We Were There :: Guided By Voices

The Paradise Rock Club| Boston, MA|11/05/10
It's taken us a couple of days to get our shit together enough to put together some assemblance of a review for the glorious night of rock we witnessed courtesy of GBV's "classic line up" on this past Friday night. Walking into the newly renovated Paradise, I could already hear the GBV chants, the energy in the room was at fever pitch with a good 30 minutes to go before the bands scheduled start time. After the farewell Electrifying Conclusion tour in 2004, I never thought I'd see Guided By Voices play live again, let alone the line-up responsible for the bands ascension from the basements of Dayton, OH in the early 90's the same line-up responsible for the recording of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes Under The Stars as well a slew of superb EP's. So when it was announced over the summer that Guided By Voices circa 96' would be headlining Matador 21st anniversary party in sin city. I was hopeful that the one off date would evolve into a full fledged tour, luckily for me and anyone else who couldn't make the Vegas trip that's exactly what happened. And so on the final weekend of The Hallway of Shatterproof Glass Tour GBV were back in Boston.

"The classic line up" featuring Bob Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, and Kevin Fennell hit the stage armed with a hit list of 39 songs that they would tear through in just over two hours. They were received by a mostly joyous crowd, save for a couple of nitwits throwing punches in front of the stage, seriously dudes if you can't conduct yourself in these situations STAY HOME! Having been checking out set lists over the past few weeks, I was a little surprised when I heard the opening chords of Striped White Jets for the bands opening song. However it works like a charm as an opener. From there Bob Pollard led the band through a lengthy set and as per usual his in between song banter was side splitting and spot on "we killed shoegaze and brought back harmonies", that they did. Tobin Sprout took a few turns at the mic which featured a couple of my favorite moments of the night especially during a fantastic late-set version of Dodging Invisible Rays. Toward the end of the night which consisted of several beers and tequila Pollard and GBV managed to keep the train on the track during the bands three encores that culminated with the set closing performance of Weedking. Long Live Rockathon, no more like Long Live GBV!

As the band walked off stage to the sound of the sold out crowd going ape-shit, myself included, I was overcome with the feeling that I had just seen something truly special and something I'll probably never see again, but then again, if this reunion has taught us anything it's never say never.

Set List Boston 11/5/2010
Striped White Jets
Echos Myron
Exit Flagger
Pimple Zoo
My Impression Now
Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
Hot Freaks
Shocker in Gloomtown
A Good Flying Bird
My Valuable Hunting Knife
Cut-Out Witch Play
Watch Me Jumpstart
Awful Bliss
14 Cheerleader Coldfront
Closer You Are
Lethargy Play
Queen of Cans and Jars
Break Even
Matter Eater Lad
Tractor Rape Chain
Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Bright Paper Werewolves
My Son Cool Play
Gleemer ( The Deeds of Fertile Jim)
Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy
Gold Star for Robot Boy
I am a Scientist
Game of Pricks
Smothered in Hugs
A Salty Salute
Encore:
Postal Blowfish
Hey Aardvark
Quality of Armor
Motor Away
Encore 2:
Dodging Invisible Rays
Don't Stop Now
Some Drilling Implied
Encore 3:
Johnny Appleseed
Weed King


Video of GBV Performing Buzzards and Dreadful Crows at The Paradise on 11/5/10 furnished by Narlus. Great quality audio and video from a night we won't soon forget.