Tuesday, January 18, 2011

"Yeah He's Mad..." GbV Classic Lineup, Nashville Cannery Ballroom: January 14, 2011

They played probably 50 songs. I'm still trying to reconstruct the setlist in my mind... fighting a losing battle, at that. But I remember "Game of Pricks", "I Am a Scientist", "Tractor Rape Chain", "Shocker in Gloomtown"... and I would have gladly paid the price of a ticket to hear any ONE of those songs performed by Bob, Tobin, Mitch, Greg and Kevin...

But the highlight of the evening, to me, was the chorus of "Matter Eater Lad". I'd given up guessing what was coming next and decided to just take them as they came, and was absolutely floored by their version of "Expecting Brainchild", a song from Bee Thousand I have always liked but had never heard LIKE THAT. But to hear this group belt out the chorus "Yeah he's mad, he's Matter Eater Lad" as if it was a well-worn cover of an early Beatles pop gem was an unexpected and spectacular pleasure.

Sound quality on this video isn't the best, but you get the idea. Hopefully they'll release a live DVD from this tour, and it will include "Matter Eater Lad" and you can play it on a good home system, turn it up to 11, and have a goofy grin plastered on your face, too.



Better yet, maybe they'll regroup and hit the road again. Amazing...

Robert Pollard has a new disc out this week: Space City Kicks. More on that, later...

Website: Robert Pollard

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