Words of Wisdom

"Sometimes it's like what we're doing is like this funky, weird little dream thing. And that's the kind of stuff, if you let it get to you, it'll really get you down. That's where "Unsatisfied" came from. You just don't know what you're doing, or why you're doing it. You're not really working a job for your life, you're just sort of going around entertaining people; entertaining strangers. I feel like I'm doing something that's something fun and sometimes powerful, but never really real. Not thinking about that stuff is the key." Paul Westerberg

Over Due Duke Spirit Review

Photo credit Me.

Nothing ever really came out of this going up some place else so I figured better late then never. It’s been nearly four months since I witnessed The Duke Spirit rip it up on an uneven SXSW warm up bill back in March at the Rickshaw Stop. They completely owned it that night, as evident by the Spirit cleaning out the entire audience of the Rickshaw at the conclusion of their set leaving the headliners to play to a scattered tribe of arguably friends and girlfriends. My expectations were pretty high for the July 23rd show at Bottom of the Hill. After a mindlessly uneventful Bart and bus ride I arrive at the venue around nine under the falsified guise that my deliberate tardiness would yield no visual or audio investment in the opener. This plan crashed down upon me as I found myself stuck in the trajectory of a lackluster opener. I circumvent my way through the ten or so people who punctually arrived to the show (of which I am now an official member) and take solitude at the bar satiating my throat with several pints of PBR and slipping into a coma of disinterest.
The opener, Scene Of Action, locally of the East Bay, didn’t register on my rock radar in any way, whatsoever. The motion of my drinking arm captivated my attention more than the audio dreck permeating from the stage. The only thing I remember about them was their drummer bore an uncanny resemblance to the singer from those god-awfully insipid Freecreditreport.com commercials but with an under nourished mustache.
The next band, Aarrows, also of the bay area, was more palatable than the opener but that’s not saying a whole lot. Although, most of their songs sounded like one long drawn out rhythmically angular jam, it was still a major upgrade from the previous band. Around this time frame the bar traffic began to slow to a gridlocked pace. I grabbed a few more pints before firmly planting my roots in front of the left side of the stage for the remainder of the evening.
At eleven o’clock The Duke Spirit wrestled the stage away from mediocrity and showed everyone at Bottom of the Hill what a proper show should sound like. Their stage setup was far more suffocating than at the Rickshaw. The band formed a crescent moon of sorts with Drummer Olly Betts and Keyboardist Travis Shettel anchoring the back line. Guitarist Daniel Higgins and his gear completely eclipsed Shettel and keyboard. Vocalist Liela Moss stood front and center while Bassist Toby Butler and Guitarist Luke Ford flanked the other side of the stage.
The band opened their set by charging through strong versions of “Love Token” and “Lasso” before Liela announced to the enthusiastic crowd that she was experiencing throat difficulties leading up to the show and at one point the band considered canceling the gig if her symptoms worsened, luckily for us they soldiered through it. The band followed up this startling announcement with an especially haunting rendition of “Dog Roses”, in which Liela’s sultry vocals swooned on a cloud of propulsive clatter emanating from the rest of the band before tearing the song wide open with a searing harmonica solo that hit me with the force of a lightning bolt. Seriously, though, “Dog Roses” live packs so much more punch than its studio counterpart. It was a standout at the Rickshaw and definitely a highlight of the evening.
“My Sunken Treasure” ensued before a dynamic performance of “The Step and Walk”. Another highlight of the evening, the song lurched seductively upon the talents of Butler’s fuzzed out bass and Bett’s tight drumming, which built up more steam and power as the song progressed. Ford and Higgins’ distorted guitars blaring wildly as Shettel’s eerie key flourishes slithered along the undercurrent of Moss’s fierce tambourine motions and sintilating “Oooh’s.” The song reaching maximum hip shaking velocity each time Liela belted out the chorus “With out joy joy joy and the rain I might feel the same”. That song is so fucking cool.
“Neptune’s Call”, the first of a two song encore medley, saw the band flexing all its sonic muscle. As soon Liela crooned the lines, “Neptune is my king again, his song in the sea” the rest of the band exploded into a blitzkrieg of pounding rhythms, driving guitars and banshee vocals sending me into a spasmodic vortex of sweat, beer residue and a mess of hair.
The rest of their set drew heavily from Neptune along with a handful of songs off Cuts Across the Land, including a blistering performance of “Love is Unfamiliar Name”. I really couldn’t tell that Liela was having throat problems because the band played exceeding well, although, stage banter was kept to a minimum taking time out periodically to thank the receptive crowd and the band. The Duke Spirit put on a very solid performance and it was certainly a thrill to see them again in such a short time frame.

Duke Spirit Setlist:
1. Send A Little Love Token
2. Lasso
3. Dog Roses
4. My Sunken Treasure
5. The Step and the Walk
6. Sovereign
7. Hello to the Floor
8. This Ship was Build to Last
9. You Really Wake the Love in Me
10. Red Water
11. Love is an Unfamiliar Name
Encore
12. Neptune’s Call
13. Cuts Across the Land