by Trixie Noyes
On Thursday night, Philly’s Magnet Magazine held a “21st birthday” show. Guided by Voices played the Trocadero, the third time they played this venue since the classic lineup was reconstituted; opening sets of the show featured Titus Andronicus and Surfer Blood. While GBV is famed for their short pop confections, they played for nearly two hours and two encores. Needless to say, they rocked a bunch of old favorite tunes (“Exit Flagger,” “I am a Scientist,” “Tractor Rape Chain,” and “Game of Pricks”) in addition to songs from their latest LP Cool Planet. There were familiar antics: multiple coolers of beer, the Who-style microphone swinging and guitar windmills. Pollard said that the first time they played Philly they drank for 12 hours straight before getting on stage and that at this gig they only had two hours to drink before the show. Despite this they were every bit as good as the first time I saw them at the Khyber in 1993!
Here’s a review of the show in haiku form (courtesy of Kirby Bell):
Got drunk, rocked out hard, kicked ass
