Wednesday in the woods

I think the weather is an excellent sorting tool for forcing you to figure out who your favorite artists are. I could sit there and agonize for days when asked to name a “top 5” or whatever, but it turns out Mother Nature is happy to lay it out for me.

Artists I Have Willingly Stood In Downpours And/Or Thunderstorms In Order To See
1. The Wallflowers (April 2005… WBOS Earthfest… nine hours)

An actual photo that appeared in Earthfest’s newspaper coverage the next day (sans yellow circle). When you stand in the rain from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at least you get to be front-row center.

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2. Bob Dylan (August 2006)
3. Wilco (June 2011)

Others I Would Totally Stand In Downpours And/Or Thunderstorms To See
1. Neil Young (duh)
2. Josh Ritter (his presence alone would make it sunny)

That’s probably it. And apparently that’s the top 5, in no particular order.**

**This, obviously, only takes into account modern-day artists who have, at least, a small chance of actually playing live these days. Hypothetically, I might very well sit in a tornado to see The Beatles or The Band. And possibly Rilo Kiley right now because I’m going through this weird phase where I’m really nostalgic and seeing them as the symbol of my college radio era and am sad I never saw them live before they broke up.

Anyway, this is all a lead-in to last Wednesday’s show, when Ra Ra Riot played the Ives Concert Park in Danbury (opening for Guster). I’ve liked them for years, for reasons that can be summed up as STRINGS.

Last summer, I had tickets to see them in New Haven, but then a tornado warning was issued that evening, so I decided to stay cocooned in my apartment instead. No tornado happened, and I was out $25.

Wednesday’s precipitation was just light rain, nothing the ol’ faithful blue L.L. Bean raincoat (see 2005 photo) couldn’t handle. I’d decided last-minute to go to the show and waltzed up to the on-site box office planning to buy a lawn ticket. I guess the reserved seats hadn’t sold as well as hoped, so I was able to get a nice third-row seat at a reduced price, and the usher even toweled off the seat. Thanks!

Sadly, between the weather and the somewhat strange headliner-opener pairing, the place was mostly empty while Ra Ra Riot performed.

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Yes, this venue has a moat. Yes, it’s awesome. No, there was absolutely no sunlight. I don’t know why it looks like that.

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Strings! Show summary: The band put on a great performance. Despite being a trendyindie band, they didn’t have that annoying cool detachment or distant weirdness that a lot bands of this type have live. They made the songs from their albums come alive and even smiled sometimes.

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It seemed the majority of songs played were from the band’s 2008 album, The Rhumb Line, which is, in my opinion, the better of their full-length albums. Those subtle 80s-ish flourishes on The Orchard are cool, but The Rhumb Line still seems more interesting and has more varied tempos. “Boy” from The Orchard is an exception; those soaring, infectiously catchy choruses’ll get you every time.

The sad and sweet “Can You Tell,” long one of my favorites, was worth the price of admission on its own. As you can see in the photos, the band includes a violinist and a cellist, adding a couple beautiful layers of instrumentation. I believe this also means the band can be called “chamber pop.”

I should apologize for the quality of all the photos here. Even though I had a great seat, a weak camera phone and rain are a tough combination for trying to take anything decent. The water and the lights were causing all sorts of strange reflections and shadows.

[caption id=”attachment_411521" align=”aligncenter” width=”490" caption=”and this is what happens when you try to zoom”]

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Check out the awesome electric cello (or, as I was calling it, the “invisible cello”). And how three out of the four guys in the band looked like some sort of blend of the two guys in Kings of Convenience. No?

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Another highlight was “Dying is Fine,” which they ended the set with. Its already lively pace was stepped up just a tad to make it sound slightly frenetic. As usual, the strings shone.

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The crowd, in addition to being very thin, was not too enthusiastic. An audience singing along — or, at least, not talking through the whole thing — would’ve made the show feel a lot more vibrant, but hey, that’s what happens when it’s the opener.

The crowd woke up during Guster’s performance. Clearly, they were a bunch of superfans, which was one of the reasons I wound up staying for more of Guster’s set than expected. The live vibes were terrific.

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I know exactly two Guster songs (“Fa Fa” and “Amsterdam,” aka the ones they played on Triple-A radio incessantly during the early 2000s). I also tend to unfairly group them with Dave Matthews Band, whom I (possibly irrationally) hate. But the show was fun. It included trumpets, ukeleles, and an organ, so you can’t go too wrong.

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I also must point out that this show was reviewed in Brooklyn Vegan (with fab photos and video), which is funny only because, well, it was in not-even-remotely-ironically-or-unironically-hip Danbury. (Reader comment: “I LOVE DANBURY VEGAN.”)