Build Me Up
- Doug Martsch, Patron Saint of Rock
On November 15 Doug Martsch, in a brown rain jacket and a thinning mop of hair, climbed the WOW Hall stage with his Built To Spill band mates and dutifully setup shop sans roadies. “Christ,” I thought. “These guys are geezers!”
Initially, I questioned whether going to the concert would be the “right thing” to do. I had a major test the next afternoon and my conscience was saying DO NOT GO NO NO. But BTS is too hard to resist. I’ve been a fan for some time and I had never seen them live. Before I knew it, their familiar maestro guitar attack–that I had recently forgotten– rocked the living daylights out of me. If the band is an apple of temptation, their genius is baring some badass fruit.
Martsch, who formed BTS in 1992, is surprisingly reserved onstage considering he is revered as a founding father of indie rock. The Boise musician said little more than a feeble “Thanks” between their lengthy songs (which are that much longer live). It seems that for Martsch, the music comes first.
Guitarist Brett Netson did most of the crowd-schmoozing.
“This is dedicated to men who built WOW Hall..and to the people who throw rocks in the windows of corporations,” Netson exclaimed before the sheer force of BTS’ signature guitar echo, loops and feedback, essetnially brought down the house.
(The name “Built To Spill” is definitely not a misnomer.)
Yet it was during “Strange” as Martsch’s plaintive voice whimpered, “yeah its strange but what’s so strange about that/ yeah its strange but what isn’t strange/ yeah its strange but oh well” that their anti-establishment vehemence felt most genuine and the results are absolutely mesmerizing.
Martsch so prolifically converts feelings into remarkably assured rock n’ roll, its no wonder he is considered one of the best guitarists in the business today. He might resent the Rock God ascription, but well, that’s what he is.
Yes, in the midst of popping my “BTS Live” cherry, I became a born-again believer.
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I love his little ‘thanks.’ That’s his trademark in my book. He always says thanks after every song. Cute.
its been over a week and i’m still thinking about how awesome that show was.. mm, i’m reliving it rightttt now.
Completely agree with your comments on this – thanks for taking the time to post.
Completely agree with your comments on this – thanks for taking the time to post.