Ben Kweller at the 9:30 Club
Wednesday’s unseasonable warmth called for sunny day music. A happy coincidence then, that Ben Kweller, a purveyor of cheerful college rock, was headlining the 9:30 club that evening. Looking at the small crowd of underage early arrivals jostling for position, a question came to mind: is Kweller an artist or a phase? To paraphrase a famous film quote, it seems that he gets older but his fans stay the same age. The answer came as Kweller’s older fans, some bringing their children, showed up just in time for his set.
The first band up was, Hymns a New York based four-piece that started their set half-an-hour-late. This is only notable because it resulted in a lot of people skipping the encore to avoid missing their trains. Unfortunately, such sacrifice was not worthwhile as Hymns proved more functional than interesting. With a sound halfway between The Eagles and The Old 97s, Hymns was most notable for their look; the band eerily resembeled Stillwater from Almost Famous. A faux Native American vest, a yellow bandana and a lot of long, unkempt hair—it’s like the group took a brief stop in 1972 before hitting the 9:30. To their credit the band played an efficient set, thanked their tour mates and the audience without going over their set time.
Montreal’s Sam Robertson Band brought to mind another fictional band, The Heights. They had a meticulous edginess coupled with the looks of retired American Eagle models—a producer’s conception of the modern rock band. But enough talk of fashion, Sam Roberts Band was much more engaging than their predecessors—jumping, shaking and tossing their remarkably well-conditioned hair. Going for U2’s sound and arena style the group—especially its epynonymous lead singer. The trouble was the band pushed forward, regardless the audience's response. In one instance, Roberts continued urging the crowd to sing along despite lukewarm response to his first four requests. Similarly, the band lost its audience with an overlong ending more worthy of the Mars Volta. Hopefully, next time, Sam Roberts Band will know that less is more.
Kweller took the stage greeted by a genuinely enthusiastic crowd. He instantly and fully connected with audience, whirling from foot to foot with the charm of your favorite Muppet. His set was well balanced with new material and old favorites. Like another Ben, Kweller still makes a good argument for the three and a half minute pop song. His new material, though, is more somber and definitely more mature. The midset “Thirteen” was a touching look at adolescence, musically reminiscent of another Ben’s “Ivory Lines”. The crowd bopped along enthusiastically to new songs and happily lost their minds to old ones like “In Other Words” and “Commerce, TX”. Throughout the night he switched between guitar and keys. Audience participation grew as the show went on, with “How it Should Be (Sha-Sha)” played by request, with the crowd taking the first verse. By the time “Wasted and Ready” came around fans definitely had gotten the best out of their sunny day.