With voices blending in a way that suggest the mystical magic of the Everly Brothers or Simon and Garfunkel, Joy Williams and John Paul White take a live show into territory that is magnetic and memorable. For their one night in Indianapolis, their spiritual folk music mesmerized a sweaty midwest audience on the second floor of an old church.
The duo, dubbed The Civil Wars, showed why they have earned the accolades that have come their way in the past year, showcasing harmonies and songwriting Friday night (7.1.11) at a sold out Earth House show. The singer/songwriters may never have to play small rooms again – unless they want to – and the Indy concert should be one that fans at the show remember long after the two graduate to bigger venues.
Playing nine of the 12 songs from their debut Barton Hallow album, they transfixed an audience crammed into the historic building, amping up the quiet songs just enough to give the live versions immediacy and energy, while sacrificing little of the emotion found on the literate, gliding album.
Walking onstage and launching into “Tip of My Tongue” and “Forget Me Not”, the two set the tone for the rest of the evening: Williams’ voice atop White’s delicate-yet-driving guitar, with his vocals providing a rootsy bottom to the harmonies. Williams sang both on the microphone and also would back away, sharing with the audience the organic aura of her powerful voice, carried with lovely unamplified strength.
White, beginning the night in a black jacket and pants, completed by a bowtie (playfully straightened by his partner at the end of the second song), and Williams in a sexy and simple black dress, hit one of the show’s highlights early, with “From This Valley”, a full-on gospel song not found on the album. The “pray, pray pray” refrain hinted at his southern roots and the accapella breakdown in the middle of the tune was the first of the evening’s many goosebump moments.
“20 Years” was mesmerizing, and “I Have This Friend” was introduced by Williams as the “one happy song on the record”, though they ultimately found light in the eight other selections played from their album. The pair finds positive moments in songs that, in other hands, might prove dour. Kudos to the standing-room audience for resisting chatting during the entire 75-minute set. They came to hear the American beauty of the music, and were rewarded.
Williams played a small squeeze box during the waltzing and odd-yet-epic “Girl with the Red Balloon” before they hit the album’s swampy title cut, the only rock tune on the Barton Hallow record. By this time, White had dispensed with the bow tie amidst the heat of 300 bodies in a room cooled only by a few box and ceiling fans.
The song “Falling” began with White playing the notes with his eyes closed, and the song’s nifty hook leading into the chorus made the version another highlight, aided by his emphatic strumming.
“C’est La Mort” was hampered by a muddy piano sound – no fault of Williams’ playing, before an almost unrecognizably slow version of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” brought the crowd back into the show, thanks to Williams’ Emmylou Harris echoes.
A four-song run to the end of the set began with “Birds of a Feather”, and eminated a Stevie Nicks vibe, assisted by Joy’s hip-swaying dancing. She then told the story of how the two songwriters formed the duo, melding completely different influences (happily noting White even had some “death metal” in his background). She revealed they found common ground with the Smashing Pumpkins, and they performed a beautiful verison of “Disarm”, as Williams held the ends of her long brunette hair, sexily twirling it with her fingers as she eased towards song’s close.
“My Father’s Father” and a build-to-a-lovely-crescendo version of “Poison & Wine” ended the regular set, with the mixed audience of teens, couples, and 40 and 50-something’s joyfully stomping their feet in unison to bring the two back for on encore.
Another Michael Jackson tune, “Billie Jean”, has become a staple of their live shows – for good reason. The Indianapolis version embodied all that The Civil War represent – an understanding of musical history, playfulness, vocal earthiness, and an ability to make any song their own. A closing Leonard Cohen-penned “Dance Me to the End of Love” proved most powerful when both singers stepped back, harmonizing much as they must have when first meeting at that songwriters night a little more than two years ago.
The pair’s new career is one that would seem to be full of promise – they write their own material – and can fly as high as they might want it to go. Nothing is as magical as two voices joining as if born to be together. For Joy Williams and John Paul White, they seem to know they are lucky to have stumbled onto each other, and have smartly decided to take their simple show – two people, a guitar and a bit of piano – across the country, sharing the gift that they have found.
VIDEO: From Indianapolis/Earth House
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN7FZ-ZJXLg&]
concert reviews
Bob Seger Doesn't Disappoint: Reviews from Indianapolis
Almost a week after the Bob Seger show at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, I’m caught myself thinking about the show, and how soulful and energized the Detroit rock icon was.
He played 2 hours, 20 minutes, and mixed the setlist up just enough to make it interesting with some deep cuts. Seger played to the back of the hall as much as the front row. And he did both. We weren’t standing close, though dead-ahead center with the stage, 20 yards behind the soundboard.
When I saw him in 2006, I found a happy place in the top row of the upper deck, with a straight on view of the stage. I had moved four songs into that show that November night, after having heard enough of the muddy sound the venue is so famous – that’s what a cheap upper deck, side stage ticket from a scalper 10 minutes before the show will sometimes get you. But once I relocated, it was magical. Because Seger is about the voice, the songs and the band. Not the flash, the light show or the wardrobe changes.
Last Saturday night, Seger reinvested in the heartland rock and roll that he does better than anyone else, and has formed the template for hundreds (thousands) of bands. And, defying a bit of age and both the good and band of having spent so much of his life on a stage, he did that magical rock and roll thing again, aided mightily by a crowd that knew that songs, and songs that are still rock and roll relevant.
Is it cool to like Bob Seger? It is to me.
Three good things about the show:
1. No video screens. Makes the crowd follow the music and musicians in a more organic way. I can’t overstate the difference it makes in a show when eyes and ears are your own, not owned by the video director.
Truth and Salvage Co. take Indy to Saturday night church; exclusive video
(originally appearing on NUVO.net)
Fans may have come out to see Truth and Salvage Co. Saturday night at Radio Radio for different reasons — in the past year, the band has opened for the Black Crowes and Avett Brothers, and played two local club shows. But by the end of the 90 minute show, all concertgoers received a healthy dose of gospel music.
Concert Review: John Mellencamp at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Nov.
For most of Thursday night’s John Mellencamp show at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse (“first show here since 1967”, Mellencamp commented), it was nearly all you could want: good sound, a refreshingly patient and attentive crowd, and a tight, rehearsed and raw band that seemed to be enjoying their own performance. The show faltered only near the end when it tried to be what it wasn’t. Though heavy on new material, Mellencamp, who looked fit and handsome in an all-black suit and black shirt, smartly mixed reworked crowd favorites into the 25-song setlist to provide familiar memories paired with less familiar songs. From the opening “Authority Song”, the template of three guitars teamed with a John E. Gee’s stand-up bass and Dane Clark’s stand-up drum kit sounded good. Enough power to push the music, there was also room created for delicate Americana musical touches. Andy York played an underrated, nuanced and nasty rock guitar, and the entire band was gritty and truthful. John’s bands have always been good, and this one has found a home in the recent material.
The opening half-dozen songs were highlighted by an amazing recasting of “Walk Tall” into a Little Feat song, it’s loping groove and Silver Bullet Band piano from Troye Kinnett earned it a place of one of the best performances of the night. Singing “grace, mercy and forgiveness help a man walk tall” illuminated the lyrical theme of the evening: A wiser, less caustic Mellencamp has emerged on his recent records. He understands mortality is part of life, and works to share with his audience those lessons – and that finding a realistic but fulfilling emotional life is a constant, struggling quest.
“West End” from the new No Better Than This album sounded like a close cousin to The Lonesome Jubilee’s “Hard Times for an Honest Man”, and led to John dance across the front of the stage, facing the band – not the calculated “look at the entertainer” moves of 25 years ago, but the actions of someone lost in his own music.
The Hinkle crowd grasped the wistful version of “Check it Out”, with John and guitarist Mike Wanchic working in some old Market Square Arena over-the-head handclaps. Instead of a whiz-bang light show and big screens, John elected to go with subtle changes and no video boards, effectively pulling the eyes of the crowd to the performers.
A story about how his Dad told John to “have fun every day” led into the solo acoustic version of “Save Some Time to Dream”, a gospel/folk song that serves as the lead track on his latest album and the beginning of a portion of the concert that featured solo acoustic guitar playing from Mellencamp, with some occasional help from Miriam Sturm’s violin and Kinnett’s accordian. An acapella (though shortened) version of “Cherry Bomb” quickly became an audience singalong.
Mellencamp told his most engaging story of the night leading into the “Longest Days”, as an unusually talkative Mellencamp (I’ve seen Mellencamp concerts that included a hello, a thank you and a good night) recounted lying in bed with his dying Grandma when he was 42 years old, and she telling him that “life is short, even in its longest days”
Recasting “Jack and Diane” into a new groove didn’t diminish the audience’s ability to sing it back to the stage, and a pleasing “Small Town” was performed solo under a blue spotlight.
The back portion of the two-hour, ten-minute show rolled forward with the more traditional full rock band setup and a bombastic “Rain on the Scarecrow”, as the old building and all its brick played havoc with the low end in the sound mix, creating a bass rumble that overpowered the song, and similar problems plagued “Paper in Fire” and “The Real Life”, diminishing their effectiveness. The band fought through “Human Wheels” to reach “If I Die Sudden” and “No Better Than This”, two newer songs that again connected with both the band and the audience. By this time, the sound guys had done a pretty nice job of getting the mix into a good place again, and “Pink Houses” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” closed the show with good vibes, though lacking some of the fire in the songs played earlier.
The night’s revelation? As the set wound down. there was no need for obligatory show closers, though they were included. The crowd in the fieldhouse accepted his new music – aided by the band’s ability to make it rock. The first part of the show was more than good enough to satisfy – it was excellent. His new music is not his 80’s hit music; he is no longer the rural punk rock band leader. He doesn’t have to be.
Hey, the Beatles really matter; plus Shea Stadium '65 video
Let me give full disclosure: I went to see a thing called the Classical Mystery Tour last Friday night just outside of Indianapolis. It is essentially a Beatles cover band and the orchestra playing Beatles music. The title is a play on the Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” and features a Beatlemania-type band (in fact, this tour draws from alums of that stage tour) and normally they play with the symphony orchestra from whatever town the show is in.
The night I saw them, there was no orchestra. It was at Conner Prairie, which is about an 8,000 seat natural bowl space. It was filled up. If you’ve been, you know it is also about bringing the table, the lawn chair, some good food and some wine or beer. Great vibe.
But it was one of the rare stops on this band’s 30 date (or so) schedule that didn’t have an orchestra joining them. I didn’t figure that out until I got there and saw no orchestra. Oops. How good can fake Beatles be, just themselves, a huge bandshell, and a field full of people socializing and eating amidst echoes of the the sound of the British Invasion.
Pretty damn good, is what they were. They did two sets – an hour apiece – dressed in Beatle suits for the first half, playing 1963-66 tunes. After break, they came out dressed like they just jumped out of pictures you see from the Abbey Road era, and played anything after Sgt. Pepper, including songs from that record.
Concert Review: Rick Springfield at the Indiana State Fair
Near the end of Rick Springfield’s free concert at the Indiana State Fair in the early evening 90+ degree heat Thursday night, the soon-to-be 61 year-old singer waded into the track seats while singing his 1983 hit “Human Touch”. He walked – on the chairs – through the audience, from one end of the track seats to the other. Then he went up into the grandstand, making his way to the upper section, slapping hands and hanging onto shoulders.
While this move – and an extended version of his 1982 hit “Don’t Talk to Strangers” that concluded with four girls, ranging in ages from 4 to 17, singing the chorus – evokes more than a whiff of rock and roll cheese when done at a normal 21-and-over concert, it worked perfectly for the free outdoor show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The mix of 40 and 50-something moms and cougars, plus kids, teens and guys who wrongly won’t admit to going, mixed into an engaged, tuned-in crowd. It doesn’t hurt that Springfield is a relaxed and seasoned musical road dog, having been on stage for more than 40 years
Many in attendance had seemingly seen a Springfield show before (the Hoosier Lottery lady who came out 15 minutes before the show asked, and more than 50 percent of the hands went into the air), but even those who only know the radio songs were rewarded with the hits – and just couple misses.
Dressed in a black and white checkered button-up shirt, black jeans and Chuck Taylor’s, Springfield was aided by a band that recreated the sound of the records on many of Rick’s later-career songs, though struggled on a couple of his more power-poppy Working Class Dog hits.
From the first song (a cut off his new-ish Venus in Overdrive album – one of four he would admirably play off that record) through a pair of encore tunes at the end of the 20-song, 105-minute performance, the band never wilted in what Springfield said midway through the show “May be the hottest show we’ve ever played. Where are we? In the South?”
Despite the heat, Springfield bounced and whirled and frequently jumped in the air far better than someone his age should be able to do.
Early in the set, “I’ve Done Everything for You”, “Affair of the Heart” and the title cut to the Living in Oz album engaged the crowd of approximately 4,000. The first of those three, one of his best rockers (written by Sammy Hagar) was slightly slowed in the live setting, taking away from the rushing, sugary-rough pop song it is on record.
A misfire on “What’s Victoria’s Secret” and it’s recycled “Jessie’s Girl” riff fell flat before a pair of small hits and one album cut let the band find their sweet spot. “I Get Excited” from Don’t Talk to Strangers, followed by “Alyson” and “Souls”, both from 1983’s Living in Oz connected in a more rock, less pop, way.
Springfield threatened to run some of the free show crowd away with back-to-back songs from the new album: the hopping alt-rock title track that sounds nothing like his hits (though not bad) and a little gem of a midtempo rocker called “I’ll Miss That Someday” that Springfield introduced as “about Dads”.
Most of audience hung on, and were rewarded with one of the best runs of the show. 1981’s “Love is Alright”, a version of “Crossroads” that elicited a roar from the grandstands at the song’s conclusion, and a disinterested beginning to his mega-hit “Don’t Talk to Strangers” that somehow wound it’s way into State Fair magic with those four girls on stage singing.
Sure, Rick injected a few groan-inducing, double-entendre comments that still make his female fans cheer and squeal (“Man, it is hot. I’m sweating. Anyone else wet?”), but kept his sex-appeal push at a mostly PG-13 rating (one f-bomb, plus changing shirts at the microphone stand midshow, and playing the encore sans shirt)
A sloppy-but-rocking take on his last big hit “Love Somebody” was saved by the pure pop/rock goodness of the tune. The audience-wading “Human Touch” led into a terrific set-ending “Jessie’s Girl” as the tight band clicked with their take on one of the best-ever power-pop songs.
An encore of by-the-numbers “Wild Thing” and Springfield’s “Kristina” was not really necessary, though spirited. The man who built his career on the convergence of “Jessie’s Girl” and playing Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital in 1981 really isn’t doing too bad 30 years later. He found fame in an era of FM Top 40 radio that could create mass appeal hits. And he was there for the beginning of MTV. He’s probably not headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anytime soon, but I don’t think it matters.
Springfield played the hit songs Thursday night, in the daylight, with no video screen or stage backdrop. In the end, it worked; the right combination of price, memories and loud guitars.