SAN FRANCISCO — Bob Mould was relentless Friday night in a sold-out appearance at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
The 53-year-old rocker bashed through a blistering 80-minute set, barely stopping to so much as wipe the sweat from his brow between songs.
There were no ballads. No slow numbers. No letting up.
The former singer for Hüsker Dü and Sugar worked so hard that he fogged his black-rimmed glasses as he played his white and sky blue Fender.
“It’s nice to be home,” Mould said when he finally gave himself as well as bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster a break between songs. A New York native with strong ties to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Mould moved to San Francisco in the past decade.
Friday’s show touched on all periods of his career, beginning with a pair of songs from one of Hüsker Dü’s 1985 albums, Flip Your Wig.
As the trio ascended into the bridge of "Flip Your Wig," Mould trotted to center stage with his ax before pivoting and returning the way he came, hustling back to the microphone stand to lead the crowd in a singalong of the song's title.
A big chunk of the night gave over to his recent solo output. He threw down eight cuts from June’s Beauty & Ruin, including a stomping “I Don’t Know You Anymore” and current single “The War,” as well mixed in a few from 2012’s fiery Silver Age.
Adding to the ceaseless torrent of music, Mould played stone-faced. When the trio hit a rough moment in the bridge of the Sugar song “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” Mould exchanged glances with Wurster and Narducy with a knowing chuckle. It was a moment of levity that helped break the spell of the group’s hard-working onslaught for just a moment.
Despite the fact the trio seemed to follow its preordained setlist, there was an air of spontaneity, too. Narducy and Wurster would look to Mould between songs, taking their cues from him as he barreled from one song into the next.
When the group completed Hüsker Dü’s “In a Free Land,” Wurster rose from his kit and Narducy unslung his bass, but Mould kept his Fender strapped over his shoulder, communicating to his cohorts that he was good for one more.
However, Mould took off his guitar strap in the closing moments of the show, adding to the distortion and feedback at the close of an extended “Chartered Trips,” a Hüsker Dü cut from Zen Arcade. He sat on the drum riser for a moment (right) to play a bit before standing and turning to his amps, when the guitar slipped out of his hands and fell to the stage.
That marked the end of the night, but it was hard to imagine Mould or the crowd had much more to give after 80 unrelenting minutes of music.
Cymbals Eat Guitars opened the show with a sampling of material from its new record, Lose, closing with a vibrant take on new single "Laramie."
Setlist
Flip Your Wig
Hate Paper Doll
Changes
Star Machine
The Descent
I Don’t Know You Anymore
Up in the Air
Little Glass Pill
Kid With Crooked Face
Nemeses Are Laughing
The War
Helpless
Keep Believing
Fire in the City
If I Can’t Change Your Mind
Hey Mr. Grey
Come Around
I Apologize
Tomorrow Morning
Something I Learned Today
In a Free Land
Divide & Conquer
Encore
Chartered Trips