Steve Kilbey was in particularly good spirits. He praised the venue,
noting that the green room was nicer than the whole gig in Detroit. And
the place was swell, but it's also a little sad that the Church are
playing a club specializing in nostalgia acts and tribute
bands, on the far outskirts of Boston with plenty of free
parking to appeal to suburb parents like me. Yes, the band got the
biggest response to their '80s hits, but the newer material holds its
own, especially the enthralling "Space Saviour" off their latest
release, Untitled
#23. Marty Willson-Piper
fingers are just as nimble as ever, and he remains a psychedelic guitar
demon.
They opened with "Tantalized," and its swells and
delirium magically
transported me back to the first time I saw them, touring in support of
Heyday
in 1986. I felt like I was about to lose control of my bowels. The set
bridged their career
although was heaviest on #23
and their U.S. commercial peak Starfish.
Steve Kilbey was fit and tanned. While Marty Willson-Piper's long hair
made him look like a romantic goth in the '80s, its uniform length,
flecks of frizzy gray and his beard have transformed him into an aging
hippie. Peter Koppes is merely aging gracefully. The three traded
duties and instruments throughout the evening. Koppes and Willson-Piper
swapped lead guitar. Willson-Piper and Kilbey swapped their bass and,
for some songs, a battered acoustic guitar that looked as though it
were held together with electrical tape.
When they exited the stage, someone in the audience yelled out, "You're
still beautiful!" While it probably was a request rather than an effort
to inveigle the band to return for an encore, especially since he
subsequently called out other song titles, it was appropriate
sentiment. They were clearly having fun, especially churning out
feedback during the two encores.
The Church continued their tradition of having the former frontman of a
'90s shoegazer band open for them. In 2006, it was Rob Dickinson of the
Catherine Wheel. This time it was Adam Franklin of Swervedriver. The
difference is that the Catherine Wheel were rather distinctive in the
movement. But, quick, think of a Swervedriver song. Yeah, I couldn't
either. Or maybe that one was by Chapterhouse. Franklin and his band
built up quite a guitar-based din at times bur rather lacked for
well-structured songs.
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