First Splash at the Salt Shed: The Breeders, Steve Albini's Favorite Band

The Breeders made their first splash at the Salt Shed on September 23rd. In a first-ever for the band, The Breeders played through their first two albums Pod and Last Splash, in their entirety, with an intermission between. This show was part of their anniversary tour marking the 30th anniversary of their second album, Last Splash. 

The Breeders made jokes about the recording of the albums, trivia about certain tracks, and made several tributes to their longtime friend and producer, Steve Albini, who tragically passed away last May. A notable Chicago audio engineer known for his work with Nirvana, The Pixies, and The Breeders, he was also the frontman of the band Shellac.

(Man On Man, photo taken by Third Coast Review)

The Salt Shed itself is comprised of brick buildings once belonging to Morton Salt in Chicago. The logo is still on the roof, and the show floor is concrete. Everything was clean and neat looking–even the spare toilet paper rolls in the bathroom were decorated with bows. The Breeders frontwoman Kim Deal later expressed her love of the venue, stating even the backstage area was nice.

Scary Fingers: Lauren and I stopped at the merch bar inside the front lobby area, which also featured a kiosk to order some food items, a bar, and a curated playlist of 1960s and 70s garage rock. Behind the wood counter, besides the albums Pod and Last Splash on vinyl, the band shirts, tote bags, and hats was a black tee-shirt reading “ALBINI,” featuring a logo much like the Raiders but with Steve’s face instead. On the shirt, a note read that 100% of sales would be donated to his wife, Heather. The shirt was a rework of a shirt Albini himself wore that appeared to be a Raiders shirt with presumably Kim Deal’s face superimposed instead, and the legend, “The Breeders.” I didn’t buy one, mostly not sure that I would wear it, but I hoped that some of the money from our purchases went to a good cause.

The opener for the show, Man on Man, played melodic and exciting electronic/indie music, wearing matching pink-beige button-up shirts and dark shorts. The two members, Roddy Bottum and Joey Holman, a couple who began creating music during the pandemic.

(Man On Man, photo taken by Third Coast Review)

Kim Deal first took the stage with a woman in glasses and short hair in a dress printed with hearts and “ABORTION” in black block letters. As they waved to the crowd, I couldn’t make out what they said as they waved to the crowd together, but I believe the woman was Heather Whinna, the wife of the late Steve Albini.

I was in the photo pit for the Breeder’s epic performances of their first three songs off Pod: “Glorious,” “Doe,” and their cover of the Beatles’ tune, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” Kim and Kelley Deal, identical twins and guitarists, wore the aforementioned Albini shirts. Josephine Wiggs, bassist, and Jim MacPherson, drummer, both wore all black. Pod was engineered by Steve Albini, and at the end of the album’s run, they displayed a picture of him while Wiggs switched to lead vocals on the song, “Metal Man.” The picture was left up until they were ready to take the stage back for their performance of Last Splash.

Lauren Harris: Live music always beats the recording, and this performance was no different. Every song they played was a hit, going straight down the albums in order. With jokes about the songs being harder to perform now compared to thirty years ago and almost forgetting the words, the show felt light hearted and truly a passion project. From the audience, you would have no idea these albums would be difficult for the performers today as they played with pure perfection. 

The Breeders’ first album, Pod, came first in their set, thirty four years since the album was released. With tracks such as ‘Iris,’ ‘Only in 3’s’, and The Beatles’ ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun,’ the first half of their performance was a beautiful memorial of the scene in the 90s. Perfectly feminine and rough simultaneously, the album talks of love with dirty wordplay. Balancing the innocence of youth and girlhood with the rock scene and the experience of maturing into adulthood. These themes all come through in their performance even after all these years. The giddiness while playing through their sly songs stays clear, leaving the audience amazed by the melody and pure sound, left to process the lyrics and giggle along later.

(The Breeders, photo taken by Seated)

LH, SF: When the Breeders began their set for Last Splash, the band could hardly contain their own excitement. “Each song on this album is like a different planet,” said Kelley Deal, and she was not wrong. Every track on Last Splash has a slightly different feel, like the shifting visuals projected behind them. Over the stage flashed imagery of the album art of both records, with saturated pods, hammers, hearts, eels, gorillas, elephants, and paint splatters. Transporting the audience to a different world and time with the band’s skilled performances seemed almost routine for the members, the spirit of their past selves taking over their bodies as they took over the stage, playing hits that many audience members may have seen decades before. This experimental record, attempting to blend rock, pop, and Hawaiian surf music, such as in their song ‘No Aloha’, was a pleasure to hear live. Still rocking their clever and progressive lyrics, the live version of this track is slightly grittier than the original recording, much more similar to the anniversary edition that was recently released.

SF: Lauren’s personal favorites were ‘Iris’, ‘Do You Love Me Now?’, and ‘Cannonball’, and Scary Fingers’ favorite songs performed were ‘Metal Man,’ (as I loved to hear Josephine sing) and ‘S.O.S.,’ when Kim Deal stopped the song to inform the audience that the guy in back, playing samples for the instruments they couldn’t lug on stage, was going to play a mechanical sound which was a sample of a sewing machine Kelley Deal had brought to the studio in order to work on their mother’s quilt on her downtime. “Drivin' on 9" pulled at my heartstrings as it sounded like a goodbye to a friend you'd never see again, which in the context of their show was bittersweet.

LH, SF: The crowd went crazy for every song, grateful to get the chance to hear The Breeders, especially on the anniversary of their album Last Splash. The performance was a positive celebration of the music, and the memories of recording them, and groups of 20-year-old women bopping their heads energetically reflected the joy that Pod and Last Splash have continued to give for over 30 years.

LH: Overall, the show was absolutely amazing. With the Salt Shed being a wonderful venue and Man on Man being an almost shockingly good opener for being just two people, The Breeders were set up to have a wonderful performance, in my opinion, what must’ve been a peak in their tour and leaving me and the audience hopeful for another return to Chicago.

SF: After their performance of Lash Splash, The Breeders returned for an encore, with Kim Deal now on bass. The Pixies song ‘Gigantic,’ as Deal explained, was the first song she recorded with Steve Albini. According to Deal, her first take was off-pitch, and she had to convince Albini, who hadn’t even noticed, to rerecord, which he thought was “a waste of time.” On the second take, the pitch was perfect, and ‘Gigantic’ went on to be a Pixies classic. The crowd bounced along, singing all the lines back at The Breeders. It was a bittersweet experience. As we walked out, “Kerosene” was queued up over the speakers–a Steve Albini-penned tune, a last reminder of their friend and mentor. The Breeders struck me as nice, friendly people who had fun sharing their positivity and music with a carefree attitude, departing with a final message of “a big, big love.”