Langhorne Slim sported clothes as anachronistic as his music during his April 14 gig at the Larimer Lounge. He charmed girls at the bar, tugging at his suspenders and tipping his too-small hat before moving stageward with his acoustic guitar.
The crowd was large but quiet (see the review of the show’s headliner, Clem Snide, below). But Langhorne, with the help of his electric catalog of late-’60s-influenced material, paid no mind. His set, though lacking the two hottest songs off his excellent “When the Sun’s Gone Down’ album, was fiery and alive, heartbreaking and downtrodden.
“Drowning’ and “By the Time the Sun Goes Down’ were beautiful in their devastating honesty; “And If It’s True’ erupted into a miniature volcano of audience participation. And while the hummer “Loretta Lee Jones’ had some in the audience trying to tap their feet to the impossibly fast, switch-up beat, it’s not half the song of “In the Midnight’ or “The Electric Love Letter,’ both skipped in the short set.
– Ricardo Baca
Maktub
His thick, uneven Afro aglow in red backlighting, Maktub frontman Reggie Watts reminded an intimate crowd at the Lion’s Lair on April 13 that his is one of the finest soul voices in rock ‘n’ roll. Like Darius Rucker gone to church, Watts led his Seattle band through an eclectic set that touched on everything from brooding new wave to eerie gumshoe-movie soundtrack music. The sonic field is so wide open for Maktub, the band apparently sees no problem with lacing its albums with cheesy, ’80s-sounding pop. Too bad, because that dated vibe undermined its more inspired songwriting in this live setting.
Few people were at the show to catch the opening by the Break Mechanics, a live hip-hop group that draws players from such fine local bands as Future Jazz Project and the Motet. That lack of attention didn’t prevent Casey Sidwell from hunching over his bass to unleash the funky signature playing fans have come to expect. Drummer Daren Hahn, keyboardist Greg Raymond and MC Paas were equally on top of their game, turning heads in a dark, smoky bar full of otherwise inattentive people.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
Clem Snide
Neither the white, incandescent tuxedoes of Clem Snide nor the energy of solo acoustic opener Langhorne Slim could move an April 14 Larimer Lounge crowd that must have thought it was gathered for a show by Low. Frontman Eef Barzelay and his likable 14-year-old Nashville-Brooklyn country-roots rock mates wore their Sunday best, and a large but mellow crowd responded as if it were in church. “Has the Ecstasy kicked in yet?’ suggested a baffled Barzelay. “Mine has.’
Touring in advance of the decidedly winsome “End of Love,’ things got so quiet the band began all but mocking onlookers into any kind of reaction, but one just wasn’t coming. They covered Daniel Johnston … and the crowd didn’t get the reference. The great story-song “Mike Kalinsky’ told of an asthmatic outsider who listened to Joy Division and the Misfits. And yet, nothing.
– John Moore
