The Morning After: Spoon Live in Toronto, March 29, 2010

Sometimes shows you decide to attend last minute turn out to be among the best. Such was the case when last minute, a friend and I grabbed tickets off of Craigslist and headed to (ugh) the Sound Academy. We missed opener Strange Boys (meh) and supporters Deerhunter (dang!), but arrived ten minutes ahead of the mighty Spoon, who may have played the greatest Spoon setlist of all time.

Anyone familiar with Spoon knows that there isn't a dud song in their catalog, but boy, did Britt Daniel and co. ever play to their strengths. The band pulled heavily from Gimme Fiction and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, playing more songs from each of those albums than from their latest LP, Transference.

Included in the set were my personal favourites "Stay Don't Go," "Rhythm and Soul," "Monsieur Valentine," and "Don't Make Me A Target," and "The Ghost of You Lingers," complete with an epic, crashing-drum finale. Hell, they even played "Everything Hits At Once," a rare but excellent number from their underrated 2001 LP Girls Can Tell.

At the top of the screen, I've embedded a video of the stellar "Black Like Me" from the show. The sound isn't all there, but you can still feel the excitement exuding from the band, not to mention the crowd. And, in case you never got around to hearing Girls Can Tell, you can listen to "Everything Hits At Once" just below. Note the way the drums roll so easily into the groove.



What a stunner:

Nobody Gets Me But You
The Way We Get By
Got Nuffin
The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Me and the Bean
The Ghost of You Lingers
Stay Don't Go
Rhythm & Soul
Everything Hits At Once
Trouble Comes Running
Written In Reverse
I Could See the Dude
Don't Make Me A Target
They Never Got You
I Summon You
Who Makes Your Money
Don't You Evah
Small Stakes
My Mathematical Mind

Encore:
Black Like Me
Is Love Forever?
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
The Underdog