Built to Spill delivers a solid Sunday show

Sunday nights concerts tend to be hit or miss — more often than not, even when the music is on point, the crowds tend to be small in size and lethargic in energy. Fortunately for Boise-based indie rock band Built to Spill, this was not the case this past Sunday night at the Howlin Wolf.

The band, whose last New Orleans performance was three years ago at One Eyed Jacks, is on tour promoting their latest album, Untethered Moon, released April of this year. The set was primarily concentrated on Built to Spill’s new tracks, but guitarist and lead vocalist Doug Martsch also led the band in older tracks that, in fact, elicited a more energetic crowd reaction.

The main set ended with crowd favorite and Spill anthem, “Carry the Zero.” After a short break, the band returned for a three-song encore — covers of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and The Smith’s “How Soon is Now?’, as well as a rousing rendition of the band’s 1994 hit “Car.”

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