The Breeders Live at the Ace Hotel Theater, Los Angeles

’90s Alternative Rock legends The Breeders just released a new album, All Nerve, and have just started their fourth-month tour. The tour begins in Los Angeles, with a show at The Fonda on April 5 and the Theater at the Ace Hotel on the 6th, and will end in Manchester mid-July.

When The Breeders took the stage just a couple minutes past 9:30, the crowd cheered loudly. Sisters Kim and Kelley Deal took their places at the mics and were joined by Josephine Wiggs on bass and Jim Macpherson on the drums. Kelley awkwardly entered the stage with her purse around her shoulder, and Kim took a moment to make fun of her… “looks like she just did some errands and still has the car running… you gonna stay?” causing the crowd to laugh.

They began their set with new songs from All Nerve, including “Nervous Mary” and “Wait in the Car.” It became clear that the majority of the audience were classic Breeders fans and were not so familiar with the new songs. Cheers ensued before older songs like “No Aloha” and “Divine Hammer,” causing some of the crowd members to stand up and dance. It became clear later, however, that this older-skewing crowd preferred to remain seated, as some even yelled at the standing audience members to sit back down. Special guests joined The Breeders on stage, including a keyboardist, Kyle, who also doubled as their “T-Shirt guy” for “Howl at the Summit,” and Rebecca Schlappich from Mariachi El Bronx on “Drivin’ on 9.”

“You guys still doing okay?” Kim asked the audience numerous times during their set as the lights pointed to the crowd who in turn waved their arms and cheered. Before performing the slow, drumless “Off You,” Kim shared, “this is the double (2x) bass guitar section,” as Kelley also picked up a bass while Kim showcased a delicate side to her vocals for this slow song. The Deal sisters bantered with each other, as Kelley teased Kim about being an “amateur singer” before she took the mic for “I Just Wanna Get Along.”

During their hour and a half long set, they performed a couple noteworthy covers, including a very Breeders-sounding version of The Beatles’ “Happiness is a Warm Gun” and The Pixies’ “Gigantic” toward the end of their set, both of which had the audience give in and stand up as they watched in awe. And everyone stood up for crowd favorite “Cannonball” and danced along.

“We’re playing a lot of songs from our new album” Kim shared as they dove into some more new songs including “Blues at the Acropolis, “Skinhead #2” and the screeching “MetaGoth.” The crowd cheered as they exited the stage and just about everyone waited in anticipation for the encore, which included a song from their latest album, and two songs from Last Splash, leaving the crowd buzzing as they exited the theater, most likely eager to dive into All Nerve.

Punk and alt-rock band Post Pink opened for The Breeders and are currently on tour with them. Catch the rest of the tour dates here.

Setlist:

1. Nervous Mary
2. Wait in the Car
3. All Nerve
4. No Aloha
5. Divine Hammer
6. Bang On
7. Howl at the Summit
8. Dawn: Making an Effort
9. Safari
10. Drivin’ on 9 (Ed’s Redeeming Qualities cover)
11. Walking With a Killer
12. Fortunately Gone
13. Shocker in Gloomtown (Guided by Voices cover)
14. Off You
15. I Just Wanna Get Along
16. Happiness Is a Warm Gun (The Beatles cover)
17. Glorious
18. Cannonball
19. Blues at the Acropolis
20. Skinhead #2
21. MetaGoth
22. Gigantic (Pixies Cover)

    Encore:

23. New Year
24. Spacewoman
25. Saints