Seeing Band of Horses at the Avalon was like pulling teeth. You had to wade through a lot of manure before you could get to their show. Luckily, when Band of Horses took the stage, they delivered, making up for the agony of the opening “performers.”
Los Angeles based band, Simon Dawes, opened up the show, but unfortunately I missed them and was unpleasantly surprised when a comedy duo, I believe they were called the Slaughter Brothers, took the stage before Chad Vangaalen played. They represented stand-up comedy at its worst, soliciting many cries from the audience of “bring on the music” and “get off the stage.” Their jokes weren’t funny and stand up comedy before a rock show, I found, doesn’t generally warm up the crowd, but only seems to make them surlier, especially when they’re already fully lubricated.
Chad Vangaalen was a welcomed surprise when he took the stage after the bad comedy. He is a one man band of sorts, a singer-songwriter who plays guitar with a bass drum that accompanies his voice with a very basic beat. Vangaalen hails from Canada and made many references to his country during the set, so much so I was almost beginning to think that he worked for the Canadian Tourism Board. Vangaalen’s voice has that high falsetto, slightly nasally tone, that is reminiscent of Jim James’. Later in his set, Vangaalen brought out a friend to accompany him on drums, but I preferred him playing with his simple bass drum by himself. He has a charming quality on stage which was slightly overpowered by the addition of a drummer.
Unfortunately, before Band of Horses took the stage, the audience had to suffer through more “comedy” from the Slaughter Brothers, including a treacherously long-winded version of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” I realized that it might have been a wise tactic, because by the time Band of Horses took the stage, people were elated to see them After that comedy duo, it could only get better.
Finally, the audience was handsomely rewarded for their patience when Band of Horses hurled an impressive set at the expectant frat-boy-hipster-yupster mix. Lead man, Ben Bridwell, is amusing on stage and gives the show a laid back appeal because he seems to be playing all the songs by the seat of his pants, rather than following a stringent set list. This was evidenced when Birdwell played “The Funeral,” arguably the band’s single, as the third song of the set, rather that holding on to it for the encore. Also adding to the mellow vibe was Bridwell’s many many canibus references and herbal quips.
Bridwell has been compared to Neil Young, and when he sings it sounds as if he is straining his vocal cords to their maximum output with every note, almost like if you were watching the equalizer bars on a stereo when you crank the volume up. His voice of course, is also comparable to Jim James’ simply because of the nasal tone it has, although it has a harmonic quality to it as well.
During the course of their set, Band of Horses played songs off of their debut, Everything All The Time, a few new songs which were very promising, and even a David Allen Coe cover which was introduced, by one of the Simon Dawes members (who are playing with Band of Horses on tour) as “one of Ben’s favorite songs when he was a kid because his mom sang it to him.” Bridwell, switched effortlessly between his electric guitar and slide guitar, which gives the band that classic rock feel that seems to make its fans relate well to the music. Bridwell rallied the audience around him especially during “The Great Salt Lake,” when looking into the crowd you could see the audience on the tips of their toes during the climactic guitar riffs.
Continuing the comedic theme of the evening, as Bridwell was about to close the set before the encore he casually spouted, “you know what time it is, time to pretend like it’s our last song.” He then told the audience that they didn’t even have to clap since the band would be back. When they did come back for their encore, they played four more songs and everyone left feeling satisfied, despite the night’s earlier hurdles.
