My friends and I drove from Memphis to Columbia, Mo., in April 1993 to see the debut show by the reconstituted version of Big Star, which included Jody Stephens and Alex Chilton along with Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the power-pop band The Posies. In particular, Auer meshed his guitar with Chilton’s, and the original two-guitar concept of Big Star also transpires throughout their October 1993 show at The New Daisy Theatre in Memphis, which exists as the definitive video document of the band, 2014’s Live in Memphis. On their own, The Posies usually came across as somewhat less wimpy than you might have thought at first, and their 1993 album Frosting on the Beater is classic — and somewhat tense — power pop. The Posies continued to record before splitting up in 2021. Meanwhile, Auer has always struck me as an underrated singer and songwriter. His 2006 solo album Songs From the Year of Our Demise features atmospheric tracks like “Song Noir” and “Six Feet Under,” which sound great even as they peer into the darkness. As Auer sings in “Song Noir”: “Nothing stings like December rain.” He’s a confident performer with real chops on guitar, and he’s got a song bag.
7 p.m. at The Basement
1604 Eighth Ave. S.
