This was my first time seeing Guided by Voices, and from what my friends have told me, I was to expect two things: 1) Robert Pollard and the gang would get extremely drunk, and 2) With their 15+ albums and countless side projects, they were going to play a bunch of stuff I didn't know. While both of these expectations were fulfilled, Guided by Voices still provided me with some surprises that made the show extremely worthwhile.

Opening for GBV was Detroit rockers The Go. The Go wavered between sounding like bad 80s rock to standard Foo Fighters-esque radio-friendly fare. They wrapped things up with a song that repeated the phrase "oh baby" far too many times. Overall, not too impressive.

As I waited for Guided by Voices to set up, I examined the crowd. The median age was definitely substantially higher than most of the shows that I'm used to, probably due to the fact that GBV have been around since the late 80s. I was particularly intrigued by a 40-ish gentleman that was sitting next to me. He was decked out in his Guided by Voices t-shirt and Guided by Voices hat, which I normally would have made fun of immediately as a total concert faux-pas if it wasn't so evident to me how much he loved this band. You could see the excitement bubbling up in him like a little boy as he told his date every fact he knew about the band and every song he hoped they would play that night. Seeing his face as the band eventually made its way on stage, I couldn't help but smile; there's nothing more wonderful than seeing someone's pure love of music. Throughout the entire show, he kept pointing out to his companion all the little things that made Guided by Voices so great to him, and I found it incredibly sweet.

Guided by Voices kicked the show off with "Watch Me Jumpstart," a great, energetic song to open with and one that I was excited that I knew. Robert Pollard displayed how after 15 years, he can still have a good time on stage, giving audience members high-fives and delivering rock-star kicks throughout the song. Everything I've heard about Guided by Voices' drinking abilities were proved absolutely true as the members pounded back shots and beer like no other, often sharing their bottles with fans in the front row. As Pollard said later in the show, "it's a contest between us and the audience to see who can go down first." Luckily, and contrary to what I've heard about other shows, the quality of their presentation didn't decrease too much as the show (and the drinking) continued.

Guided by Voices went on to play quite a bit from their most recent offering, Earthquake Glue, including "My Son, My Secretary, and My Country" and "My Kind of Soldier." Unfortunately, after the latter song, Robert Pollard went on a string of what I will call "the half-hour of filler." Song after song from random side-projects such as Phantom Tollbooth and The Circus Devils that I didn't know and couldn't get into. It's easy to respect a songwriter as prolific as Robert Pollard, but at the same time it's difficult not to get frustrated because all that output can't always result in the greatest songs. As Pollard told the audience, "It's great because these songs aren't Guided by Voices, but they aren't covers either because I WROTE THEM. I have created my own little universe." Arrogant, maybe, but absolutely true.

This was the point when I was beginning to zone out of the show, until, for me at least, a small miracle happened. I know it's always dangerous to go into any show wanting to hear one song, because Murphy's Law indicates it won't be played. This has lead me to incredible disappointment at shows like Spoon and the Strokes, and if a band with only one album (at the time) can fail to play my song, undoubtedly a band with 15 years of music is unlikely to play my song either. But just at the point when I thought GBV would never play another song I knew, Robert Pollard snapped me out of my funk with the exact words I needed to hear: "This song is called 'Game of Pricks.'" That was it. My Guided by Voices song. A one-in-a-thousand chance, a song from an album recorded in 1995, and here it was. And it was absolutely beautiful, everything I could have wanted it to be and more. My 17 dollar ticket had become completely worth it for just those two minutes of perfection.

And with that, the "half-hour of filler" ended as suddenly, Guided by Voices started whipping out the songs they should have been playing all night. "The Best of Jill Hives," "Useless Inventions," "Back to the Lake," "Things I Will Keep"- a good 10 songs in a row that provided exactly what I had wanted to get out of this concert. Clear sound, new harmonies not found on the recorded tracks, strong vocals- this block of music was clearly the high point of the night, and I was completely enthralled.

And with that, GBV slowly reverted back to filler mode. At this point they had been playing for about an hour and a forty-five minutes, and they showed absolutely no sign of stopping any time soon. Still on a high from hearing "Game of Pricks," I decided to take my chances on missing out on another run of greatness and head home to bed. I'd definitely heard what I needed to hear and was more than content with that much.

A Guided by Voices concert is a lot like a Guided by Voices album; some incredibly great moments and a bit too much "filler." Luckily for me on this night, those great moments were more than enough to make up for unnecessary excess.