Tuesday night, legendary rockers Built To Spill return to Richmond for a night of alt-rock heaven as the Boise band highlights the absolute best of their 20+ year career.
Tuesday night, legendary rockers Built To Spill return to Richmond for a night of alt-rock heaven as the Boise band highlights the absolute best of their 20+ year career.
The band has long been a Richmond favorite, having played The National several times in the past and last seen in an absolutely electric Halloween show at The Canal Club back in 2013. This time around, the band will arrive in Richmond as a stripped down trio showcasing the core blueprints of their complex catalogue in a show the city has yet to see, but will undoubtedly end up being just as stunning and memorable as any of their past performances.
Before the show, we caught up with Built To Spill mastermind Doug Martsch, but instead of chatting about last year’s Untethered Moon and asking him questions he’s answered dozens of times in his life, we at RVA Magazine gave him another opportunity to express his voice: compiling a playlist full of bands and artists he’s enamored with at the moment. Martsch jumped up at the chance providing a dozen unique and innovative artists that showcase not only his widespread influence, but also his uncanny knowledge of the current scene. The end result is a fifty minute playlist that should serve as a great examination of the mind behind one of rock music’s most beloved bands.
For rock lovers out there, prepare to obsess over this playlist as Martsch takes you on a rigorous tour of rock music through a dozen artists from Built To Spill’s hometown all the way to down to Tempe, Arizona. Chances are this will be your first time hearing each band, and you can trust that Martsch has diligently picked each rising band to highlight a specific aspect of rock music’s timeless allure. You’ll find gritty punk songs from the likes of Get Wet +, moments of guitar shredding that only bands like Genders can supply, and even some catchy power pop as heard from Whispering Wires and similar artists. Throughout all of these diverse songs, you’ll find a familiar thread of the musical idelogoy that Built To Spill has long subscribed to with musical discovery and history coalescing within each song to create something that’s as familiar as it is innovative.
We have compiled Martsch’s playlist below, but in no surprise to longtime Built To Spill fans, some of his picks are a bit off the beaten path and as such, all twelve were not available on the same streaming platforms. Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered below with an eight song playlist available on Spotify to stream now, and four additional songs brought to us by Bandcamp for you to listen to and maybe even purchase if it resonats with you as much as it does Martsch.
So get in the mood for Tuesday’s night show now with twelve songs that perfectly showcase what rock music truly sounds like to Built To Spill and the energy they always strive to emulate.
Built To Spill play The National this Tuesday night along with Hop Along and Alex G. Tickets are $19.50 in advance and $25 the day of the show with the doors opening at 6:30 PM. For more information on the show and where to buy tickets, click here.
