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spoon was sold out at the bowery last weekend and i had no desire to see them at the starlight, but when maria told me that they were playing the stone pony (!) on tuesday i figured why the heck not? i hadn’t been there in years. i recalled asbury park as being run down, desolate and shady and as we pulled into town, those recollections were demolished - quite literally. nearly all of the bombed out buildings and dark alleyways had been ground into dust in the name of redevelopment and only a few structures remained, with the stone pony conspicuously among them. we pulled up on the street right next to the club a few minutes after doors opened. counting myself, maria, kristin & kevin, there were maybe ten of us standing outside; totally intimidated by the NO REENTRY and coors light signs that hung on the door. aside from us, no one was speaking above a whisper, which was made even more noticeable among the faraway surf and utter absence of street sounds. it was a lot like a scene from stephen king’s the langoliers (it’s short, you should read it):

there was no response. only that queer, oppressive silence. and laurel noticed something then, something that made her skin cold. brian had cupped his hands and shouted up the escalator. In a high-ceilinged place like this one, there should have beeen at least some echo.

but there had been none.

no echo at all.

david vandervelde and the moonstation house band opened with a set of southern bar rock by way of chicago. during the first few average yet well-played songs, my initial impression was that of typical disdain (i turned to kevin and snickered, “nice cowboy hat & handlebar mustache, i bet these guys went to art school”), but as the set wore on and the songs slowed down, lengthened out and became really self-indulgent i started to like them a lot more. maybe not enough to check out his album but enough to recommend the live show.

during the changeover (let’s hear it for two band bills on a weeknight), “trouble” by lindsey buckingham played over the PA. i found it a very odd choice because i always thought that “everything hits at once” bore more than a passing resemblance to it in mood and tempo. by the time spoon hit the stage, the tiny club had filled up nicely yet you couldn’t help but wonder if this was what the band expected. the all-ages crowd was an odd mix of hipsters, townies & local kids who had nothing better to do on a school night; not at all what one would picture when thinking about the stone pony as the place that birthed springsteen and was so synonymous with new jersey. but then again, maybe the SP is just reflective of asbury park as it is today.

with the smoke machine at full blast, spoon opened with “two sides of monsieur valentine”. by “fitted shirt”, the smoke was so thick that one could barely see the band. all that was missing was derek being trapped inside a pod. furthermore, the band was as sloppy as i’ve ever seen them. the new bass player was getting lost at certain points and britt daniel kept imagining his guitar was out of tune, even when it wasn’t. disconcerting for sure, but i guess it’s forgivable this early on in the tour.

here’s what disappointed me most about the show: on one hand, it was great to see spoon in such a small capacity room but i really thought they could have done a lot more to connect with the audience. instead, it felt like they were putting on the same exact show they would for the larger crowds they’ve been having and it ended up feeling largely by the numbers. to their credit, spoon made up for it with an interesting and extensive set list (this is probably way off):

two sides of monsieur valentine
don’t you evah
fitted shirt
beast and dragon adored
anything you want
me & the bean
paper tiger
don’t make me a target
new songs
someone something
lines in the suit
i turn my camera on
the way we get by
stay don’t go
i summon you
my mathematical mind
———————-
everything hits at once
jonathan fisk

towards the latter stages of the show one of three identical-looking members of stone pony security (bald, wearing gloves, beer gut, scowling) came through the crowd, grabbed maria out of the crowd and took her away! by the time kristin, kevin & i made it out to look for her, she was allowed back in (maria has a firsthand account of this) and we hung out on the side of the stage in the eating area, affectionately named the pony cafe, during the encore. the three (?) new songs definitely sounded more like the older albums, the ones with actual pop songs on them versus the ruminations of gimme fiction. so color me somewhat excited for the release of ga ga ga ga ga this summer, completely bizarre shows & circumstances notwithstanding.