Towards the end of his Thursday night set at The Great Hall, Jon Spencer shifted tone slightly, moving from his usual rock ‘n’ roll wildman persona to something approaching a preacher giving a sermon. Noting that where he comes from – the United States of America – things are “fucked up” right now, Spencer spoke passionately about the importance of simply being a good person.
“It’s up to all of us to do what’s right. We got to take care of each other. I said we got to get together!”
It’s hard to argue with that. It’s also hard to deny the power of a Jon Spencer live show. After decades in the game, Spencer’s particular brand of blues-inflected garage rock still hits as hard as ever. He’s definitely got the goods live, but his backing band is equally impressive to watch. Touring behind his latest, the recently released Songs of Personal Loss and Protest, Spencer and his bandmates Kendall Wind and Spider Bowman (both of whom also play in The Bobby Lees) put on a powerhouse performance. Drummer Bowman especially stood out, not just for his skills behind the kit, but also for the moment during one song when he had a break and just got up to punch the wall for a few seconds before returning to his kit without missing a beat. Literally.
And while Spencer spoke of togetherness during his set, openers Retail Simps provided a real-time example of a band trying to keep it together when everything seems to be falling apart – and largely succeeding.
Things started to go awry after the first song, when singer/guitarist Joe Chamandy broke a string, forcing them to skip the next planned song, as it would be a bit difficult to play without the missing string. “We’re really good when we have all our strings,” he quipped.
Just a few songs later, the bassist also broke a string, causing the drummer to point at the second guitarist, joking that he was next. Luckily, all of his strings stayed intact, but they did have to adjust their setlist a bit, leaving out several of the newer songs they had planned on playing. Despite these setbacks, Retail Simps soldiered on, delivering a set that veered towards the loose and shambolic, but was ultimately still a lot of fun. It was far from perfect, but then rock ‘n’ roll rarely is.
