Photo by SHELLY MOSMAN
These are glory days for Bob Mould, valedictorian of the indie rock class of 1984; glowering godfather of alt-rock circa 1992; dark lord of the molten dirge circa 1998; shirtless dancing bear spinning the wheels of steel for the Blow-Off, his hugely successful gay-friendly DJ parties, circa 2002; celebrated warts-n-all memoirist circa 2011; and acknowledged American Master of punk-as-fuck-three-chords-and-the-truth tunesmithery circa now. If it looks like things are finally breaking his way, that was never guaranteed. It could have just as easily gone the other way. In October he turns 56. In rock n’ roll years, that’s 108. At this age you’ve either become a living legend or you’re just old and in the way. You’ve either become a classic or just another neglected wreck rusting in the back yard of the music biz.
Perhaps mid-to-late aughts, when Mould released and toured a string of middling albums, a case could have been made that he was trending towards the latter. But in the wake of a high-profile autobiography, See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody and a like-titled tribute concert, “See a Little Light: A Celebration of the Music and Legacy of Bob Mould,” curated by Dave Grohl and featuring the likes of Britt Daniel from Spoon, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler from the Hold Steady, and No Age performing his songs at Disney Hall in Los Angeles a couple years back, not to mention a trifecta of instant-classic late-career albums for Merge, including the just-released Patch The Sky, Bob Mould has raised the curtain on third act that may well trump everything that came before.
All of which explains why we are so very proud to announce that we have a pair of tickets to see Bob Mould and Ted Leo at Underground Arts tomorrow night. To qualify, all you have to do is sign up for our mailing list (see right, below the masthead). Trust us, this is something you want to do. In addition to breaking news alerts and Phawker updates, you also get advanced warning about groovy concert ticket giveaways and other free swag opportunities like this one! After signing up, send us an email at PHAWKER66@GMAIL.COM telling us a much, with the words ZEN ARCADIA in the subject line and the correct answer to this Bob Mould trivia question: Husker Du famously covered “Love Is All Around,” which is the theme song to what TV show? Please include your full name and a mobile number for confirmation. The 13th Phawker reader to email wins! Good luck and godspeed!
PREVIOUSLY: Zen Arcadia
BOB MOULD & TED LEO PERFORM @ UNDERGROUND ARTS TUE. APRIL 26TH