Pedro the Lion performs humbly at El Rey show

TYSON EVANS/Daily Bruin Pedro the Lion and two other bands
played at the El Rey Saturday night.

By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]

Pedro the Lion’s show at the El Rey on Saturday was a
pleasant experience that ignored many of the basic tenets of
concerts.

For one thing, David Bazan (a.k.a. Pedro the Lion) is a
mild-mannered, sincere performer, who made polite comments, such as
“You guys are really nice,” to the audience at the end
of the evening.

During his set, he would take breaks for question and answer
sessions, when audience members shouted out their inquiries.
Questions ranged from his birthplace to the point of view of one of
his songs. Bazan answered them with subtle humor and a quiet
demeanor.

Another unusual tactic was the recycling of many of the
evening’s artists. The opener, T. W. Walsh, played guitar for
Pedro the Lion’s set, and the same bass player was onstage
for all three bands, even though his frantic style during th set of
Damien Jurado & Gathered In Song caused him to topple over and
nearly fall off stage. Bazan himself drummed for Jurado as
well.

During his own set, Bazan stood at the far left side of the
stage, singing and playing guitar most often with his eyes closed.
His music, soft but building up to a loud finish, was tinged with
Christian themes, though not overwhelmingly so. The crowd was
mellow but clearly filled with some hard-core fans, who shouted out
requests even though Bazan made it clear early on that he’d
be sticking to the set list. While several members of the audience
were calling out for older material, Bazan played songs that were
mostly off “Control,” an album released last month. He
thanked the audience frequently, and most of the time members of
the audience thanked him back.

Opening the show was T. W. Walsh, whose set sounded like
Coldplay but less British and not as good. Following him was Damien
Jurado & Gathered In Song. The group started off the
unconventionality of the evening when during a particularly quiet
first song Jurado stopped performing when a crowd member near the
stage distracted him by talking. While playing later in the set,
he, the two additional guitarists and the bass player all turned
their backs to the audience for the greater part of each song.

These acts, followed by the unassuming Pedro the Lion, created
an unusual but satisfying show.