Always On Tour, Built to Spill Set to Stop by Bay Area Once Again
Photo Credit: Lilah Edward and Melanie Radford
During a recent Google search to study up for my latest interview with Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch, I stumbled upon this article from Boca Magazine—an outlet self-described as being on “the front lines of local issues and events in South Florida.”
In the piece, author John Thomason reviewed a Built to Spill show in Fort Lauderdale, describing a thrilling experience that one has come to expect from the legendary Boise-based rock band. Thomason said the gig featured “blissed-out guitar journeys where the contours of tightly structured indie pop wrestled agreeably with extended forays into the jam-band cosmos.” A perfect description, John.
This is in no way disrespectful to the good folks in South Florida, but that area of the country is not known as a hotbed for indie rock, and yet despite that reputation, Thomason said he had seen Built to Spill five times in that Fort Lauderdale venue alone. I’m not a betting man, but I’d be willing to wager that few indie bands have visited South Florida more times than Built to Spill over the past two decades—a reflection of the group’s boundless appetite for touring.
“We go to Florida, kind of like every other year,” said Martsch, who said he’s pretty sure Alaska and Hawaii are the only two states the band hasn’t played. “You have to do a bit of driving to dip into there, but it’s always a nice time. Even before the internet, each one of those cities had a community of indie rock fans. When you get into the venue, Florida feels like anywhere else to me.”
Martsch has always brought a no-nonsense, unpretentious approach to leading one of the most beloved indie rock bands of all time. Built to Spill are the definition of workmanlike—each year, they are guaranteed to hit the road for a string of live shows, with those jaunts always including an extended tour of California.
Predictably, 2026 is no different, with Built to Spill lining up 10 shows throughout the Golden State, ranging from South Lake Tahoe all the way down to Pioneertown on the outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park. The band will return to The Chapel—its San Francisco home-away-from-home—for yet another three-day residency, from August 23 – 25, preceded by a stop in Petaluma at the Phoenix Theater on August 22.
Even though the band hasn’t released an album in four years—2022’s excellent “When The Wind Forgets Your Name,” many of the shows on their California tour are already sold out. For Martsch, touring has just become part of the Built to Spill machine—an opportunity to reconnect with the band’s always devoted fanbase.
“We don’t want to tour for no reason, but we love getting out and playing live shows—that’s certainly the most rewarding part of the band for me,” said Martsch. “We usually try to hook up with another bigger outfit for a tour—we did that last year with Modest Mouse and Yo La Tengo. This year, we connected with Courtney Bartnett—who is amazing—for a few shows, but we haven’t had that big tour lined up yet. So, when that doesn’t happen, we like to do these regional tours—go through California and whatnot. They’re always fun.”
Martsch has always been refreshingly blunt about his struggles finding songwriting inspiration, and at the moment, he said he doesn’t have nearly enough material lined up for the next Built to Spill album. The band has been performing one unreleased track, “Fire to Dust,” for quite some time now on tour, but other than that, no new songs are in the offing.
“I actually have been kind of jamming around, just making music without any real care or concern,” said Martsch. “I’ll lay down some drums, or sit with a bass and play the first thing that comes to mind before I start playing the guitar. But a lot of that is just to keep my musical brain going—I’m not really focused on coming up with anything new. I don’t know what’s going to happen—I’m not sure if that songwriting phase of my career is over. It could be.”
If Martsch never writes another song, his legacy will still be firmly cemented as one of the great artists of the indie rock universe. Most of that reputation is based upon the band’s towering 90s’ triumvirate of “There’s Nothing Wrong With Love,” Perfect From Now On,” and “Keep It Like a Secret,” but there isn’t a single Built to Spill record that’s not great. With live music now the emphasis of the band, Martsch has continued to explore different and unique ways to deliver songs that are familiar to his audience.
“When I talk about doing something new, it’s mostly about putting new parts into old songs and playing them live,” said Martsch. “I was thinking of doing a Lou Reed kind of thing, where he would add a new bridge or verse to ‘Sweet Jane.’ That’s probably a more realistic next step than any new album for us.”
Martsch has the luxury to get a little creative in a live setting because the current Built to Spill iteration is, simply put, tight as shit. In addition to Martsch’s typical guitar histrionics (despite his belief otherwise, he is one of indie’s few guitar gods), bassist Melanie Radford and drummer Teresa Esguerra are the perfect complimentary rhythm section.
After lengthy stints playing as four-piece and five-piece lineups, the current version of Built to Spill is lean and muscular, providing unique and interesting takes on old classics. And at seven years, this offing of Built to Spill is one of the longest-running in the band’s ever-evolving history. At this point, their sound has been honed significantly by their shared history.
Because of that well-practiced synchronicity, Built to Spill shows are still incredibly exciting, even when the band is playing tunes we’ve all heard plenty of times before. Whether it’s Idaho, Florida or here in California, the experience is always the same—Built to Spill will kick some serious ass the night they are in your hometown.
Show Details:
Where: Phoenix Theater, Petaluma; The Chapel, San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Saturday August 22; Sunday – Tuesday, August 23 – 25
Tickets: Petaluma and first Chapel show sold out. $57 for second two Chapel shows, available here.