Returning to the and its immaculate acoustics, put on a highly entertaining show last Friday as part of a two-night Colorado stint. (Phillips closed out Saturday night at the barely-heralded Meadowgrass Festival in Colorado Springs).
Phillips again showed that despite being taken for granted by some and overlooked by others, he’s a performer that music fans — and not just indie, Americana or folk rock fans — should see live at least once in their lives.
Now recording for the Yep Roc label and touring in support of the well-received “Little Moon,” Phillips fronted a simple three-piece band, armed with only an acoustic guitar run through a fuzz box and that rich, expressive, multi-register voice of his. With a voice like his and an impressive catalog of very melodic songs to draw from, further instrumentation, other than some keyboard, wouldn’t really have added much. The exquisite sound of the Soiled Dove only made it all better. Notes, strums and chords from Phillips’ occasionally amped-up acoustic guitar sounded perfect.
The roughly 70- minute show’s set was drawn mainly from “Little Moon” and the second Grant Lee Buffalo album, “Mighty Joe Moon,” which still casts a long shadow over Phillips’ career as evidenced when he asked, more than once, if the audience had any requests.
The opener, “Good Morning Happiness” (Phillips is a new father), provided the band members the first of several instances to show off their chops. The guitar solos were controlled, with some outright freakouts, but were never excessive or self-indulgent.
Phillips’ effortlessly expressive and expansive voice soared one minute, crooned the next, displaying his range on songs like the gorgeously sparse “Mighty Joe Moon,” “It Ain‘t the Same Old Cold War, Harry” and “Raise the Spirit,” from his previous album, “Strangelet.” Both with his guitar and his voice, Phillips can do loud/quiet with the best of them. The show‘s highlight may have been “Fuzzy,” the title song from the Grant Lee Buffalo debut. The frenzied playing was a tour de force.
Clearly happy to be playing again in Colorado, Phillips recalled visiting El Chapultepec after performing at the Soiled Dove’s original location years ago and an overzealous Aussie woman who was “dragged away in chains” during his last appearance. Few performers could have charmed as well as Phillips with his witty stage banter and clever spontaneous audience interactions bracketing almost every song. There were more than several laugh-out-loud moments as he and bassist/straight man Paul Bryan discussed burritos, John Denver, Jello shots and the preponderance of the D chord in most of his songs.
The encore consisted of Phillips playing “Lone Star Song” solo and closed with Grant Lee Buffalo’s “Mockingbirds.” Itap nice that some older artists don’t avoid playing earlier material, despite the fact that often their longest, most dedicated fans came specifically to hear just that, as well as their new material.
Follow Reverb on Twitter! !
Mike Long is a Longmont-based writer and comedian and a regular contributor to Reverb.
