I went to see the Bob Mould Band last night at Irving Plaza, and it was one of the best shows I have seen in years. Bob has a new album out that is a return to the driving rock of his Sugar years, and the four piece band burned through an hour and and half of music - one-third from the new album, one-third from Sugar and his solo albums, and one-third from Hüsker Dü. They made me a very happy man by playing "I Apologize" and "Celebrated Summer" from New Day Rising, my favorite Hüsker Dü album. Bob looks much happier then he ever did - I saw him once before on a solo tour in the early 90s - and he and the band had great energy that they put into every song. The packed house loved it also, screaming at them back for two encores, with the calls for more only cut off by the house lights.

There are many bands who would love to be as heavy as Bob and his band were last night. Watching and listening to him as a Rock'n'Roll veteran at 44 years old - the pain and emotion in his songs is expressed with even greater depth than it was before. The band's version of "Too Far Down" hit me just as hard last night and as it did the first time I heard it eighteen years ago. Beyond loving pretty much all of his music (although I have not heard his recent electronic forays), I have always respected Bob for being able to create such a large amount of beautiful music that expresses so much, well, negative emotion. Life is not always happy, but to play so much of it, and play it well for so long without losing it or killing himself or giving up - I think that says something about him and something about music itself.

(The Houston Chronicle has a good article about Bob and his recent activities)