Last time I saw Bob Mould, or I should say “Bob Mould Band”, it was at the Minnesota State Fair two years ago. They burst through the set starting with at least 4 Husker Du songs before going into their just as good solo album material. I say “Bob Mould Band” because bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster have been with Bob at least 13 years of this solo run, playing on 6 albums. They’re a band with Jon and Jason providing a perfect setting for Bob’s melodic guitar and vocals.
And tonight at the Music Box, was the first show of the tour for their latest album “Here We Go Crazy” (reviewed HERE). It’s a very strong album and the band knows it too, as over half of it was played tonight during the 23+ song set.
It’s always exciting to see a band play the first show on a tour. They’re not tired or worn down and it’s never “just another show”. Even if the band has been around for years (collectively, Bob, Jon, and Jason have at least 100 years of total experience as professional musicians between them), they come out blasting like they have something to prove. The band is in good spirits, songs get played that may not make it through the end of the tour, and usually they have a full set of merch that hasn’t been sold out of anything yet. Bob Mould and the band actually got into San Diego a couple days earlier, using the Casbah as a practice space to get ready for the tour.
And they are ready for it! The show tonight at a packed Music Box was great! On a Tuesday night too! The band was firing on all cylinders like the Fabulous Freebirds attacking the Von Erichs or the Four Horsemen pummeling Dusty Rhodes in a parking lot, taking no prisoners, leaving everyone with big smiles on their faces. In addition to over half of “Here We Go Crazy”, songs were played from the other 5 solo albums they’ve done together along with a handful of Husker Du songs (including “Hardly Getting Over It”, “Celebrated Summer”, “Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely” and “Makes No Sense At All”). Of course there’s other songs that I would’ve liked to have heard (and I’m not even counting the Husker Du or Sugar catalogs!) But that’s an impossible task when you have such an amazing catalog of work and only 80 minutes to play. All in all, it was an excellent night of top quality melodic guitar rock from someone who basically invented melodic hardcore punk ‘n roll music, influencing generations. Go see them!
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