The Severed Cortex

I love Kim Deal, but overall this was pretty disappointing.

Maybe it's just that The Breeders songs don't translate well to a live setting. Maybe it was because the show seemed way too informal as if the band were cranking out another practice. Or maybe it's because the truth is that The Breeders are not very good musicians and it becomes readily apparent live. Then again, maybe it was because I was dead tired from working in the yard shoveling four truckloads of mulch and mowing the grass. Most likely it's much simpler than that. Maybe we should have just been high.

I saw the Pixies a couple years ago, and while it was great to sing along to all their songs, the stage show was fairly luckluster. I admit when I saw them it was way past their heyday and I did not see them in Boston, but you'd think the loud part of the loud/soft/loud thing would be pretty high energy. It really wasn't. I walked away from that Pixies show thinking to myself that the highlight was listening to Kim Deal sing. High energy is definitely not what I'd describe last night's show either but I had an indication that might be the case based on The Breeders recent release. (Which is depressing ... more later). The set list was very short but it did consist of a solid mix of old and new. The old songs like Cannonball and One Divine Hammer got the crowd going and the occasional new song summoned a cheer from the crowd. Right before the show Nancy asked me if I thought they'd do a Pixies cover. I figured at best they might do Here Comes Your Man, but even that would be unlikely given the whole Frank Black tension. They did do two covers though. The Beatles Happiness Is A Warm Gun (so-so) and The Tasties It's The Love (very nice) which also makes it on their latest release. The latter song they did as a three piece with Kelley playing and singing. Kim mouthed the words in the background which averted my attention away from Kelley's playing. Let's just say that Kelley gives me great hope to make it as a rock and roll musician. She may be the worst guitar player I've ever heard besides of course me. But even though she's a terrible player, I walked away thinking the best part of the show was listening to Kim and Kelly deal sing together. Once again, very nice.

Kim and Kelley primarily played Fender Strats. Kim had a nice red one that was painted black around the edges. They both shared a nice looking gold Les Paul, but Kelley played it primarily. Kelley also played an acoustic/electric. Cheryl from Florida (wtf? ... dreadlocks?!) played a red Les Paul. Mando played a nice orange Fender Precision bass that was strung upside down so he could play it left handed. Jose is not a very good drummer.