For Alela Diane, music is a family affair. The last time I saw her play, when she opened for Blitzen Trapper in Boston in February of 2009, she introduced her Dad as the rhythm guitar player. On Monday night at the Housing Works in Soho, she was joined by a new band that included both her father and her husband Tom. The comfort and familiarity was evident on stage. Even during a show that sported a quiet, seated audience, Diane and her band – which is going by the name Wild Divine – kept things fun and relaxed. Though the music was undeniably great, it was unfamiliar. As a result, it was the stolen smiles that made the show one to remember.
A note on Housing Works. I cannot imagine seeing a bad show here. Housing Works is an organization – manifest in the form of thrift-style stores scattered around the city – that serves homeless men, women, and children with AIDS. The bookstore/café/venue where Monday’s show took place is staffed by volunteers. The books and records are donated. The band played for free. Consider the ticket price a donation to get into a bar with live music and reasonably priced drinks, and it’s already a good night; the fact that Alela Diane is more or less premiering her new record, Alela Diane & Wild Divine, is an added bonus.
Alela and co. played exclusively new tracks, including a non-album track written by Tom, using the night as a dry run for songs that they’ve hardly played in front of a live crowd. “We’ve played two shows, in Portland and Seattle,” Diane told the audience, “but we’re a long way from home.” She added later that the band’s hometown of Portland is taking some flak due to the new sitcom Portlandia. Added Tom chippily, “This must be what y’all felt like when Seinfeld was on.”
With only a few changes in track order, Diane and Divine whipped through the new album, simultaneously showcasing and polishing the songs that will spin on next month’s album and will be played over and over on the band’s forthcoming tour. In some ways, it’s a treat to see the songs before they become rote for the group; the musicians on stage have to work a little harder to stay together, sure, but the songs aren’t tired from being played night after night.
The news tunes are fuller that Diane’s first two albums, bolstered by the addition of a few instrumentalists. Her pops plays mandolin and guitar, Laurel Simmons adds keys and vocals, and husband Tom throws his voice into the mix on occasion as well. Although the Housing Works space is a bit tight, drummer Jason Merculief and bassist Jonas Haskins didn’t hesitate to lay into notes where such enthusiasm was called for. The band indulges Diane’s country side, adding some extra twang in between verses to blur the genre line that Alela already smudges beyond recognition. Given the relatively few times that band has performed these tunes, they sounded solid. A few mixed pick-ups here and there, but nothing that couldn’t be shrugged off easily; these songs sound natural for Alela Diane and Wild Divine.
For all the importance of the added musicians, however, the focus remains squarely on Alela and her gorgeous, buttery voice. It’s tempting to compare her pipes to childhood compatriot Joanna Newsom, but Diane isn’t quite as infatuated with the upper register. Instead, she lets the low notes sound long and clear, with only occasional forays into falsetto. She plays with that falsetto range a bit more than usual on Alela Diane & Wild Divine’s first single, “To Begin,” but in general she sticks to the creamy middle and lower octaves.
“Heartless Highway” is a jazzier song that was one of the night’s most upbeat; occasionally, the band let themselves become too chained to the metronome to really loosen up and let the songs determine their own tempo. The night never dragged, but the songs did sound a little less broken in than most performance.
Therein lay the charm of the performance, however. There were a few more tapping feet on stage than usual, a more conscientious performance, and a few tricky passages that haven’t been quite committed to muscle memory. It’s easy to forget that music is a process – that bands don’t just step out of the studio and into mimeographed song performances. Sometimes, we need a show like Monday night, with a couple of rough edges, to remind us of the true beauty of the rest of the performance.
Setlist:
Elijah
Long Way Down
Suzanne
Of Many Colors
To Begin
Desire
The Way It Is
Heartless Highway
The Wind
White Horse
Rising Greatness
