Mostly Semantics

So since the most common complaint I hear about this blog is “jeeeeez, mbg, you just, you post so frequently, and they’re such short posts - could you just wait awhile longer and roll everything you want to say into a really thick post so we can really sink our teeth in, as it were?” I have been going to shows for the last couple of weeks and thinking about things to say but not writing the things. Not until tonight, anyway.

So this series of concerts got me thinking a lot about showmanship and what it means to be on stage, to have stage presence. Each band/performer had it in spades, but each manifested itself in dramatically different ways. First up was the Mountain Goats, jeez, must have been three weeks ago. Now, I’d seen the Mountain Goats before, I guess before I was writing reviews here. They’re always a treat, because there is nobody with better stage banter than John Darnielle. His songs are charming, and if they’re kind of underwhelming musically, they’re impressive for their uncanny sense of place and character and just make for incredibly storytelling. Frankly I could just listen to John Darnielle talk for a long time. Weirdly, I think he’s been listening to a lot of Mitch Hedberg lately, because his delivery matched that unmistakable cadence perfectly.

Jens Lekman definitely switched up the kind of confessional forthrightness and storytelling atmosphere that Darnielle evoked. Lekman did something similar, but… all Swedish. Which is to say, extra adorable. Darnielle is like a good friend, like, you could see watching tv with him and laughing about how bullshitty and bizarre the commercials are. Lekman… Lekman’s adorable, but in that too-clever-by-half European way. His music is definitely more expansive and dynamic than the Mountain Goats’, but I can’t quite grip his stories in quite the same way. It could be because I’m not European, but… I’ve never been through a messy divorce or been an alcoholic either, so that’s not necessarily it. Here’s the difference - Lekman opened the show by introducing himself and declaring us friends so that we could ‘get past the bullshit and down to something real’ - something to that effect. Darnielle didn’t ask permission, he was just automatically there.

Two days after the almost cloyingly sweet Lekman show I got spun in much the opposite direction by Tim Harrington and Les Savy Fav. Harrington is basically the living embodiment of rock and roll - he’s possibly the best pure frontman I’ve ever personally seen live. Darnielle and Lekman (to a lesser extent, I should note) have their guitars front and center, and even when they’re singing about other people, ostensibly, it always seems like they’re singing about themselves. Harrington is more into the idea or myth of himself. Case in point - he opened the show with an 80s action movie overdub and his self-provided voiceover - a telephone conversation that boils down to the Rocky II/Top Gun trope about roping back in the ol’ expert - ‘Harrington, you’ve gotta come back - they’ve got the President…. and your daughter!’ Now… this alone would be enough to win me over, because I’m a sucker for referential comedy and blatantly contrived melodrama. But the genius of Harrington as a frontman was his ability to carry it off for the ENTIRE SHOW. Every couple of songs would bring another chapter in the saga! Even as we left he was doing the fucking credits! Impressive. I mean, beyond this he’s a huge crazy potbellied bearded bald dude with some SERIOUS crazy eyes who runs out on stage and engages the crowd and swings from the rafters and changes costumes on stage. I mean, he’s as rock and roll as it gets. And basically, after watching what ultimately struck me as a juuuuust a touch contrived show from Lekman, it was a delirious pleasure to watch Harrington show us what rock contrivance is all about. I didn’t think it would get more rock and roll, and had I written this a week ago, like I intended, it would have just been about Tim Harrington and how awesome I think he is.

But it’s not a week ago, and in the intervening time I went to see Spoon in Baltimore. Britt Daniel really kind of one-ups Harrington. No amount of crazy antics, as it turns out, can make up for straightforward musical badassery. Daniel just walked out on stage with his bandmates without a word and plunged headlong into a set that lasted about 70 minutes, plus three encores. Incredible. He barely said a word at all the entire night, and the truth is, you’re there for a concert, not a comedy show. I’m never averse to a chuckle, but ultimately it’s a side dish, and Britt and the boys of Spoon served up a tastier entree than any of the aforementioned bands. He was the only guitar on stage, which surprised me greatly, given their sound. He was pretty damn busy with the guitar all night - spending what seemed like half the show on his knees, fiddling with the various pedals and toys on the floor, the knobs on his guitar, amp, etc. This sounds like it would be boring, but it was compelling as hell, because it’s not as though he took a break. No, he would sink to his knees to tweak his sound as he played, always rising again for his vocals, which were always spot-on. One of the best shows I’ve seen in quite some time, enough to make me forgive the Walkmen for wasting my time (effectively taken down in CV’s review of the show.)

So where does tonight’s show fit into all this? Eh, I don’t even know. Okkervil River I’d been looking forward to seeing for a long time. I really like ‘the stage names’ a lot, and I wanted to like the show, but as soon as they came out, I couldn’t help it, I just thought ‘wtf?’ You see… Will Sheff, Okkervil frontman, has probably the worst emo-bangs in the history of music. And I know, I know, this shouldn’t make a difference to me. I’m a very shallow person. I would hate more than anything to be judged on my appearance, and yet I do it to the people at rock shows constantly, because I’m the worst kind of hypocrite. That said… his haircut was like…. it was like… beautiful. In the way that like one of the ‘Friends’ girls would be if they were from brooklyn and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and rode their bike everywhere. It is long and ridiculously coiffed across/in his face. JESUS WILL SHEFF YOUR HAIR IS EATING YOUR HEAD! Ultimately they were not that bad, I got over the hair, they got through with the slow old alt-country tunes and got into their newer pop-rock stuff, which is my preference anyway, and it was fine. They were just a sort of lousy hors d’oeuvre for the New Pornographers. This was, I think, the third or fourth time I’ve seen them, (even seen them since I’ve been blogging but I’m basically always up for the New Pornos. They’re just always excellent. This version was a bit lacking in the usual star power - no Neko (she’s on the tour but was apparently sick tonight) and no Dan. This was basically fine with me, though. I generally don’t like the Neko songs as well, and I think Kathryn is basically just as good. I love the Dan songs, but the process of coaxing him out to do them, sufficiently rewarding him with applause, etc, is such an ordeal that it breaks up the show. Dan, you’re a genius but you’re a whore for attention. Carl is obviously the best. Have you heard the Carl solo record? Amazing. Carl is sweet and disarming - he banters not nearly as well as basically any of the above artists (ok, Britt exempted, as he said almost nothing) - it’s usually kind of inaudible and/or awkward - but I still kind of appreciate the effort anyway, if that makes any sense. Tonight’s show was not the best of theirs I’ve seen, in all honesty. It seemed like the crowd was a bit sluggish, the New Pornos were taking longer than usual between songs, just generally out of whack in some respects - that said, they still sounded great and it was still an outstandingly good time. Plus, also, they came back out for the first encore and covered ‘Don’t Bring me Down.’ Yes, by ELO. Electric Light Orchestra. Seriously. And actually, it *almost* sounded like it could be their song, despite it being a perfectly faithful rendition. Stunning.

Since I like rankings, here are my rankings of the stage presence of the frontmen I’ve seen over the last two-three weeks, from least to most.

#7- Dbag from the Walkmen who looked like Tucker Carlson.
#6- Will Sheff, Okkervil River. Totally contrived stage moves that it looked like he himself didn’t really believe. Boring. Didn’t bring the funny even once.
#5- Carl Newman, TNP- I love you, Carl. I love your music. I think you’re terrific. But man… you sure do just stand there with your guitar hitched way up all funnily high and you just seem a little awkward up there. Stiff, man. Take control. Be loose. This is your show, man.
#4- John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats - Basically, he’s hilarious. His songs reflect this pretty perfectly. You can do a hell of a lot worse than hilarious. Were he pitted against mere humans I’m sure he’d do better.
#3- Jens Lekman - I feel like I was too hard on Lekman before. It was an amazing show. He’s an immensely talented guy. His voice puts the rest on here to shame, and that alone is enough to secure him this spot. Beyond that, though, he really does strike one as approachable and funny, with an appreciation for the huge variety of the human experience.
#2- Tim Harrington - Les Savy Fav - I can’t believe he’s not number 1. It’s crazy to me that he’s not. I’ve never seen anybody as rock and roll as Tim Harrington - he’s almost believably a nutcase. I want so bad to get stoned with Tim Harrington. I believe we would end up on some kind of crazy adventure.
#1- Britt Daniel, Spoon. Sorry, everybody else. Here’s the thing - I wasn’t even in a good mood for this. I was in an awful mood. I had just seen a set I was not very impressed with. I was in Baltimore after five days of work, and I really just wanted to be asleep. The club was oppressively hot. I was in no way drunk. Basically I didn’t want to be there, and yet - from the moment they went on - Spoon completely owned. Like I said, they played for 90 minutes, minus short breaks inbetween the (three!) encores, and I still would have loved to hear more. I think i could have watched for 2, 2.5 hours easy. And it was all Britt Daniel, despite him not saying more than a sentence every few songs about how nice it is to be here. No colorful anecdotes necessary - just one excellent song right after another, played with as much swagger and emotion and technical virtuosity as one can muster. Kudos to you, Britt Daniel.

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