Friday night I finally got to see Bob Mould perform. For a few decades, I tried my best to get into Husker Du. There were some really great songs like Turn On The News, Makes No Sense At All, but mostly I just didn't connect. I appreciated the effort of marrying frenetic punk energy with melodies and harmonies but his mix didn't do it. Sugar, to my ears, was much more successful and I often return to Copper Blue and File Under Easy Listening when I need a catchy jolt to wake me up. I confess that I haven't kept up with his post-Sugar solo stuff, but again, what I heard didn't impress me. Perhaps I've just settled into gravitating to a narrow range of styles. My expectations were pretty low for his solo show and unfortunately, he didn't meet them. There was a certain, how should I say this, "sameness" to everything. The belting, quite indecipherable lyrics, the thrashing of his Fender, it whisked by with virtually no banter (not that I need it)and hardly raised my pulse. He's such an interesting guy, and that rare artist that I wish I really enjoyed more than I do. Still, I'm glad to have finally seen Bob, and with a backing band, I'd do it again, but not just the man and his guitar. 

Peter T.