Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Purling Hiss at Terminal West, Atlanta - March 4, 2013

Tuesday night, March 4: Day 2 of March Madness.  Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks with Purling Hiss at Terminal West.

I'll say this - Stephen Malkmus can shred a guitar with the best of them, but for sheer guitar pyrotechnics, Mike Polizze of Purling Hiss just about upstaged Malkmus at his own game, putting on a non-stop showcase of powerhouse guitar explorations.  

We saw Purling Hiss back during Rocktober 2011 at The Earl, when they blew us away opening for fellow Philadelphians The War of Drugs.  In the 2 1/2 years since that performance, Purling Hiss has only improved, honing and polishing their blown-out, psychedelic sound to a fine burnish.  I strongly recommend you catch these guys live if you ever get a chance - I know I won't pass on an opportunity to hear them again.

Headliner Stephen Malkmus lived up to the high expectations his reputation commands, and while he played in a very different style that Purling Hiss, he quickly made the audience forget what came before and took us to a whole new level.

With Pavement, Maalkmus can make a legitimate claim to be the inventor of indie rock as we know it today, and at this point in his career, he has now released more albums as The Jicks than as Pavement.  He seemed comfortable in his own skin on stage, unleashing his music on the audience at his own pace, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy doing it.  He opened the set with Surreal Teenagers from his latest album, the fine Wig Out at Jagbags, and during the set, managed to cover Tigers, Senator, J Smoov and many more Jicks favorites.

Bonus points:  Doors at 7:00, music started at 8:00, two bands, got home by 11:00.  I survived a Tuesday night, and lived to see another Wednesday of gainful employment.