apologized for the delay and joked that they “could not afford any roadies or guitar techs.”   At one point a cable from Martsch’s foot pedals died and he had to replace it mid-song.  Amazingly, despite the technical difficulties, they did not miss a beat throughout the entire recreation of PFNO.  The guitar intro to “Stop the Show” had a more brutal punch then on the record and had the crowd going crazy.   When asked about playing PFNO in its entirety Doug Martsch said:

“I’ve been enjoying playing it because I feel like we can do it live better than the record.  I listen to our record and the quality of my voice gives me shivers—bad shivers not good shivers—so being able to sing the songs a little bit more, the way I naturally sing, has been nice. And there are instrumental things that, live, I think we can make more intense.”

After finishing “Untrustable/Pt. 2 (About Someone Else),” the last track from PFNO, the band immediatly went into “Goin’ Against Your Mind” from You In Reverse before leaving the stage.  Martsch and company came back for two more songs, “Car” and “Virginia Reel Around The Fountain.” The latter turned into a exhilarating 15 minute jam with the Curt and Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets and Dave Dreiwitz of Ween on bass.   I walked away on an emotional high and even more respect for Built To Spill.  Their performance was stellar and put this show in my top 10 of all time.  Doug Martsch and company are currently working on a new album which will hopefully see daylight by Spring 2009.