Having never before seen Carbon Leaf perform live, I was quite ready to experience this band that I have been listening to so avidly for quite a few years. From the first time I heard Echo Echo on my drive to Austin, Texas so many years ago I have been a dedicated fan. It was merely a bonus that I would also get to see long-time favorites Stephen Kellogg And The Sixers open the show.

The Sixers came onstage and were greeted by the kind of applause that is normally reserved for bands that have tons of fans… which made my jaded critic heart think that somehow, somewhere along the line the local AAA radio stations are playing their records. When songs started people were cheering and singing along. Weird. The new songs are much more radio-friendly, and less country; at least live they seem that way. It's as if someone took (a really, really good) Matchbox 20, Guster, Jackopierce, and Stephen Kellogg and rolled them all into one great big super Stephen Kellogg. While I don't care much for the fact that ¾ of the band was wearing dumb hipster hats, I can't argue with the music. Songs like "See You Later See You Soon" were tremendous, and the band switching to acoustic guitars and pedal steel brought back some of that country flavor that I came to love on their debut record. Kellogg's voice has a touch of the same pathos that Rob Thomas' has, but so much more soul. The band has really come into their own as a performing unit, full of energy and wonderful audience interaction, while Kellogg's writing has grown quite a bit as well. The band obviously has a great time playing live, Stephen Kellog working in all kinds of humorous stories and quips into the breaks, and into the songs themselves. When the band broke out a tuba to play "The Bear", the room got a little more raucous… the song building onto some fine 50's rockabilly guitar riffs and super stompy drums. As a random intro to the beautiful song "Diamond", Stephen brought a 'random' couple on stage and started talking about the song as the dude got down on bended knee and proposed marriage to the girl. How could she say no? It was very nice and the crowd went wild as they stayed on stage to dance as the song was played. Hearing some of these songs live surprised me how some of them have become a part of my musical vocabulary and have become ingrained in my head and heart.

Carbon Leaf joined The Sixers on stage for "Start The Day Early", probably the most 'college' of Kellogg's songs. Nine dudes on stage is a lot, and with them all playing instruments things get a little noisy and really, really fun. Then the two-band-on-stage continued with Carbon Leaf's tremendous "Let Your Troubles Roll By", a nine-man hootenanny full of energy and sound and love. The crowd joined in to sing along for the climax of the song… The Sixers took their leave and Carbon Leaf continued straight into their set. AWESOME! This is how rock shows should be… no 30 or 40 minute breaks in between sets for the crowd to lose their energy and interest in the show.

Having never seen Carbon Leaf live before I was impressed by their musical prowess on stage. I knew they could play, but I didn't expect to see the bass player switching from electric to doghouse bass. I was also astounded - but not surprised - by how jammy the band was on stage; not in a freeform-makes-no-sense kind of way, but in a very melodic and lovely Allman Brothers type of way. They took the songs and stretched them out nicely, without inducing goofy hippy dancing or the need for hallucinogenic drugs. The Sixers' piano player joined Carbon Leaf on stage for a couple of songs including "Miss Hollywood" and "Life Less Ordinary". The show really got cooking as the band launched into an Irish reel that morphed into "The Rocky Road Of Dublin" and then into a stunning version of "The Boxer". I was very glad that they still have an Irish heart in their music, the same sound that was so prevalent on Echo Echo and made me fall in love with the band in the first place. At times during the show the band reminded me of another great pop band from the early 1990's called The Box. Something about the singer's voice and melodic interplay of the instruments is classically stunning, timeless and beautiful. The most striking thing about the band live is that their music is even more anthemic and grand than the songs are on record. That's saying a lot, as Carbon Leaf is the band releasing some of the most epic rock records in this modern age of music. There were a few songs that I had really hoped to hear the band play live (such as the amazing "Raise The Roof") but they did a great job of covering much of their catalog, but focusing on the latest release, Nothing Rhymes With Woman.

Near the end of Carbon Leaf's set The Sixers re-joined their friends on stage… comments were made on how this tour was being called the "Bear Rhymes With Woman" tour… Once more with nine musicians on stage, the collective sound reached a wonderfully spiritual place that reminded me strongly of The Band; a semi-country sounding song with multiple vocalists taking their turn on verses. The 'band' played through a Stephen Kellogg song with which I am unfamiliar and then Carbon Leaf's grandiose "Nothing Rhymes With Woman" that was built on an intro that incorporated parts from "God's Gonna Cut You Down". To wrap the night up, the bands launched into a final song… I was hoping for some sort of Levon Helm song, or other sort of Band tune, but instead the audience was treated to a rousing version of the Allman Brothers' "Ramblin' Man". With four guys playing guitar there was plenty of guitar solos and telltale riffs… but all buried behind the love that these bands had for each other, and for the sheer joy of sharing a stage with your buddies playing songs that mean so much to the audience and yourselves.

-David DeVoe

Carbon Leaf w/ Stephen Kellogg And The Sixers
September 25, 2009
Ogden Theater, Denver, Colorado
www.carbonleaf.com

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