Drove into the city. There was no traffic on the tunnel approach, but an overturned tractor on the 280 extension before you get to 1/9 slowed stupid people in fast cars a bit. Better than last week, I guess, when the road was covered in water and I caulked my wagon to float it across. Parked on Elizabeth just around the corner from Bowery/Delancy and, after a short walk, stood outside the Ballroom waiting for Anthony and making some phone calls to pass the time. At one point Jim White, Dirty Three’s drummer, came outside and started sifting through a bag. I kinda shifted towards him and said hi and told him to to have a good show.
Anthony showed, we got inside and I ordered a Sierra Nevada that was by far the worst tasting beer I’ve ever paid $6.50 for. It was definitely bottom of the keg, undrinkable garbage. The doors opened a little after eight so we moved from the bar upstairs.
Nina Nastasia went on at nine, accompanied by her violinist Dylan (who isn’t bald anymore) and keyboardist Kevin (who plays spooky little runs and “evil” notes but not much else). She played (in no particular order), “I Say That I Will Go,” “We Never Talked,” “Stormy Weather,” “The Long Walk,” “I Go With Him,” “Rosemary,” “Little Angel,” and a couple new ones. She looked a little nervous at first but settled in rather nicely. There weren’t many songs in there that showcased her insane vocal range except “Stormy Weather.” It was a great opening slot, ten or eleven songs that were perfectly crafted, haunting sketches. She finally spoke to the crowd while tuning down for the final two songs, after Dylan broke the awkward silence saying, “I always tell her she should have pre-recorded banter for these times,” to which she replied about taking a while to tune. Overall it was a solid set, not as stunning as a full band performance, but definitely a lasting impression. Supposedly she’s gonna go record again with Steve very soon. I will wait in anticipation.
*If you desire to read more about Nina, check the archives. There are countless posts where I expound upon the merits of her art and make bold claims like, “her band opening for Shellac was one of the finest shows I have ever witnessed.”
The set change was one of the quickest I’ve seen. Everything was already prepared, and the three (plus a fourth, Jim (?) Becker from Chicago) brought out their instruments, plugged in and pretty much just started. Warren Ellis approached the mic and did his, “Is everybody in!?” routine before setting the course for the evening. Some new songs and then bad attempts at whatever the crowd requests. They were phenomenal live. A lot of emotion and powerful tunes. When Becker switched from mandolin to bass it added a lot of weight to some tunes. They opened with “Cinders” and then played, in no particular order, “Amy,” “Hope,” “Sue’s Last Ride,” “Everything’s Fucked…” Warren’s banter between every song was hilarious. He kept score with some crowd members who tried to insult him and vice versa. One guy zinged him real good when he said, “This is a song I wrote while on a beach in Italy” and the guy screamed “boo hoo” or something. Later in the set he mentioned how this was their last show in the states and that he was only concerned with shipping his records over to Europe. Then he kinda mumbled “gold records” and the guy screamed “fucking rock star!” at him. They went back and forth for a while. Most insane stage/crowd interaction I remember seeing in a really long time. They did a nice encore with three songs. The best response, I think was for “The Zither Player” from the new album. It starts off fairly innocently and then goes into this Am F G round that picks up in intensity and builds to fairly dizzying heights. Great stuff.
Setlist:
Cinders
Ever Since
The Restless Waves
Amy
The Zither Player
Everything’s Fucked
Hope
Sad Sexy
This Night
Sue’s Last Ride
e: Backwards Voyager
