Review by Casey Whitworth<\/p>\n
I arrived a little late to Paradise Rock Club last Wednesday night. After a long second day back to school, I was tired and utterly devoid of the desire to stand in a crowd of people at 9 p.m. on a weeknight. Upon entering the space, however, right as Built To Spill began their set, I felt my spirit reenter my body, my veins pumped full of ornate guitar melodies and the loud oomph of the drums. Good old 90s alternative rock. Precisely what a weary soul needs, this lively catharsis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Built To Spill has been around for a while. It\u2019s difficult to discuss the band as a collective when it\u2019s more of an idea borne of the sole constant member, the man who has been the driving force behind the sound and vision for decades: Doug Martsch. After seeing them perform, the lineup has changed several times, which I only learned upon digging further into the band\u2019s history. Their performance captured and beautifully amplified the rawness of their recorded work, which was spontaneous and complex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Built to Spill has been a staple in the alternative rock scene since the mid-1990s. Known for their intricate guitar work, introspective lyrics, and genre-mixing sound, they\u2019ve cultivated a devoted fan base and garnered a reputation for delivering mesmerizing live performances. Martsch can channel raw emotion through his guitar, bringing honesty and vulnerability to an otherwise sonically upbeat experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Most of the setlist was composed of pieces from \u201cThere\u2019s Nothing Wrong With Love,\u201d the group\u2019s sophomore album released in 1994. Although I was a little saddened that they didn\u2019t play more from their fan-favorite album, \u201cKeep It Like a Secret,\u201d I did appreciate that their setlist wasn\u2019t what I expected<\/span>.<\/span> It was a pleasant surprise to hear songs I haven\u2019t dedicated much time to from their discography, and I will most certainly be trying to dive deeper into all of their work.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s something extraordinary about seeing Built To Spill live: their willingness to stretch out songs with improvised jams and solos, breathing new life into them. These additions made each song they played something new and exciting, making this show feel like a one-time event. I truly felt lucky to be there, bearing witness to their artistry. The band\u2019s genuine enthusiasm and love for performing were infectious, and the audience seemed to share their passion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This concert was like a party, a celebration of musicianship and spontaneity. As feet tapped and heads nodded up and down around me, it was like a communal purging of melancholia, even though the songs we heard explored themes such as isolation and uncertainty.\u00a0 We all encounter thoughts and feelings such as these at one time or another, but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t dance to them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review by Casey Whitworth I arrived a little late to Paradise Rock Club last Wednesday night. After a long second day back to school, I was tired and utterly devoid of the desire to stand in a crowd of people at 9 p.m. on a weeknight. Upon entering the space, however, right as Built To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21826,"featured_media":42581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[32,117],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21826"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42582,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42579\/revisions\/42582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}