Show Reviews: Andrew Bird Gezelligheid and King Krule in San Francisco

I'd not been to a single live show this year until last week.  It was a plan that had been made for at least two months in advance and it was a devious one, indeed.  Andrew Bird one night, King Krule the next.  It seemed almost too good to be true that such a coincidence was occurring, but alas, here I am a few days later and still basking in the wonderfulness I experienced. 

Staying in SF, just blocks away from the synagogue where Andrew Bird was playing, I did not mind getting away from the freezing temperatures of Reno and into the Bay Area's downright hot by comparison low 60's temperatures.  This meant, basically, a lot of walking.  And, inevitably, you see some street names in SF that are funny in one way or another.  Although it's mostly an alley now, this one was rather amusing to me for obvious reasons:

Earlier in the day, we made the walk over to Haight-Ashbury and hit Amoeba.  They now advertise their prowess in their video stock, unfortunately:

I was on a budget, so I shopped wisely and picked up mostly hole fillers for my collection:

(I'll get to them at a later date, but I will say right now that Amoeba's prices on used items have gone up in the last few years, but if you know what you're shopping for, the place still remains an absolute dream of a record store for nerds like me)

As I mentioned, Andrew Bird was playing the Sherith Israel synagogue.  A venue presumably picked for its acoustics and certainly did not disappoint in that regard.  It's an absolutely beautiful piece of architecture and the time spent waiting for the show to begin passed quickly, just admiring the gorgeous attention to detail throughout the place:

The before show house system played a strange, but somehow fitting combination of crackling Carter Family songs and newer solo instrumental guitar work by the likes Bert Jansch (among others).  Andrew played essentially alone, although he was joined by a bassist (whose name I unfortunately did not catch) and Tift Merritt later in the set (and boy did their harmonies sound great!).  He played two sets that lasted about fourty minutes a piece and there wasn't much stage banter or song title announcements.  He started out with one of the instrumental songs from his newest I Want to See Pulaski at Night EP (and then closed the first set with the title track from that EP) and then played a combination of older songs ('Dear Old Greenland'!!), a few from Break it Yourself and a handful of cover tunes, by both contemporary and classic sources.  All of the older material received slight arrangement adjustments and tweaks that made them sound as fresh as ever, and somehow right at home in between the cover tunes.  The show was billed as "Gezelligheid" (pronounced "gah-zell-ig-hide) and the word is supposed to mean something like a relaxed atmosphere.  In that regard, Andrew definitely succeeded.  He closed with the old standy 'Weather Systems' and I have to say, of the three times I've seen him, he's played it every single time and this one was the best.  There were numerous instances where he seemed to change the words to a song because he could, made mistakes that would have gone unnoticed by anyone who didn't already know the song extremely well and, through most of the show, it felt like he was up there letting the audience in on a rehearsal.  Now, when you're as good as Andrew Bird is at what he does, this is the highest compliment that can be paid.  Because he was completely on that night.  It just cemented to me that he is absolutely one of the best musicians on the planet and even when he's basically up there screwing around, he still manages to make completely unique and beautiful music.

Tuesday was, for me, the main event: King Krule at the Independent over on Divisadero.  I'd never been there before, but I was extremely excited upon entering the place and seeing it was only about a four or five hundred capacity room.  This meant any spot in the place could be a good one.  Well, I don't want to brag, but we may have managed to get the best spot in the house:

The opener was Tops (no really, that's their name).  I thought they were okay.  Angel III thought they were good, just based on how much fun they were clearly having up there.  When Archy took the stage around 9.30, I was shaking in anticipation.  Amidst dark blue lights, he launched into 'Has this Hit?' and it wasn't until the second half of the song and Archy burst into his rapping over that irresistible faux-rockabilly riff that it struck me: this is happening.  This is real.  It seemed totally surreal up until that point.  Before I knew it, he was rapping the words at me as I was rapping them right back at him.  The rest of the set just blew me completely and totally away.  His band was completely ace, and through a setlist that included a lot of 6 Feet material, sprinkled with past favorites, something occurred to me that I never thought I would say: the arrangements on 6 Feet Beneath the Moon actually hinder his presentation as a performer.  Good as the album is (and, to be sure, it's my favorite album of at least the last two years), the songs as they were played live in a more sparse, four piece band presentation hit harder and have more immediacy than on the record.  The entire set was full of energy and in the moment beauty that can only lead me to suggest that a live album is not only advisable, but necessary at this point.  The rawked up, "Fuck you, I'm punk as fuck!" run-throughs of 'A Lizard State', 'Rock Bottom' and 'Easy Easy' (with the obligatory audience singalong, no less) were bubbling over with intensity and properly controlled anger, while slower, meditative renditions of 'The Krockadile', 'Baby Blue' and 'The Noose of Jah City' ventured off into six and seven minute lengths that left goosebumps crawling all over me.  The proper set closer 'Out Getting Ribs' was not only a guitar playing clinic (less than five feet in front of my face, no less), it was the highlight of the evening (among many).  A one song encore of 'Portrait in Black and Blue' and a short handshake with the man left me with tears of joy welling up in my eyes.  There is so much contradiction in his music that having such overwhelming feelings of sureness that he is the future of music is definitely confusing.  I may make silly overbearing statements like that, but after seeing him with my own eyes, I can say one thing definitively: he is the real deal.  He is the absolute embodiment of creativity and talent. 

All that, and he totally does a "I don't care if there's people watching me" dance while he plays:

A wonderful way to end out the year.

~Austin

Show Review: Andrew Bird 13 April 2012

I saw Andrew Bird open for Kristin Hersh, years ago, on the Grotto tour and he was just this one man band, near freakshow, of flailing and wailing brilliance.  I had never heard of him.  To say he left a permanent mark in my memory with his whistling, violin playing and loop station mastery that night is an understatement.  He's always been on my radar so, when he announced a tour late last year, I bought tickets without a second thought for his show at the Fox Theater in downtown Oakland.  Fast forward a few months to when his latest album was released and my anticipation for the show went through the stratosphere, as it's arguably his best album yet.

Fucking weather.  Snow in April.  Chains required to get over I-80 to the Bay Area.

Long drive.  Need to refuel.

Anytime I get near Telegraph Avenue, there's a good chance I'll be eating Ethiopian food.  (yes, it was delicious)

Stand in line.

Wriggle our way up front.

When he took the stage around 9pm, I honestly didn't know what to expect.  When he just started looping pizzicati, whistles and bowed violin lines, I can't even convey how surreal it was.  2,500 people watching this skinny man create his pocket symphonies in real time.  Just unreal the things he was able to do his violin and his mouth.  When the band joined him onstage after a few songs, it was a no-brainer that this was going to be good, while in a between song moment, Andrew declared, "I've been looking forward to this show, though I don't know why."  

Although there's only four people on stage, it took a real step back and a realization of what he was actually doing up there all by himself to understand just how incredible a live performer he is.  The way he directs the band in subtle nods and finger points, his incredible pitch-perfect whistle/xylophone harmonies and the way he brandishes his violin as a guitar are all the marks of a musician at the very top of his game.  Indeed, in a between song banter moment, Andrew announced that the band would mostly be playing songs from the new album because they were "a whole lot of fun to play."

And I guess that's what struck me about the whole performance: through all the perfect musicianship and utterly professional approach to the whole thing, there was no lack of grins being exchanged between band members and when they all took a final bow and said their thank yous at the end of the night, it felt like they really wanted to personally approach every person in the the place thank them face to face.  

Elsewhere, the quirks of the performance were all over the place.  Somebody constructed this odd spinning gramophone thing that shot all kinds of super echoey racket when it was used and I have to admit that, besides being a great stage prop, it served a purpose that I was completely confounded by.  He played his now infamous rendition of 'It's Not Easy Being Green' which was nothing if not worthy of a good chuckle.  And, you know, a bit of the good ol' rockin' out.  A three song, entirely acoustic encore of all country and traditional folk songs pretty much tore the house down from where I was standing.  And that was that.

Photos:

His band was excellent and I really have to take a step back and realize just how far he's come in the last decade since I first saw him.  To say that his approach to making music is essentially unchanged, but only refined, really illustrates just how good he is.  

Fantastic.

~Austin

Show Review: Poor Moon 23 March 2012 b/w Illusions EP

This past Friday, I made the trip over to San Francisco to see Poor Moon at Bottom of the Hill.  All evidence points to me being a huge Fleet Foxes fan, so I was right on top of things when it was announced that the band's bassist Christian Wargo was now fronting another band with fellow Foxes' multi-instrumentalist Casey Wescott along with friends (and brothers) Peter and Ian Murray.  And when these guys released an absolutely great free digital single several weeks ago, I knew that I had to see them when tour dates were announced.  For a couple days two or so weeks ago, they offered the entire Illusion EP for free download (I guess they didn't want to go out on the road with no material officially released yet), so that was well familiar by the time they took the stage.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

 

The Illusion EP will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Fleet Foxes.  Five folk-pop songs, book ended by two sparse acoustic numbers (the title track and the redemptive 'Widow'), Josh Tillman contributions, with many deep harmonies and plenty of reverb on the vocals in between.  Yeah, there's definitely some like-mindedness going on in the Foxes' camp.  Except for that one song right in the middle of everything.  'People in Her Mind' is just a wonderfully bouncy little slice of layered, catchy-as-all-hell, 60's inspired pop.  To say that it sticks out on an EP that could otherwise be described as moody and eerie is an understatement.  You just have to marvel at how complete and cohesive things are for a sixteen minute EP.  It's always nice when a band can put out such a perfect synthesis of what they do in the EP format.  There is a clear beginning, middle and end to the whole thing and I was going in to the show well-versed in its contents.  Except, I would be thrown a curve ball (not one that I wasn't prepared to take a mighty swing at, mind you; I just didn't see it coming).

We're getting ahead of ourselves again.

Going to shows in San Francisco means getting a good meal beforehand.  It just does.  The choices are endless.  Japan town is my pick for the concentration of good places all within walking distance of each other.  You can compare menus and prices in real time, on the spot.  The search for the right place is almost a show within itself.  Found a place in the mall (and it was delicious):

Time to kill after that, so off to the west bay it was:

After some thought, I realized it had been years since I had actually seen the Pacific Ocean (despite being close).  About a quarter mile straight downhill:

And then it was time to do silly things that I did when I was a kid, like draw designs in the sand with your feet and taunt the incoming waves:

Enough silliness, back across the city to the venue:

It's always fun to see shows at Bottom of the Hill.  It's a small enough venue that you can probably catch somebody from the band at the merch table or wandering about and shoot the breeze for a bit.  I did catch Christian, pre-set, at the merch table and he seemed pretty road-weary, but receptive to conversation.  I said my thank yous and let him know that his last visit to the Bay Area with Fleet Foxes was appreciated and that I was grateful for the good work he was doing.  

When Poor Moon finally took the stage about an hour later, they made the thing look smaller than it actually is.  With six guys and tons of gear, there was hardly room for anybody to move.  But you'd never know that from the absolutely perfect performance they put forth.  The only song that was played off of Illusion was 'People in Her Mind', late in the set — which was rendered in a slightly rocked up, less polished way that just seemed to bowl everyone in the place over.  I mean, after an eight or nine song set of unknown tunes, no stage banter, no titles announced and in such contrastingly exquisite form to the previous band, I don't like the lukewarm audience reaction they received, but I can at least understand it.  I have no titles to go off of here, but the first tune they played was such a grand shift in mood in the place that I dare say it silenced the crowd briefly.  The one I have given the stopgap title of 'The Tambourine Song' was smack dab in the middle of the set, and appropriately so, as it was the highlight for me.  A mid-tempo, percussion-oriented thing; I can't wait to hear it again.  Another one that I will call 'The Rocker' for now found Christian pounding away at his Rickenbacker in between brilliant vocal melodies and pieces of dead silent pauses for a downright stunning display of stop/start/loud/quiet shifts.  'People in Her Mind' got the biggest audience reaction and, I have to say, even though I never would've guessed it from being familiar with the EP, it was the most representative song that I knew going in.  The rest of the band's set was much in line with that sprightly little number.  Very 60's pop inspired material, very tightly arranged and played and all very heartfelt.  Although Illusion gave me a completely different picture of the band than what I was presented with on Friday night, I have to say that, if this band is going to go further (as it seems to be, with a full length rumored to be on the way later this year), they have tons of potential.  The songs were presented purely professionally, but there was no doubt there was an amount of silliness going on (I saw band members sticking their tongues out at each other between pitch perfect group harmonies!) and, despite all the between song instrument juggling and just an in-general rush that was in the air, I can't imagine these guys putting out a better "first taste" live showing.  Christian was excellent vocally (who knew!) and overall, I felt like the trip was totally worth that fourty five or fifty minutes of completely unfamiliar music.  

Photos:

I hope that full length is not just a rumor and I hope to see them again soon.  

I was so pumped after seeing them that I walked out of the place and was able to stay awake for the four hour drive back to Reno.

Yeah, they were that good.

This video features the band playing some of those tunes that didn't show up on Illusion (and one that was not played at Bottom of the Hill).

~Austin

Show review: Fleet Foxes 10 September 2011

Made the trip over to Berkeley yesterday to see Fleet Foxes at the Greek Theatre. I've been wanting to see them live for a few years now, as they are one of my favorite bands. Although I feel like maybe I'm getting too old to make such marathon trips and stand around for several hours in the same spot, I once again have to revert back to an old cliche: it was totally worth it.

Not much to say about the actual performance because it was so good, so passionate and so resonating that I don't want to be become redundant.

The opener was the Walkmen and, despite hearing them in passing previously and not really being terribly impressed, I have to say they left me pretty indifferent. The lead guitarist did have a sweet shiny midnight blue and white Rickenbacker that looked vintage, though. Nothing more to say, really.

Walking up Gayley street to get in line, I could hear the band's soundcheck harmonies echoing out of the theatre, through the city blocks and into the fog. The music on the house stereo leading up to the band's entrance had Robin Pecknold's fingerprints all over it: Van Morrison, David Axelrod and John Coltrane, amongst other things. Just provided the perfect atmosphere.

It was clear that the crowd was on the band's side, as they received a standing ovation before a single note was played. The song selection in the setlist had pretty much everything I would have asked for, had the band consulted me. 'The Plains/Bitter Dancer' —what I initially thought to be an odd opening selection— worked incredibly well. They played almost all of Helplessness Blues ('The Cascades' and 'Someone You'd Admire' were left out) amidst a selection of strong older favorites. The fluidity of the live arrangements, especially when they play those medleys was just eye-poppingly good. Even if the material wasn't as strong as it is, you'd still have to marvel at how well they played it. The medley on 'White Winter Hymnal'/'Ragged Wood' and the perfect execution of 'The Shrine'/'An Argument' (with an added extra verse from Robin and a skronky epic bass clarinet solo by Morgan Henderson) into 'Blue Spotted Tail' were definitely highlights. 'Blue Ridge Mountains' came late in the set, during the encore after a new song Robin sang solo, and it sounded just unbelievably good. The harmonies and huge dynamics were surely only enhanced by the Greek Theatre's architecture, as something like 'Sim Sala Bim' just became this gargantuan wall of sound that left more than a few people with goosebumps — myself included.

Other things that stood out to me:
Josh Tillman is an absolute BEAST on drums. The guy has provided the driving backbone that makes the band's music, especially when played live, even more passionate than on records.
Christian Wargo's bass is awesome. The tone he gets out of it is great, sure, but just the look of it wins for me.
The band has FUN when they are playing. They are an extremely tight and disciplined unit, but there was no shortage of between song banter, jokes and just general goofing around going on. You can tell they are loving every second of it up there and it really comes across in how well they play the songs.
Maybe it's just because I was down front, but they were fucking LOUD. Man, I never thought you could genuinely rock out with acoustic instruments like that.

Overall, I can't imagine a better showing from them. The entire time, I kept thinking to myself, "Yeah, this is what I think of when I hear their records." If nothing else, it's proof that they should release a live album, because the material sounds just as good when they play it live as it does on the records (and, in some cases, it's better).

In a quieter between song moment, someone a ways behind me yelled out, "You're one of the best bands of this generation." Robin looked up briefly, quickly looked back down and adjusted his pedals, obviously trying to hide a huge smile. His humility wouldn't let him acknowledge the comment out loud, but his genuine earnestness shone through — which is why people say such things in the first place.

Photos:

Some folks have already put video up on YouTube: 'The Shrine/An Argument/Blue Spotted Tail' (this was the proper set closer) and the new song (no title was announced).

Staggeringly good.

~Austin