Spoon, clearly no longer the underdogs, thrill the Blue Note

Spoon from the balcony at The Blue Note in Columbia // Photo by Thomas White

Spoon is one of the most reliable alt-rock bands going and is now touring in support of their tenth album, Lucifer on the Sofa.

The group hails from Austin, and has been making consistently great records since the ’90s. Metacritic reveals the band as critically and commercially well-received, if not a household name. Known for melodic, art-house but accessible indie-pop rock, Spoon is one of those bands you have heard, but you may not have consciously realized it. They did come to prominence before Shazam, so you might be surprised that the group released a Greatest Hits album years ago.

Lucifer on the Sofa fits right in with their previous nine albums as distinct but undeniably Spoon. Rolling Stone went so far as to say this is the best album of their nearly 30-year career.

Spoon presents themselves as precise musicians in concert, mixing their back catalog with new stuff with very few bells or whistles. Sure there are some lights with changing colors, but it’s really about Britt Daniel’s vocals and Jim Eno’s drums synching with the rest of the band, to produce clever earworms you’ll be humming for the next week.

On a Monday night in Columbia, Spoon sold out The Blue Note and put on one helluva show. Seeing the band in a smaller venue is ideal, for obvious reasons but you also stand a decent chance of running into the band at a low-key neighborhood bar.

Spoon is back to our general area later in their tour, with upcoming shows in St. Louis, Iowa City, Denver, Memphis, and Nashville.