The Afghan Whigs had stayed together after their big reunion, even if it was only switching out one member with the Twilight Singers and had settled into basically doing Twilight Singers stuff along the continuum, well after where the Whigs had left off, only with the classic bassist, but still all Dulli. Do to the Beast was a good effort, and one that rewards repeated listening, but it never had the initial crunch like they used to have for it to leave an impact. Still, I’m enough of a fan to want to hear what the new stuff sounded like live and what tricks they might pull off (also after having had to go so long without them, arguably at the height of their prowess and my fandom). I waited only a few days before the show to get a ticket (on Seatgeek, $40, all told) and presumed the wife would get a ticket if she wanted in, but celebrating a Friday and a show and the anticipation of rolling into a free weekend doesn’t always beat the exhaustion of a work-week, so I went alone. I even got there early enough to see what Har Mar (Superstar) would do, after the days of seeing him dance along to canned beats on a boombox, and he had a full band and didn’t sound bad for what he was doing, but the seedy, lascivious shtick was getting older than he was, and he had plenty. Yet there was energy in the room, and when the 'Whigs went on they brought a fury they haven’t had in a while, at least since getting back together. If the first post-reunion album was a clearing house to make the transition from Twilight Singers to the full Afghan Whigs again, then In Spades was something that could be manipulated to go heavy and loud live, and they knew well enough how to make that happen. The post-grunge crunch still wasn’t there, but at last they finally brought the volume again. The first few songs, at least, were the kind of rock majesty that a band even half their age couldn’t always bring (saying something for the experience they’ve had with this music and Dulli putting in getting through his shit (though it’s a shame he didn’t go through the same if it would inspire the kind of albums they used to do)). It was focused as if making the point of bringing the noise, but there was a soberness of approach to getting unhinged like the best rock, which didn’t replicate the sloppy, sweaty, fun shows they used to do, but could age into a precise assault on accusations that they might not have anything to offer with the long-awaited reconciliation and using the old name (which is Dulli’s right anyway). If nothing else Dulli earned a trade for the new songs by returning to “My Curse” with Marcy Mays, the original singer, whose warble always brought more heart and darkness to that song than a surer, accomplished performance did. (Dulli made a point of thanking the guests on stage with a full-on kiss, and included Har Mar, though he noted that it was good that Lanegan wasn’t there since doing the same to him "would freak him the fuck out".) Even getting “Debonair” out of the way early, they got back to the older songs in the second half, returning to the comfortable energy they left off with, and even including a good helping of 1965, for how much neglect that album got (even though they pushed it as far as it could go, it still deserved more). They had to include a Twilight Singers song as if it was some obligation (and Dulli is the boss, after all), but it was the material that most matched the original 'Whigs material anyway, and it rocked as hard as anything else (as it always does). And missing “Gentlemen” or “Miles Iz Dead” in exchanged for “What Jail is Like” is always a fair trade (for another song that never got a fair airing, perhaps from Dulli exposing himself too much in it, but it's up to him if he's still wrestling those demons by keeping it alive in every show). It was a show that displayed Dulli and his band -- whichever one he picked, with whatever combination of members -- had righted themselves not back to where the 'Whigs were but on a new road that didn’t necessarily have to be the Twilight Singers or any of Dulli’s other stuff. They all carry similar themes of personal pain, regret, and trauma, and fans that can enter that darkness don’t have to care about the details of names or chronology. Dulli has established himself as a rocker for life, with volume and fury accessible when he wants it, and maybe it’s always the case that he’s never bothered to prove himself and rather just made something true and we’ve followed. It turned out to be an ideal mix of the new and the old, before they started going more fully into the newer stuff just because it’s new.
The Afghan Whigs’ set-list:
“Birdland“
“Arabian Heights“
“Matamoros“
“Debonair“
“Light as a Feather“
“My Enemy“
“Oriole“
“Toy Automatic“
“Can Rova“/“Last Goodbye“
“My Curse“ (with Marcy Mays)
“What Jail Is Like“
“Teenage Wristband“ (The Twilight Singers) (with Petra Haden)
“Going to Town“ (Slight Return)
“Demon in Profile“ (with Har Mar Superstar)
“Dear Prudence“ (the Beatles cover)
“John the Baptist“
“Somethin' Hot“
“Into the Floor“ (with "Boys of Summer" outro)
“Parked Outside“
“Summer's Kiss“
“Faded“ (with "I Can't Make You Love Me" intro)
