Photos & Review: Bob Mould Plays "Copper Blue," Hüsker Dü, & More in Williamsburg

Bob Mould and his band ripped through a set of songs old and new tonight at Williamsburg Park, a show that Mould and his cohorts seemed to enjoy as much as the audience did. They performed the Sugar album "Copper Blue" in its entirely to mark its 20th anniversary, then played a number of tunes from Mould's latest solo album "Silver Age" (released this week on Merge Records) with a helping of Hüsker Dü songs for good measure (see setlist added below).

Jason Narducy, Jon Wurster, and Bob Mould at Williamsburg Park.

We'll write more about the show later, [see below] but just wanted to get some photos up tonight. Suffice to say that the concert rocked, and the touring trio of Mould, Jason Narducy on bass, and Superchunk's Jon Wurster on drums are tight and put on great show.

Mould puts on a fine solo show, and I've seen him several times just accompanying himself on his Stratocaster. But many of his songs are rockers and were meant to be played by a full band. Which for Mould means a trio, since that's the configuration of Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and his current touring band.

On Friday Mould and band stormed through "Copper Blue" with minimal breaks between songs. I figured they would take an intermission after that, but following a brief chat with the audience, Mould started playing selected tunes from "Silver Age," starting with the album's opening track, "Star Machine."

After finishing the regular set, the band returned for encores, the first featuring Craig Finn of The Hold Steady singing Hüsker Dü's "Something I Learned Today." Finn was clearly psyched to be singing a Hüsker Dü song on stage with Mould; the always animated frontman was bouncing all over the stage most of the song (the photo below is the only one we got that isn't a total blur).

The show finished with another Hüsker Dü classic, "Makes No Sense At All," which often turns up in Mould's shows. After the show ended Mould stood on stage for a bit, smiling from ear to ear, soaking up the adulation.

He's said at past shows that he's surprised people still remember and want to hear his old songs, so he was clearly pleased by the enthusiastic reception "Copper Blue" got at Williamsburg, with many fans singing and pumping their fists to the lyrics. And he's no doubt happy that the crowd enjoyed the tunes from his just-released "Silver Age," his first album of all-new material since "Life and Times" (2009) and his debut on his new label, Merge.

Mould and band are just beginning the U.S. leg of their "Copper Blue"/"Silver Age" tour, with more East Coast stops coming up, then Midwest and West Coast dates. (See all the tour dates here.) If you're a fan of Bob Mould's music in any of its incarnations, you'll want to see this show.

We're hoping he'll fit in another gig in New York on this tour.

Bob Mould at Williamsburg Park, Sept. 7th - Setlist (via Setlist.fm): 
"Copper Blue":
"The Act We Act"
"A Good Idea"
"Changes"
"Helpless"
"Hoover Dam"
"The Slim"
"If I Can't Change Your Mind"
"Fortune Teller"
"Slick"
"Man on the Moon"

"Silver Age":
"Star Machine"
"The Descent"
"Round The City Square"

"Hardly Getting Over It" (Hüsker Dü)
"Could You Be The One?" (Hüsker Dü)
"I Apologize" (Hüsker Dü)
"Chartered Trips" (Hüsker Dü)
"Keep Believing" (Hüsker Dü)

Encore: 
"Something I Learned Today" (lead vocals: Craig Finn) (Hüsker Dü)
"In a Free Land" (Hüsker Dü)

Encore:
"Makes No Sense At All" (Hüsker Dü)

Guest vocalist Craig Finn.

New York's Cymbals Eat Guitars opened the show:

Bob Mould Plays Songs Old & New at City Winery

Bob Mould has never been one to rest on his laurels, as he indicated once again at one-and-three-quarters-hour sold-out show Thursday night at New York's City Winery. Though he was the leader of the influential and much-loved Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, Mould has forged his own career since then that has lasted a good deal longer than the group he is best known for.


Above: Bob Mould performs "Make No Sense at All" in Los Angeles in 2008.

Though I wasn't able to take any photos or video at the show, the video above gives a pretty good idea of the sound and look of a Bob Mould show. There's no stage show or effects, no band, no frequent guitar changes, just Mould and his Stratocaster (though sometimes he may play an acoustic guitar as well). Even the clothing is pretty similar to that seen below: Mould in a black or gray t-shirt and blue jeans.

Although Mould has been doing shows that combined song and talking (to promote his recent autobiography, "See a Little Light"), he was all about the music at City Winery, which was fine with me and what seemed to be most of the other fans there. Starting with "Wishing Well" from his first solo album "Workbook," Mould played song after song from his now-lengthy catalog.

There were other songs from "Workbook" ("See a Little Light" and "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton") as well as tunes from his more recent solo efforts (including "The Silence Between Us" and "I'm Sorry, Baby, But You Can't Stand in My Light Anymore") and selections from his post-Husker Du band Sugar (including "Hoover Dam" and "My Favorite Thing").

He closed the show with an encore of "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and Hüsker Dü's "Makes No Sense at All."

Mould occasionally stopped between songs to briefly add context to a song or tell a story. Among other things, he mentioned that he enjoyed playing with the Foo Fighters; he performed on a song on their latest album and also performed it with them in concert a few times.

And in what will be good news for Bob Mould fans, he plans to play some upcoming dates with a trio. A note on his website reads, "In honor of the 20-year anniversary of Sugar's "Copper Blue," Bob along with his band, Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats), and Jason Narducy (Robert Pollard, Verbow) will be performing the album in its entirety for the first time ever."

Mould mentioned at the show that he'd be playing some upcoming dates with the trio and would begin with some European and later dates, but I don't recall him specifically mentioning that they were to be "Copper Blue" shows. Nevertheless, the notice on Mould's website mentions several European dates for the "Copper Blue" show as well as a show in San Francisco Feb. 24th.

Also in the future for Mould is a new album (he played at least one new song on Thursday night).  To hear what a Bob Mould solo show sounds like, you can stream his set from last year's Sasquatch festival.

If you're a fan of Bob Mould or any of his various musical incarnations, check out his website for news of his shows with the trio. Although Mould can rock out with just his Stratocaster, there's nothing like hearing him the the full sound of a band.

Happy 50th Birthday to Bob Mould

A Twitter message from Wall Street Journal rock critic Jim Fusilli on Saturday noted that Oct. 16th is the 50th birthday of Bob Mould. Although he's best known as the leader of the hard-rocking 1980s Minneapolis trio Husker Du, Mould has been making a lot of good music since that group's demise with bands including Sugar and his current group, called simply the Bob Mould Band.

Above is an example of the fast and furious sound of Husker Du doing "Makes No Sense at All" (with "Love Is All Around," the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore show, at the end. Below is the Bob Mould Band performing "A Good Idea," from Mould's 2007 live DVD "Circle of Friends."

Bob Mould has two New York shows coming up, Nov. 4th and 5th at City Winery. (See all Mould tour dates here.)

Happy birthday, Bob Mould, and here's to many more years of rocking.

Bob Mould Plays Maxwell's Solo (But Not Acoustic)

Bob Mould put on a rocking show with his band back in March in New York, and last Thursday he played a couple of intimate solo shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Solo, yes, but definitely not acoustic: Mould and his electric guitar were strumming and howling through a selection of songs from his entire catalog, much like his NYC show in March.

That show was in one of a much larger venue, Irving Plaza, and Mould probably wouldn't play a club the size of Maxwell's except for its historical value. Maxwell's was one of the clubs that Mould's seminal band Husker Du played at, and onstage at the club Mould even seemed to recall the first time he played there (1984). Mould's two-night stand at Maxwell's was part of the club's 30th anniversary, and the 10th anniversary of the club's current ownership (which rescued the club from a brief, unfortunate incarnation as an Italian restaurant and brewpub).

There definitely seemed to be a sameness to the songs when heard only on one electric guitar, but to hear a legend like Bob Mould in a place as intimate as Maxwell's, with a capacity of about 200, was a rare treat I didn't want to miss.

And good news for Mould fans: he played a few new songs at Maxwell's and said that he was working on a new album, which is scheduled to be out next Spring. Considering that District Line is still a pretty recent album, that's good news indeed.

Bob Mould Live in NYC: Husker Du, Sugar, and More

After rocking hard most of his career, Bob Mould stepped back away from the world of rock and touring, as indicated by the title of his album “Last Dog and Pony Show.”

He still put out solo albums, though, and recently came out with a new album, "District Line." A couple of weeks ago he brought his new tour to New York's Irving Plaza. If he's lost any intensity or guitar skills since the last time I saw him live with Sugar a few years back, he sure didn't show it. (I never did see Husker Du when they were around, so I can't make a comparison to those days.)

Mould and his band ripped through a solid, hard-rocking set with no lulls. As a review of his recent show in Philadelphia noted, "Mould proved he could bring the rock whenever he felt like it - very loud, very hard and very fast." He played a number of tunes from the new album, District Line, as well as from Mould solo albums (including one of my favorites, “See a Little Light” from the Workbook album), Sugar (including “My Favorite Thing” and “Hoover Dam”), and of course some old Husker Du favs such as “Makes No Sense at All” and “Divide and Conquer.”

“District Line” is a solid album, and while it has the familiar Bob Mould guitar-driven sound, it also includes some sounds that reflects his work experimenting with electronic music and spinning DJ sets with Richard Morel (who's playing keyboards in Mould's current band).