Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 131 - 2013

131
20131108, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
Senator
Cinnamon & lesbians
Animal midnight
I've hardly been
Asking price
Stick figures in love
No one is (as I are be)
Planetary motion
Houston Hades
Forever 28
Spazz
Dark wave
Lariat
Independence street >
No more shoes >
Real emotional trash
Baby c'mon
Harness your hopes
Stairway to heaven
Beginning to see the light
Up on the sun

Way back, I mentioned my top 5 Jicks shows – and you may have wondered why there were only 4 shows in the top 5:
2001 Sydney
2003 Emo's
2005 Crystal ballroom
2007 Portland

I was saving a seat for at least one Jake-era show. But I hadn't found it yet. The edited 2012 Granada Theater show is pretty great. The Brisbane duo is nearly there. But your favorite shows shouldn't be determined by elimination. They should be self-evident. Every minute of the show affirming that, yes, this is one of those rare occurences where everything alligns just the way it should. This is show five.

Now, ask me why, and it's harder to explain. A favourite show should have some unique moments. Check: an amazing version of the rarely played 'I've hardly been' (man, those one-fingered synths are Prince-worthy, the beat is on, the bass is unshakeable, the guitar solos are chaos), a long jammed medley 'Independence street / No more shoes / Real emotional trash' which brims with purpose and four great covers during the encore (Pavement, Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Meat puppets).

A favourite show usually captures some momentum. That's definitely the case here. Sometime after the Brisbane shows the Jicks have finished the 'Wig out' recordings, determined the final tracklist, title and release date of the new album. They can still move fast. The five songs from the new album here all sound joyous, they're really happy just being ready for the world. All the kinks have been worked out. And these songs are in a way made for the stage, made to be enjoyed by a lot of people at the same time, having a good time.

A favourite show, looking at my list, has a better than average chance of happening in Portland, before a home audience. Check. It's the third of the top 5 shows at Crystal Ballroom. And here on the occasion of its 100th birthday. Stephen's cousin's in the audience, Joanna's mom. That's part of the extra special feel.

A favourite show needs a great recording. I can listen to all sorts of hissed up audio but to be transported... This one sounds wonderful.

But mostly it's a feeling I can't explain – just that everything is right.

The set opens with 'Senator'. I really like the song, but it's not in my top tier of Jicks songs. They follow with 'Cinnamon & lesbians' which is nowhere near my favorite Jicks song. But in this set, I love them. A favourite concert is not just the set where they happen to play most of my personal favourite songs – on the contrary, it's a set where they manage to shed new light on everything, my favorites and not-so-favorites, making them all sound essential. A favourite concert is in the details: In the way Jake counts off 'Stick figures in love' – lost in the moment. It's in Stephen's off the cuff Morrissey impersonation in 'Forever 28', which crack him up. When the band falls in on 'Lariat', someone (Jake?) yells 'wooh' and it sounds so damn exciting. It's in the improvised last chorus to 'Animal midnight'. Stephen sings a new lyric and vocal melody, and amazingly Jake (again!) follows right on his heels with the harmonies. The set is full of those little moments which sound like pure magic to me.