Spider Bags have been at it as a band since 2007. I first encountered frontman and guitarist Dan McGee through the verse he sang on Titus Andronicus's (now retired from the TA repertoire apparently) "Theme From Cheers" from 2010's The Monitor. Following that, I heard Patrick Stickles repeatedly refer to McGee's band as "The World's Greatest Rock Band."
I checked out Spider Bags and definitely noticed an affinity between their emotional, country-inflected garage rock and the more shambling entries in the Titus Andronicus catalog. I've got a live version of Spider Bags' "Waking Up Drunk" that features Patrick Stickles -- on one of the Titus mixtapes from a while back, I think -- that I really enjoy. Spider Bags kind of do a thing I like, in other words; so when I saw that they were playing The Saint, I had to go.
The North Carolina via New Jersey trio did a set that was like the raw energy of a live wire sparking in the road. McGee gave a visual approximation of that a few times, breaking strings on two guitars before having eventually to resort to "The Peanut," a homemade-looking instrument that resembled... ...well... ...a peanut. That guitar made it most of the way through the final song before its E-string succumbed as well.
I've spent the most time with Spider Bags' most recent release, and Merge Records debut, Frozen Letter. The band's live set more than did justice to the tracks on that fantastic record including "Chem Trails," "We Got Problems," the band's cover of "Summer of '79," and the epic "Coffin Car." The band played until a little after midnight, but the show was worth getting up a little tired this morning.
Spider Bags play Brooklyn's Union Pool tonight and are in Philly at Boot & Saddle tomorrow. If you're near either of those places -- or can get there -- do yourself a favor and go see this band.
I hadn't been to The Saint in a while, and the lighting there inspired me to take tons of pictures. Here are highlights of Spider Bags' set. The rest are up at Flickr.
I'm still working my way through shots from the opening sets by Ba Babes, Microfossils, and free-form instrumental ensemble From Kettles to Cloaks. Stay tuned for those.
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