Kurt Vile Brought Lo-Fi Chill To the Palace
It’s always a great time to spend a chill evening closing out the week - that’s what Sundays are made for. Kurt Vile’s low-key, lofi brand of relatable introspective rock fit that bill perfectly, and this past Sunday he brought the KV’s Been Good To Me Tour to the Palace Theatre, bolstered by a little local spice in The Wandering Eye.
Ween tribute band The Wandering Eye opened the show in raucous fashion, with Marc Gartman bellowing ‘who wants to hear some WEEN’ to open up the show before launching into their opener. A veritable supergroup of local musicians, the ensemble included Tim Saxhaug of Trampled By Turtles and the nearly-ubiquitous Alan Sparhawk (of course of Low and recently with a major collaboration with Trampled). Ween have never really let themselves be pinned down to any one genre, so it makes a lot of sense that a pretty varied group would pay tribute with their own takes on the many styles that Ween has pulled over the years. The set covered material ranging from all the way back in ‘91’s The Pod to their most recent album (relatively speaking since it was released in 2007) La Cucaracha. Vocal responsibilities were split across every member of the band, which kept each song feeling very fresh and dynamic. Sparhawk had ample room to demonstrate why he’s such a great on the guitar, taking lead on “Object”, and in general dominating his space on the stage with the natural bravado that comes from being an exceptional performer. The crowd seemed somewhat enthusiastic at first but as the band drifted across Ween’s discography expertly, they slowly won the audience over, and by the end of their breezy 45 minute set, their inclusion as Vile’s opener made perfect sense.
It made even more sense when the opening notes of “Chance to Bleed” (one of many songs featured this evening off of Vile’s new album Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me) started to ring out, and in new clothing, Sparhawk once again took the stage to help lay down the backing guitar to the first song of Vile’s set. Their combination of styles played off of each other beautifully, with a simple call and response melodic lick added to the song and a touching hug-it-out to finish off the song.
Vile’s come-as-you-are approach to americana is always refreshing - the word pretentious gets thrown around a lot in music criticism, and Vile’s music is anything but. It is exactly who he is, translated directly to song, and that experience is exactly what you get live. His lower, slurred approach to vocal delivery really makes you feel like he couldn’t care less if you enjoyed his performance or not, albeit in a charming way. Swapping between newer material off of Philadelphia…and older material, the evening was kept dynamic and interesting by swapping between more acoustic-focused tracks and the psychadelic-leaning electric stylings of his other work. Midway through the set, Kurt was left to man for himself as he performed a pair of solo acoustic songs - “Blackberry Song” and the John Prine cover “How Lucky” - before being rejoined by his steadfast backing band for the rest of the set. Vile’s newer material and older material juxtaposed beautifully, flowing seamlessly from one track to the next, giving credit to his immense talent as a songwriter as while he has undergone substantial changes to his approach to music over the years, every song still felt perfectly “him”.
Even though Vile and his solo band have been through the cities quite a bit recently (they opened for The Pixies twice this year), there was quite a substantial crowd out to enjoy a night of relaxing, laid-back material. That crowd ended got a substantial treat, as the set lasted well over 90 minutes, with three encore tracks, ending in a lovely and calming rendition of “Every time I look at you”.
