Yonder Mountain String Band's two nights of bluegrass excellence at Liberty Hall were their last performances in a busy tour. The band gave Lawrence their all, right to the end, celebrating their love for music and their fans with two sets, and two encores on Saturday night. The variety of songs, the excellent vocals and instrument solos and a joyful, adoring crowd made the concert a picturesque sum of Yonder Mountain String Band's brilliance.
From the get go, Yonder kicked off the first set Saturday night with energetic, catchy bluegrass that immediately warmed up the crowd. The band then went on to demonstrate their variety of sounds, showing influences far beyond country or bluegrass. Utilizing their instruments' harmony and the players' sonorous voices, Yonder put together some melancholy, swinging songs you might not expect to hear at a bluegrass show. Beyond that they played some weird, wild, tunes you could only expect at a Les Claypool concert. But flexing their musical muscles, the band reaches their greatest heights when they rock out their most energetic, dance-able bluegrass jams.
Liberty Hall is the largest venue in town, and offers a great view for most everyone attending, from the packed dance floor to the stacked balcony, but it always becomes a desperate fight for space, with no hope of walking around, socializing or even getting much room to dance. As expected at a Yonder show in Lawrence, the place was full Saturday night, and you could tell. Thankfully the audience, which ranged from old couples to party kids and everyone in-between, was a happy, friendly lot that made the crowding a little more tolerable.
Yonder's first set blazed brightly from a little after 8 until 9:45. By then Split Lip Rayfield had begun opening for Reverend Horton Heat at the Bottleneck. But nobody was going to miss Yonder's last set before New Year's Eve. For their second set Yonder really blew the crowd away with fiery hot, fast bluegrass including solos on the banjo, stand-up bass, mandolin and guitar that melted the crowd's face. The band even played some fantastic covers of songs, including a great rendition of the Talking Head's Girlfriend Is Better.
For their first encore the band played two great bluegrass jams, but the crowd still hadn't had enough. Without making us wait too long, Yonder came back out for one final song. And wouldn't you know it, it was a Split Lip Rayfield song! Used To Call Me Baby, which ironically is this reviewer's very favorite song. Their cover was an awesome hit and left the crowd cheering at the top of their lungs, for the third time in a row. It's guaranteed that a number of Yonder fans there last night will make the trip to St. Louis for their New Year's Eve show.
As if it weren't good enough that Yonder played a great Split Lip Rayfield song, Reverend Horton Heat was still on at the Bottleneck around the corner. Although it was only midnight, the sticklers at the Bottleneck were still charging at the door. Reverend Horton Heat is a spectacle to behold, but still, to pay $11 for the last hour of the show seemed a tad unfair. But the Bottleneck was determined to get their money and they did. No one could have thought it possible, but the Bottleneck was just as completely jam-packed as it was for Lotus' free show. The booths that had been moved to make more room for that show were back in place, with people standing on top of them for a view of the band.
The Texas native rockabilly kings have a surf-rock feel to their bluegrass rock that gives their songs a groovy, oldies' swing. Split Lip Rayfield may have already led the crowd to dance out all their energy, or maybe it was literally too packed to move, but the audience was standing still like a warehouse over-loaded with statues. Reverend Horton Heat's instrumental brilliance was admirable and so was the jammed venue, but it felt odd that no one was dancing. As a musician in the audience pointed out, the surf-rock guitar seemed turned down low, allowing the bass and drums to rock out harder. Perhaps some more volume in the swinging guitar melody would've helped.
All in all it was a great night for music lovers downtown. Hopefully Yonder Mountain String Band and Reverend Horton Heat will each return soon!
Now for Previews:
A dance performance based around lots and lots of drums will be playing at the Granada this Tuesday at 8 p.m. Mutaytor's tribal drum beats and fire-dancing recreates the energy of an epic festival drum circle. Lawrence.com says it'll be about $10-12
Wednesday, Badfish, a Sublime tribute band will be at the Granada. If you love some Sublime hits and a little punk rock, be there with $15.
Supposedly NEON Dance Party is wrapping things up for good in December. Thursday night at the Jackpot may be one of the last times you can boogie to 80's remixes and dance pop songs.
Monday, the 22nd, Bonobo will be rocking out their unique style of electronic indie rock at the Granada for $14-16.
A very exciting bit of news just popped up on Facebook, that Sonic Sutra will be returning to Lawrence on Tuesday, November 30th!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment