Bob Mould @Williamsburg Park, Sept. 7th

A week ago, I remembered that Bob Mould was playing a free show at Williamburg Park that evening, and despite having to work the next morning at 5am, I made sure I was there because he was playing all of Sugar's Copper Blue, an album that was released twenty (!) years ago.  To give you some context, that album came out just as I was starting freshman year of college, and was probably one of the first 50 cds I had ever purchased.  Yeah, I'm that old.

(More pics and words after the jump.  Click photos to enlarge.)

I got in line around 5pm, a half an hour before doors, and to my slight consternation, I was the only female in line so far -- a total sausage fest much like when I caught Kraftwerk at MoMA (link to follow).  The line was full of guys, many of whom were older than me, probably fans stemming back to Bob's Hüsker Dü days.  It was exciting that we were catching someone so legendary in the alt rock realm.

Due to reasons unknown, the venue did not come close to being filled close to capacity, which I found surprising, especially for a free show on a Friday night.  I found myself very easily up front, which afforded me good opps for taking photos, but unfortunately,  resulted in poor acoustics for the opener, which surprised me, because I had a really good time being up front for My Morning Jacket a few weeks ago at the same venue.

I was looking forward to Cymbals Eat Guitars, having heard a few of their tunes on turntable.fm.  They seemed to be an earnest, young band, eager to rock.  Sadly, the monitor for Joseph D'Agostino's guitar dominated any of the vocals he sang, so I had trouble distinguishing the songs.  Also, they didn't play the one song of theirs I know really well -- "Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)" -- so that was a bit of a bummer.

No worries, Bob Mould and his crew came on stage and charged through a very muscled first 45 minutes or so, playing Copper Blue in order.  I had a great time recalling this album that I played on repeat during college, back when we actually used to listen to albums.  Mould sounded the same and put forth great energy despite a sparse lineup of just him on guitar, with a bassist and drummer.  I was so happy singing along to "If I Can't Change Your Mind."

After the main set, they played another set, this time comprised of songs through Mould's career, including quite a few Hüsker Dü songs and ones off his latest effort, Silver Age.  Sadly, I decided to leave early so I wouldn't be completely useless at work the next morning, and ended up missing a song with Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.  Oh well, still a great evening, nonetheless!

(Bob Mould, with Joseph D'Agostino of Cymbals Eat Guitar looking on.)

Cymbals Eat Guitars: