Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 at Lincoln Hall
Dean and Britta
About a third of the way into a set of Galaxie 500 songs, Dean Wareham introduced his band. This sort of formality is normally reserved for Springsteenian musical interludes that allow for ten second solos from every human being onstage, and the self-conscious indie rockers who love to mock them. In the reunion-heavy musical landscape of 2010, though, it’s important to note the presentation of this show.
In various promotional materials, the tour is billed as either “Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500” or “Dean and Britta play Galaxie 500.” Wareham introduced his wife and bassist, Britta Phillips, drummer Jason Lawrence, and guitarist Matt Sumrow, but not himself. Both the audience and the performers understood the nature of the show, a set of Galaxie 500 songs performed by the group’s co-founder, vocalist, and lead guitarist.
Back in May, Pitchfork reported on a one-off show in which Wareham would be performing Galaxie 500 songs in Atlanta. The idea was so well-received that the one-off concept was tossed, and a month later, a short U.S. tour was announced. Galaxie 500 went through a not-so-amicable break up that resulted in uncomfortable relationships between Wareham and his former bandmates, which continues to this day. When questioned by Pitchfork about the pseudo-reunion, he quipped, “I think a reunion of Speedy and the Castanets [his short lived pre-Galaxie garage band] is more likely.” Clearly the Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 tour is the closest fans are going to get to a full-fledged reunion.
It was definitely Wareham’s Galaxie 500 onstage: The vocals were high in the mix, something first credited to the sound mixing at Lincoln Hall, but the longer it went uncorrected, it began to seem more like a stylistic choice. Old footage of the band’s live performance is more reminiscent of its recorded material, with vocals more on par with the rest of the instrumentation, which better recreated the hazy, atmospheric feel of band’s quietly innovative sound. Much like The Vaselines’reunion set at Lincoln Hall in October, Wareham and his band played more muscular, locked-in versions of the songs that his band’s cult following rallied around. A propulsive version of the narcotic “Snowstorm” was a bit jarring, but a few songs later, Wareham’s ode to tripping on acid in a 7-Eleven, “Strange,” was awe inspiring in its weirdly triumphant vibe.
Regardless of the implications of the show’s billing and the potentially unnecessary contextual analysis, the performance itself was fantastic. After over an hour of classic songs—highlights include Wareham showing off his falsetto skills in “Blue Thunder,” and an especially ripping solo at the end of “When Will You Come Home”—Britta Phillips sang lead for a beautiful cover of Dylan-by-way-of-Nico tune, “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” which can be found on the new Dean & Britta concept album, 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests. Closing out the proper set was a rendition of New Order’s “Ceremony.”
On the official Dean & Britta Twitter account, they mentioned a special guest would be appearing with them the second night of their Lincoln Hall residency. The morning of the show, they announced the guest would be Sean Eden, best known for his work as guitarist in Wareham’s post-Galaxie group, Luna. The encore acted as a mini-Luna reunion, featuring an extended cover of Beat Happening’s twee pop prom anthem, “Indian Summer,” and two of Luna’s best tracks, “23 Minutes in Brussels” and “Tiger Lilly.” The theoretical venn diagram featuring Galaxie 500 fans and Luna fans is essentially a single circle, so the crowd was understandably stoked on what they were experiencing, cheering ceaselessly as Eden and Wareham traded grins and blistering guitar solos.
It’s easy to be cynical about tours like this one and the upcoming Peter Hook plays Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures show, but ultimately, those who attend the shows are genuinely excited about the opportunity to experience these songs in a live setting, performed by at least one person who was involved in the creative process. On paper, it might not seem far off from indie rock karaoke, but, deep down, it’s hard not to get excited when Dean Wareham’s Galaxie 500 strums the murky opening chords of “Flowers” like it’s 1989 all over again.
