Classic WEEKEND: Festival mainstays Spoon dish on their new album and their love of rock 'n' roll

We caught up with Spoon in March after their "one-off" in Bloomington. Here we revisit this tasty morsel for your enjoyment.
Spoon's frizzy, blond-haired front man, Britt Daniel, kept the packed Bluebird crowd on its feet as he dropped to his knees throughout the performance. Wailing away on his guitar like a machine gun, thrusting it against the speaker and breaking into occasional falsetto, he didn't let a broken guitar strap halt him or the rest of the band from feeding the crowd a night of hard rock. Indie-rock band Spoon played a free show Tuesday night at the Bluebird to an estimated crowd of 900 to 1,000. "Did anyone pay to get in here?" Daniel yelled at the crowd after the first couple songs. They screamed back "No!" and cheered as he said, "Let's have a party." Packing the pit and the middle foyer of the club, the audience was enthusiastic and cheered often, with the occasional sing-along. The band, led by Daniel's energetic performance, played a solid mix of old and new songs. The band's most well-known song, "Way We Get By," which was featured in the movie "Stranger Than Fiction" and on the TV show "The O.C.," got the biggest response, but even brand-new songs had loyal and first-time Spoon fans bobbing their heads. "The crowd was absolutely fantastic," Bluebird promoter and junior Aaron Estabrook said. "From the start, Spoon really got everyone moving and didn't stop for an hour and a half. Just another classic show at the Bluebird." Of the four Spoon shows she's seen, this was the best for Marni Bassichis. The 2000 graduate remembers Spoon's first Bloomington performance in 2002 at the now-defunct Vertigo. The former IDS writer struggled to come up with real words to define how she felt about the show that had her dancing wildly and singing along from the front row. "It was a great mix of old and new stuff. They played everything I wanted to hear," Bassichis said. "The fact that they came back here and rocked and played a free show -- it was radtastic." Audience members yelled for more new stuff after Spoon played the genre-defying song "Don't Make Me a Target," off their upcoming album. Expectations are high for the new record, scheduled to drop in July on the heels of its critically hailed 2005 album, "Gimme Fiction." Daniel is "thrilled" that the 10-track, "no fluff" album is mastered, and he claimed it's better than recent releases. "It's my favorite Spoon record, and I didn't say that about the last two," Daniel said. "One song riffs on the feel of the "Solaris" sound track, but mostly it sounds like rock 'n' roll." Backstage in the green room after the show, Daniel and his friend quoted Lou Reed lyrics to each other as he reflected on the life of being the front man of one of rock's most promising acts. He said he feels fortunate to be where he is now, enjoying critical praise and a growing fan base, after playing a number of years with little positive feedback. Though often grouped into the indie-rock category, Daniel said he doesn't know what indie-rock means, but he's not sure he likes it. "I believe in rock 'n' roll," he said. "It's about getting a feeling. When I'm on stage I do it 100 percent." Next up for Spoon is a week in Austin, Texas. The band isn't on tour but is playing a series of what Daniel calls "one-offs," in which the band plays a show and has a week or so off in between shows. The band is a mainstay at South by Southwest and is appearing at Bonnaroo this summer, but Spoon said it feels more at home in a college town. "I'd much rather play college towns than just about anywhere," Daniel said. "It's more real. I've always liked it."