Concert Review: Sharon Van Etten and Andrew Bird bring raw emotion, refined musicianship to Greek Theatre
Courtesy of Dusdin Condren
By Phillip Horlings
Aug. 19, 2012 2:38 p.m.
Sharon Van Etten and Andrew Bird
Aug. 12
Greek Theatre
The indie-folk genre can be written off as static far too quickly. Sometimes it earns this assumption, but it’s good to be reminded that it can contest it all the same. On Aug. 12, I was reminded of this fact as I watched Sharon Van Etten and Andrew Bird perform at the Greek Theatre. From boldly adventurous to charmingly consistent, it was a great night of music up in Griffith Park.
I had not heard Sharon Van Etten’s music prior to that evening but I walked away a fan. From plaintive ballads to more soaring upbeat fare, Van Etten’s folk-tinged set was touching, if a bit familiar. The hushed raspy voice, the organ growl, the tweed amplifiers and harmonium hum ““ we have heard this all before, but the performance was strong enough that I didn’t mind. This genre is at its best when it showcases the emotional quality of the lyrics, and in that regard Van Etten and company did not disappoint.
Van Etten’s raw vocal pushed the whole set over the edge, making you feel as if you peeked at a page of her diary with every word. The endearing uneasiness carried over to her onstage banter ““ storytelling while tuning her guitar often turned into an awkwardly humorous affair.
The highlight of Van Etten’s show was by far her closing song, a gutsy, stunningly vulnerable rendition of “Love More.” A common thought among musicians is that it is bold to end a set on a slow song. If you don’t manage to touch the audience, the last impression you’ve left is one of boredom. Van Etten rose to this challenge. The band laid a stoic foundation upon which the songstress confessed to the audience, “You chained me like a dog in our room. “¦ I thought that we were fine.”
If Sharon Van Etten was raw, Andrew Bird was refined though true to his folk influence. His set left me feeling like I went uptown, downtown and to the farm in the same evening. I loved all of it.
The thing I’ve always appreciated about Andrew Bird is the adventurous sense with which he approaches his music. Folk, even in its modern commingling with rock and indie music, is a genre often addled by its own archetype and over-identified with its populist approach ““ simple chord progressions, forward lyrics and acoustic instruments. Bird takes the form and infuses it with both a classical sensitivity and an experimental spirit that is very refreshing.
He began his set with “Hole in the Ocean Floor,” a solo exploration on the violin featuring pizzicato and looping, layers upon layers over each other with an ease that would make any progressive-rock pedal stomper blush. Within minutes he had built a texture over which he sang, whistled and played flurries of sixteenth notes and double-stops. It felt very improvisatory and joyful.
Bird’s band then joined him on stage, fulfilling all the promise of his excellent solo opener. Each member played with subtlety and nuance, displaying a strong command of their instruments, voices and effects. Of note is percussionist Martin Dosh, playing drums and synths among multiple other instrumental and looping duties.
The centerpiece of Bird’s stage setup was a large rotating speaker which looked more or less like a giant gramophone with two horns. It produced a mesmerizing Leslie-type effect. It was used to its best effect during Bird’s dense, swirling string interludes that sounded as if Henryk GÏŒrecki woke up in the middle of a Steinbeck novel.
Though for all of the inventiveness with looping pedals, synths and giant rotating speakers, a portion of Bird’s set saw the ensemble abandon their electric instruments all together. With just a violin, upright bass and acoustic guitar the three band members crowded close, as if on an Appalachian porch, and sang some songs together. This was a great way to break up the set and showcase the musicianship of the group. Plugged or unplugged, this band can really play.
It was an excellent evening of music, displaying significant vitality not always indicative of the folk genre. By both pushing the envelope and playing the archetype with exquisite sensitivity, Sharon Van Etten and Andrew Bird proved to be a bill not to be missed.
