Built To Spill Make Good In First Toronto Appearance

Fifteen years, six studio albums, dozens of North American tours, yet somehow veteran indie rockers Built To Spill had never played a show in Toronto. Luckily, the band's Hogtown absenteeism officially drew to a close this week, thanks to two sold-out stops at the venerable Lee's Palace. And not a moment too soon, judging by the throng that greeted the band on evening two. Led by the bearded not-so-wildman Doug Martsch, the band's epic guitar squalls aren't for everyone, but if you're a fan of fretwork, dissonance and good ol' fashioned heart, there's a lot to love about these mountainous knuckleheads.

Opening up with "Liar" from their most recent full-length, You In Reverse, Built To Spill mined the archives from there and seriously gained momentum with each passing tune. To the outsider, Martsch and friends are a pretty blase bunch. If you're not familiar with the band's back catalogue, it would be pretty easy to slough them off. Stage banter was kept to a minimum and, overall, the band possess little in the way of natural stage presence. Despite these shortcomings, they nevertheless managed to captivate their audience on the strength of material alone, which is no easy feat for any band, young or old.

"Time Trap" and "Velvet Waltz" got energy levels raised early. Although Martsch looked fairly pedestrian as he strummed and shook through each number, the level of anticipation rose with every note he struck. The fact that Lee's Palace was badly overstuffed helped, too. With the humidity seeping in off Bloor Street, the crowd drank a considerable amount of beer to quench their collective thirst, adding to the party atmosphere.

Back on stage, the band's rendition of Brian Eno's "Third Uncle" was arguably the most lively number in the set, and a jaunty run through "Nowhere Nothing Fuckup" shook the stage and laptop projector that threw the projected images of band buddy Mike Scheer off-kilter in a strange yet effective manner. "You Were Right" hit next and it was curious to see what kind of reaction each plagiarized line received. If anything, it proved that John Cougar Mellencamp doesn't have much of a following amid Toronto hipsters (Google the lyrics if you need clarification).

"Carry The Zero" closed the main set and Martsch bid adieu with a wave and some garbled words before leading the band back on stage to close out the encore with a 27-minute version of "Randy Described Eternity." You'd think that tedium would sink in by this point, but the twin guitar histrionics of Martsch and bandmate Brett Netson ensured that there was enough loopy goodness to satisfy even the most ardent attendee. After all, this residency was 15 years in the making, so a little self-indulgence couldn't mar an otherwise stellar performance.