Earlier this week we wrote about Lou Barlow crediting email for facilitating the reunion of both Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh, with Lou stating it helped him and Eric Gaffney put aside their differences and get back to their lo-fi indie exploits. So maybe it’s not surprising that, in person, the Sebadoh dynamic may be precarious and democratic to a fault. To wit, Stereogum reader Evan G. was at the band’s second show of their first tour in over a decade and had some sharp criticism about what transpired. He writes:
Just thought i would drop you a quick line and tell you about the Sebadoh show I saw last night at Great American Music Hall in SF. Man was it bad. I love Lou Barlow and Lowenstein, and was psyched for the original line up show cuz i assumed that meant all old songs. I couldn’t care less about Gaffney – he’s not a particularly good musician, and his Sebadoh songs were always the ones that you had to skip (a real pain for the ones I have only on vinyl). But I assumed they would stick to the old material that was their best stuff (i.e. the Barlow and Lowenstein songs). Instead, we got probably 8 Gaffney songs, 3-4 Lowenstein songs, and 6-7 Barlow songs. It sucked. The Gaffney songs were so boring and painfully average. No one in the crowd was into it. After the show, everyone gathered outside cuz some ice cream guy was giving out free Dove bars (i have no idea why), and you could hear everyone basically say the same thing simultaneously: “too much Gaffney!”. I think Lou is maybe kissing this dudes ass so that there won’t be any strife on the tour and they can collect their riches in peace. It’s quite sad really. On a positive note, they did play “Brand New Love,” which was fucking amazing.
After we asked a few questions and mentioned Lou’s prior comments about the power of email, Evan elaborated on the crowd’s response and the band’s song selection. The rest of his comments after the jump.
I certainly wasn’t the only one to make that observation. It just seemed way too deferential to Gaffney – at one point he played some terrible song called Moldy Bread that he said he wrote in 1984 – now, maybe that song is somewhere on an old Sebadoh record, but regardless, do you think anyone in the crowd was actually excited to hear that song? I mean, there are SO many amazing Barlow/Lowenstein songs from III, Smash Your Head…, Bubble & Scrape, Freed Weed, Bakesale, and even Harmacy. Given the choice, I doubt that there was one person in the crowd who would have rather have heard “Moldy Bread” than Magnet’s Coil, or Sister, or Vampire, or…you get the point.
So if those are the terms on which they get to do a Sebadoh reunion tour, is it really even worth it?
-e
Maybe we should buy ‘em all Blackberrys?
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I am going to eat your face Evan G
Damn.
That’s not going to make you a better songwriter, douchebag
i only own Bubble and Scrap and Bakesale (on casstette) and i love them. Gafney’s on these right?
By “last week” you mean “Tuesday,” Stereogum?
can we use the power of email and trouble eric to post a set list? it would definitely help the discussion.
sorry, i meant evan, not eric.
gaffney is not on bakesale, which is why the only song you have to skip is temptation tide
they closed with Gimme Indie Rock. i enjoyed the show. i also like gaffney, though…
If it wasn’t for Eric, there would be no Sebadoh. Period. Eric a bad musician ? You’d probably call Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky & John Coltrane bad as well, so fu%& off, you have no idea.
sorry ag, I was way too bored to keep track of the set list. I’m pretty sure they only played two songs off bakesale (Give Up and Got It), I only remember them playing four non-Gaffney songs from Bubble & Scrape (Soul & Fire, Two Years Two Days, Sixteen, Forced Love), from Freed Weed they played Brand New Love and It’s So Hard to Fall in Love (which were both great) – not sure what else. But trust me, it was irrelevant, because after sitting through 3-4 Gaffney songs in a row, you start to tune out, so that when the good songs were played, it just didn’t matter as much
I’m sure a tour going through small & medium clubs is really making the guys exponentially rich.
dude, did you just compare Gaffney to John Coltrane?
ERic is the only reason this reunion is of interest. Brand New Love is a worn out song. Although “Mouldy”, Mouldy Bread is one of the best Seb/Gaff songs ever. BTW, it’s on the Freed Man album. Serios Sebadoh fans will appreciate his comeback, everybody who doesn’t is a college nerd and never got what Sebadoh are all about. Those should shut up and stay at home and listen to crappy harmacy…
QUOTE: “did you just compare gaffney to coltrane ?”
if you’d be smart enough, you’d probably realize that I didn’t c-o-m-p-a-r-e him to Coltrane. I mean, listen to his songs on Bubble & Scrape, if that’s no art, well, music’s no art after all.
what’s a “college nerd” and how is that different from a “serious sebadoh fan”? i’m pretty sure they are one and the same.
I never went to college. I am a Sebadoh fan
Dudes,
Everyone knows that Sebadoh sucks and Folk Implosion rules.
QUOTE: “Eric a bad musician ? You’d probably call Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky & John Coltrane bad as well, so fu%& off, you have no idea.”
Ben/dude, It seems pretty clear to me that your argument is: the poster’s opinion about Gaffney’s sucky talent is worthless because he probably think John Coltrane, etc. are bad too. Ergo, John Coltrane and Gaffney are in the same realm in terms of talent. Certainly seems like a comparison to me. You also seem pretty bitter Ben/dude. Or should I call you Eric…
the risk that their set would be one-third of gaffney’s songs is one of the main reasons i didn’t go. he was playing shows around brooklyn a couple years back along with bob fay (the other weak link in Sebadoh) and it was a boring mess.
i really don’t mean to trash the guy, either. most of barlow’s other projects are a disaster, so you can’t give him all the credit for sebadoh’s sound. they’re all integral parts. but as songwriting goes, they should have left lou in charge.
the only thing that would make me regret missing the show is if they played ‘too pure.’ does anyone know if that happened?
i was at the san diego show and enjoyed it quite a bit. but then i like what each brings to the mix, and they switched around frequently enough to avoid any monotony. and we got ‘vampire’…
hey freak folks: this is a reunion for the original 3 Sebadohs, for people who love and miss ‘em, and for those who missed ‘em and are curious. that may mean hearing things that are unfamiliar to you. this is not about bakesale, kids. the early sebadohs were rad. Lou’s song’s the melodic anchor but Eric’s and Jason’s powerful too. if your life was saved by indie rock, you must listen to weed forestin’ and the freed man. these were fucking bedrock. the 90′s were launched by ‘em along with a sonic youth plate and a pavement thing. if you came from an earlier generation and prefer Klaus Flouride, so be it. but if you came later, then be quiet and learn from the masters.
I was at the Great American show last night (actually their third, not second, as a reunited band). I thought it was pretty good. It was a bit sloppy and a lot noisy, but so were a lot of the records.
I doubt that a setlist would have been possible (to respond to one comment) unless you were a complete Sebadoh disciple and were really on top of it. They just gunned through some songs and then were on to the next one before you knew it. Other songs were really obscure.
One thing I thought was amusing was that there was no banter to speak of. They’d be switching instruments and retuning and there’d just be a few minutes of silence (or slight feedback).
they also played “ladybugs”
“moldy bread” is from the freed man.
I’ve got to believe there’s some truth to that.
http://www.thefamousguy.com
http://www.paybackisapicture.com
amen, ben. i bet you are my old buddy from wfu…
Worst review ever. Eric Gaffney slams the drums, and his recorded songs/lyrics are effing amazing. I’ve never seen him with them live, but if his songs live are a 10th as awesome as they are on Bubble and Scrape, Smash yur Head, III, etc…;then they will be among the best. Sounds like this dude is just too twee to get it. He’d better not see Dino jr, cause the all out rock assault might hurt him. On at least one point he’s accurate though, “BNL” is an awesome number.
“Even my grandma loves to get high”
why post this? doesn’t that kid, evan, have a blog of his own?
way to be fair and balanced FOX NEWS-O-GUM(HA, CLEVER RIGHT? HAH)
Brandon Stosuy’s review of the III reissue is a good take on why a lot of Sebadoh fans like Gaffney and feel like he was so crucial to the band. Essentially the point is that Lou’s great but there can also be that “too much Lou” moment.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21610/Sebadoh_III
im gonna go see em in boulder and jerk off in the crowd. you guys think to much and bitch even more. its like The View in here. Where is star jones?
Sebadoh to me is Barlow and Loewenstein. I agree, that while he was integral to the band’s earlier work, his songs have nothing on the others’. I hope the crowd response from that show motivates them to shift some of the focus off Gaffney.
i saw Fields of Gaffney about 4 years ago when they toured with Fruit Bats and Iron & Wine and they were really really horrible. He was in a really pissy mood and kept stopping in the middle of songs and saying “fuck it” cause they couldn’t get anything to work right. most of the crowd went outside to smoke.
i was at the show and really good. opening band love of diagrams were real good. eric gaffney is insane and playing he makes the band complete. lou did say he had a bad cold so perhaps that is why he did not sing so much.
Yeah most of the vehement Gaffney supporters posting comments are surely Eric himself. I’ve been interviewing the band through email and Eric is the most spiteful, immature brat I’ve ever encountered since kindergarten. I think he’s a good musician, but I would much rather hear Barlow songs at a Sebadoh concert. For all his “Lou and Jason joined my band” rhetoric, the fact is that Sebadoh has been a great band for almost two decades and he hasn’t been around for 3/4 of that time. He seems like a meglomaniac to me, probably insisted that most of the show belong to him in some contract. It’s too bad. I’m going to a bunch of shows on the east coast but reading what was posted here is making me much less excited about it. If Gaffney does play 8 songs, I hope they are the good ones. Of course my opinion is mute because I went to college and I guess that makes me a college nerd. But I did more drugs than all of you when I was there, so eat a dick up!
Whatever, I saw Sebadoh this weekend and they were awesome. I don’t care if Eric Gaffney is a dick or not, he was totally awesome and led the band in a cover of Free Falling. Steve Albini’s a dick too but that doesn’t mean Shellac is a bad band. And screw Evan G., I was totally psyched to hear Moldy Bread, and it is on an old Sebadoh album. Personally, I never expected to hear any of these Gaffney songs ever performed live and after seeing the band suck a LOT while touring Harmacy 11 years ago, it was great to see them rock out on older material. Seriously, it was a great show. If you only want to hear a bunch of Barlow-Ballads just go to a Lou Barlow concert.
First blog post for me, and the last! When Bakesale came out I damn near cried. It was a transition from drug induced noise I could connect with to boring ass pop music churned out for *uck-ups who found the scene in ’95. Lift the focus off of Eric and put it on to the dynamic that was created between the three of them. To be barely coherent enough to just care a little about living compared to a drug aided death, Sebadoh of old was my theme music. I don’t know if my group would have made it without their music and the stuff that Evan and the rest of you posers would love to know about…
As to Evan’s comments- Eric’s ego back in the “day” was rivaled only by Lou’s. You act like your word is final for everyone, that is quite the ego you have to assume such a thing. Pot calling the kettle black? Bounce my *alls off your forehead?
I’m excited about Gaffeny too. He had some nice material on III and B&S… supernatural force, violent excecution, telecosmik alchemy, elixer is zog… those are all goodies!!!
Bring the noise, Lowenstein!!
-DC 4/3 – can’t wait!
everyones a dick from time to time!
I saw the Toronto show last friday and i must say that it was excellent! they played for an hour and 50 mins! yes it was 85% Gaffney years material,, they all seemed on the same page, were having fun and sounded truly fantastic! Lou played solo for ‘On Fire’ only Harmacy tune(while Eric and Jason grabbed a drink), and they did about 4 songs off Bakesale, rest old stuff. Funny moment, Lou had (i guess) pre-arranged for a guy to come up on stage and propose to his girlfriend,, that moment went down smoothly,, haha but the best part was Lou’s comment when they walked off stage.. “well, this next song may be TOTALLY inappropriate..” everyone laughed and they broke into Brand New Love and i was very happy! ,, go see them!!
I just saw them in Louisville. Freed Pig, Gimmie Indie Rock!, Soul and Fire, Homemade, Got It, Careful, Too Pure, Brand New Love. Flood…some good stuff. Any night I can hear Lou sing is a good night but damn…I hate Eric Gaffney. His presence, his banter and his weak ass songs suck. Who was asking for “Classic Sebadoh”? Solo Lou and the Turbo Acoustic Tour were great. I don’t remember an outcry from fans to get Gaffney back. Even the mersh table was all Gaffney related. I felt sorry for Lou. You all know he has a good 25 songs better than most any songwriter. The whole first part of the show was Eric leading his backup band of Jason and Lou. The encore?…same shit. It’s like Jason and Lou made a deal with the devil just to get a live drummer for this tour. I’m sure almost everybody at the Louisville show would have been happier with 10 good Lou songs, 5 goood Jason jams and ONE Eric song. Eric needs to know his place. It’s like going to see The Police and having them play 75% Andy Summers songs. There’s got to be a decent drummer than can play with Jason and Lou. The experimental Eric stuff broke up the early albums fine but Sebadoh has become more than that. Embrace your place in songwriting Lou (and bring Jason along because he rocks too). Please leave Eric in Gaffneyland next time.
Most fans of early Sebadoh never had a chance to see early album material live. As a fan for many years I found myself bored with the monotony presented on the later albums. Lou is truly a great musician, but it seems he is at his best when inspired by someone he plays with that has a fresh perspective (Ex:John Davis). Fans everywhere were beside themselves to find out they would be able to revisit something they left behind a long time ago. I personally branched out to other music when Lou’s “pop” music all started to sound the same, that was 11 long years ago now. I am not alone in this, if someone going to these shows expects to be entertained by the drivel of post ’95 then please don’t bother going. This reunion was not geared for you, go check out a Lou solo set and stop bothering us with your complaints about something that you really don’t understand. So Stevie D., when was the last time “The Sebadoh” sold out show after show, not since classic “Sebadoh” (I know because I have braved more than a few of these pathetic “The Sebadoh” shows). The thousands selling out these shows are the ones asking for classic Sebadoh. Please recognize your obvious ignorance and don’t attempt to speak for the masses, the masses have spoken already with ticket sales not seen for over a decade…
I believe most of the people reading this page and posting here are true Sebadoh fans. As one of those fans who has seen many Sebadoh shows, I was compelled to express my disappointment with the most recent show I experienced (Louisville, 4/6). I think it’s safe to say that Sebadoh isn’t really considered a “tight” live act. I’ve seen them sleepy, I’ve seen them backed by a tape of programmed drums, and I’ve seen them blow the roof off the place. And while Chris H. makes a good point that Lou is usually at his best when playing with others, I’ve got to say one of my all-time favorite live shows was Lou Barlow solo. So, getting a chance to see another version of one of my favorite bands had me very excited. That excitement waned during the performance mostly due to Eric Gaffney’s songs, stage banter and attitude. Sure, It’s my opinion but it is an opinion shared by everyone of my friends who attended and a sampling of the people I talked to at the show. There were a few guys up front loving the Gaffney stuff but the crowd as a whole definitely seemed to pick up when Jason or Lou rocked the mic. Speaking of the crowd, it was decent but certainly not a “sell-out”. I’ve seen more at their shows and I’ve seen less. Really I was just happy to see any Sebadoh but with such a great catalog of songs to choose from, any true fan will probably leave wishing they could have heard a few different ones. Lou and Jason had plenty of great songs from the Gaffney years. Where were those? If you want to hear Gaffney tunes, you’ll be set. If you are like me and prefer Jason and Lou songs, you might leave feeling like I did. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong…f*ck it. Who wants pie?
I have to agree with steved post. the louisville show had great energy when eric wasn’t fronting the show. lou even made comments about the song selection or the lack of quality tunes once he traded off the bass and picked up his 12 string. don’t vgget ne wrong eric is a great musician but he needs to take aback seat and stick to drumming as his primary role on this tour. that or give me a 4 hour show so we can hear all the great songs, which there are so many of by lou and jason. eric’s songs just seem lost in this live setting. with that said I would like to point out the extensive amount of time between songs they tuned up… good god! I know they have all these weird tunings and they wanted to showcase the original instruments but OMG schlepping is one thing but bring another gibson already. sound quality was excellent and jason and lou’s vocals sounded dead on.at the end of the show eric wanted to get up and leave but lou coaxed him into jamming 1 more. thanks Lou.
I give this show a 3 out of 5. 1 point deduction for too many eric songs and 1 point for the lack of quality poontang. very disappointed by the talent represented. we all need to work on gettting kentucky phillies up to speed on good music.
The Police? Wow, ok…
STEVIE D.-True fans? I am not a true fan nor did I question your status as one. Are you saying there is such a thing as a “false fan”? Another thing I did not question is your personal opinions about what songwriter you like, Gaffney’s stage presence or why that made it a bad show. I questioned your rant at the point that you made grandiose statements like “who was asking for classic Sebadoh?”. That did not seem to be a fair perspective for an innocent opinion. Say all you want about the show, the musicians etc. My whole bullsh*t post was aimed at you making the “classic Sebadoh” statement. It was obvious that you are a better fit for a Lou solo show, but Lou overdose caused many to look for something different. Sorry that the Kentucky show sucked, but if you knew Eric you know that any “classic” show is a roll of the dice. Part of the appeal of this is that it reminds us of how out of control and unpredictable are own lifes were at the age we heard “classic Sebadoh”. Remember, I was trying to help explain why people would want to see the original three. Don’t shoot the messenger or attempt to start arguments on topics I could care less about. A Kentucky show not sold out? What a shocker! Fact is they are drawing more now than when it was just Lou, Bob and Jason. A friend once explained the Sebadoh dynamic with the following- “If Sebadoh were to become a living, breathing entity- Lou would be the heart of this miraculous beast, Jason would be its brains and Eric would be the joint it smoked after those two doses of liquid.”
Wow, is this what “true” Sebadoh fans sound like? If so I’m shocked. If I had never heard of the band and came across this site, I would assume by your comments alone that the band must be a handfull of idiots playing to idiots.
I too had a moment of silence when backsake came out, I knew it was the beggining of the end. I missed the classic tour in Atlanta but after downloading (lo-fi) recordings of recent live shows I know I missed something important. Just as important was the Dinosaur reunion.
You could make the same argument that Eric is to Sebadoh what Lou is to Dinosaur, but who would? Both reunions were Great! And bring back a time where songs were defined by much different standards than they are today.
Oh, did I mention you guys have to be the most inarticulate beings I’ve ever had to read/listen to. No wonder there is actually an agrument here against a COLLEGE EDUCATION!!