Three songs into Bob Mould's set at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night, he sang, "The twentieth century has not been particularly kind to me." Actually, he more screamed it than sang it, cords standing out in his neck and palpable rage spilling out over the microphone. It almost seems odd now that Mould can still deliver this line from his self-titled 1996 record with such vitriol; whatever the twentieth century's transgressions, the twenty-first century seems to have been pretty kind indeed. He's found a niche here in D.C., a place that seems to allow him the balance and the leeway to be whatever he wants to, be it electronic experimentalist, DJ night impresario, or punk rock elder statesman. I've been going to Bob Mould shows for 14 years now, and I've never seen him as confident or comfortable in his own skin as on Saturday night.

The early show started off with a solid set by the somewhat oddly matched openers, San Francisco's Halou. Their dreamy pop, fronted by the rather enchanting voice of singer Rebecca Coseboom recalled bits of Portishead with slightly more rockish leanings. The dual MacBooks on stage were deceptive: rather than defining their sound with overly intrusive programming, the prerecorded bits were largely relegated to the undercurrent, allowing the band to sound like, well, a band on stage. Given Mould's affection for electronics blended with more traditional rock instrumentation, and his excellent ear for melody, it's easy to see why he brought Halou with him for this tour, even if their dark and floating sounds stood in stark contrast to the overdriven guitars and insistently catchy melodies of his own set.

Photos by Ian Buckwalter

Mould's own set was a career-spanning retrospective, covering not only his own solo material, but also heavy concentrations of songs from both Sugar (nearly half the songs from the classic Copper Blue record were represented), and Hüsker Dü (five of the last seven songs of the show came from their catalog). The band, consisting of Mould, plus drums, bass and keyboards, came out of the gates as if fired from a cannon, tearing through the first trio of songs at breakneck speed and volume, barely breaking between them for applause. The trend would continue throughout the show, as they would play little mini-sets with barely any transition time between each song. It lent the proceedings an unusual sense of vital urgency, particularly considering how much of the set consisted of songs pushing 20 or even 25 years old.

The weaker spots, unfortunately, tended to come with his more recent material, which still doesn't feel quite as timeless as the older stuff, with the melodies so direct they threaten to bore straight through your cranium and take permanent residence in your skull. Mould's new album, District Line, as well as its predecessor Body of Song, are both excellent listens on their own. But thrown into the mix among so many classics, just seem a little flat. And maybe that's just a matter of time. "Hanging Tree," the lone track here from Mould's super-dark (and, at the time, critically divisive) Black Sheets of Rain record is a tortured mid-tempo plodder, but still felt vital in the set. Maybe with a few years under their belts, the newer songs will have the same resonance.

Also somewhat unfortunate was the underutilization of Richard Morel on keyboards. Morel, Mould's collaborator on the 9:30's Blowoff dance party (another installment of which followed the show) has been touring with Mould's band for a few years now, but they still haven't figured out the exact place for keys in the mix. Mould's songwriting seems to magnetically pull itself into power trio arrangements. Even a song like "See a Little Light," originally a mostly acoustic affair, was dominated by guitar and bass on Saturday, and such was the case throughout, with Morel mostly being drowned out by the wall of sound emanating from Mould's Fender.

Still, any shortcomings were minor. Mould seems to be enjoying his own music more than ever before, and his exuberance is contagious. His largely wrenching solo material is still delivered with an honest connection to the emotions that inspired them. The Sugar songs serve as a punchy reminder of why they were one of the most underrated bands of the 90s. And the Hüsker tunes feel just as blood and sweat infused as they did back in their hardcore heyday. Stage chatter was minimal, aside from some plugs for people to hang around for Blowoff, as Mould and the band were focused on squeezing every last gut-punching chord they could into the evening.

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Setlist:

The Act We Act
A Good Idea
I Hate Alternative Rock
See a Little Light
Hoover Dam
I Am Vision, I Am Sound
The Silence Between Us
Hanging Tree
Miniature Parade
Your Favorite Thing
Again and Again
Circles
Paralyzed
Can't Help You Anymore
I Apologize
Celebrated Summer
Divide and Conquer
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Egøverride
If I Can't Change Your Mind
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Chartered Trips
Makes No Sense At All