When I e-mailed Chris to see if I could possibly stay with him and his lovely fiancé when I came out to see the Wrens, he responded with “You do know I’m playing the next night, don’t you?” In fact, I had checked, but since it wasn’t listed anywhere I had no idea; that was all I needed to know to buy a plane ticket.
Other than Chris’s show tonight and the Wrens the night before, I had no plans for my weekend in New York, so when Chris told me I was welcome to come to band practice I jumped at the chance, despite the fact that he insisted it would be boring. I always claim he doesn’t play long enough (though I am not sure how long “enough” would be), so even though it was going to be the same handful of songs that I would hear at Union Hall that night, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The Hideout show at the end of January featured all the usual suspects, a familiar group of musicians including drummer Gerald Dowd, bassist Ryan Hembrey, remarkable cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and keyboardist/trumpet player Dave Max Crawford. However, other than charming keyboardist David Nagler (who also writes all the arrangements for Chris’s records), this whole group was new to me. Though by the end of the night I had spent enough time with them that I felt like I knew them.
Turns out I had seen bassist Eddie Carlson on his only trips to Madison. During the time he lived in Chicago he played with Frisbie when they opened for Wilco at the Barrymore in 2000, and then again two years later at the Rathskellar, both shows that I happened to be at. Drummer Sean Haskins filled in when Chris got a last minute gig opening for Okkervil River and his usual New York drummer Konrad Meissner wasn’t available. I had actually met violinist Margaret White, who played with all three bands tonight, on my last trip to New York. We shared a cab to Brooklyn from a karaoke bar where I had tagged along with the Hotel Lights after their show at Maxwell’s. Yep, it really is a small world.
It wasn’t the set list I would have made, but I certainly won’t complain. Old favorites like the honest “All You Ever Do” and the perfect “The Silver Line” mixed well with Living in the Aftermath’s frenetic “Atom Smashers” and the charmingly old-timey “I Guess This Is Why (They Invented Goodbye).” I instantly recognized new song “False Mustache” during rehearsal, even though I claimed it hadn’t made much of an impression the first time, and it stuck in my head the rest of the day. Chris’s live shows are always energetic affairs, he expends so much in the course of a set I don’t know if he could play any longer than he does. Tonight the low ceiling of the downstairs venue kept him from jumping around as much as usual, but it was still an exhaustingly terrific show.
I hadn’t heard of openers Bird of Youth before, but the guitar player looked decidedly familiar. It turned out to be Timothy Bracy of the Mendoza Line, which disintegrated spectacularly in 2007 when its two main songwriters divorced. The songs themselves also sounded vaguely familiar, recalling those of Okkervil River. Which I guess is unsurprising considering that Will Sheff produced the band’s forthcoming record. Lead singer Beth Wawerna doesn’t have Sheff’s depth of emotion, but she does have a pleasantly dusky voice, which lends itself well to the material. It will be interesting to hear their first release which boasts an impressive roster of friends. In addition to members of Okkervil River, the Wrens Charles Bissell and Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws also lend their talents.
On the other hand, Mascott’s Kendall Jane Meade has the sort of girly voice that would have made me crazy if she hadn’t made me like her immediately. Gorgeous in that girl-next-door way, she had confidence and sass that lit up the whole stage, smiling her way through a set of super catchy tunes that also prominently featured White on violin and backing vocals. I can’t ever imagine listening to their new release Art Project, but surprisingly I actually wouldn’t mind seeing them again.
Oh, and by the way that photo of the band playing to an empty room is from sound check. Despite the fact that Chris was sure there weren’t going to be many people there, the room was packed by the time he took the stage. He may like to think that people don’t care, but they do.
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