Recap Meat Puppets, Dark Meat, and Alan Sparhawk at The Annex

Decider can not deny the glow that lit the crowd at The Annex on Friday when guitarist/vocalist Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets began finger-picking the opening chords of “Plateau,” arguably the best of the three delightfully gritty pop tunes from 1984's Meat Puppets II that Kurt Cobain asked the band to perform with Nirvana for its legendary MTV Unplugged set. The trio played its second Madison show since reuniting with original bassist Cris Kirkwood for a refreshingly large audience. Minnesotan guitarist and vocalist Alan Sparhawk of Low and Retribution Gospel Choir fame kicked things off with a solo set comprised of a few naked renditions of Low songs and a couple of unlikely reggae covers: Delroy Wilson's “This Life Make Me Wonder” and The Heptones' “Cool Rasta.”

While Sparhawk's soaring baritone and oceanic chords were received warmly, he seemed a little insecure with the situation and would often ask the audience for requests. After his set closed with a new tune entitled “Al Green,” Athens, Ga., band Dark Meat excitedly hit the stage and announced that Meat Puppets was its “all-time favorite band.” The seven-piece ripped into its set with a raucous blast called “Future Galaxies.”

Throughout Dark Meat's set, which comprised brand-new songs from an upcoming album tentatively titled It's A Thumbs-Up Situation, vocalist-guitarist Jim McHugh shook the notes from his guitar as he howled into the harmonized melodies of keyboardist Aaron Jollay and flutist Emily Armond. The dynamic pummeling of drummer Jason Robira shifted gracefully between relentless post-punk rhythms, twitchy fills, and minimal pulses. After Dark Meat closed its high-energy performance with the fuzzy guitar ripples of “When The Shelter Came,” it was time for the Meat Puppets to deliver a set with the same kind of rawness they probably brought to the stage back in the early '80s.

Starting on a low-key note with the clean plucking of “Sewn Together,” the Puppets' set gradually built up its intensity. Besides the occasional “thanks” from Curt or hard-to-make-out chatter from Cris, the trio kept onstage banter to a minimum, wasting little time throughout its 21-song stand. The most impressive part of the show was Curt's dynamic guitar style, as his frantic finger-picking flew into songs like “Animal Kingdom” and “Comin' Down” and sent waves of spacious riffs crashing into “Up On The Sun” and the Puppets' biggest hit, “Backwater.”

The trio's set stretched tightly across its 12-album discography, grabbing more from 1984's Meat Puppets II, 1986's Up On The Sun, and the new Sewn Together. After closing the set with a sloppy, sped-up version of the classic “Lake Of Fire,” the trio took a bow and walked off the stage, only to return at the demand of a roaring audience and blast out an encore that climaxed with the cowpunk stomp of “Lost.”