For as many times as I’ve seen Built to Spill (a lot), last night reinforced why I will continue to keep seeing them live. The band is impeccable - it seems Doug Martsch expends no effort at all to sing and play his songs flawlessly. The musicians are in perfect sync with each other, all five members dutifully performing their specific roles to fill the ideal rock and roll sound spectrum. Three guitars can be a burden if not properly calibrated, but Built to Spill have got it down to a science.

Thanks to an almost legendary catalogue, the band have their choice of how to mix and match their songs to fill three whole nights, of which I can safely assume they will play different sets each show. Thursday had a wide mix of tracks from all of their albums except Caustic Resin, slightly favoring You In Reverse while still only playing the best cuts off of it. When Martsch performed “Car” by himself, with only the bass coming in to back up the rhythm for the end solo, everyone chanted along the words in joyful camaraderie. My favorite selections were “Stop the Show”, “Traces,” “Stab,” and “Mess With Time.” They played a few tracks I didn’t recognize, so I’m guessing they were new.

They closed with “Carry the Zero,” which had everyone in my section chanting the lyrics and dancing in small circles. It was definitely the high point of the show, filling the whole room with great energy. It was amazing to look up and see all the people around me signing along at the top of their lungs with huge smiles on their faces. It seems this is all too rare an occurrence at shows I go to.

They chose to regale the audience with the “riff of the year” for their encore, playing “Conventional Wisdom” much to the delight of the music editor I was standing next to. The song has everything a great encore needs – a big riff, a catchy hook, and an epic jam. It was a fitting end to a great night of music. You have two more chances to get some Built to Spill up in your guts. If you’re on the fence, just do it. It feels good.