Wow Bob Wow

Last night at Bob Mould's Irving Plaza concert in NYC, my wife said she felt like she was seeing a member of The Beatles. I don't know if I'd go that far but a strong case could be made that Mould along with Grant Hart were indeed the Lennon & McCartney of American Punk during their stint as co-leaders of Minneapolis' Hüsker Dü. Nearly three decades later, Bob is still kicking out the jams like it was 1981 all over again (Grant, however, seems to be M.I.A. Where are you, dude?).

During last night's show, Bob whipped out songs from his entire career, covering Hüsker Dü ("I Apologize"), his early solo career ("See A Little Light"), his work with Sugar ("A Good Idea") and his later solo work ("Egoverride"), all the way up to his most recent release, District Line. All of these stages of his career have had the same things in common: Intelligent and melodic songwriting, passionate vocals and scorching guitar work. And all of these were present last night.

For a taste of what the show was like, here's a clip from Bob's DVD, Circle of Friends, the shoulda-been-a-hit in a better world, "If I Can't Change Your Mind":



(Click to watch)

The show also featured an interesting opening act, a band called Halou from the Bay Area. Sort of a cross between the Cocteau Twins, Sigur Rós and My Bloody Valentine:



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You can get their music here.

And, in between bands, Irving Plaza showed this great video from Bat for Lashes, "What's a Girl to Do":



(Click to watch)

It was a great night. But I've gotta admit, it's not 1981 anymore and my ears are not the youthful receptors they once were. Hopefully I'll get used to this constant ringing...