Archers of Loaf!

[Rae]

I guess I'm going to be in Chicago on July 8th or 9th!

link

May 21—The Grey Eagle—Asheville, North Carolina
June 3—Troubadour—Los Angeles, California
June 4—Troubadour—Los Angeles, California
June 11—Emo’s—Austin, Texas
June 12—The Loft—Dallas, Texas
June 25—Music Hall Of Williamsburg—Brooklyn, New York
June 26—Webster Hall—New York, New York
July 8—The Bottom Lounge—Chicago, Illinois
July 9—The Bottom Lounge—Chicago, Illinois
July 22—The Earl—Atlanta, Georgia
July 23—The Earl—Atlanta, Georgia
Aug. 5—Black Cat—Washington, D.C.
Aug. 6—The Trocadero—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug. 19—Cat’s Cradle—Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sept. 2—Great American Music Hall—San Francisco, California
Sept. 3—Great American Music Hall—San Francisco, California

I'm so bored with the
~Rae

[Stone]

I might just meet you there. Might.

[Rae]

Ohh, I see what you did there.

You should, though! It's been way too long since I've seen you. Check yr PMs.

~Rae

[Swish]

I saw Bachman a year ago with Crooked Fingers as the opener for Spoon I believe.

[Rae]

Yah, I've seen Bachmann a bunch both with Crooked Fingers and solo but never with Archers. I think Stone might've been with me when Crooked Fingers played Michigan Fest 2002...? Great set.

~Rae

[Stone]

I didn't see Crooked Fingers. I've never seen Bachmann in any of his incarnations/bands.

[Rae]

Must've been the day that you skipped, then. Really lovely, completely acoustic (out in the middle of the floor, no microphones or amplifiers at all). I think Reservoir Songs was coming out around that time or at least he was doing a lot of material from it.

~Rae

[Rae]

This show was crazy good!

They played a long time and covered most every song I could think of... pretty heavy on Icky Mettle since that's about to get the reissue treatment but not limited to that. They seemed pretty loose and spontaneous and looking at other setlists online from earlier in the tour it's clear that they've been changing it up a lot. "Harnessed in Slums" came relatively early in the set; "Wrong" was the second encore.

I never saw them in the 90s so I don't know what their dynamic was then but I was a little surprised that Matt Gentling did the lion's share of the between-song banter. Bachmann was pretty quiet and aside from a few wry smiles had a pretty workmanlike stage presence-- that's a departure from when I've seen him solo and he was a little more talkative. Bachmann and Gentling seemed to confer a lot about which songs to play but didn't really interact with the rest of the band... I know those guys have had their ups and downs and it made me wonder despite the reunion how well they really get along.

The Bottom Lounge is a decent place to see a show; Bob Weston did sound and it was pretty good other than that some of the trebly guitar parts seemed to get buried-- I was told later by someone that Eric Johnson's amp was shorting out so it might've been equipment problems. The crowd was energetic and several of the songs turned into massive shout-alongs.

All and all a good time and glad to see one of my favorite indie bands of that era. Since I just saw Superchunk for the first time last year, all that needs to happen is a Sebadoh reunion and I can die happy.

~Rae