Fleet Foxes, Wexner Museum, Columbus, OH - 10/8/2008

A college buddy of mine got into town a couple hours before this show, and we had a few beers to get warmed up for the event. As our group walked into the Wexner, we found out that rather than a trip to the Black Box stage, the band was performing on the stage of the Mershon Auditorium. The last show I saw with that set up, Vampire Weekend, was a kind of hushed affair, so I was skeptical.

We walked into the forlorn, dead-on primitive folk/blues stylings of Frank Fairfield, which was pretty great stuff, I must say. For fans of old blues or Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (a collection I highly recommend), it was kind of mind-blowing how well this dude channeled that creepy vibe.

Then the Fleet Foxes came out and did their thing, and they did it very, very well. I don't have a ton to say about this show aside from the fact that it was great ... a towering, mighty performance. They played most of their catalog and sounded devastatingly perfect. A couple of songs, most notably a cover in the middle, were done solo by their lead vocalist, and he was a force just on his own. They encored first with him again playing solo, this time their haunting "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song," which possibly sounded even better with him doing it on his own. If I may be forgiven a moment of hyperbole for the umpteenth time in my life, it made me think of what seeing the Band in their heyday must have felt like. (That's a high compliment coming from me.)

A buddy of mine has said that he wanted to follow Grizzly Bear around on the road after seeing them live recently, and I had that same feeling seeing Fleet Foxes. They're the real deal.

Setlist (courtesy of the Via Chicago forum):
1. Sun Giant
2. Sun It Rises
3. Drops in the River
4. English Houses
5. White Winter Hmnal
6. Ragged Wood
7. Your Protector
8. Crayon Angels (Judee Sill) >> Oliver James [Robin solo]
9. Quiet Houses
10. He Doesn't Know Why
11. Mykonos

-Encore
12. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song [Robin solo]
13. Blue Ridge Mountains

My Morning Jacket, The LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH 10/6/2008

Got back into town from Nashville and quickly turned around and headed up to this show. I'm a pretty big fan of these guys and would even rank their album It Still Moves in my Top 5 all-timers. The typical baggage comes along with that kind of long-formed devotion ... things have changed, they're more popular, they don't play the "good" songs anymore ... it's kind of like a relationship going slightly sour ...

I was reminded recently of telling a friend that seeing them live would "make you a believer," and I still stand by that statement. By now, I've seen them >10 times and pretty consistently for 5 years (first MMJ show for me was the Orange Peel, Asheville, NC in early 2004), and those have included some of their career-defining performances (Bonnaroo is 2004 and 2006, end of the Z tour at the Orange Peel in 2007); expectations are thus a bit high for me.

We got there early and settled down on the lawn at the LC with a great sightline. It was cold and clear and kind of perfect. My 32-ounce Fatweiser tasted quite yummy. So the show ...

One truly needs to divide reviewing today's MMJ as pre-Evil Urgesand post-Evil Urges, the steaming pile of dung that they released this year. It's a brutal, heart-breaking record to listen to, and I don't mean that in a good way. It's the sound of everything good going off the rails in a big way. I'm not a change hater, either ... from Dylan to Miles to the Velvets to Wilco and Spoon and Pavement and other modern rockers, change can be done perfectly well. This is a case of change going very, very wrong.

For the pre-EU material, a band this good is not going to have much trouble conjuring magic and intensity. It's amazing how intense and vibrant they can still make "The Way That He Sings" sound, even if they've played it literally hundreds of times. Even the by now expected closer, "One Big Holiday", sends shivers and inspires some degree of rapture, despite it's predicted nature. Highlights were, for me, "Lay Low" (which is always a live highlight), "Evelyn" and all the It Still Moves material, even a slightly tired reading of "Golden."

And now where the rubber hits the road ... Evil Urges ... as I expected, these songs did indeed sound much better live. A couple are even quite legitimate, like the "Touch Me" two-fer or "Sec Walkin'." But this is just subpar material, no matter how you slice it. I've gotten to a point where most of the bands I like are continuing to put out such strong material that I'm just as happy to hear the new stuff as the old, even with acts as venerable as Radiohead or Wilco ("Hate It Here" notwithstanding). Sadly, though, no one is ever going to redeem "Highly Suspicious" or the middling lyrics of "I'm Amazed" (though the music is great on that cut).

But add it all up, and the show was greater than most any band you're going to find these days. These guys are in control and can bring out the hammer of the gods as they see fit. Jim James is a singularly great frontman. Maybe I just miss the days of old and should stick to my geezer rock tastes.

Nicely, I have a great upcoming comparison in getting to see Fleet Foxes tomorrow night. I am looking forward to comparing/contrasting the new kids on the block with the old ...

Onstage: 8:30
Off: 10:45

Evil Urges
Touch Me Pt. 1
Off the Record
What A Wonderful Man
I'm Amazed
The Way That He Sings
Thank You Too
Sec Walkin
Evelyn Is Not Real
Mahgeetah
Lay Low
Gideon
Golden
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin From Shootin
Touch Me Pt. 2

ENCORE:
It Beats 4 U
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Phone Went West
Anytime
One Big Holiday