Newport's all grown up . . .
Meant to finish off the SXSW diary tonight, but I got sidetracked, so a quick mention of the Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks show Sunday night at the Southgate House in "all grown up" Newport, Kentucky. I've already professed my love for Malk's latest, Real Emotional Trash. Sunday night, Malkmus and the Jicks took a number of tunes off that already excellent record and really tricked 'em out. Malkmus was on fire during "Dragon Fly Pie," "Real Emotional Trash," and "Hopscotch Willie," and I doubt his guitar playing has ever been better. Not only did Janet Weiss really hold things together from behind the drum kit, but she also threw in a good helping of nice backup vocals to match -- this was the first time I've seen her as a member of the Jicks, and I was impressed.
Other highlights? Probably Malk's guitar work on "Baby Come On" and a nice "Church On White" as the first song of the encore. While we didn't get anything like the fantastically haphazard piano and interpretive hand-dance heavy "Jenny & The Ess-Dog" that they played when I saw them at the Beachland in Cle around five years ago, Malkmus seemed to be in good spirits and was pretty engaging.
As with Malkmus's brief solo set at the Pitchfork fest last summer, I don't think I was alone in thinking Sunday night's 70-minute show was too short, but maybe that's the mark of a good performer: leave them wanting more. Maybe Columbus will have an appropriate venue for the band the next time the Jicks swing by Ohio, but if not, I'm making the trip to the border again.
