Mission of Burma – Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY) – Friday, January 18, 2013

When these Boston post-punk legends announced their improbable comeback shows in 2002, I never expected they’d still be playing regularly 11 years later, while releasing four terrific albums in the process (to go with only one full-length from their original incarnation, 1982’s Vs.). In fact, this show marked the 15th time I’ve seen them since their NYC return at Irving Plaza in January ‘02. Perhaps their frequent appearances have caused some to take them for granted – indeed, despite the weekend slot at one of Manhattan’s most popular venues, tickets were still available at the door. But this show should’ve been sold out a minute after tickets went on sale, for their performance was as pulverizing, unrelenting, and physically exhausting as any of those 14 other times I’d seen them — at Bowery Ballroom (4 times), Irving Plaza (3 times), Maxwell’s, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Prospect Park Bandshell, Coney Island’s Siren Fest, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Beekman Beer Garden, and Philly’s Theatre of Living Arts.

Clint Conley

Peter Prescott

Roger Miller

As if to emphasize their ongoing relevance, the band charged out of the gate with three thunderous tunes from their newest LP Unsound – “Second Television,” “Fell—>H20,” and “7’s.” Each showcased Roger Miller’s inventive, surging riffs, Clint Conley’s jittery, grinding (yet catchy) basslines, and Peter Prescott’s heaving, bone-crushing stickwork (not to be forgotten, fourth member Bob Weston provided his distinctive tape manipulations from the soundman’s booth). The set’s first half focused on Unsound, with tunes like the Prescott-barked “Sectionals in Mourning” sandwiched between “Donna Sumeria” and “2wice,” two piledriving numbers from their best post-comeback LP, 2006’s The Obliterati. A trio of new songs, “This is Hi-Fi,” “What They Tell Me” and “ADD in Unison,” were even jazzed up with discordant horns, courtesy of Roger’s brother Benjamin Miller’s saxophone and Steve Smith’s trumpet. The main set’s latter half featured a smattering of older tunes, like the heavy “Dead Pool,” the searing “Red,” and the frenzied “This is Not a Photograph.” It closed with a chaotic, rumbling, practically hurtling-off-the-rails cover of The Stooges’ “1970.”

Benjamin Miller

Steve Smith

The encore kept up the evening’s frenetic pace, as the band stormed through their classic 1980 debut single “Academy Fight Song” — an even older song, “Nu Disco,” was played earlier — and followed it up with two more Obliterati smackers, “Spider’s Web” and “Good Not Great” (the latter was peppered with Roger’s own trumpet bleats, as Conley moved to guitar and Weston took over bass duties). It doesn’t matter how often they come around; as long as they keep putting on one of the best shows of the year, I’ll keep coming to see them.

Upcoming Mission of Burma dates:
3/14 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
3/15 Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
3/16 The Earl – Atlanta, GA

The band close with “Good Not Great”: Peter Prescott, Clint Conley on guitar, Roger Miller on trumpet, Benjamin Miller, Bob Weston on bass