Shearwater
Among the many shows I decided to attend this year, seeing Shearwater was up there with my most anticipated. The emotional battle crys and compelling arrangements have made Shearwater’s sixth ablum, The Golden Archipelago one of the best albums of the year in my eyes. So I was understandably excited to witness the band shell out their mindblowingly complex and dense compositions to this sold out crowd.
Hospital Ships
Hospital Ships from Lawrence, Kan., opened the room with a dreary mood that seemed to be welcomed that night. Jordan Geiger, songwriter of Minus Story and trumpet player for Shearwater brought his bedroom-pop style singer-songwriter tunes from his solo album, Oh, Ramona. Sometimes upbeat but mostly somber, Hospital Ships made a decent impact that night.
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[mp3] Hospital Ships – The Shots I Drank from Oh, Ramona (2008)
Wye Oak
Wye Oak
Next was the intimate Americana-styled Wye Oak. The dusty and soothing multi-instrumental arrangements were expressed with sweet simplicity and charm. Thanks to lead singer Jenn Wasner, Wye Oak’s vocals briskly drifted across Andy Stack’s instrumentation that spanned across their catalog of albums including this year’s My Neighbor / My Creator EP (release date June 8th). The band was joined by various members of Shearwater throughout their set to add to the creative energy that exuded from the band. It was quite a treat to have this talented duo add to an already stellar line-up.
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[mp3] Wye Oak – I Hope You Die from My Neighbor / My Creator (2010)
Shearwater
My expectations for Shearwater’s performance were pretty high that night considering what I’ve heard about their shows as well as the epic nature of their densely layered albums. So when singer Jonathan Meiburg burst into song with the commanding presence seen with similar crooners like Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, I felt comfort that my expectations would be met. Opening with the second song off The Golden Archipelago, Black Eyes sounded as grandeur and epic as the recorded version.
Shearwater
Continuing with a few more off The Golden Archipelago, Shearwater then moved onto songs off of 2006′s Palo Santo and to my delight, a few off 2008′s Rook. Rook being one of my favorite albums off all time, it was nice to hear the respect songs like Snow Leopard and Leviathan, Bound. Both Kim Burke on upright bass and vibraphonist Thor Harris added to the muscular and melodic nature of Shearwater’s performance that night. As well as members of Hospital Ships and Wye Oak adding instrumentation here and there.
Shearwater
Shearwater
Overall, Shearwater is a full-on tidal wave if deep emotional sound when seen live. From Jonathan Meiburg’s intense facial expressions to Thor’s admirable multi-instrumental abilities, the band transcends their ‘side project’ label and has stapled themselves as a live act that has to be seen.
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[mp3] Shearwater – Black Eyes from The Golden Archipelago (2010)
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[mp3] Shearwater - Castaways from The Golden Archipelago (2010)