Some bands seem to be content to come out on stage and play their songs just like they were laying them down in the studio. Others take advantage of the energy of live setting and push each song to its fullest potential.
Based on their intense and passionate performance Monday night at the Bluebird Theater, sits solidly in the second camp. The Portland, Ore.-based quintet, led by singer/guitarist Eric Earley, was focused but lively, giving it their all from start to finish.
The roots rockers came out with guitars blazing from the start with “Rock and Roll Was Made for You,” from their weeks-old release, “All Across This Land.” The unrelenting percussive guitar work set the tone for the rest of the high-intensity set. Their reliance on material from their new album signalled a return to rock for a group that has experimented wildly over their eight albums, touching on country, indie-folk, indie-pop and hip-hop.
Next came the earthy “Fletcher,” with its “Sweet Home Alabama”-like riffs and down-home sound. Soon after, the classic-rock-like “Cadillac Road,” all dogged, bluesy guitar mixed with laconic reminiscence, and the mellow-but-guitar-driven “Love Grow Cold.”
The new “Lonesome Angel” and the older “Not Your Lover” (off 2008’s “Furr”) and “Love the Way You Walk Away” (2011’s “American Goldwing”) were appealing examples of Earley’s mad skills on the harmonica. The instrument is so crucial to so many Blitzen Trapper songs, shot through as it is with Earley’s folksy twang. Drummer Brian Adrian Koch got to show off his voice during a lively version of the Beatles’ “Come Together.” Later, the whole band sang on another inspired cover, an edgy take on Townes Van Zandtap “If I Needed You.”
You have to respect a band that plays not one, not two, but six songs during the encore after an already jam-packed set. They even brought out the night’s opener, The Domestics, to provide backup on a spirited rendition of “Furr,” before spurring the crowd on to sing along on one more Beatles’ cover, “You Never Give Me Your Money.”
Setlist: Blitzen Trapper, Bluebird Theater, 10/27/15
Rock and Roll Was Made for You
Fletcher
Cadillac Road
Love Grow Cold
Not Your Lover
Nights Were Made for Love
Big Black Bird
Thirsty Man
Come Together
Love the Way You Walk Away
Lonesome Angel
Astronaut
Black River Killer
Texaco
Shine On
All Across this Land
Encore:
The Man Who Would Speak True
If I Needed You
Furr
You Never Give Me Your Money
Across the River
Wild Mountain Nation
