Stereolab dusted off rarities, played songs for first time ever at tour kickoff in Nashville (setlist, review) - Pop It Records

Stereolab kicked off their 2022 North American tour on Tuesday night at Nashville's Marathon Music Works, a cavernous former automobile factory that is now a very nice venue. The band haven't toured North America in three years and hadn't played live at all since November 2021. There was a bit of knocking the dust off their boots and instruments, but they got into to the (motorik) groove pretty quickly.

Their Nashville setlist also kicked the dust off quite a few songs from their extensive, labyrinthine catalog, playing a few for the very first time, including "Supah Jaianto" from their 2010 album Not Music, and "Simple Headphone Mind" from their 1997 collab with Nurse With Wound. Stereolab also played the full, four-part (17-minute!) version of Dots and Loops' "Refractions In The Plastic Pulse" for the very first time, and it was also the first time they'd played any part of that song since 1999. Other songs pulled out of the archives: "Laissez Faire" from their 1992 Low-Fi EP got its first performance in 30 years, and the roaringly loud "Super Electric," which closed their main set, was played for the first time since 2000.

The Marathon Music Works show was more geared toward obsessive fans, the types who were anxiously awaiting the two recent volumes of their Switched-On non-LP track compilations (like the just-released Vol 5), than casual fans, but they did play a handful of groop classics, including "Miss Modular," "Pack Yr Romantic Mind," "French Disko" and Chemical Chords' "Neon Beanbag," which got the evening off to a perky start. As cool as it was to get some very deep cuts, a song from Emperor Tomato Ketchup would've been welcome. Their setlists across this tour are likely to be Switched-Up a lot, though. Check out the setlist below.

The band sounded terrific, especially drummer Andy Ramsay, without whom tracks like "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse" would prove difficult, and keyboardist Joseph Watson, whose varied work carries the band from their dronier material through their lighter, jazzier easy-listening side. Guitarist and bandleader Tim Gane, meanwhile, was as usual lost in his his own zone, head swaying back and forth, chugging out the looping riffs. Laetitia Sadier remains Stereolab's switch-hitter, playing guitar and keyboard leads when not soothing the crowd with her still-bewitching voice that harmonized most often with bassist Xavier Muñoz Guimera.

Opening on this tour are Fievel is Glauque, aka the American-Belgian duo of Zach Phillips and Ma Clément. For these shows, they're playing a five-piece, including a saxophonist/flautist. Their set of skronky jazz-pop with Brazilian influences complemented Stereolab's perfectly; definitely worth showing up early for.

Stereolab's tour hits Atlanta tonight (9/7) and rolls into NYC next month for two nights at Brooklyn Steel on October 10 & 11. All tour dates are listed below.

SETLIST: Stereolab @ Marathon Music Works, Nashville 9/6/2022
Neon Beanbag
Laissez Faire
Eye of the Volcano
Refractions in the Plastic Pulse
U.H.F. - MFP
Supah Jaianto
Miss Modular
Mountain
I Feel the Air (of Another Planet)
Harmonium
Delugeoisie
Pack Yr Romantic Mind
Super-Electric

Encore:
The Man With 100 Cells
French Disko
Simple Headphone Mind