tonight, a detour

So, here's what happened... I had every intention of going to the Richmond Fontaine show tonight at the Bluebird. But then Wednesday afternoon I was driving to the big farmer's market in Boulder. My friends Amy & Andy have shares in the local CSA, and those lucky bastards are on vacation in Kenya for the next month, so I am getting their fruits & veggies. Yum. Of course, I'd rather be in Africa again...

But I digress... While searching for parking anywhere near the market (difficult) I was listening to Radio 1190, pretty much the best indie radio station in the area. The DJ started talking about having tickets to give away for the Shearwater show on Saturday. Now, I'd heard of Shearwater, but didn't really know too much about them. The DJ went on to explain that Shearwater started out as a collaboration between Okkervil River's Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg. If you know me, you probably know that I am just slightly more than a HUGE Okkervil River fan. Needless to say I was intrigued.

So when I got home I solicited the opinions of my fellow music lovers over at Via Chicago... and was told in no uncertain terms to go to that Shearwater show. And I did.

I decided to head out early to see a couple of local bands open up. First was Hello Kavita. They were good, but apparently missing the Wurlitzer and their drummer. We (that would be me and the, oh, about 7 other people who attended their set) were told that although they wanted to rock out, it just wasn't gonna happen tonight. But they did play a Tom Waits cover (I'll Shoot The Moon) and a Townes Van Zandt cover (Colorado Girl). They also had the most awkward ending to a set that I think I've ever seen...

singer: "Are we done?"
violinist: "Wanna rock paper scissors to see if we're done?"
singer: "Yeah, we're done."

Actually, I would love to see one of those rocking sets from these guys one of these days...

Next up was (die) Pilot. There was a bit of discussion about how to lay the cinder block in front of the kick drum and some issues in working out the keyboard problems they were having. But once the kinks were worked out, this band fucking rocked!! They have a left-handed guitar player, always endearing to ol' southpaw me... I sense he's the newest member, because when the band launched into one (particularly great) song he stated he'd just sit there and "look pretty".

The bass player seemed to exude a certian cockiness, which I loved. But as it turned out, he was just a "little bit drunk". lol. OK, so maybe you had to be there, but the banter from these guys was great. The bassist dedicated one of their last songs to his brother "so you can dance and punch someone in the face." "Sometimes he does both at the same time. Just know that he's out there." Classic. Really great, really fun band. And they're playing at the Bluebird on July 11. I am SO there.


And in what may seem like a bit of an anti-climatic ending to the evening, was the Shearwater set. But anti-climatic? No. Fucking awesome is more like it. Jonathan Meiburg has an amazing stage presence... He commanded people's attention straight away by opening the set with some a cappella singing. From that moment on, you could have heard a pin drop at the ol' Larimer Lounge. Of course, there were probably around 60 people in attendance, but still.

It takes little in a live show to make me happy, and tonight I was a complete pushover. Why? Just a few words... Banjo. Trumpet. Stand-up bass. Yes, I'm easy, I just admitted it. But Shearwater managed to throw in some extras... such as Kim playing a xylophone with her bass bow. Such as a talented drummer playing lots of percussion... I love percussion. Such as a bit of witty banter. Meiburg mentioned that they had driven through "the national park" on their way here today and saw lots of things - a marmot, several chipmunks, a hummer. Whatever he meant by it I was amused... as I always am when I see some jackass driving a hummer around town. I fucking hate hummers.

It was an interesting set. I didn't really know what to expect as I'm not overly familiar with the band. It was certainly low-key, but the crowd was enthralled. Personally, I don't know that I've ever seen an artist more intense on stage than Jonathan Meiburg. It would have been difficult not to be impressed with the performance.

Shearwater played for about an hour then retreated to the patio for all of about 5 seconds before returning for an encore. Meiburg questioned whether they had time, to which we responded with a resounding YES. "One more or two?". A guy near me said "four more!". Haha, rock on. They played two more, ending with an incredible rendition of Baby's On Fire. Great night, great fun, you should see Shearwater if you ever get the chance.