Tag wexner center
I saw Dan Bejar play a solo Destroyer show at the Wexner Center last thursday night (21 nov 2013). It was austere: one guitar, hardly any banter. Presumably because of this, he only played two songs from Kaputt. Most of the set was old songs I wasn’t familiar with. But it was a trip to see Bejar in real life—he is such a weird, intriguing dude. It was a nice musical diversion from life’s present insanity.
Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy at the Wex (2 aug 2013)
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!
I didn’t take this photo, but I did see Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy at the Wexner Center a few days ago (25 jan 2013). The show had a sterile vibe, even by Wex standards: there was no opening act and the show started right away at 8pm. But the sterile vibe was a perfect presentation for the band’s very tight, acoustic set. Everything was great, from the very first song, “May It Always Be” sounding exactly like the original recording on Ease Down the Road. It was super super super.
This was the second time I’d seen BPB, and this show was much more intimate. I remember at the show in Nelsonville, there were enough people playing instruments that Will only played guitar about half of the show, spending the rest of his time dancing around instrument-less. This time, he played guitar the entire show, so there was a lot less monkeying around. I found this to be something of a mixed blessing.
A bunch of my friends decided to come with me with basically no background knowledge, and I was a little worried about Will’s general weirdness being a turn-off. Thankfully, I think they really enjoyed it and were not too weirded out by things. One last thing: Emmett Kelly is a really cool dude.
Dirty Projectors at the Wex (12 jul 2012)! Look; you can see me in the front row. It was a fantastic show.