Friday January 9, 2009 at the Bowery Ballroom: Camper Van Beethoven!

I always experience a bit of worry when going to see a musician or a band that is several decades past their best work. Camper Van Beethoven released an album in 2004, but it kind of felt like a weirder Cracker album, and doesn't hold up to Camper Van Beethoven's best work. But I'd never seen CVB or Cracker (yes, I actually like Cracker), so I decided I would have to give them a chance.

Fortunately, all of my fears were totally groundless. Camper Van Beethoven played a pretty comprehensive set that included favorites from all of their albums. Sure, there were a lot of songs I would have loved to hear that they didn't play (Abundance, Surprise Truck, Sometimes, Jack Ruby, She Divines Water, etc.), but this is almost always the case with bands like CVB that have dozens of great songs. There was very little talking between songs. David Lowery told one not-very-interesting story to introduce one song, and other members of the band mentioned other concerts they were playing. But that was it.

While the band was not especially energetic, the audience was clearly having a blast. I am always reminded of the age of these groups when I arrive and notice that I'm one of the younger members of the audience. Pretty much everyone there looked like a middle aged former hippie. There was some great air guitar, bass and drums played. As much fun as I was having, I just couldn't match the excitement of those around me, and I didn't try.

For me the highlight of the set was "Interstellar Overdrive" which closed out their set. Much less noisy than the original Pink Floyd and CVB versions, it still had some pretty solid guitar playing in the middle. I was also really excited to hear "Circles" played live, but it just wasn't as good without the backwards vocals. There really wasn't a weak moment in the set.

Anyway, NYC taper has a complete set list as well as a recording, so just go over there if you need that stuff. The setlist I picked up as well as NYC Taper has "White Riot" listed, but I definitely didn't hear that played. Maybe it was some unrecognizable version...