A ribbon dancer works her magic as DeVotchKa frontman Nick Urata works his magic at the Paramount Theatre on Friday. Photos by Joe McCabe.
O, . Never before have I heard you make such beautiful music as you played at the on Friday. The set list was magnificent. The mix, from where I was standing, was glorious and full. You looked lovely. And you capitalized on the romantic, dramatic, kissy-kissy occasion – the night before Valentines Day.
I’ve seen you play plenty of shows over the years – too many to count when you include the Larimer Lounge days, the multiple Austin showcases, the New York trip and everything in between. You’ve grown and matured, but you haven’t lost what makes you special – and you also haven’t given up on creating something unique and beautiful.
Friday’s show was gorgeous, lush. I thought you would bring the string section and the extra horn player and the aerial ballerinas, and you did. But something about you – and all your accoutrements – at the Paramount worked better than the recent Fillmore and Red Rocks shows.
DeVotchKa is more of a Paramount band than it is a Fillmore band. (Itap a bit cavernous for such an intimate band.) And as lovely as you were at Red Rocks – both times – thatap a really large outdoor space, and when the wind blows, itap rarely kind to musicians and their creations.
But the Paramount – o, the Paramount – is grand and classy, towering and elegant. Like you, DeVotchKa, the Paramount is a treasure, and itap also small enough to still give fans the feeling that not a lot has changed … when really, a lot has changed.
Some friends in Los Angeles were recently glowing over a show you played at the Viper Room recently. After seeing you all at festivals and larger venues, they were floored at your performance, your presence in a tiny rock club. And while I was glad they got to see you in that kind of environment, it also made me miss the old days – the days when Denver was clueless and you would draw 150 people to the Larimer or Mercury or a couple hundred to the Bluebird or Fox.
But standing there in the pit of the Paramount, with passes smuggled from my friend Steve, I was taken into your intimate world again. It was heavy. Eye contact. Swaying girlfriend. Big, plucked basslines.
I liked “A Mad and Faithful Telling” a lot. But I’d never loved it until that night. How did you top some of my other favorites – “Queen of the Surface Streets” included – with a newbie, “Along the Way.” What a perfectly constructed song for such a night. And “Transliterator” … really? Really?! That song is so the jam.
“How it Ends” was expectedly lovely. And any concert that starts with the fierce guitars of “Enemy Guns” will make for a good night in my book. And while I miss “Danglin’ Feet,” I understand you can’t play it every time out.
It was a lovely night, and I think you all found a home at the Paramount. It reminds me of the Boulder Theater days – only with a lot more friends.
Ricardo Baca is the pop music critic at The Denver Post and the executive director for the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase.
Joe McCabe is a Denver-based photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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