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Guided by Voices, a band that is legendary for those in the know, played to a crowd just short of a sell-out at Terminal West. One might think thirty-eight studio albums over the decades should have handled the few tickets remaining, but there were ample fans to encourage the band.
GbV began as a lo-fi sound in terms of production, each song fairly short and to the point. That style largely continues today in terms of brevity, but the production values and song structures show a bit more latitude. Song titles, listed further below, give a sense of the whimsy or topical subjects that come to mind for Robert Pollard, their singer/songwriter. His lyrics are at times poetic but more often abstract or even cryptic. On the other hand, if you have a favorite, they’re short enough that they’re easy to remember and sing along, as many did through then night.
No surprise to their fans, a GbV concert typically runs 2.5 hours, and this particular night included 44 songs including a six song encore, which is sort of an unspoken agreement that encores will go on a bit and promise to entertain. Singer/songwriter Robert Pollard, 65, doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, doing little dances and even leg kicks on their more garage/punkish songs. The band has released an amazing 2-3 albums each year since 2019, and Pollard even commented that if fans didn’t like the new stuff, “Fuck you! Listen, our new stuff is the best stuff!” launching into a new one, “Meet the Star.” Every artist should always feel like their latest stuff is the best stuff.
Much like his songs, you never know where Pollard is going when he engages the audience. A rough quote, “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? That’s awesome! But we’ll never make the Hall of Fame. But with this song, we might get close.” “Your Name is Wild” followed. Or consider a brief inside into “tremblers,” part of the title of their latest album, being related to Hitler having the shakes and the drugs he took to carry on.
Kudos go to guitarist Doug Gillard both in the performance and crafting riffs and fills suitable for short songs, a particular talent. Pollard mentioned the insult of Gillard being ranked #238 in Rolling Stone’s list of best guitarists, but everyone knows that the mix of talent, success, longevity, current relevance etc. make a mystery of those. At least he’s on the list. I’d have to imagine that casual conversation with Pollard is pretty similar to his banter with the audience. No pretense.
Lastly, Pollard spoke about the band name. “Guided by Voices” was on a list of possible names, and when he saw it, he said “That’s it!” It is a genius name, speaking to wherever creativity emerges. There may be others with voices in heads that should be filtered or ignored, but fortunately for fans, Pollard has lived off of his.
Overall, a great show, evidenced by very, very few leaving prior to the final notes.
Setlist:
Encore:
