Travis Morrison Hellfighters @ Iota
Photo and story by DCist contributor Valerie Paschall
Leave it to Travis Morrison to throw a CD release party, but forget to order CDs. Morrison shrugged it off, offering up several suggestions of places online (including a half-kidding nod to Napster) from where the audience could pick up his latest release, All Y’all. It’s this quirky charm that makes his live show so engaging; Saturday night’s show at Iota would’ve been worth the ticket price for the banter alone. However, Morrison’s complete ownership of the stage also brought life to his otherwise hit-or-miss studio material.
In one of his first shows with his new band, The Hellfighters, Morrison had the opportunity to show and perhaps lift the albatross of the poorly received Travistan off of his back. The Hellfighters complemented Morrison well, backing him with reggae-inspired percussion and funky bass lines, but this was clearly Morrison’s moment to remind the packed house at Iota that he still had stage presence to spare.
At any club other than Iota, The Caribbean’s set would not have gone over as well. On account of the great sound, the audience could still hear singer Michael Kentoff’s low, soothing vocals. The Caribbean’s low-key set had hints of Yo La Tengo (without the spastic guitars) and Stephen Malkmus’ solo material but up until the finale where they really let loose with their effects pedals, wasn’t terribly interesting to watch.
Gist, on the other hand, rose to the occasion. Even during some of their uncharacteristically slower songs, the trio brought the rock with unbridled intensity. In their final show of 2007, Gist previewed songs from next year’s still untitled follow up to Diesel City, showing some more streamlined, albeit still high-octane rockers. They finished with crowd favorites “Eclipse” and “Asunder.”
Although Travistan’s “Song for the Orca” was included in the setlist, the night primarily belonged to the All Y’all tracks. The Hellfighters opened the show the way they opened their album – with “I'm Not Supposed To Like You (But)” before moving to the three-in-one “Catch Up.” After “Catch Up,” Morrison relieved himself of his latest accessory, a flower slap bracelet with the tag still on, by springing it into the audience.
It’s tempting to repeat every funny thing Morrison said throughout the night, but that would be shortchanging the complexity of the songs he showcased, which ranged from the poignant “East Side of the River,” to the standout driving track, “As We Proceed.”
It would also be untrue to say that the entire show was excellent, because it wasn’t. The weak tracks off of All Y’all may have sounded better on stage, but they were still weak. Morrison’s magnetism couldn’t save yawners like closer “Saturday Night,” and truth be told, by the end his clever banter had slowed to a sort of tired rambling as well, so the show seemed to end at an opportune moment. But Morrison did once again demonstrate that even if his songs aren’t quite up to par with his Dismemberment Plan material, his stage show still makes for a highly enjoyable night.