Nathan & Stephen ended things last weekend just the way they started them: Happy and “Happier.” Photos by Brian Carney.
“Hello, dear old friend. It’s nice to see you back again.”
Thatap a lyric from a favorite song. And a fitting salutation to one of the most lamented late local bands of recent years, a loveable collective of hairy anthem singers who re-gathered last weekend to plant one last sweaty, sentimental, sloppy kiss on denizens of Denver’s .
Hearts of Palm won the Denver Postap 8th Annual Underground Music Poll in 2008, but broke up not long after — a seemingly inevitable end for any group as large as eight. In this case, drummer Jared Black moved to Brookyln. Guitarist wanted to devote more time to his own band. Trumpeter Phil Donovan moonlights as a Denver cop.
The band formed as Nathan & Stephen — lead singer Nathan McGarvey and rhythm guitarist Stephen Till. As the duo grew, also adding Matthew Till (bass guitar), Leanor Till (saxophone) and Justin Croft (keyboards), the name was changed to reflect the evident growth. The result was a joyous pop orchestra that could make the most lead-footed of cynics stomp their feet and open their arms to this collective’s pure, catchy goodness.
The band played two nights at the Hi-Dive. In a bit of a wink, Friday’s 16-plus show was billed as a Hearts of Palm affair, while Saturday’s was billed as Nathan & Stephen. In truth, the set lists only differed by a few songs. The octet was back in full for both nights, save for Black, who was ably replaced by Rob Burleson, also known as “Number 3” in the bands and .
First up were rock-solid opening sets — the dour, spooky, stringy, gypsy sounds of , with Munly heir Dameon Merkl on cellar-scraping vocals and Kelly O’Dea on violin. Next up was the ever-evolving, always surprising and peerless , which delivered a reverb-tinged sound that channeled its inner surfer.
Much like the recent swan song, Saturday’s “Farewell Valentine” from Hearts of Palm was sentimental, a little bit sloppy and all kinds of wonderful. This was a totally silly love-fest from the start, with random acts of hugging taking place both on the stage, and among a crowd that seemed to scream along with nearly every song.
The set opened with stage fog and appropriate “welcome back” lyrics: “I’m still trying to find you through the smoke.” Dan Rutherford, who released the band’s two albums, was called to the stage to be presented with red velvet cake. The evening reached its emotional zenith when Bad Weather California frontman Chris Adolf came up to help out on the irresistible anthem, “Happier.” McGarvey dedicated the hand-clapping “We Have No Water Here” to Craig.
The night ended just as the band was first started — with Nathan & Stephen alone on the Hi-Dive’s back steps, unplugged and singing an acoustic, clapalong version of the life-reflection ballad, “Little Squares of Paper,” before re-joining the full band onstage for the rest of the song. They left with a refrain that asked, “Will we be happy ever after?” — and orders to hug the person next to you. They certainly do know how to make an exit.
The whole night felt like an exercise in righting a wrong. Like discovering a feeling of nostalgia you weren’t even aware had already been relegated to nostalgia.
So we say thank you to our friends…
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John Moore founded in 2001 and is now the paper’s theater critic. If you care about such things, check out his
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
