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It's been a gloomy day, but leave it to Britt Daniel and Co. to save the evening with a surprise show at our beloved Mohawk. The Decemberists went off without a hitch last week, but this time is guaranteed to be even more awesome, in that it's outside (don't worry, there's a big tent). Spoon is gonna pack in as many as can possibly fit in the warm bosom of the Mo', but if, god forbid, you don't make it in time, people will get wristbands to hang out at Club Deville next door and hear the shebang once removed. You can't lose.
Spoon
Tonight at The Mohawk
Doors at 9pm, Music at 10pm
$10
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im loving this shit. high five to spoon.
indeed. we'll be there. Any guess as to a decent time to show to get in?
i heard this was a free show, but Austinist's post says $10.00. What's the scoop?
It's definitely $10. Drove by a few minutes ago and about 5 people had started the line.
...wonder who is opening???
That would be Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears opening.
Heading over there now! I was only able to get in for the last three songs of the Waterloo in-store so this should be keen.
Mohawk is having a Freedom Weekend but Friday =/= the weekend I guess.
sorry to be that guy, but it's brit daniel (no s on the last name). people always make this mistake and i figure at least us austinites should get it right.
that being said, i hate all of you that are at the show right now... i'm just now reading this so i'm SOL :) have fun!
dammit, now i went and forgot the second t on his first name... guess that's what i get for being a spelling nazi.
britt daniel. final answer.
that was easily the worst spoon show i had ever seen. the sound on the first two songs was so god aweful and full of "tech difficulties".....as if that wasnt annoying, they also played like shit.
in addition to waiting in line and paying $10, i had to see around 50 cameramen telling me every other song if i could "just move my head 5 inches to the right" ...only problem is that I can no longer talk to the girl i came with thats to my left. it was incredibly annoying.
so in summary: the mohawks sound was terrible. spoon played bad. and the cameramen never allowed you to get into the songs that werent sucking. i want my $10 back.
I tell you what. When I finish my time machine we can go back in time and I'll go to the awful Spoon show and you can sit at home farting around on the internet all night. Does that sound like a fair trade?
Wow. Bitch bitch bitch.
They did indeed have sound problems on the first two songs and that was kind of a buzzkill, but once things were up and rolling I thought Spoon played great. And besides, they went back and redid those first two songs, so they at least got it right the second time.
And I'm sorry about the cameras -- where I was standing, they weren't a problem, but I'm sure in some spots it was an issue. That said -- you couldn't talk to the girl you were with? Well, good, because it was a fucking music show. If you want to talk to a girl go to a bar or something.
Every Spoon show I've been to they take a couple of songs to warm up. That's part of the charm. The fact that they're human and they aren't lipsynching.
Wow...guest #9 must have a Fork up his arse...cause SPOON was great...a little difficulty at first, but they pulled it out very nicely.
This was much better than the Decemberists fiasco. AND someone is complaining about $10 to see Black Joe Lewis AND Spoon in a small venue!!!
Walked in at 11:00 thinking it would be sold out...glad they kept a lid on it (sorta) til late in the day.
They started taking requests after 3 songs in the encore and I even got to shake Britt's hand as soon as I walking out.
Hats off to everyone involved in making this happen. I don't see how it could have been any better.
I had a great spot in the very front until the AV club came in and pushed me back to the third row of people. At least they were all short. I though spoon sounded great, they played all the old favorites and a couple off the new album.
Oh booooo hoooo I had to pay 10 dollars and they screwed up the first two songs. Give me a break. Next time take you and your soon to be ex-girlfriend out to denny's and let the people waiting outside get in. You got to see Spoon in a tiny, intinmate venue for TEN FREAKIN DOLLARS!Pussy.
ehhh. It was ok. Not much more than that. Not their best outing. Next time...
I've been a fan of Spoon for years, and I was incredibly happy to be at the show last night, especially after not getting into Waterloo. But the fact is that Spoon isn't a great live band. I saw them about two years ago and it was the same: They just get up on stage, play their songs, and that's that. It's like listening to a Spoon album except you get to see a guy sweating in front of you and everyone else on stage looks bored and overshadowed.
I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see Spoon again, even though I still love their music.
yup, I'm with #17. I'm glad I was there, but I bet the Lions/Shivers show was a lot better. On the other hand, Spoon in the studio = genius. And I plan on going to see Spoon many times in the future. They have too many good songs...
I love this band and love that they did it at the Mohawk. They had chandeliers installed in the tents for gods sake. Great show and great vibe. I hope they release the video...
um, why is everyone trashing #9? i thought spoon had a real off night, probably becuz of the sound difficulties. seeing britt scream alot of stuff was cool but it was obvious they were real frustrated too. ten dollars is a hell of a deal tho. too bad the performance was just okay. i have seen spoon at waterloo, beerland, the parish, emos, la zona....and the mohawk show was the worst. no biggie, just a crappy night for the band. #17 hit it right on the head. spoon in studio = genius. guest #10....i showed up at 845pm and got in the show...why didnt you make it? wasnt that hard and wasnt much of a "secret" either for this gig. austinist eluded to it on monday i think.....oh well, see ya pissy internet peeps.
i think a good topic would be if spoon is now too big to remember how to pull off the small venue gig? hmmm......
I showed up at 10:45, waited in line maybe 10 minutes and got in the show. made me feel proud of Austin again. You shouldn't have to show up early or buy advanced tickets here. You should be able to get away with waiting until the last minute.
#20, seeing as how Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a Billboard Top 10 album, I think their small venue days may be firmly behind them.
On a sidenote, Austinist, what's up with the commenting? I'm registered here but the site isn't even letting me log on.
Im having the same problem #22.
#20, 22 - Yeah, Spoon may just be better suited now for the big stage....ACL FEST, Bonnaroo, La Zona, etc.
I wish I could have made it but a few of my friends said it was hard to get into the show because of the sound problems throughout.
who the hell is spoon?
hahahahaha
Definitely agree with #17. I can't get enough of their music, but probably will never pay to see them again.
Another reason I love Austin: these comments above. A top 10 billboard band plays a small venue for 10 bucks when they could have charged us 25 (and you would have payed it) for the same sound problems in a bigger joint...and it is welcomed by a virtual tsunami of whiners? I was standing by the sound guy (who was spoons sound guy btw), and he fixed things pretty quickly. The show was sweet. The way I look at it, Britt saved me 2 things: 15 bucks, and a nosebleed seat for the same exact show somewhere else. Thanks Britt. Dug it. You did too.
i think the show was great fun, except i have to complain about the lack of dancing and bopping of heads in the crowd. the fans of spoon seem to be young 18 year olds sitting at staring at them with their mouths open. They seemed annoyed by the fans of 5+ years that just wanted to get down. and i also agree with the annoying camera people. screw you, i waited in line almost 3 hours, i'm going to dance if i want to freaking dance. move away from me if you don't want the bop. anyway, over all good show. and yeah spoon doesn't generally respond with the crowd, but they sound great live and i think thats what makes a good live band. if it sounds just as good live than it does on the CD, then you have a winner. the only thing that bugged me during the show was that Britt Daniel was making eyes and winking at this blond skank during the show and singing songs directly at her and it made me want to blow chunks.
the end.
haha
yeah, I was going to mention that the sound guy was with Spoon and not Mohawk, just for the record
agreed on the blonde chick thing, the dancing, and the chunks. hilarious. awesome otherwise. i like to get down so i just did it. james brown style.
Dancing at a live concert is lame. The only people I see doing it are drunk sorority chicks and middle aged people who should usually be wearing more clothes and should not have drank so much for their first time out in 5 years.
Looking down on people dancing at a live concert is LAME. The only people I see doing it are adolescents that think everyone else is watching them all the time like they have a spotlight and a camera on them when really, nobody gives a shit what they're wearing or if their hair looks good or how cool they look slumped against a wall choking down a cigarette.
If you got to go to a Spoon concert and you didn't dance - you have NO SOUL. You didn't feel the music and you really really really didn't deserve to be there. Their music is made for dancing.
But I guess you just went for the image, huh? A chance to be seen? A chance to get in Britt's pants maybe? I guess so. Sounds like you weren't there for the music. Or maybe you were just there to judge everyone because you know, your opinion matters so much to everyone else.
Rumors of poor sound at this show are greatly exaggerated. The bass amp crapped out during the second song, but it was replaced quickly and the band moved on. That's it. Any mention that there were sound problems throughout is complete bullshit.
By far the best musical performance of the year in Austin. If you smoke you're lame, if you don't dance you're lame and you don't deserve to be in as cool of a scene as Mohawk with people as cool as the ones who frequent THE club.
Write-up of the show and some photos can be found here.
Regarding that review (cause I hate 360 and won't write there): "To see what Austin looks like"? Is that guy serious? Austin is a hellava lot more diverse than what I imagine your typical Mohawk crowd "looks like". He needs to get his head out of his butt and walk down the street sometime.
#35, now you're making me think of #31 as not such a bad person after all. You kids need to stop worrying so much about if you're hip enough or part of the scene enough or if your club is cool enough and just relax and be. This is ridiculous.
re:#37, i think the mohawk guy was just talking about what the face of austin's entertainment scene looked like...that we have cool clubs, great shows, amazing crowd support and a great community down here. relax, maybe?
The 360 writeup was by our beloved former Austinist editor Matthew Odam whose credibility and knowledge of this city is not in doubt.
All I know is that the credibility and knowledge and common sense of the Statesman is in serious doubt in my mind. Surly you read it though, since you're vouching for him. And surely you see that it was the owner of the Mohawk that made that idiotic statement that he had the concert filmed so that the entire world could see what Austin looks like (forgetting about anyone under 15 and over 40 or anyone who might not be a lily white hipster).
But now that you're vouching for someone based upon your closeness to him and not upon what you read of his work, I'm staring to doubt your credibility, joshuahuck.
(The sound of hairs being split)
#39, we also have amazing poverty, a gigantic disparity between the rich and the poor, an enormous homeless population that nobody cares about because they're too rich and distracted to care, a condo crisis that's about to meltdown, escalating racial tension and mounting crime because the people with homes can't afford to keep them.
Maybe someone should make a music video about that, #39. Maybe they should call it "Austin: Don't Move Here".
Jeez Louise. Matt can write what he wants and include quotes from who he wants, I'm simply saying he's got money in the bank when it comes to writing on Austin. Lighten up.
the credibility of Joshua Huck is beyond reproach. as for all the rest: Keep Austin Whining. lord!
ok ok, I won't question the Huck. I won't say that I think ANYone's writing is godawful if they used to work for Austinist. And keeping with the austinist credo I will always always always close my eyes and ears to the terrible things happening in this town so that I might only see boutiques and their bed buddies The Mohawk and whatever band of the week the hive mind is in love with. Unless a homeless man dies. Then I can pretend to care. But I promise I won't do anything to actually, you know, help impoverished people while they're alive.
well, whining on a blog about a concert seems like a great place to start helping the homeless. bravo! reading commments on here from people not even born and raised here about what is wrong with austin and how they know how to fix everything sometimes makes me want to move.
yeah! i hate the mohawk too! they suck! and they keep bringing sweet shows for cheap! fuckers! I hope they burn in hell! well...they suck after tomorrow cuz im going to see ume. but then after that, they suck! until next week or something. i'm tired. long live the huck.
@44: if you make that video, i'll post about it here. seriously.
#47, you might be surprised by how much personal time and money many Austinist staffers devote to helping Austin's poor and homeless. We aren't pretending to care. We actually DO care.
Believe it or not, this type of caring for others conflicts in no way with loving great music. There's plenty of time to do both. Huh.
--Jooley Ann (unable to log in)
I never said I know how to fix everything and I never said I don't help the homeless by buying them food, buying the Austin Advocate, just talking to them and treating them like humans and donating to Austin Partnership for the Homeless. It's a huge concern to me because with the wealthy gobbling up two or three homes like the Thanksgiving turkey, I know it's rough to make it out there and I might need those services someday.
And I wouldn't have been sidetracked and angry if ol' Huck up there hadn't been so quick to jump up my butt about how much ol' dude KNOWS about Austin. Even if nobody knows everything like what it's like to have to shit in an alleyway because nobody will let you into their restaurant or what it's like to live in Enfield and have nothing to do all day but shop.
Jooley,
If you cared you'd profile local homeless people alongside the crushes. I haven't been coming here much but I never see volunteer calls or even fundraising galas mentioned.
Hypocrisy exposed! "Homeless stance entrenches Austinist in hypocrisy scandal! - Can they walk the walk or do they just talk (about HDB goings on too much)?"
sad face.
Seriously, if all of you know so much about Austin, then why aren't YOU writing for this site? I'm sure we could use someone who has their finger on the pulse of volunteer opportunities around town. Or someone who wants to profile members of our homeless population. Or someone who knows all the goings on with the sub-15/over-40 sets.
You write what you know, and I have no shame in saying that my main area of interest is not what "gala" is happening this week.
And how can you possibly write off a heartfelt eulogy as so much pious posturing? Shame on you.
Boo hoo "shame on you"? Wah wah, I am so sad because oh steph wants to be a teacher so she has to treat people like they're 5. Get that power on. Get all your buddies together so they can gang up on the 5 year old. snifff
I think you're hurt because you know it's true. No matter how heartfelt you think it comes across as (and it doesn't to me but I don't have an opinion because I'm not your buddy) if you cared about Tennessee you wouldn't have waited until he was dead to pay attention to him on your precious site.
But let's just keep it up, steph. Fuck Spoon and the show, you want to get your voice heard so let it out little mama.
By the way, I think Spoon is great. I like the way the extra song on the LP skips and repeats. That's a neat concept.