As the cold remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the Mid-Atlantic, a few intrepid souls left the quotidian comforts of home to gather at the Black Cat for three sets of warm acoustic bluesfolk from Mimicking Birds, The Low Anthem, and headliners Blind Pilot. The lineup was assembled from across the US—the first and final hailing from Portland, OR, the median from Providence, RI. The main stage room was full and hazy with persistent, idle chatter. People dribbled in like wet rats.
Members of The Low Anthem took the stage and flitted from instrument to instrument playing drums, bass, guitar and clarinet among others. They’re an odd-looking trio of two be-mustached gentlemen and a pretty blonde. Midway into the set, before TLA began “Charlie Darwin,” a slow Bon Iver-like ballad, singer Ben Knox Miller introduced the song above the din. “It’s a real quiet one so we’ll see what happens.” Most people missed the hint and continued their conversations (though the song is gorgeous when you can hear it). Their set meandered on unevenly—Perhaps chairs would have helped the somber atmosphere? At times they coaxed unnecessary feedback from the mics with a vengeance ruining a pretty melody. Thankfully, TLA won some attention when they turned it up a few notches and drowned the crowd with their version of “Cigarettes and Whiskey” (the essential muppets vs. Peter Sellers version is here). With members of Mimicking Birds joining them, their live cover was more forlorn blues rock than others I’ve heard—like Phosphorescent channeling Willie Nelson, they howled the lyrics, “Cigareets and whuskey and wild wild women, they’ll drive you crazy, they’ll drive you insane,” with a special emphasis on the articulated pronunciation of “cigareets.” It was a shame they couldn’t create and sustain the energy of their final song earlier in the set.
The crowd swelled forward for Blind Pilot. Israel Nebeker, singer and one of the founding members of the group, moved to the front and center of the stage. He wore a cheesy tie and a shirt Dwight Schrute would have been proud of. His guitar bore the scars of age and endless touring. They opened with “Two Towns From Me,” a song about a dream in which a distant love moves close again. Like all of Blind Pilot’s songs, the music is simple—the lyrics and vocals take the focus. Where their recordings are spare, their live show has been beefed up with the addition of four new musicians. The songs remain faithful to the originals, but certainly benefit from the added oomph and texture of bass, banjo, and vibraphone with reverb. Nebeker’s calm voice rides above it all and he plays with ease. He gives the impression that he could easily pen a song in five minutes with only a few chords. The band smiled into the audience and at each other. Their energy was infectious and people bopped along to the tunes they knew.
A few song into the set, bassist Luke Ydstie pounced on an opportunity to speak. “I’d like to tell you about how earlier we saw a dead rat, and then a live rat! I’m so excited about those rats!” He smiled broadly as if on something chemical. Rarely have I seen anyone so excited to see one of our vermin.
The band covered the Gillian Welch song, “Look At Miss Ohio.” They also played, “White Apple,” a great song featuring pitch-perfect harmonies from Nebeker and multi-instrumentalist Kati Claborn. The song doesn’t show up on their essential rainy day EP 3 Rounds and a Sound, so look for it on their next. At the end of the night, TLA returned for a joint encore before Blind Pilot played themselves off with an up-tempo version of the great cut, “One Red Thread.” It was a warming song to hum on the way home in the cold rain.
