Domingo 23 Set 2007, 22h:42

Fri 21 Sep – Okkervil River, Damien Jurado

Friday, September 21
Okkervil River
with Damien Jurado
Lee's Palace
Toronto

First, I would like to acknowledge Okkervil River for pulling me out of my The Hold Steady obsession that lasted roughly from December 06 to mid-August 07 when I heard then on KEXP while sitting at my desk at work and said, “whoa, what is this?" Love at first listen. And how often is it that your obsession du jour is playing two shows in your area, and these shows happen to fall on a weekend? The last time I remotely came close to this was last October when the Drive-By Truckers played back-to-back shows in Toronto and Hamilton, but these shows occurred on weeknights and I completely missed the first gig in Hamilton.

Show numero uno was in Toronto on Friday, September 21, at Lee’s Palace – a venue with a capacity of about 600 people. Unfortunately for the sold-out crowd, Toronto had one of its fall heat/humidity spells that day and the Lee’s Palace air conditioning system did not respond in kind. It was too hot for me to even drink beer as I realized I was pounding Keith’s to cool off. About half-way through the show I even got dizzy and thought I might faint.

But back to the music. I had heard that Okkervil River put on a blistering live show, and they did not disappoint. They got off to a rocky start however, with tuning and sound problems. The sound problems were entirely Lee’s Palace’s fault. From where I was standing (main floor, about ¾ of the way back) lead singer Will Sheff’s microphone was too low and pianist /accordionist /guitarist Jonathan Meiburg’s vocal mic was too high. I wasn’t the only one who noticed this (so it wasn’t my over-heated brain playing tricks on me), as the people around me were commenting on how bad the sound was too.

All that being said, by the time they got to the third song, No Key, No Plan from 2006’s Black Sheep Boy Appendix, the place was rocking. I wonder if their slow start was due to a holdup at the border (why do Canadian customs agents do this to every band?). The band’s van died in Illinois so they had to get a rental to get to the rest of their gigs. Sheff even joked (?) that the customs agents were going to jail one band member until they told them where they were hiding the drugs. Which is really hysterical since everyone knows that the best hash and dope are produced in Canada.

Also, the band could not pack all of their equipment in the rental van, so they had to leave a few things behind. Including the accordion. I saw a post Friday on the Okkervil River message boards looking for an accordion, and found this post a little strange, but now I know why! Fortunately, they found a brand-new one with the protective plastic (accordion condom) still on it at a music shop down the street.

http://jound.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1688

The band actually increased with intensity and animation as the show continued. Sheff shed layers of clothes as the heat increased and the band rocked out (insert bad stripper joke here). I’ve heard a lot of different comments on Sheff’s stage persona (from unbridled enthusiast to pretentious ass-clown). On Friday night he was smiley, affable Will, who seemed to be having tons of fun. No pretense at all.

The only track that I didn’t really dig was So Come Back, I Am Waiting (Black Sheep Boy II), which is an incredibly mellow song that felt out of place in this rock show. The crowd was already overheated, drunk, and anxious, and jackasses were heckling during the quiet parts of the song – which actually got Sheff to laugh.

OR closed with a rousing version of Westfall, and since I was up front I milled around and waited for the crowd to thin out. I wanted to talk to coronetist Scott Brackett about how he stays warmed up and subsequently I tune between songs. I played various brass instruments for years and I always found it very difficult to keeps my instrument warm while waiting for the next piece. I couldn’t find him, but I did congratulate Meiburg on his kick-ass rock piano work.

The word on the street was that there was an Okkervil River after party at a nearby club. The house DJ at this club was called Easy Tiger. Interestingly Ryan Adams was in town doing a show at Massey Hall that same night (so were Devendra Banhart and The Beastie Boys, but obviously, not together). I had mad visions of partying with the OR boys and Adams, and Mike D showing up to DJ a mix, but alas, the dickhead bouncer wouldn’t let me in. Apparently I fall into the “not cool” category. What a shock.

See the above post for the set list.

Damien Jurado opened the show with a solo acoustic set and was clearly out of place at this venue. His soft, beautiful vocals were completely lost on most of the audience. Some jerk behind me said “dude, this isn’t a coffee house.” Then Jurado told a story about how his van was broken into and all of his stuff stolen the last time he was in Toronto. Most of the people there were not even paying attention to him and loudly talked and clinked beer bottles. I really felt bad for the guy, and he seemed completely uncomfortable in that setting.

(I don’t know his music that well, so bear with me. I only own On My Way to Absence and I don't think he played anything from it.)

1. Loose My Head - I Break Chairs (2002)
2. Letters & Drawings - Rehearsals for Departure (1999)
3. Ohio - Rehearsals for Departure
4. Tragedy - Rehearsals for Departure
5. (missed it - new?)
6. Denton, TX - And Now That I'm in Your Shadow (2006)
7. (missed it - new?)
8. And Now That I’m in Your Shadow - And Now That I'm in Your Shadow
9. Paper Wings - I Break Chairs
10. Murder - (Low Cover)