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In order to make room for Tim Reynolds,
this show started and ended before dark. Some truly enterprising
venue manager packed in heaps of indie kids for this little
Christian indie Lollapalooza, then packed in twice
as many "cultural creatives" for the Reynolds show
three hours later. Ain’t free enterprise great?
Billed as three separate bands, this show
was really one band with three different front men and three
different sounds. T.W. Walsh, fronted by Tim Walsh,
included Casey Foubert on guitar and Pedro The Lion
front man, David Bazan on drums. Damien Jurado
was accompanied by the same folks. Pedro The Lion was fronted
by Bazan, and included Foubert on drums and Walsh on guitar
and keyboards. In all three bands, Bazan appeared to act as
musical director.
T.W. Walsh, the least known name on the
bill, opened with a visually dull and musically unsteady set.
All members of the band seemed a little nervous and stagefrightened,
with the exception of veteran Foubert. In a short, six-song
set, the band plodded through four rather lackluster tunes
and two compelling and exciting tunes. Unfortunately, Bazan
had arranged the set list so that the two strongest songs
were buried and nearly forgotten in the middle of the set.
The overall sound achieved by T.W. Walsh, the band, owes a
great debt to Built To Spill. When Walsh’s vocals aren’t
reminiscent of Built To Spill’s Doug Martsch, they’re
directly descended from Martsch’s idol, Neil Young.
Unfortunately, what BTS has to offer in pop songwriting terms
is lacking from Walsh’s trick bag, so the music ends up being
distanced from the listener and difficult to become involved
in. However, given the chance to flesh out his songs and sound
with a steady band or with a 4-track, Walsh has the potential
to establish himself as a contender in the indie arena.
Damien Jurado’s Nick Drake-meets-Ryan
Adams twang followed Walsh. The same combination of musicians
who seemed so nervous at the outset sounded and acted as if
they’d always played together with the marginally-more-confident
Jurado at the helm. This may have been helped by the fact
that Jurado and Bazan have collaborated in many contexts previously.
Drawing on tracks from all of his albums
(excluding the musique concrete effort, Postcards
And Audio Letters), Jurado seemed genuinely excited by
his music and by the crowd. Frequently, he was even moved
to dance (albeit awkwardly) to the funky beats laid down by
Bazan. The show climaxed with amazing performances of three
tracks from this year’s Bazan-produced I Break Chairs album,
beginning with an extended-but-coherent jam on "Never
Ending Tide". The band maintained its energy throughout
the improvisations, and allowed that energy to carry them
directly into "Castles". The volume diminished,
but the intensity did not, as the band wound down into a beautiful
rendition of "Lose My Head". Credit Bazan for constructing
a set that built to an amazing conclusion.
A gifted songwriter and musician, Jurado
has not yet perfected his stage presence. At one point during
his set, technical difficulties forced Jurado to banter with
the crowd. Bazan, acting as both musical director and showmanship
mentor, kept coaching him from behind his drum kit to tell
some jokes, but no avail. The only thing Jurado could bring
himself to say to the mile-high Denver crowd was, "I’ve
never been this close to the moon before."
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When the band took the stage for a third
time, this time as Pedro The Lion, there was no mistaking
who the headliner was. Bazan, whose voice had been audible
from behind the drums throughout the evening, appeared more
comfortable at the microphone than either of the previous
front men. As is his custom, Bazan frequently sought feedback
and interaction from the audience throughout the set. Bazan’s
banter was always witty and always brief enough not to disturb
the momentum of the set. When nothing else seemed appropriate,
he simply prompted the audience with, "Does anybody have
any questions at this point?" and answered whatever question
was posed.
Again, Bazan had cooked up an exciting
and satisfying set list. Leaning heavily on his latest release,
Control, Bazan took the band through bootleg-worthy
takes on "Rapture", "Penetration" (If
it isn’t making dollars, then it isn’t making sense/If it
isn’t penetration, then it isn’t worth the kiss), "Indian
Summer", and "Options". The set really took
off, however, with a trio of songs that appear as tracks 7,
8 and 9 on Control. "Rehearsal" opened the
mini-set, sparking an intensity that continued to build with
"Second Best". With "Second Best", Bazan
brought his tortured, angst-ridden soul in all its glory out
for all to see. Finally, a restrained-but-passionate interpretation
of "Priests And Paramedics" brought the triptych
to a close.
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But that was not to be the end. Bazan pushed
himself and his band on to even higher heights as the show
closed with what is arguably one of the best songs he has
written so far, "A Mind Of Her Own", from 2000’s
Winners Never Quit. In what might described as ecstasy
or possession, depending on your outlook, Bazan seemed to
channel the energy of whatever spirit it was that helped him
write this amazing tune into an absolutely phenomenal performance.
Those members of the audience who weren’t leaning forward
in rapt attention were being blown against the back wall of
the hall as Bazan and company wailed and self-flagellated
through this, the unquestionable highlight of the night.
Overall, the show was satisfying and enjoyable,
with each of the three "bands" performing well,
but the price of the ticket could have been justified easily
by Pedro The Lion’s stunning performance of "A Mind Of
Her Own". Less than an hour later, legions in flannel
that paid a lot more for their tickets would pour into the
theater for an entirely different kind of show. Too bad they
missed this.
-Eryc Eyl
Talk Back
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