Soooo..... as discussed there is nothing like live music. NOTHING! With Fall mercilessly upon us and winter a bad shout out away one needs something to lift out of the gun in my mouth season... with trees turning brown and leaves....falling. But there is even more nothing better (and I intended to say it like that) than seeing live music in a small venue... as God intended. Follow the Diner Review Rule that if the guitarist us not close enough to spit on you, than don't bother to go. Two weeks ago I went to see Neutral Milk Hotel down at the Blue Note in Columbia and it was an epic show... but nothing like this.My son Jon of St. Louis Wing Review fame was finishing up a brutal Fall concert schedule and was wing man. Jon had come fresh from a dinner with my in-laws which I ...missed. It had been a long weekend of family with everyone in town for a wedding but they were gone now and this would be a finale to 3 nights of being slightly...over served.
Off Broadway has morphed into one of the more pleasant places to see a show. The new management (now several years in place) has...
*Opened a courtyard and made that the entrance which improved on the rat maze feel the old entrance had...like you were coming into a closet or something.
*Removed wagon wheel light fixture which though "classic" blocked the view from the shitty balcony and cluttered the room.
*Further uncluttered by removing all the crap off the walls replacing them with iconic (if boring) posters of musicians, many of whom are flipping the bird.
*Torn out the beautiful long bar and replaced it with a much smaller and more manageable one. It is not as pretty and you will wait in line but there is never any question of being ignored or when it is "your turn".
They have not fixed the bathrooms which remain abysmal though clean. They do discriminate against the "bowel challenged" (I might adopt that as a description for my celiac) but I would suspect that is a 5 figure to 6 figure fix which is hard to justify, A port-o-potty rental for the courtyard might be an idea though or even a bathroom out there... I don't know. Bottom line is that they have made it into a much more friendly venue, and the shows run on time which is something former management could never seem to get done.
The other nice thing about it is that if you get there for the opener, you are likely to see the headliner, or headliners, walking around. Like Richard Gere in "Officer and a Gentlemen", they got nowhere else to go! Unless they want to hide in the attic like green room there are very few choices. I was there early because I was excited about the show and needed to stake out standing space for Jon and myself and got to chat up Will Sheff in the drink line. He is a pretty unassuming guy and has boyish looks. I was able tot ell him how much I liked his music and he was polite and friendly. I did not make him get in a pic with me... I was proud of myself for maintaining that tiny...TINY bit of dignity. The last time I saw Sheff was at the Pageant where he did a standoffish set and was so drunk that he forgot a verse of "Westfall" but..... I am a fan.
Will Johnson opened. Johnson is from Kennett Missouri (If It Makes You Happy) and now lives in Austin. He interested me 15 years ago with his main band Centromatic but has a lot of solo stuff out as well as a tribute CD he did with Jay Farar. Bottom line was he played solo and he was...great. Kind of a Kenny Logins (Logins and Messina) voice but then he would get all dark and whispery and his guitar is just...haunting. He played about a 50 minute set and was impressive enough for me to buy his new CD.
I had been off to the side of the stage but after Johnson left the weak willed or weak bladdered headed off and I moved in and camped front row (standing) slightly off center and was thrilled, once again by the tininess of people who go see live music. Whether it is a genetic thing with music lovers or whether it is because they are more apt to abuse themselves with cigarettes and alcohol stunting growth... it is great to be over 6 foot at a live show. Jon showed up and we had nothing but these sweet, elf size music lovers in front of us, so much so that I that I was able to move several more people in front of me (because you don't want to be a dick and block other people's view just because you can) and peer over their heads. It is, by the way, considered poor form to place your drinks on their heads.
Okkervil came on at the crack of 9:30. Late for a school night but it had been tweeted by venue that it was the schedule, and it was, so I could pace myself mentally and cocktail-wise. Sheff came on with a crack 5 piece band and simply killed it, tore it up, beat it up bloody, right from the start. He lit into two tracks from the new album, "It Was My Season" and "Balcony" which really got everyone going but after that he tore into some his great, old, angry songs from Black Sheep Boy, "For Real" at which point he owned the audience and the show.
Their new album, "Down The Deep River" is a really mature work and it hearkens back to the earlier days of the band with a lot of accessible introspection. Sheff has been all over the rock press and NPR promoting this and everyone seems to make it out as this loveable look back at growing up in a small New England town. Can New England be pastoral? I don't think so and I would argue that Sheff does not either. There is joy, sadness and God bless him, teen angst. The songs recall all types imagery from the 80s and they are sweet... with an edge. I don't know what this was.
This show was a killer. An artist who is re-peaking after a little thrashing around who really knows how to put on a live show. This size venue is PERFECT for him, and for the audience.
Will Johnson Opened!
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