Dawes, Posies, et al 9 Nov 2010

[cryptique]

Last night I went to two shows at two venues in one building with six bands (of which I saw five).

 

THE POSIES played the Magic Stick in Detroit. They were the middle of three bands, but they were the act I was there to see. I'm a longtime fan and they just released a fantastic new album, plus I don't get to see them all that often so I try not to miss any opportunities.

 

The opener was Aqueduct, a Seattle group who are just enough in the Posies' vein that they held the attention of the early arrivers pretty well. I'm not familiar with them, but their performance will probably cause me to check out a couple of their records.

 

The headliner (for this night -- they're switching off during the tour) was local product Brendan Benson. I'm a fan of Benson, but on this night he was a lower priority for me. I stayed through the first few songs of his set, but I had other business to attend to.

 

The Posies' set was limited to twelve songs, leaning heavily on the new album (and, in something of a rarity for aging bands, not suffering as a result).

 

Plastic Paperbacks

Flavor of the Month

Please Return It

So Caroline

Licenses to Hide

Conversations

Solar Sister

The Glitter Prize

For The Ashes

Throwaway

Take Care of Yourself

Dream All Day

 

These guys are total pros by now -- they're tight, they have full command of their catalog, and Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are both still terrific singers, even managing to make the harmonies sound great over a less-than-perfect house mix. They jump around a bit more than one might expect from two guys in their early 40s (I'm roughly their age myself), and sometimes it's unintentionally comical, but they're top-drawer entertainers and they still have every one of their chops.

 

The new material stands up extremely well to the old chestnuts from their catalog, blending into a seamless setlist with no clunkers. I am not the kind of person who follows bands around, but if I were a bit younger and had less pressing responsibilities at work, I'd think about road-tripping to see several more of their shows.

 

The highlight of their set (for me) was following "The Glitter Prize," when Ken doffed his guitar and was settling in behind the keyboard to play "Enewetak" off the new record -- a gem of a song in its own right -- but I took that opportunity to shout "For The Ashes!" which is my favorite song on the new album. Ken said he was up for that, and they launched into it -- a stunning rendition, and exactly what I'd come to see. (Ken even thanked me for the request after they finished playing it.)

 

I love, LOVE this band.

 

So then Brendan Benson, yadda yadda. But on with the aforementioned "other business."

 

Downstairs from the Magic Stick, in the Majestic Café, was another three-band bill: Dawes, with openers Peter Wolf Crier and Vetiver. I missed the PWC set, and arrived for the last three or four Vetiver tunes (I've seen their name a lot around here, but am otherwise unfamiliar with them). They sounded pretty good, and I will likely investigate their catalog as well.

 

During the set change I found an empty chair at a table about twenty feet out and on the left, where I hung out for all of Dawes' set. And wow, those guys were amazing. I posted my just-back-from-the-show thoughts here.

 

If you have a chance to see EITHER of these bills -- Posies/Benson/Aqueduct or Dawes/Vetiver/Peter Wolf Crier -- well, let's just say that there are worse ways you could be spending your time.

[ms. yvon]

bumping this b/c i want to read your whole review but don't have time to do it now and i don't want to lose track of this thread...