Concert Review: Elvis Perkins in Dearland, with Other Lives and Andrew Morgan
PHOTOS AND REVIEW BY GAVIN SNIDER
Nearly everyone was sitting down when I got to the Jackpot, watching intently as Lawrence's own Andrew Morgan lightly picked an acoustic guitar. Morgan has made a name for himself in the area with his hushed, fragile voice and his understated guitar work. He's landed some upcoming gigs in Britain with AC Newman of the New Pornographers fame.
Just as I made a mental note to compare Morgan to Elliot Smith in my review, he did me one better and played an Elliot Smith cover. Between songs Morgan lamented his claw hands, and how they felt like petrified wood, but from where I was sitting it all sounded pretty delicate. He closed with a song called "Vapor and Steam," his voice rising in a strained whisper.
Andrew Morgan
Other Lives hails from Stillwater, Oklahoma, one good thing from Stillwater that was not, to my knowledge, bankrolled by T. Boone Pickens. Their songs fall into the genre of bearded folk, which has seen an incredible resurgence in the past year or so, thanks to musicians like the Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver. Lead singer Jesse Tabish's voice was deep and resonant, like the Foxes channeling Jim Morrison, and cellist Jenny Hsu's backing vocals were a perfect compliment. The cello was featured prominently on most songs, with keys, bass, and drums driving the slow train along. Other Lives' songs were never fast, but they possessed a sense of drama, a feeling of not-quite-impending DOOM, but something dark and beautiful.
Elvis Perkins came onstage alone with a hollow-body guitar and a voice part Dylan and part Devendra, but unique and powerful in its own right. His glasses may have been cool rose-tinted shades, or they may have been the nerdy ones my mom has, that get dark when you go outside and then never change back, even after you've come inside.
Before the crowd could even clap for the first solo number, the rest of the band (in Dearland?) had hopped onstage, the drums kicked in, and the quiet stuff was mostly done. Perkins was backed by a three-piece that was far more animated than he was. They spent the night swaying awkwardly, clapping spastically, and yelling joyfully.
Elvis Perkins and/in Dearland
Most of the night's material came from his Perkins' two most recent studio albums, Ash Wednesday and this year's Elvis Perkins in Dearland. His songs have an optimism that shines through their dark lyrics, so when you hear him singing about places of death and destruction like Dresden or Vietnam, there's always more to the story. Where do we go when we die? "Emile's Vietnam in the Sky."
One of the night's best moments came from the Sacred Harp compilation. Perkins introduced it mysteriously, saying only that it was a story about a man: "This is a very old story. No one's remembers who wrote it. It's told in two parts." Perkins in Dearland proceeded to make like an Alabama gospel choir, bellowing beautiful four-part harmonies.
It goes without saying that the man in the story was Jesus. Part one was his crucifixion, and part two was his resurrection. Of all the new material, "Shampoo" hit the hardest, as Dearland had the crowd dancing and clapping along, with Perkins' infectious yelps sounding out over chords from a Hammond organ.
Perkins closed the set with a spring song called "May Day," and then came back out for two more. When Other Lives joined Elvis Perkins and (in) Dearland onstage for the finale the whole crowd was rocking, and I was grinning ear to ear. The song was "Doomsday," and I couldn't help thinking that is an apocalypse I'd love to be a part of, dancing and yelling like there's no tomorrow, beating the hell out a bass drum, standing on a speaker and blaring a trombone, head nearly poking through the shitty drop ceiling.
MP3: Elvis Perkins in Dearland, "Shampoo" (courtesy of Beggars Group USA)
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