SAN FRANCISCO — Slint’s Spiderland is an alienating and isolating record, with spoken-word vocals and gloomy, disjointed rhythms.
That doesn't necessarily mean the Louisville, Kentucky, band’s stage presence has to match that mood, although it did Monday at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
As the band ripped through all of its 23-year-old math rock classic (cover at right), as well as a few cuts from its first LP, Tweez, and some odds and ends from throughout its career, it showed technical proficiency but had a stage presence that read as disinterested.
After “Breadcrumb Trail” (video above), the opening track from Spiderland, one fan in the balcony yelled from them to turn up the vocals. The band didn’t do much to comply, suggesting that mumbly, monotone and mysterious was precisely how they wanted to play it.
Though their lighting cues, movement and banter were minimal, few could dispute their performing skill. Slint worked through complex cuts such as “Nosferatu Man” and “Washer” without so much as a hitch, making the songs many components and sections flow together seamlessly, reminiscent of the same intangible quality that makes Spiderland work in the first place.
When it came to “Good Morning, Captain,” the band’s most famous number, it showed singer Brian McMahan as animated as he was all night. Standing stage left in a sideways position that showed a shoulder to both his bandmates and the audience, delivering the vocals with verve.
Another highlight was “Don, Aman,” when drummer Britt Walford and guitarist David Pajo sat on short stools and shared a microphone at center stage. It suggested a sort of intimacy that the band had closely guarded throughout the night and dissipated as quickly as the song ended.
It was the group’s first Bay Area stop since 2007, but fans still packed the Fillmore floor to see another of the band's reunion gigs. Since disbanding in 1992, Slint has re-emerged every few years since 2005 to reap the rewards of Spiderland's delayed cultural and critical reception.
That praise is why Slint can tour behind a record as difficult to absorb as Spiderland more than 20 years after it was released and still draw a crowd, but also the challenge in making such material connect with audiences. For their part, McMahan and company made minimal effort to involve the crowd beyond the occasional thanks.
But that was clearly the point. Even after all this time, the band was determined to stay as mysterious and difficult to decipher as McMahan's nearly unintelligible, spoken lyrics.
Setlist
01. Glenn
02. Breadcrumb Trail
03. Nosferatu Man
04. Darlene
05. For Dinner …
06. Washer
07. Don, Aman
08. Ron
09. Good Morning, Captain
Encore
10. Pam
11. Rhoda