Spoon @ the Showbox - 9/5/07

Spoon is a band much before my time, as many well-established American bands are. They're a popular indie-rock group (oxymoron?), they've put out several records, they have a fan base of people averaging around ten years older than myself, which include some die-hards who would at any instance school me in any part of the band's history/discography. The band members are around twenty-plus years older than me. Their first single came out before I even moved to Seattle, when I was only four years old. Why would this sort of set-up that’s just asking for pretentiousness against young fans appeal to me so much?
The band, composed of Britt Daniel (guitar and vocals), Jim Eno (percussion), Rob Pope (bass), and Eric Harvey (keys, etc.), came onto the stage around 10pm to a sold-out Showbox. With a quiet confidence-verging-on-cockiness, Daniel & company started off their set with a track from 2001's Kill The Moonlight. A twenty-something song set list followed, including a generally equal ratio of songs between old and new records, for about an hour and a half. Following Spoon's set was an unusually long but very enjoyable 5-or-so song encore, including a few songs from Girls Can Tell, and closing with a fan favorite, Fitted Shirt.
Onstage, each member of Spoon sits comfortably in their role, most of them mainly supporting Daniel's intriguing stage presence. Eno drums with precision and certainty, backing up the band but not remaining forgettable. Pope is expressionless, which is as much as I can say for keyboardist Harvey, but Harvey has a broader range of instruments (he also plays tambourine and guitar) to support his stage presence. Daniel is the member taking one for the team. His jerky and erratic antics are quite entertaining and unpredictable, and they increased the more he took sips from a red plastic cup.
From being a frequent listener to their past three albums (Kill The Moonlight, Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), I've grown to love Spoon. I don't necessarily want to call it an acquired taste, but Spoon took me a while to really get into. The band creates consistently satisfying songs, but its not instant gratification. They use techniques in their sound that I'm not used to, but that’s what sets Spoon apart from every other indie-rock band out there. They use noise, but control it. Onstage, Daniel can pull off a meandering two minute guitar solo by making as much jagged noise with his guitar as he can, but they don't get lost in it. Spoon is unique in the way that they can wander away from the path and yet are still accessible. Spoon doesn't demand anything from you - the listener gets the choice to pay attention. That’s another thing that makes Spoon one of the most unique and creative bands out there today. Like I've already mentioned, there’s a quiet confidence-verging-on-cockiness that’s subtle, but so very appealing. And there I was, front and center, loving every minute of it.