Hello Cleveland, It's Me - Your Boss

Miller Lite was never cooler - GBV live in Cleveland!

There is something very easy and very natural about Ohio. I have always enjoyed Cleveland as a weekend destination; it's a great place to drink a beer, enjoy a band, take in a game and of course, it has the very worthwhile Rock Hall. 

Songwriting is something that has always come very easily and very naturally to son of Dayton, Ohio, Robert Pollard. He also finds time to drink a beer, enjoy his band, take in a game and of course, he is very worthy of a place in the Rock Hall.

So its with perfect symmetry that I ventured down to the 216 to catch the invigorated Guided By Voices, Ohio's all-time indie rock champs!

A quick, pre-gig scan of Cleveland's Grog Shop made it clear to this newbie that it was a place built for the rock and the resulting roll. All of the vital elements for full volume enjoyment are there. The stage faces a long bar (which featured 4 dollar, 24-ounce PBR) and is flanked by a fanboy friendly beer trough on one side so you can re-up without missing a note or full kick of your favourite band. The interior is classic, just what the exhibits in the local hall of fame aim to recreate: walls in the main room lined with show posters & murals tracing the history of the venue and walls in the sketchy bathroom sporting graffiti and the requisite 1000-to-1, band stickers-to-paper towels ratio. This is a perfect venue for beer showers and slobbery sing-alongs. 

It really is an incredible thing. A band that exhausted itself (and finally gave up) trying to live up to its own legend almost a decade ago, GBV is about to put out its 3rd album in a calendar year (The Bears For Lunch due in November) and there is no reason to expect that it won't be great. Un_fucking_real. This creative erection has lasted well beyond the 'call your doctor' range. 

FULL KICKS!

Having experienced the initial reunion tour of 2010 and more than a dozen shows of the varying lineups back in the day, I was curious to hear and feel how this year's material fit into the setlist with the first run classic era songs. Unlike almost every show ever, there was no get-to-the-hits vibe in the crowd (or onstage) at all. And the quieter ditties like "Doughnut For A Snowman" and "Chocolate Boy" stood up strong in the set alongside the louder, more raucous songs like short rockers "Hang Up and Try Again" and "Roll Of The Dice, Kick In The Head". All in all the new songs benefited from the live energy and the sold out, pretty much home crowd drank it all in, up and down. The encores (3 sets of 4 songs) were stellar as well, as they included the metal pop gem "Matter Eater Lad" and my personal fave "Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy" among the more obvious GBV classics. The final song of the night was most fittingly "Smothered in Hugs". We all felt it.