Tampa Calling

Okay, Elvis Perkins in Dearland is probably a good choice musically to open for Bon Iver. The band is low key, but not low energy, and they built the show up well, especially having Bon Iver come on stage for the last song. That really hyped up the crowd. They started off slowly, though, and I wasn’t sure I was going to catch on. My notes through the first three songs read like strange musings: “Elvis can somehow pull off white jeans & a jingle bell necklace…” “Trombone guy has played like 4 instruments already, is hot, but has a huge hole in the crotch of his jeans…” Song number four picked up the pace and I got more involved. This is another really talented group of musicians, several multi-instrumentalists, and one local guy named David who was someone’s uncle and did a nice job even though he stuck out like a sore thumb (well, he was older and not dressed like he was from 1974). Anyway, they were a good time. When they successfully threw in a gospel tune that led into a sort of doo-wopish buddy holly kind of jam, things really got interesting. I enjoyed Elvis Perkins in Dearland, and they really seemed to be having fun, and it was sort of a love fest with Bon Iver (who said they were all now the best of friends). Happily ever after at The State. (Sigh.) (Photo of Perkins by Sam Goresh)

All photos by Sam Goresh.

To be totally honest, I went to this showing knowing only one Bon Iver song and a short version of a story about a guy who went into a cabin for the winter with a broken heart and came out in the spring as a rock star — kind of an indie Eric Carle tale. Maybe I was showing bad music journalism manners, setting out to review a rock show with no idea what I was about to get myself into (and I probably shouldn’t have admitted to it just now). I thought seriously for days about doing some homework in advance, but I really didn’t want to. The thing is, I love to hear something for the first time live, at the show, before I’ve ever laid ears on the album. So, if you tell me I just have to hear someone, I’ll Google them first to see if they’re coming to town. I’ve fallen in love with some great music that way, and here I am again, head over heels for Bon Iver. (Pictured: Justin Vernon)

The set-up between bands took a while. Maybe it just seemed like half my life because I was sweating it out on the railing at the back of the room downstairs. (Is there any club in town with really great A/C, even in summer?) When Elvis Perkins in Dearland performed (more on them in another post), there was this huge mass of band in the middle of the stage. After Bon Iver’s instruments were finally put in order, it looked like there were four separate stations. Almost as if four one-man-bands were going to play. Okay, I thought, this should be interesting. (More pics after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »