Present Joys

I saw Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy play the Wexner Center last night (2 aug 2013). (back in Columbus for the second time this year!) It was not difficult to get my usual front-and-center spot. The band consisted of Will, Emmett Kelly, Cheyenne Mize (who mostly played bass this time, with a bit of violin), drummer Van Campbell, and Dawn McCarthy, seated around one room mic. It was quite peaceful! I believe this was the first show I’ve ever seen where every performer was seated for the entire duration of the show.

The show was really fun. I’m still not completely sold on the music of the Everly Brothers, but I enjoyed the music-industry backstory that Will was able to share about a lot of the tunes. And the songs all sounded great; I really enjoyed Will and Dawn’s tight harmony, especially since they both have such kooky voices. But the highlight of the night, in my opinion, was the scattered bunch of The Letting Go songs: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy originals, lovingly and wildly performed. If memory serves, we got to hear “Then The Letting Go”, “Lay & Love”, “The Seedling”, “Cursed Sleep”, and (best of all) “The Seedling”. They were so rockin’.

It was a fun experience. I was still a little woozy from tonsillectomy painkillers, and I was alone, and I met some interesting, talkative middle-aged men while I was there. Another great show at my favorite venue in town!

Last night (3 may 2013), my sister and I drove to Nelsonville to see Bill Callahan play at Stuart’s Opera House. (A popular location for Drag City artists, apparently!) Instead of sitting in Stuart’s auditorium-style seats, we sat on collapsible chairs on the stage itself, and since we got there a little early, we had front-row seats.

I’d seen Bill Callahan play once before, in july 2011 at the Wexner Center in Columbus. The Nelsonville show had an identical guitar + guitar/occasional harmonica + bass configuration, and a very similar setlist: lots of Apocalypse songs and only one or two songs from the Smog era. The sound was beautiful—just the right volume to appreciate the artistic subtlety of the music. Especially Bill’s lead guitarist, who was super great. It was a fantastic time! Bill Callahan may not have changed much in the past two years, but my ability to appreciate him has only increased!