White Denim + Brazos – Grog Shop – 11/7/2009 – Live Review

Rolling into shows in full pre-game mode has its benefits, particularly when artists exceed lofty expectations and melt faces.  Full disclosure, I’m not a big live review blogger, and toss the blue-ribbon to my colleagues Brian, Justin, and James in this arena.  I’m much to erratic cognitively during live performances and my mind can just as easily wander as it can become rapt.  I usually begin concerts in full journalist mode, jotting down tracklists and attempting to evaluate the entire scene throughout the night.  This quickly digresses when alcohol’s involved, and it fails doubly hard when the band I’m evaluating happens to be one of my favorites.  Austin’s White Denim has tied me in aural knots since the Let’s Talk About It EP, and the frenetic, jazz inspired fuzz ripped up The Grog Shop last week.

We pre-gamed next door at La Cave Du Vin, a swanky speakeasy with pricey imports.  Three or four Japanese Stouts and something or others and we were in rare form.  Brian and I, along with our web guru Taylor, hit the venue just in time for Brazos, another Austin band garnering quite a bit of cred nationwide.  The band hit the stage, all with sunburst guitars and pounded us with breathtaking melodies for six or seven songs.  From the jump, I noticed the emphasis on the percussion, as the drummer pounds the skins and goes to work  Everything was beautifully arranged, from the vocal soaring to the minimally distorted punch.  The band’s super talented, and we’ve included a track below.  They’re out touring on their most recent release, Phosphorescent Blues, and we give all of the tracks a heartwarming recommendation.  There’s something to be said about both of these Austin bands traveling to Cleveland together; it was also a Saturday night.  Stars align when big buzz bands hit our fine city on the weekend.  Normally, we get the ever-popular Tuesday late show as the band shuffles through on their way to Chicago.  We were blessed to get our first taste of Brazos (trust us, you’ll be hearing more from them), and White Denim, all without having to worry about getting up for the 9 to 5 the next morning.

Once Brazos finished the set, we got the chance to chat with James Petralli, guitarist and lead vocalist for White Denim.  The mystery and confidence surrounding both Exposion, and their most recent release, Fits, had me at least mildly curious how the band would react to a few bloggers before they hit the stage.  I very tentatively say “to our surprise,” in that I penciled them in beforehand as being mildly aloof.  This was a huge mistake.  James was extremely gracious as we discussed Bon Iver, Megafaun, Akron/Family, and, since you’ve probably noticed by now that Brian was doing a lot of talking, Phish.  We hit him with a few of our requests, and parted ways just before the band began.  If you get the chance to meet any of the three fellas in the band, get a full round of something nice.  They’re a class act.

This is where things get a bit muddled for me.  I was six or seven deep by the time they strummed the first chord, and once the show began, there was no time for bullshit journalism.  They slayed.  The band opened with a blitzkrieg montage of four to six tracks without pausing for air.  I didn’t waste time with a pencil, trying to snag a setlist.  I know they rattled through “Don’t Look That Way At It,” “Shake Shake Shake” and “All Consolation” and I could have headed home a happy man after those three alone.  Petralli was as advertised.  The frenetically enthused guitar work jaw-dropped the audience from the first note, and it’s pretty remarkable that he’s able to wail so complexly and still manage to belt out vocals.  When they launched into “Heart From Us All,” I swear I’ve never bounced around The Grog Shop in less-than-hipster-esque fashion as I did that night.  I jammed, I banged my head, I played air guitar, and even threw a few devil-horns.  White Denim’s gritty and complex arrangements make it incredibly easy to enjoy in a nostalgic kind of way.  One part 70’s psychedelia a la Hendrix, one part jazzy funk, a dash of punk, a spritz of hippie jam band, and three heaping mounds of cool all blended together into an unforgettable set.  “I Start To Run” closed out the show, and asses were shaking, and many folks, who just kind of wandered in without any sort of expectation, left the venue completely blown away.  Nobody in Cleveland knows about White Denim, but we have a sneaky feeling the word is spreading rapidly.  Another random journalist from Akron happened to stop in on a friend’s request, and her hair was a pile of tangles and sweat by the end of the show.  If she wasn’t converted, nobody was that night.

To close, it’s aptly fitting to wind down with a more philosophical tidbit from the performance, and abnormally, it presents an issue Brian and I are in full agreement about.  Typically, concertgoers get their hands stamped to hear specific music they find meritorious from the recorded efforts.  This is not a new revelation.  In fact, Brian and I, in our pre-show chat with Petralli, unabashedly put on our fanboy visages and mentioned our love of “Sitting” from last year’s Exposion.  It’s the album’s closer and easily encapsulates White Denim’s converging influences perfectly.  The mere insinuation that Petralli was going to get the band to play that song based on our request had us starry-eyed, literally, and not from the PBR’s.  After the blistering set came to a close, it was obvious that “Sitting” wasn’t going to be played this night.  Petralli had mentioned that they’ve only played the song live a couple times, and it’s difficult to translate into a live setting.  After the show, James joked with me and said, “Wanna hear ‘Sitting’ real quick.”  Of course, I had two reactions to this, one of which is probably the most important.  Sometimes it’s best to NOT hear the pristine, favorite track live.  It leaves a shade of mystery and concretes that song as something a bit untouched.  Make no mistakes, White Denim brought six A-Games to the stage that night.  It’s almost a relief that they opted out of playing our request.  It was about as perfect as could be without going for the slam dunk at the end.  Word.

Enjoy the Brazos tune, as well as “Mirrored and Reverse” off of White Denim’s just-released-in-the-USA, Fits.  I’ve also included a killer live version of “Let’s Talk About It” from their KVRX sessions a couple of years ago.  Also, if you live near any of these cities, get your ass out for the show.  If you’re a vinyl fan, you’ll be happy to know that Fits also includes a bonus copy of Exposion as well.  This also made our night.  I’ve already worn the grooves off of Exposion within the last week.

Brazos – Day Glo

White Denim – Mirrored and Reverse

White Denim – Let’s Talk About It (Live @ KVRX)
11.17 Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree
11.18 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
11.19 Orlando, FL @ The Social
11.20 St Augustine, FL @ Cafe Eleven
11.22 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks