Pitchfork

Text and photos by Maria Tessa Sciarrino

At their gig last night at New Jersey's Stone Pony, Spoon treated show-goers to even portions from the past three albums, premiered a few selections from the forthcoming Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (personal favorites of the night and probably the best-sounding of the evening), and used the encore to toss in a track off the recently reissued Soft Effects EP-- a setlist designed to please newcomers and diehards alike.

Unfortunately, the Stone Pony's overzealous fog machine seemed to drain the energy out of the evening. The endless, billowing tufts made it next to impossible to see the band half the time (and this is a small club!); it was probably the the reason why so many bum notes were played. But it didn't seem to matter much to the audience, who enthusiastically cheered the band on to the very end.

Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga babbles into shops July 10 via Merge; the band's tour, meanwhile, continues tomorrow night in New Haven.











Spoon:

04-26 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
04-27 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street *
04-28 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
05-07 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe (Britt Daniel solo) #
05-27 George, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Festival)
06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
07-04 Detroit, MI - Comerica CityFest
07-11 New York, NY - Battery Park (River to River)
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)

* with David Vandervelde and the Moonstation House Band
# with Joel RL Phelps