Tag: the breeders

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

Since I was already up at the front of the stage for Charles Bradley, I decided to stay put for the next band to grace the main stage: The Breeders. The Breeders were very popular during my high school days in the early 90s, but truth be told, during that time my alternative rock tastes leaned more toward Nirvana , Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam. Don’t get me wrong, I liked The Breeders’ music a lot, I mean who can resist their hit “Cannonball”, but I think adolescent guys being adolescent guys, I was a little hesitant to hold a torch for a band that my younger sister was really into.

Knowing that the band would be playing their second album, “Last Splash”, in its entirety (which album, by the way, is celebrating its 20 anniversary, and was reissued as a “deluxe edition”, this year …. Yowza!!!), I was looking foward to hearing “Cannonball”, which I knew was the second track on the album. Because I wanted to also check out another artist whose set overlapped with The Breeders, I planned on catching at least half of their set before maneuvering away from the crowd … And a big crowd it was.

Their fans came out in droves and cheered like  mad when they took the stage to set up their equipment. The album’s original lineup was on stage: vocalists/guitarists Kim and Kelley Deal, bassist Josephine Wiggs and Drummer Jim MacPherson.  There was an additional band member on stage, but I didn’t recognize who she was. I couldn’t get any photos of Jim MacPherson since I didn’t have a good angle.

Without greeting the crowd, they opened with a Guided by Voices cover of “Shocker In Gloomtown”. Afterwards, Kim Deal greeted the massive crowd and expressed the band’s gratitude for being able to perform at the festival, and with that they jumped into playing “Last Splash”. They played the album in order, so I got to hear “Cannonball”. I didn’t get to hear their other big singles (“Saints” and “Divine Hammer”), as I left after about 4 or 5 more songs, but I got what I needed to satisfy my music craving. I made a note that I was amused with how in between songs Kelley or Kim would gleefully point out that they were using some of  the same musical instruments that were used for the original recordings. If that isn’t being faithful to the original album, I don’t know what it is.  As I left my spot from the front of the stage, the girls behind me squealed with delight beholding their newly, unobstructed view.

As I was walking to the next band on my list, I swear could hear The Breeders sing the lyrics “Come back to me right now”. I kept walking, but I did stop to pause for a second to think about it.

Setlist (pulled from setlistfm.com):

1. Shocker In Gloomtown (Guided by Voices cover)
2. New Year
3. Cannonball
4. Invisible Man
5. No Aloha
6. Roi
7. Do You Love Me Now?
8. Flipside
9. I Just Wanna Get Along
10. Mad Lucas
11. Divine Hammer
12. S.O.S.
13. Hag
14. Saints (with Bradford Cox)
15. Drivin’ on 9 (Ed Redeeming Qualities cover)
16. Roi (Reprise)
17. Fortunately Gone