Pinback played to an almost reverent sold out crowd Thursday, January 23rd at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. This is no small feat for a musically saturated town like Portland. People stood shoulder to shoulder, captivated as the three-piece played the night away drawing from all of their albums. When Pinback left the stage, the audience erupted in thunderous applause and cheering. After the storm swept through, Pinback returned for a short encore.
It is said that either you know every Pinback song or you know none. This rings true as their fans seem to know everything about them, including counting how many beers Rob Crow drank during a set. Zack Smith came out on stage first and shook hands with a few fans in the front row as their roadie set out towels, water, beer, and bananas. Yes, bananas. Apparently, Chris Prescott eats bananas while drumming. Crow threw back Newcastles from his customized mic stand and Smith drank water.
Crow walked on stage greeted by cheering fans and tossed a few crumpled set-lists about. As I tried to get a picture of one, a very well informed fan sporting a 
bow tie informed me and everyone around us that it was bad luck to look at the set list. He went on to explain that Pinback plays much faster live than on their studio recordings.
They definitely kept up a good tempo throughout the night as they played favorites like “Boo”, “Good to Sea”, “Tipoli (Ace Fu)”, “Diminished”, “Drawstring”, “Syracuse”, “From Nothing to Nowhere”, “Penelope”, and “Sender”.
Pinback’s first two songs of the evening were the most enjoyable, with Judgment Day accompanying them. Judgment Day was an unexpected surprise of the evening.
They rocked, a furious three-piece orchestra! 
From the first note, one was forced to skip and dance around the crowd as if pulled by a string they handled. A friend of theirs created a dance circle up front for their last view songs by gently moshing. I seized this opportunity to dance. And dance we did, erratically, driven by their rhythm, free.
The ‘string metal’ band, Judgment Day, from Oakland, California rocked hard and intelligently creating more texture and layers than could be thought possible with just drums, a violin, and a cello. In greeting the crowd, Anton Patzner shared that he and his brother Lewis have been making music together for over ten years, busking on the streets, and now they’re opening for Pinback!
[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/judgement-day/demon-fire[/soundcloud]
As Lewis signed a copy of their latest album, Polar Shift, he discussed reading on the road. “There’s not much else to do in the van,” Lewis explained, wielding a large volume of Anna Karenina. I asked what else he enjoys reading. He mentioned War and Peace, James Bond, and Harry Potter to name a few.
Judgment Day will be on the road with Pinback for a few more shows. To experience them playing with Pinback at the Wonder Ballroom was rare treat that one hopes manifests itself again.
