Live: The Dismemberment Plan @ Webster Hall 1.29.11

Ah, The Dismemberment Plan. It's been a long time since the boys were in active rotation. I saw a lot of the D Plan between here and Chicago in their heyday and had a good time doing it. I was bummed when they broke up, but can't say I've revisited their catalog much since their demise. Most of the gents are holding down day jobs in the DC area and making music. Bassist Eric Axelson played with ex-Promise Ring dudes in Maritime for a bit, before joining ill-fated DC locals Statehood. Singer/guitarist Travis Morrison released a couple solo records and had a couple of post-Plan bands in Brooklyn, but is currently the only one of the quartet formally declaring himself formally retired.

It's been over 10 years since The Dismemberment Plan released fan-favorite Emergency And I on Barsuk and almost 10 years to the day since they had played their first shows for it in NYC. Seems odd that The D-Plan would reunite behind a vinyl reissue, but I've learned not to argue. As such, I ended up getting tickets for one of the reunion shows when they went on sale last Summer. As the date(s) grew closer, the boys played on Jimmy Fallon and weren't so good, which made the proposition of getting my scalp on via Craigslist that much more attractive. If the kids are reuniting behind a vinyl reissue, dollars to donuts a live DVD is in the works and my lazy ass probably would like it better.

The DVD remains to be seen, but I rolled up to Webster Hall and waded into a packed room as the Plan started their first tune. I was surprised to see the room as full as it was, and even more surprised that the crowd seemed so young. The kids I was hooking up with to see the show were ten or twelve years younger and halfway through the proceedings I realized that many of the crowd was actually to young to have seen The Dismemberment Plan live. While I'm normally against a $25 ticket charge, the fact that the show was at Webster meant a hard curfew and that I could be on the couch well before midnight. The prospect was an attractive one and the set was surprisingly solid. I though that we'd see a track by track run-through of the record and an oldie or too, but there was a pretty good cross-section of the catalog in the set. There was the tired stage invasion during Ice Of Boston, but by and large it was a pretty great set and it was a pleasure to find that my nostalgia for the band doesn't seem totally unwarranted. I suspect this will mark a more active Dismemberment Plan in the future. Keep tabs on the gents here and grab the vinyl reissue of Emergency and I here from your friends at Barsuk.

R