Artist bio

Setlist: Hazy / Car / Carry The Zero / The Velvet Waltz / Dream Police / In Your Mind / Made-Up Dreams / Stop The Show / Broken Chairs / Canned Oxygen / Kicked It In The Sun / What Is Life / Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss / Stab / Freebird / --- / This Night Has Opened My Eyes

This was my first concert since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and that's an important distinction. For those of us to whom music is an important part of life, the 'healing' aspects of going to a show after the unprecedented tragedy shouldn't be underestimated.

Built To Spill put on a good rock show. Not astounding, really -- the night ended with Doug Martsch saying "sorry for all the fuck-ups" -- but good enough to give myself and the other concertgoers the kind of experience we all needed to remind us that there is still good in life. That in the face of the mournful scene 25 blocks southwest of Irving Plaza, where hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers are toiling away in the carnage of the fallen World Trade Center, life will go on and music can still provide us with those familiar jolts of excitement and bliss.

Martsch and co. did indeed experience a 'fuckup' or two through the course of the hour-and-forty-minute show, but the music came out on top, and the audience was left with a worthy concert experience. Sure, he can't always hit the vocal notes he does on record. And certain songs, like "Carry The Zero" and "Broken Chairs," missed the wall-of-sound effect they get treated to on Keep It Like A Secret. But all was well when the group floated a dreamy full-length version of "The Velvet Waltz" or belted out a raucous cover of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police."

Only two songs from the band's latest, Ancient Melodies Of The Future, showed up in the set, which was well spread through BTS' career. Opener "Hazy" is a favorite from the group's less-hailed debut Ultimate Alternative Wavers, and BTS' sublime third album Perfect From Now On was represented with vigor by the likes of "Stop The Show" and "Kicked It In The Sun."

Five covers actually made their way into the night's 16-song set, and a motley bunch they were -- George Harrison's "What Is Life," replete with trumpet and tambourine, the Halo Benders' "Canned Oxygen" (cover status is iffy, since Martsch had a hand in writing the song), and the aforementioned "Dream Police" sparkled in the regular set. But the crown jewel was that red-headed stepchild of rock covers, "Freebird." Built To Spill has made a little habit of this on their current tour, but it's a fun ace to have in the pocket, when the inevitable jokey shout of "Freebird!" floats down off the balcony. Whether the heckler really wanted it or not, he got a faithful version of the Skynyrd 'classic' replete with five minutes of dueling guitars at the end that must have worn out everyone on stage, because they said goodnight at its close.

But even after music began playing over the PA and the screen was lowered in front of the stage, applause brought Martsch out alone to strum a heartfelt version of the Smiths' "This Night Has Opened My Eyes." Whether he meant it to be 'of the moment' (the narrator's loss of innocence a metaphor for the terrorist disaster) or not, it was a touching finale to a night that was important not in its perfection or sonic magnificence, but in its ability to remind us of the good things in life.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.