Built to Spill at Thalia Hall, 8.18.22

Built to Spill at Thalia Hall, 8.18.22

Pilsen has long served as a historical haven for Chicago immigrants on the lower west-side of Chicago, first for the German and Czech population who gave the neighborhood its name, and then most notably as the Mexican American cultural center of the city in the second half of the 20^th century. Gentrification, however, has pushed the Hispanic population farther west to Little Village as new developments and University of Chicago students have moved in from the east.

Through all the demographic changes and cultural stratification though, Thalia Hall has stood on the corner of Allport and 18^th street, a relic from a time where Pilsen could warrant an opera house and now presents itself as a multilevel punch bar, new American restaurant, and concert venue. For some, Thalia Hall is another sign of gentrification, but as a Chicago Historical Landmark, it would be worse to withhold it from the community. Owners 16’’ on Center to their credit, have kept Thalia Hall booked with an eclectic mix of performers bound to appeal to just about everyone, and Built to Spill was just another in a long line of successful contributors when they began their two night stand on August 18^th.

Papas, another Boise, Idaho group, opened the show with a rambunctious and youthful take on garage rock, blending group vocals with their short, succinct outbursts. They may be snottier and lean farther into punky clap tracks than Built to Spill has ever done, but at their most melodic, the group evoked the same earnestness of Doug Martsch’s best work. After their short set, another Martsch mentee, Prism Bitch took the stage. With Lauren Poole, Lilah Rose, and Teresa Cruces clad in A League of Their Own-style baseball uniforms and their guitarist, Chris Walsh evoking a hatless Ty Cobb, the band began their genre-hopping set. Sometimes, it seemed like the band was delivering a straight, if not amateurish take on riot grrrl angst, but more often, they used their melody to craft big, mid-aught choruses with spritely nods to Built to Spill peers Belly and Sleeper. Prism Bitch is still bound by the naivete that can make or break groups like this, but wisely they haven’t let it define their more boundless tracks, and regardless, those are the more mature ones anyway.

As can be expected, Martsch and company brought in a noticeably older crowd than the venue’s typical audience, but these were not casual bystanders, they had come out of Chicago’s woodwork to support an artist they had seen many times before. A smaller crowd, due in part to the band’s second show being the following Friday, those in attendance were excited, even mouthing along to the handful of tracks taken from the oft-overlooked Untethered Moon.

Similarly, when the band opened with new single “Fools Gold”, the crowd was remarkably energetic, eager to hear Martsch in just about any capacity. Luckily though, that was followed with “Stab”, the There’s Nothing Wrong with Love closer and a perfect litmus test to mark how well the band can reproduce a classic. Especially the rest of the group, who with Martsch remaining the only constant member, has consisted of Melanie Radford on bass and Teresa Esguerra on drums for the last five years. As far as a Built to Spill rhythm sections go, Radford and Esguerra are among the best, and even if they’re young enough to be Martsch’s daughters, have a love for the source materials that was often absent from the singer’s restrained stoicism.

The other featured track off Built to Spill’s forthcoming album, “Gonna Lose”, started with the band playfully teasing the opening to Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, before launching into the track proper and contributing a more muscular take on the new single. The band quickly followed it with a full-length cover, this time Cate Le Bon’s “Are You with Me Now”, one of her most popular tracks, and one that sounds perfectly at home in Martsch’s voice. The band has been featuring this take at nearly every tour stop and with its odd drum pattern and cycling motifs, it’s hard not to hear the obviousness similarities between the two artists.

Maybe, the strongest highlights of the show came from Perfect from Now On, the 1997 masterpiece that provided the band looser materials to jam with. “Kicked It in the Sun” and “Randy Described Eternity”, both gave Radford and Esguerra room to wander and demonstrate their prowess. Likewise, when the band returned for their encore to play “Goin’ Against Your Mind”, each member was given a chance to flex, whether it be the long solo drum intro, or one of Built to Spill’s best bass lines, the group accentuated each nuance and drew out the song to excess. By the time Martsch and Radford were trading off their feedback with each other, the audience had forgotten that it was possible to end the show in any other way. Even if crowd pleasers “Carry the Zero” and “Dystopian Dream Girl” didn’t make the cut that night, it was clear, the vast majority of the crowd would be returning the following night.