On Friday night, an ensemble of current indie-rock luminaries paid heartfelt tribute to one of their shared musical touchstones, as The Gene Clark No Other tour arrived at a sold-out 9:30 Club. Spearheaded by Beach House’s Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally — and featuring singers from Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, and The Walkmen along with a host of backing musicians — the “supergroup” performed Clark’s relatively obscure 1974 solo album in its entirety, adding a couple of his best-known compositions from his time with The Byrds as exclamation points.
Upon its release forty years ago, No Other was a commercial and critical disappointment, though it has steadily gained in reputation over the years, bolstered by the legend of its talented, but troubled creator, who died of alcohol-related causes in 1991. Legrand and Scally have called it a longtime favorite, praising the record’s richly textured production techniques, its stylistic eclecticism, and Clark’s spiritualized, “soul-searching” lyrics. Clark himself considered No Other a magnum opus. Indeed, it held such significance for him that the album’s title adorns his gravestone.
Rather than a reinterpretation, Friday’s concert was an earnest, straightforward homage, with each of No Other‘s eight songs played in order, with up to sixteen musicians sharing the stage to achieve nearly note-for-note fidelity to the many-layered originals. Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold took the first turn on lead vocals, his warmly dynamic voice proving a natural fit for the country shuffle of “Life’s Greatest Fool” and, a few songs later, the rustic melodies of “Strength of Strings.” Next up was Iain Matthews (Fairport Convention), a contemporary of Clark’s who lent gravitas to the melancholic, minor-key “Silver Raven,” Steve Strohmeier contributing some expressive touches on slide-guitar.
Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen was front-and-center for No Other‘s — and the concert’s — two finest moments. On the title track, he issued Clark’s words in a droning baritone (“All alone you say that you don’t want no other / So the Lord is love, and love is like no other), while Scally teamed up with Walker Teret and Geoff Graham to render the recording’s overdubbed, Pink Floyd-ish basslines. Legrand, Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Tony Drummond, and Cricket Arrison evoked a gospel choir on backing vocals, and Strohmeier’s searing guitar solos cut through funky, keyboard-drenched grooves that electrified the crowd. Later, Rossen’s voice brought out the world-weary poignancy of “Some Misunderstanding,” perhaps No Other‘s most intimate and personal song.
After The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser crooned the country-rocker “From a Silver Phial” and the album-closing “Lady of the North,” the whole ensemble returned for an encore that kicked off with a vibrant rendition of The Byrds’ jangly “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better.” The crowd cheered heartily when Legrand stepped out from the chorus line to deliver a truly arresting lead-vocal performance on “Hear the Wind,” a gorgeous country-folk ballad from Clark’s Two Sides to Every Story. Finally, The Byrds’ classic “Eight Miles High” opened with haunting a cappella harmonies before Scally intoned the song’s familiar bassline, Strohmeier’s twelve-string guitar riffs and Mike Lowry’s percussion steadily intensifying into an epic crescendo. As the musicians traded verses and frolicked about the stage, their camaraderie and enthusiasm were infectious, festively capping a stirring celebration of Clark’s music.
