ATP NY '09: Bob Mould and No Age

Out of all the bands that played ATP this year, all the legends that graced the stage, there was one act that really stood out above all the rest as the act I wanted to see and that was the crazy pairing of No Age with Bob Mould with Mould agreeing to play Hüsker Dü songs during the set! For a kid who grew up worshiping punk rock Hüsker Dü is at an idol level for me, they are one of my favorite band ever. And to have No Age assist Mould in pulling it off was almost as cool as if Grant Hart and Greg Norton would have joined Mould on stage, okay maybe not quite that cool. But I do love No Age and I have loved Hüsker Dü for a long, long time so to finally see Bob Mould playing these songs on a stage was a very special moment.

Before the set even started Dean Spunt of No Age was asked by a fan up front if this was as cool for him, "Fuckin' A!" Spunt said while miming the idea that his heart was racing in anticipation of this moment. Like Spunt, the crowd was bubbling with energy before the set started talking frantically amongst friends about what was to come in the next few minutes. Then the band took the stage and started playing. Amazingly the idea was that Hüsker Dü songs would alternate with No Age songs, and though I would have rather seen a straight Hüsker Dü set it all kind of worked well together. Getting a taste of the punk rock of the 80's versus the punk rock of today really made both stand out as the best of their times. Of course this meant fewer Hüsker Dü songs, but the ones they chose "In A Free Land", "Something I Learned Today", "Makes No Sense At All", "New Day Rising", and "I Apologize" were pretty great to see performed on stage with Mould growling through them and Randall and Spunt joining in on the chorus.

All of this was met with enthusiasm and love from the festival weary crowd who showed no signs of fatigue or slowing down so long as there was music playing. For most people the highlight of the set was probably Bradford Cox showing up to sing The Heartbreaker's "Chinese Rocks", but really the whole set wound up as a highlight of the weekend. This was one of the very few sets that I watched from beginning to end and it was totally worth every second. The only thing that could have been better was Hüsker Dü returning for real.