at long last, a concert review
To summarize last Friday’s concert, I’d like to borrow, with citation and credit, the opening line of this review from Bust Magazine:
I’ve seen the dreamy Sondre Lerche quite a few times, but this Williamsburg show felt different than any show I’d seen of his before.
Yes. This. As I’ve said, this is the nice thing about seeing truly good performers over and over (and I think I’m up to nine shows since 2004 for Mr. Lerche): Each one is different and often reveals an evolved, improved artist. I dunno about the “dreamy” thing, though.
Like the last time we saw him, it was one of those endurance-testers with a 9:00 p.m. start time and two opening acts. The first opener, Bird of Youth, was a guy-girl duo with a pleasant enough sound and some intriguingly weird lyrics. We only caught part of their set.
Will Sheff of Okkervil River was next. I remember learning about Okkervil River several years ago, thinking that I’d like the music, and then not digging it after all. When he started to sing, I remembered why: his voice. Not a fan. Sorry.
And then, time for Sondre Lerche, or Nacho Libre, as he’s known in some circles by people who’ve given up on pronouncing his name. Whatever you call him, he’s a master performer: a technical wizard on the guitar, a passionate singer, and a warm, witty stage-commander with ample quips and stories between songs.
The lovely teal-green guitar and glittery silver guitar strap were the same as always. The arrangements of the songs were, once again, completely and pleasantly different. He brought out a lot of oldies-but-goodies from Two Way Monologue, Phantom Punch and even Faces Down.
The title track of Two Way Monologue, always a show highlight, was reworked into something that was vaguely reggae-like at times, vaguely Talking Heads-like at times, and altogether really interesting. “Private Caller” (from his self-titled, most recent album) and “Phantom Punch” were even more zippy than their album versions, leading to much rocking.
The only disappointment was that it was a little thin on songs from Heartbeat Radio, which I still think might be his best album. Or at least my favorite. On the slow/soulful song side, “Domino” matched its album version pretty faithfully, but I heard the lyrics in a whole new way for the first time. Is it about dealing with an alcoholic? No? Yeah, I thought I might be way off base.
Speaking of lyrical revelations, he explained that “When The River” is about missing your family and friends when you’re on the road and, to back up that point, invited a bunch of people (including his wife) on stage to perform background vocals. Awww. I thought another guy up there looked familiar; turns out it was JBM, who opened during two shows I saw in 2009.
As was rumored on Twitter, he also invited the two openers on stage for a cover of Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work,” which was supposed to be one of the few Steely Dan songs that “mere mortals” can play. I think they might’ve been short a little bit on rehearsal time for the song, but it came together.
In between, we were treated to banter Mystikal, how this is his ‘hood and he will no longer be “polite and Norwegian” about it, and all kinds of other fun things. The encore featured another highlight: solo guitar singalong to “Modern Nature” — not anything new at his shows, but always fun. That song is just adorable.
All in all, good times! I know there was more. Somehow, the memories are already fading even though it was only a week ago. I might come back and add to this.
By the way, Williamsburg has hardly any hipsters anymore. I hadn’t been there since 2008 and was shocked at the demographics change.
