On October 24th, 1993, my uncle brought me out to see my favorite band, Belly, as an early birthday present at The Warfield. I was *just* about to turn 13, and it was tradition for us to be taken to our first concert by our uncle. (My sister, a few years earlier, was treated with REM on the legendary Green tour. We are all pretty nerdy kids.) That was literally 30 years ago. Since then, I’ve probably gone to 100s of shows at The Warfield (especially since I worked there for a spell), and live music has essentially been a cornerstone of my life ever since. However, I wasn’t expecting to return to the place where it all started, WITH the band it started with, in time for that anniversary. On top of that, they would be supporting The Breeders! The Last Splash is a record that I know by heart, and although I never got to see them in their original go around, that record was one of my initial “Buy 5 for the price of 1” BMG record club picks! (The rest? Pork Soda by Primus, Human Wheels by John Mellencamp, Stone Free: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix, and Ramonesmania.)
Walking into The Warfield always sort of feels to me like getting transplanted to a show as a teenager. I was taken aback by how long the line to merch stretched as I entered. I was also shocked by the age range at the show- I’ve seen both Belly and The Breeders a few times now, and it always felt like everyone there was about my age. But there were definitely peers of mine, but a significant number of teens and twentysomethings and more than a handful of parents with their (seemingly) grown-up children. I slid past the merch and barlines and bolted immediately to the stage. It was only 7:55 pm (we had a scheduled 8 pm start time), and Belly had already opened their set with “Dusted.”
For those who are only familiar with Belly’s three (excellent) records, their live set has always been a little surprising. The shoegaze and twang layers are filtered by a heavy, riot-grrl crunch. The 30 years that have passed since the release of their debut, Star, as well as the five years since they last hit the road, haven’t calmed any of this down. They are just as aggressive players as ever; seeing wildwoman bassist Gail Greenwood dominate that massive stage almost brought a tear to my eye. The band sounded great, and it almost weirds me out how, aside from Tanya Donelly wearing glasses on stage, it really felt like no time had passed.
My only complaint about their set was, well, with a mere ten songs, it felt like they were just warming up when it was time to leave. Their last stretch of headlining shows were these epic, three-hour-long affairs. Tonight, we got the hits- five songs from Star, three from King (side note: this record was criminally underappreciated in its time), and two from 2018’s Dove. The set closer of “Low Red Moon” was a particularly loud way to make sure we came back next time. Kevin Shields would be very, very proud.
Album play shows can be awkward. Often times what plays well on the turntable doesn’t work as well on stage. The emotional trajectory is just plain different. The fascinating thing about The Last Splash is that it’s a rare record where the track order is PERFECT for the live setting. The singles are fairly evenly distributed, and it just plain works nicely. “The New Year” builds itself up nicely, allowing the band to warm up alongside the crowd. Lead guitarist Kelley Deal was in fine form, as she’s become the master of surfy noise, sort of working as the architect of the buildup. That, of course, runs you into the party starter, “Cannonball.” A song that, well, if it doesn’t hype you up, I don’t think you are human. The whole band was deliriously tight. The classic lineup of Kim & Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs, and Jim McPherson was augmented by on violin and keyboards, adding a whole new dimension to the sound.
The main set really only had one misstep. “Roi,” one of my favorite tracks on the record, normally comes off as a brutal Sonic Youth attack live, sort of floundered for lack of a better word? As usual, Bassist Wiggs and drummer McPherson switched places, and Jim seemed to be oddly at a loss for the groove, and it turned into a looser, almost Grateful Dead jam. Not “awful,” but not what I wanted.
Enough nitpicking. The Breeders are fucking legendary, and they are allowed to be human for a single song. And, of course, all night they were being “human” in the fact that it was great watching four people that have been working together for literal decades, and have been through the struggles that come with being in a band, plus being family, plus working through addiction, and seemingly enjoying every moment together. The Deal sisters and McPherson never spent a moment without a smile, and even Ms Josephine Wiggs, one of the most straight-faced humans on earth, grinned a bit.
The real excitement about this show, for me at least, is the encore. Belly leader Tanya Donelly was ALSO the original lead guitar player for The Breeders. Making tonight effectively the Gen-X version of that Postal Service/Death Cab tour. Sadly, I don’t think time will allow for Pod and Safari (the two Breeders releases that Tanya played on) ALSO to be played in full. Instead, after a spirited reading of The Pixies’ “Gigantic” and a few cuts off some later records, the great Tanya Donelly came out and added her honey-sweet voice to a duet of The Beatles’ “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” that was chilling. Hearing Deal and Donelly’s vocal trade-off and then harmonizing? Heaven. Pure heaven. Then Donelly put on her George Harrison hat to focus on lead guitar on “When I Was A Painter,” and then, sadly, left the stage for “Iris,” the show closer and my favorite cut from Pod.
It was such a good night and a lovely way to celebrate 30 years of concert-going, as well as kicking off another 30! The only issue remaining? My ankle is ANGRY at me for partying all night.
