As the canon of indie rock slips into the 2020s, milestone anniversary dates and the ensuing tours to celebrate them are popping up faster than toadstools after a rainstorm. This time it was Built To Spill’s turn, lighting 30 candles on the cake for its sophomore effort, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love. And by ‘its’ I really mean ‘his’, as Doug Martsch has been the sole constant in an endlessly shifting lineup. Originally stated as a project with a shifting lineup for each record, there was a good span from the late ’90s into 2010s where the band was pretty consistent, but then the randomizer came back into play, and the post-pandemic years have seen the lineup stripped back to a power trio, with Melissa Radford and Teresa Esguerra joining the squad.
Tonight would be my first time in Cleveland’s legendary Beachland Ballroom and the room was nice; high ceilings with a good-sized floor but no balconies. For a sold-out show I appreciated that they didn’t jam us in like sardines and there was space to move around a bit. Doug decided to mix it up a little bit and “Made Up Dreams” was the the first song, with the proper record not kicking off until “In The Morning” was played afterward. As Built To Spill records go, it’s a solid one and either “Big Dipper” or “Car” was my first exposure to the band, but I’m glad they amended the set to include some other classics like “I Would Hurt A Fly” and “Sidewalk” were flaying minds, and it was a minor surprise that “Goin’ Against Your Mind” wasn’t in the mix tonight.
What was a cool surprise is that John McMahon was part of this tour, re-creating his cello parts from the studio recording. If you haven’t seen the band play in a bit, even if this record isn’t your favorite it’s still certainly worth your time to catch a performance if you can. Even though Radford and Esguerra have been members since 2019, they haven’t yet contributed to a studio record and the live show portends good things ahead.
Martsch is one of the few musicians from Idaho that’s gained national recognition and he leaned on a friend from the Gem State to help on this tour. Floating Witch’s Head brewed up a fairly potent stew of garage psych, with an unusual lineup of keyboards, guitar and drums. They’ve certainly got a well-worn copy of Nuggets tucked in the record shelves; nothing revolutionary going on here but it was a good way to get the crowd primed for the main event.
Another person plucked from the northern reaches of the country took the stage first. Rich Mattson and the North Stars are a band I’ve never heard of, but a bit of research tells me that Mattson’s been pretty busy since the late ’80s, both as a musician and also as a recording engineer via his Sparta Sound Studio, based in Minnesota. Of the three, this band hewed closest to the heartland sound, songs bringing touches off The Jayhawks or a bit of Uncle Tupelo without the punk rock streak Tweedy and Farrar leaned into.
