I was supposed to see
Woods at Levitation
earlier this year. Obviously, that didn't happen!
Artist: Woods
Venue: The Sidewinder (outside)
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 2 August 2016
Opening Act: Cian
Nugent
I was getting a bit
concerned when the scheduled start time of 8pm rolled around and
nothing was happening. Maybe the venue had deceived us, hoping to get
more people in the door, and actually expected to start a half-hour
late. 8:30 came and went with no activity. Around 8:45, I finally
recognized the members of Woods moving around on stage. Right as I
concluded that the opener must have no-showed, I heard an "excuse
me" in a decidedly Irish accent right behind me. It was Cian
Nugent, carrying three guitars. He briefly conversed with Woods
up on stage and they cleared off, leaving him just about ten minutes
before their scheduled set time of 9pm. The house music finally
quieted. Cian apologized for his delay, blamed a mix-up with time
zones, and said he still had time for two songs.
[Cian Nugent.]
Cian played what looked
like an acoustic guitar with an electric guitar pickup bolted over
the sound hole. The combination gave him a tone that was beautifully
clear, crisp, and sharp, yet still has the fullness of an acoustic
guitar. Cian's lyrics were surprisingly well put together, but his
voice was decidedly secondary to his easygoing but intricate
fingerpicking patterns. He even managed brief, melodic solos in both
songs. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see more of him, as he
certainly had promise. I liked his bluesy folk feel and thought that
with more time on the stage he could have really shown some
outstanding guitar skills.
Immediately after Cian
stepped down, Woods came up on stage. They started out as a
five-piece with Jeremy Earl on acoustic guitar and lead vocals,
Jarvis Taveniere on lead guitar and mostly inaudible backing vocals,
Aaron Neveu on drums, Chuck Van Dyck on bass, and new member Kyle
Forester on keyboards, percussion, and excellent harmony vocals. They
started with four songs in a slightly psychedelic vein of folk. I
loved the basswork, and the songs were reasonably good, but I quickly
began to tire of the steadiness of the sound.
[Woods.]
At just about that
time, Woods brought out guest trumpeter Cole Karmen-Green, Forester
picked up a saxophone, and Earl switched to an electric guitar. The
music took a radical jump towards a vibrant take on jazz. These songs
were presumably from their latest album, City Sun Eater in the
River of Light. The brass section was superb, the energy level
picked up dramatically, and Earl started taking wild, extended guitar
solos. Van Dyck's basswork only got better, and Neveu's rhythms got
noticeably more interesting, but Taveniere seemed to fade into a
corner. His guitar and vocals were both mixed low, and with Earl on
lead, it didn't seem like there was much space left for him.
Regardless, the subset of songs in that configuration was the
strongest part of the set.
Karmen-Green left after
this run of jazzy songs, and from then on the band pursued a third
sonic path, rooted in their folk side but more willing to branch into
psychedelic rock. Earl switched between acoustic and electric
guitars, and Taveniere occasionally played more visible lead parts.
Compared to the first few songs, the last part of the show was
decidedly more upbeat and jammy, but it didn't approach the jovial
jazzy experimentation of the middle section.
[Woods
with Cole Karmen-Green.]
The band maintained a
low-key, friendly demeanor that I appreciated for its honesty. For
example, a particular audience member loudly and repeatedly requested
the song "Make Time for Kitty" from the band's debut, How
to Survive In/In the Woods (2005). Forester eventually responded
and explained to the audience that there was a small contingent of
fans that advocated for that song. He seemed willing to play it, and
told Earl, "It feels right. Tonight should be the night."
The rest of the band were clearly uninterested. Forester offered to
play his own rendition, but then admitted that he couldn't actually
do it.
I went to the show
without really knowing what to expect. I came away pleased. Woods
played a rather tight set of about 75 minutes, and after the first
batch of songs, it was a solid show. It wasn't that those first songs
were bad, but in comparison to what followed, they seemed less
exciting. This wasn't helped by Earl's voice, which is naturally
rather soft and vague, but was mixed in such a way as to be
particularly clouded and mostly indecipherable. Otherwise, I liked
their general sound, but what really made the band stand out was the
jazzier material from the new album. It represents a laudable
departure from their previously recorded work that I hope will
continue to bring fruitful results.
Scores:
Cian Nugent: B
Woods: B+
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