“Good afternoon,” muttered Dawes front man Taylor Goldsmith into the mic.
He’s mocking Boston’s Royale- in the kindest way possible of course. If there was one thing that was tighter than the harmonies Friday night, it was the schedule. Increasingly early start times have become the joke within Boston’s music scene. I was bummed to have missed The Belle Brigade, whose set started at 6 that evening. Sorry guys, I wanted to check you out!
On a more positive note, the concert was a rewarding early bird special. The first act I caught was Dawes, a Melophobe favorite. I’ve seen these guys five times, and every time, it just gets better. The band has been touring on their latest album, Nothing is Wrong, for the last few months. Their sound was tight and their comfort with the new tunes was apparent in the organic quality of their playing. Songs like “So Well” showed off the honest and slightly vulnerable lyrics characteristic of Goldsmith’s writing. With a spare and open arrangement, the lyrics “And she does it so well / I was still falling in love when she said / farewell...” float over the swelling three part harmonies.
Several times, Taylor sauntered to the front of the stage to “talk” to the front row with his guitar. Vocal lines being picked up by the guitar, responded to in voice and then given back to the guitar in sweet conversation. Goldsmith can “sing” with his guitar like nobody’s business.
The highlight track “When My Time Comes” (from their first studio album North Hills) was a crowd pleaser, as always. I must say Boston, we had a pretty damn good sing-a-long going there. It was also nice to see Griffin, the band’s drummer, getting some mic time on “How Far We’ve Come.”
After a sweet set, an impressive piano solo or two, a kick-ass cover of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” and a few Narragansetts, Dawes called it a night.
Next up on the early bird special was Blitzen Trapper. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Portland, OR based folk-rockers. I haven’t spent much time listening to them, but I was hopeful. The first time I listened to them, I was taken with their dark and rich EP Black River Killer. Now into their 6th studio album, Blitzen Trapper has taken their electronic-sprinkled, country sound and infused it with the sounds of good ol’ 70‘s rock. Appropriately titled, the new album American Goldwing seems to resonate with the classic American rock crowd, as well as with small town folk fans.
It took BT a little while to get in to their rock persona. They didn’t settle in until the middle of their set when Eric Earley, the band's lead singer, leaned in and said, “We’re going to play you some Rock and Roll.” After that moment, it was almost as if we all did a shot of whiskey together and unbuttoned a button or two. “Street Fighting Sun,” the top song off the album, in my humble opinion, blew all the other songs on American Goldwing out of water Friday night. Perhaps it was the clarity of the rock influence in that song that made it so great. Perhaps it was the energy that had built up over the evening. Either way, I was glad that they finally got down to rock and roll business.
After their set, Early came back out solo, under the safety of a baseball cap, to play the first song of the encore set. It was acoustic and endearing but I was glad that the four remaining mates quickly came back on stage to finish the evening out. In the end, they let loose with a damn good Zeppelin cover of “Good Times, Bad Times.” It was totally appropriate — and totally necessary.
