last night we had the distinct pleasure of seeing vic chesnutt and m. ward in the most intimate concert. about 65 tickets. a room the size of a living room. i sat maybe 5 feet from vic's guitartist. maybe it was 4 feet. it was the second to the last gig of their three-week tour. it was... lucky... for those of us in the audience.
between sets vic mentioned how much he had enjoyed touring with matt and that he was sad it was ending. this was while he and matt were setting up their instruments for the first song.
"Matt, " Vic said, beginning a sentence. "I mean [short pause and then an emphasis] 'M.'"
We cracked up.
And then they talked about who Vic would be touring with next, Andrew Bird.
"Is that his real name?" asked Matt.
"No, it's Andrew Lizard," said Vic.
"I thought it was "A," said a voice from the crowd.
The audience cracked up. And after another very short pause Vic said, "A. Bird."
Maybe you had to be there.
The voice from the crowd was none other than the recently moved out, Dan. And then he was on a roll. I think he shouted out two more quips before Vic's set started and I was a little worried we had a heckler on our hands.
Matt was great. His vocals... so soft and scratchy at the same time. He whispered his thanks into the microphone. He took his guitar from lilty and ditty-ish to driving fast and furious and sloppy strumming. Sometimes sonorous. Sometimes discordant. Mesmerizing.
I wasn't a Vic Chesnutt fan going in. I'd heard his name for years, but had never heard his songs. Glen Starkey, our local music critic wrote a glowing interview — warning the readers that he was an unabashed fan. Still... I didn't go in with huge expectations. But soon I realized that we were watching something really great. At times his set dragged a little, but he still kept the audience. His vocals (probably no one will agree with me) reminded me of Bowie. His style a little Jonathan Richman-ish. Not that I was trying to peg him and his style... but I had both thoughts several times. I bought his latest CD Silver Lake for the song "In My Way, Yes." It is a beautiful song.
No comments:
Post a Comment