So the first thing to note, from a civic pride standpoint, is that Baton Rouge was graced with the first encore of the just-launched “Dirty South” tour—so suck on it, Beaumont, TX! It featured a rousing performance of “The Well” (with Shearwater’s Jason Meiburg on keymonica) and a final song that I didn’t recognize. You can deduct 10 units from my indie rock credit account for this failure. I haven’t made any new deposits in years, so we’re living off principal now, which I said I’d never do, but hey. Belts are tightening all over.
Anyway, it was indeed a fine show. Callahan was backed by opener Meiburg on guitar and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Thor Harris, who I hope gets paid a little extra for his versatility. The line-up still seemed to be working out the kinks a little bit, pacing-wise—some of those langorous Smog songs demand even more patience than usual when stripped of the atmospheric ornamentation and strung together in a row—but for the most part the crowd seemed willing to extend that patience. (There was a lot of shushing during contemplative numbers such as “Rock Bottom Riser.” I couldn’t tell if it was real shushing or ironic shushing, or if it started off as one and became the other, or what, a dilemma which I guess is at the heart of indie-rock culture.) Dave Ashes characterized the evening’s sound as “post-Southern rock,” and I think he’s right on. The highlights for me were the songs that replaced mournful strings and organs with crunchy guitar noise, transforming the wistfulness and hopefulness of numbers like “Say Valley Maker” and “Let Me See the Colts” into something a little more aggressive and assertive. “Vessel in Vain” was a slow-burning revelation, too—I haven’t listened to it in years and now I don’t know what I’ve done without it.
Probably the best recommendation I can give the show is that I came home at 2:30 and listened to Smog records for another hour in hopes of prolonging the experience just a little longer. Come back soon, Bill! And good luck in Hattiesburg . . .
BONUS! Conversation behind me at the Bill Callahan show:
Guy [coming back from the bar]: Did he just play “Sycamore”?Girl: Um, I’m not . . .
Guy: Was that “Sycamore” just then?
Girl: I don’t know if . . .
Guy: Did I just miss “Syacmore”?
Girl: Yeah, I think so.
Guy: Awesome. I fuckin’ hate that song.
Note: It was not “Sycamore.”
Here’s “Vessel in Vain” (from another show . . . ):
Whew, I thought for a minute that the subject was ‘A Snoggy Saturday Night…’ and I was about to question whether we were attending the same function.
It was an excellent show. Thanks for the heads up on it. For the first time since moving to The Stick I’ve managed to hang out with you without our pre-requisite 4 month furlough.