The Fillmore
June 20, 2003
Review by Jake Thomas
Even though they are a local band, and I even own some of their CDs, I've managed to never see the Aislers Set. And until I got to the show, I had no idea I was going to on this night. I was there in plenty of time to make sure I didn't miss The Clean, but it turned out that since it was a Friday night that they had added one more band to keep people around drinking booze longer. While I usually gripe about long shows, especially those that are unexpected, this one was okay since I liked all the bands. The Aislers Set sounded good, played a lot of newer songs that I didn't know and some older ones that I did. Whether the other people there at that early hour knew they were playing or not, they seemed to be enjoying the show nonetheless.
Up next was the band I was here to see, The Clean. Or 'THE CLEAN!!!' as some of my friends might express to anyone who will listen. Now I'm quite late on The Clean bandwagon; I got their Anthology that just came out on Merge to review, and it was my first time listening to them (and if you didn't already know, it's a damn fine double disc of Clean stuff over their 20+ year career). Let it be known that for a crew of men who might be old enough to be my father (or at least a much, much older brother), they rocked out more than most bands of 20 year olds I've seen. I had heard it reported from a reliable source that they had played 'Tally Ho' at an earlier show as part of this tour, which I think is one of the greatest songs ever written. Unfortunately, they didn't play it this night much to my chagrin, and that's my only possible complaint of their show. I don't know the names of any of their other songs, but they were all good, and they rocked each and every one of them out; and with the assistance of Ira Kaplan for one of them. This show not only reinforced my idiocy for not having known about The Clean earlier in my life, but strengthened my resolve in acquiring their back catalog and memorizing it.
After The Clean, everything else was just going to seem 'eh'. Yo La Tengo was great, no two ways about it; but they weren't The Clean, and after seeing them play I had a one track mind. I stuck around for over half of Yo La Tengo's set (bear in mind they played for over 2 hours, so this was still plenty of viewing). The sound in the room was really nice and warm; you could hear pretty much everything perfectly. Ira went off on many a guitar wankery jag, but they were entertaining for the most part. They played a pretty wide spectrum of their songs, some I knew and some I didn't. They didn't play 'Upside Down', 'Detouring America', or 'Little Honda' while I was there unfortunately, but they played some other goodies whose names escape me at present. Even though I left a bit early I left a happy man, having seen a good show from all bands involved, and a particularly stellar performance from the one and only Clean.
Yo La Tengo photos from 6/19/03
){kind=link}
)
)
)
)
The Clean photos from 6/19/03
)
)
)
---
Read our previous Yo La Tengo review:
April 24, 2001 @ Castro Theatre
Read our previous Clean review:
September 21, 2001 @ Bottom of the Hill
Check our previous Aislers Set experiences:
Photos September 15, 2001@ Bottom of the Hill
Review May 4, 2001 @ Bottom of the Hill
©2003 playinginfog.com