Live Review - Throwing Muses at Great American Music Hall, 16 Dec 06

Kristin Hersh is a goddess. The woman has been making intense, emotional, consistently engaging music for over 20 years. She's had 4 children, and never allowed pregnancy to stop her from touring. She STILL tours like a madwoman (this show was at least the 6th time she's played in San Francisco in 2006). And, she still puts on one hell of a show - whether playing solo acoustic, with her new band 50 Foot Wave, or, as we had the privilege to experience on 16 December, on a reunion tour for her first, lamented band - Throwing Muses.

Oh right... check the name of this blog you're reading... nope, I'm not "objective" when it comes to Kristin or her music. But of course that intense subjectivity cuts both ways... Throwing Muses' first four albums ruled my teenage years. I had high expectations for this show and it would have been easy to walk away disappointed for whatever foolish reason. Believe me, I'm extremely critical of live shows (which thankfully doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of them, or stop me from continuing to attend), and this one had a lot to live up to. Chances are decent (?) this might be the last time I get to hear some of these songs live. Well, this was frankly the best show I saw this year.

To add to Kristin's godhead, consider that she and Bernard (funky bassist extraordinaire) were also two-thirds of their own opening act! 50 Foot Wave's show honestly felt a bit "flat" to me, compared to the other two times I've seen them this year. I suspect that they've been practicing (or in Bernard's case - learning?) the old TM songs so much lately in preparation for this tour, that it took a while for the 50FW songs to gel. Kristin's voice is an absolute marvel... how can someone shred that much, and still manage to sound sweet when she chooses? I can't recall any of the details, but was left with the impression that the band were tighter and more intense when they opened for Mission of Burma in the exact same space a couple months ago.

I'm afraid I can't really comment on second opening act the Moore Brothers. Most of the audience seemed excited to see them - two guys with acoustics who do really pretty vocal harmonies. Not my speed, and especially incongruous stuck between the very-electric 50FW and TM. Still, these guys were hanging out at Kristin's solo show last January, and I suspect they're personal friends. Me and my group of friends went to the back of the venue and had a beer.

Kristin and Bernard came back accompanied by original Muses drummer David Narcizo, one of the most inventive drummers ever and a personal favorite. David used to be a real hottie back in the day; it's a totally irrelevant (and perhaps needless) comment, but he's kind of looking his age these days. Fortunately that had NO bearing on his performance - the central role of the drumming in songs like "Hate My Way," "Pearl," and "Soul Soldier" was spot-fucking-on. And he looked like he was having a blast.

Frankly, as were we all. The setlist was exquisite; Kristin really delivered on her promise to play a lot of the "old stuff". Here's the list, in chronological order of release:

From the self-titled debut: "Soul Soldier," "Fear," "Hate My Way," "Vicky's Box"
From House Tornado: "Colder," "Mexican Women"
From Hunkpapa: "Bea," "Mania"
From the Real Ramona era: "Cottonmouth" (was the "Counting Backwards" B-side)
From Red Heaven: "Pearl," "Furious"
From University: "Shimmer," "Start," "Hazing," "Bright Yellow Gun"
From Limbo: "Shark"
From the untitled 2003 album: "Mercury," "Pretty or Not"

There were so many tiny little details about Throwing Mus-ic that I love, and the band managed to nail them ALL. Some examples:

"Soul Soldier" - the tempo abruptly shifts in this song at least three times. Not only did they nail it musically, but Kristin's voice also modulated accordingly. You'd never know she'd been howling out 50FW songs roughly an hour and a half earlier, she sounded so "sweet" during the quiet parts.

"Fear" - among the most chaotic of TM songs, and I wouldn't have believed that it could be pulled off with one guitar.

"Mexican Women" - another one with a sneaky tempo change (or maybe even a time signature change?) about two-thirds of the way through. Live, this was more muscular and more intense than I could have hoped. As stoked as I was to hear "Hate My Way" and "Vicky's Box", I had at least heard those two songs played live a decade or so ago. Never never never could I have hoped to hear this gem from my favorite Muses album, House Tornado. The addition of "Colder" from that album was like the cherry on the sundae.

"Shark" - Bernard is a really funky bassist, and this late TM song (from the album on which he joined the band) really shows him off at his best. That said, he did a damn fine job with the more fluid basslines of the older material also.

"Mania" - I never liked this song until the first time I heard it live. But I've never LOVED this song until this show. Kristin didn't just tear through the vocals, but used some inflection and some passion and some variance in the delivery to turn this into the scathing indictment of mental health care that the lyrics have always suggested. I have no clue what I mean by that, having just written it... it's just that this song has always struck me as stream-of-consciousness, but something in the presentation at this show made it "click" for me.

"Hate My Way" - an obvious and long-time fan favorite. David's drumming on this is exquisite, perhaps his best.

"Pearl" - except I have to say that David completely stole the show during the furious breakdown near the end of this song. I swear Kristin has played this song every single non-50FW time I've seen her, but the acoustic version just can't compare with the full band version.

Any quibbles I have about the show are minor. The sound quality was fantastic - at no time muddled, or with one instrument overpowering the others. K forgot the words to one song (don't remember which now), and probably intentionally left out a couple sentences from the end of "Vicky's Box" (which I imagine given the screaming in the middle is a difficult one to perform?) I remain unfulfilled in my desire to hear "Soap and Water" in its full chaotic electric version. None of these are complaints - the show was fantastic!

And as an extra bonus, after checking the boards at throwingmusic.com, I discover that a guy named Steve filmed the entire thing, and is slowly posting songs to YouTube!!! To wit:

"Start" (frankly, not a show highlight, mostly because of the song itself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSVvANPzZ2A

"Cottonmouth"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfeJcVHeP-M

"Hate My Way"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EoXZKIpa8o

"Pearl" (second half, including David's amazing drumming!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggGSbgZ_lAE

Geez, can you tell I really liked this show?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Happy 2007!!!!