Kevin Bronson on April 18th, 2011

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Who: Wire at the Gobi Stage
In 3 or Fewer Words: Wire, lightly frayed
I’ll Remember This Forever Because: This is when I saw a band of musical heroes slip from perfection to perfunctory. Turning in a technically excellent set minimalist punk, Wire’s performance was also a little bloodless – whether it was the heat (or maybe because after 35 years as a band the heat is just off), the group’s set simply lacked the danger, cipher-like mystique and roar that Wire is so very capable of. Rather, we had the four members of Wire holding court in the same “aging post-punker” slot that was so gloriously and victoriously held by Devo last year, and X the year before, with a set in which the band literally did it by the book – frontman Colin Newman had a book of Wire’s lyrics and chord changes at his feet. By turns placidly melodic and bracingly brutal, it was still the classic and, well, wiry post-punk that essentially added the word “angular” to the rock critic’s lexicon; however, it was without teeth, and felt more like a full-length, impersonal rehearsal. There’s a difference between “effortless” and “without effort,” and sadly this was it.
What I’d Tell My Friends Who Stuck To The Main Stage to Segue From Mumford & Sons to Animal Collective: I’d still take a sleepy-eyed set by Wire over an on-point set by either of those bands any day.
– Travis Woods
Photo by Scott Dudelson