Blitzen Trapper + Alela Diane at Paradise Rock Club

It was a taste of home Thursday night at the Paradise in Boston. And a preview, of sorts, of things to come.

I've been missing home, Portland, Oregon, for a while—which is to say, ever since I arrived in Boston. After nearly three years and several endless winters spent in Boston, the urge to return to the Pacific Northwest has never been stronger. Thursday night's show with Blitzen Trapper and Alela Diane, both of whom currently reside in the Rose City, gave me just enough Portland flavor to tide me over until I return home this summer.

The Paradise was surprisingly full when Alela Diane took the stage. Apparently, though, word of Diane's lovely West Coast folk music had not spread to Boston, as midway through her third song, an audience member shouted out, "What's your name?" The murmur of agreement that rippled through the crowd indicated that others were thinking the same thing. Musically, Diane and company (including her father on guitar and mandolin) did not stray far from the laid-back, gentle sound of her recordings. Most of her selections were faithfully reproduced from her latest release, the lovely To Be Still, with Diane's delicate melodies floating above a gentle backdrop of strings and mellow percussion. It was soothing and quite enjoyable; it was hard to resist a subtle sway, even weighed down by cameras, in my case.

After the requisite Live Nation safety announcements, and an impressively short equipment setup and check, the Portland sextet Blitzen Trapper ambled onto the stage. They wasted no time, kicking off with a flurry of tunes from their latest release Furr. Indeed, their set was Furr-heavy, and it wasn't until late in the evening that they treated the audience to several of the more memorable songs from Wild Mountain Nation. During the title track, "Wild Mountain Nation," a pair of girls waved Oregon license plates in the air, prompting drummer Brian Koch to run to the front of the stage with camera phone in hand to capture the moment. This was followed by scattered shouts from the crowd of Portland-area neighborhoods (in which they presumably resided in the past). I had no idea that many fellow Portlanders live in Boston.

Where live–Alela Diane was faithful to her recorded sound, live–Blitzen Trapper was quite liberal with theirs. Despite their Dead influences, they didn't devolve into any outright jams, but they experimented with tempos ("Black River Killer") and displayed some nice transitions ("Country Caravan" into "Lady On The Water"). In a surprising move, lead vocalist Eric Earley performed several solo pieces, including a fantastic cover of Reverend Gary Davis' "Cocaine Blues," and was accompanied by only Marty Marquis and Brian Koch for another. But the entire band was on stage as they finished their set with some Wild Mountain favorites, and wished the enthusiastic crowd a good night.

I was riding high on Portland spirit as I left the Paradise—not only from the show I had just witnessed, but also knowing that I would see these two fine bands again at this year's Pickathon festival (see last year's coverage). Now that's something to look forward to!

SETLIST
Fire + Fast Bullets
Saturday Nite
God + Suicide
Stolen Shoes + a Rifle
Sleepy Time in the Western World
Murder Babe
Black River Killer
Canyon's Edge
Summer Twin
Furr
Country Rain
Cocaine Blues (Reverend Gary Davis Cover)
Not Your Lover
Country Caravan -> Lady On The Water
Suite
Wild Mountain Nation
Devil's A-Go-Go