Spoon at The Stone Pony Summer Stage — 8/25/22
It was a gorgeous night in Asbury Park (aren’t they all?), complete with warm weather, ocean breezes, and an incredible sunset behind the stage.
I last saw Spoon in October 2021 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City. At the end of the show, front man Britt Daniel let us know that this was their last show for the tour. He had this look on his face that showed a sense, sadly and slowly sinking in, that “Shit, I guess this means we have to go home.”
Last night, Britt Daniel kicked off the show by letting us know that this was the FIRST stop on this new tour. I feel like I’m entitled to some kind of prize.
But I guess what I really won, along with my brother Rob, was a terrific set from a band whose greatness kind of sneaks up on you.
Spoon is a five-piece group from Austin, Texas with a laid-back, syncopated jazz/rock sound that grabs you with its folksy genuineness, upbeat attitude, well-timed guitar licks, and Everyman lyrics. They are one-part ZZTop, one-part early Police, one-part Nada Surf. You can’t help but like them, and they are a Force For Good.
Spoon did a nice job of introducing some numbers off of their latest album, Lucifer On The Sofa, and mixed in a healthy dose of some of their better known numbers such as Got Nuffin, The Way We Get By, Don’t You Evan, and The Underdog. I bet you’ve heard a few of their songs over the past several years.
Here’s a playlist of some of their best stuff, according to me of course. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7gaM0HBQJWwmbSDfnpIawa?si=U9yhxfJYRkOvCYKL264Yqw
Spoon was followed by last night’s headliner, Interpol. I’m not a huge fan, but they do have a couple songs I like (Evil and PDA) that Rob and I sampled before the show.
I’m still not a big fan. But apparently plenty of others are, showing up in droves and in black Interpol t-shirts in support of the band.
Everything about Interpol is dark. They dress in black, played most of their show in a dark fog, and have a fairly intense, deliberate style that clearly represented the Forces of Evil. They weren’t nearly as fun or upbeat or appreciative or musically clever as Spoon, so they left me a bit cold.
And I was kinda pissed off by all the Interpol fans who stood there, like hundreds of Statues of Liberty, straining to record for posterity every fucking note of every fucking song on their dopey iPhones. Like they were all going to create some kind of monumental documentary tribute to Interpol. All of these aspiring Abraham Zapruders sucked all the air and viewing area out of the room. And we were outside.
Here is a playlist of my favorite Interpol songs. Spoiler Alert: it’s a pretty short playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6OiYeqIJfiMdjnbmR1uiuz?si=2IdOSkUaTiSGq_NTMgFnQQ