Fresh from a stay in the Catskills playing this year’s New York installment of All Tomorrow’s Parties, Built To Spill came to town last night with just one album in its repertoire for the evening. The trend of playing classic albums in their entirety continues to grow, particularly with ATP’s Don’t Look Back series initiating so many such shows for their festivals. And if you’re going to spend time rehearsing the whole record, might as well take it on the road rather than just keep it for the one festival, right? It’s lucky that BTS decided not to limit their performances of 1997’s Perfect from Now On just to the ATP festival date; last night’s 9:30 Club crowd was treated to a performance that infused the decade-old record with renewed vigor.

Before we got to the main event, though, there were two excellent openers, starting with Australia’s The Drones, who woke everyone up from the post-office doldrums with a screeching ball of amphetamine blues, singer Gareth Liddiard’s snarl reminiscent of a feral Nick Cave over top of a messy blend of feedback and guitar scrabble. Then it was time for ’90s casualties the Meat Puppets, the brothers Kirkwood resurrected after Cris’s long-time-coming victory over his many addictions. Despite all their time apart over the past decade, Cris and Curt still seem like two guys who have spent the better part of a half century playing music together. On a set that ranged from high-energy hardcore to cowpunk to lazy psychedelics, they played with a nearly effortless connection. The highlight came during a speedy Irish-tinged run through of “Waltzing Matilda” that would have done the Pogues proud. The Drones were invited back out on stage to dance and sing choruses, and they very likely put their visas in jeopardy by beheading a cardboard effigy of President Bush and then slashing the body to pieces with a knife. Those Aussies don’t mess around.

Image courtesy Julian Sanchez