Review: Spoon at The Orange Peel

Edwin Arnaudin: Dreams really do come true.

After nearly a decade of opening slots and festival sets, during which it consistently made a strong case for being the headliner, Spoon returned to Asheville for top billing at The Orange Peel on July 5 — its first such local performance since May 2017. How did it feel not to have to travel to, say, Red Rocks in order to have this experience?

Jay Moye: I’m so glad you finally got an entree-sized serving of Spoon, in our town no less. Despite the Peel feeling oversold as it often does, which makes sight lines challenging for me, I loved the show. A tight, hits-heavy, 90-min set. I loved that we got the tour’s first “Held” as the opener, along with a few deeper cuts like “Who Makes Your Money,” “Take a Walk,” and frontman Britt Daniel’s solo acoustic “Me and the Bean.” 

Did it live up to your expectations?

Edwin: Yes and no. 

The Austin rockers set such a high bar with their September 2022 set at Rabbit Rabbit (now Asheville Yards) that it would take something extremely special to top it. (Perhaps a full-album performance of Gimme Fiction and/or Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga? A boy can dream…again...) Though technically opening for Interpol, they played 17 songs — only three shy of last night’s total — and brought such a ferocious energy to the stage that my circle of music friends still talk about it. Poor Interpol never stood a chance.

In the intimate confines of the Peel and with no real time constraints, I figured Spoon would go all out and play a longer, potentially wilder show. While the quintet sounded great and performed many of my favorite tracks from their insanely rich catalog, I was rarely surprised by anything or struck by exceptional energy. Instead, what hit me hardest was the two-song acoustic middle you mentioned, which also included “The Mystery Zone.” I never would have envisioned such a chill take on the latter song with Daniel accompanied by Alex Fischel's subtle keys, and it’s what’s stuck with me most.

Jay: Fair. I was at that ’22 show, too, and agree with your take. I saw a similar show in the summer ’23 at Red Rocks, where Spoon split the bill — oddly — with the Revivalists. Maybe they felt they had less to prove, headlining a small (for them) club? The band seemed loose and in good spirits, cutting up between and even during songs. A few friends I was with also were hoping for more music, especially with Ratboys only playing 35 minutes or so.

One thing I loved was the slight arrangement tweaks made to songs like “My Mathematical Mind” and getting to hear the unreleased “Lose Control,” which sounded like a soulful cover to my ears. It was also cool to see Britt trading verses with guitarist/keyboardist Jason Roberts but one thing that struck me as odd was not getting a single song from Hot Thoughts.

Edwin: Ditto — love me some Hot Thoughts, would have been happy with any selection from that underrated album, and expected the title track to drop at any point during the set. “Don’t You Evah” also felt like a no-brainer crowd-pleaser but otherwise it was essentially a Greatest Hits collection and I agree that the band seemed to enjoy playing their most well-known work.

I said I wasn’t surprised much throughout the night but leaning on Transference was an unexpected choice. I’ve long felt I’ve not given that album the attention it deserves, and with a quarter of the set’s picks coming from that 2010 LP it makes me wonder what led to the sudden uptick in love from the band. (Only “Got Nuffin” made the cut here in 2022 and it was joined by “Mystery Zone” during last summer’s support slot for The Pixies at Asheville Yards.)

Jay: I think that because the band is not currently touring to promote an album — they're apparently close to finishing their next — we got a dealers-choice setlist, perhaps to give the band a palette cleanser before the final studio push. Despite missing “Beast and Dragon Adored,” I was happy with the songs we got, especially the four-song encore punctuated by “Black Like Me” and “Got Nuffin.” It was my 12th Spoon show, and I’m already looking forward to lucky 13.

(Photos by Tom Farr)