Old 97’s, August 31 at the El Rey

I've seen the Old 97's a number of times, enough to be pretty good with not needing to pile up more times (especially since I haven't gotten any of their new material in quite some years) but much for my love for them comes from my passion for Too Far To Care. They sure have a lot of great songs but that album could be the start and finish of them for me. There's not a song on that album that I don't dig.  And there's something about the album as a whole, maybe the production, that I just really like.  The sound is forward but not aggressive, and it all gels into a rousing but comforting mix.  So when they said they were going to tour playing the whole album, I knew I'd be in.  As far as I'm concerned, that's the ultimate Old 97's gig.  Playing the whole album, as is the trend with a number of bands lately, is a bit of a trick, since, as a lot of albums have the best or most aggressive songs at the front, if the band is playing the album in chronological order, they have to play those songs up front, while they're still warming up.  Some bands get around this by playing the album out of order (Sebadoh), first doing B-sides (Pixies) or a greatest-hits of the rest (Weezer, Peter Gabriel), or dropping in other songs as they play (Catherine Wheel), but there's something admirable about just jumping right in to it, if they can pull it off.  Since the crowd is there for a album, it just makes sense to come out and tear right into it straight-off, but there's something to be said about shaking the dust off and being energized enough to get it to sound as good as it should.  Of course, "Timebomb" had to open the set and the show, as it opens the album, and while it was good because it's a great song, there was something stilted and forced and maybe even cold about it. This song, one of the band's best, is what they most often close the night with, which they've been doing for years.  They play that song when they've been on fire and just one push to really put that song over the edge to finish the night, and it's a great way to end. Maybe not a great way to start.  They didn't really catch a spark until a few songs in, but once they had it they really had it.  A shame that they had to sacrifice a few of those great songs from the beginning of that album to warming up but it was still great to hear them, the few that they don't already play frequently (as they've played a lot of that album at shows I've seen anyway).  Then a break and for the second set a slew of apparently new songs, since I wasn't familiar with many of them, and the band seemed glad to be doing stuff that wasn't so worn but they seemed to be happy to play the hell out of so much of their best stuff.  As always they played energetic alt-country that veers a lot harder toward rock, not bound by any easy classification except as a great live band.  And to show that they could really do it, and do it better, they closed with "Timebomb", playing with it with more energy and enthusiasm and thrill than before, taking it beyond just being a great song.  The only bummer about the show is that I don't think I need to see another Old 97's show since I can't imagine how they could do anything to top that one (though there's some new material I could eventually get around to).  Before the show Carla & I met up with Rick and some friends but lost them when the show started.