This show didn't get postponed or cancelled, at least. And good thing, because it was great! You might wonder, like I did, how well two "front men" (Farrar with Son Volt, and Gibbard with Death Cab for Cutie) would do together. Would they compete for attention? Would their voices clash? Would their styles be in opposition?
No, no, and no. :) They were great together, complementing one another. And they sort of met in the middle stylistically.
Good music, well-performed, and a seamless show. (including the opener, Sera Cahoone, a Seattle singer-songwriter with an "understated Neko Case" style that fed easily into the main act. Picked up her CD at the merch table for 10 bucks. Very nice.)
Farrar and Gibbard's music was from their recent CD "One Fast Move or I'm Gone", which is sort of a soundtrack album to a book (or at least a movie adaptation that hasn't been made yet): "Big Sur", by Jack Kerouac.
After having read it in December in preparation for this concert, I'd have to say that they hit the mark. The songs fit the book.
The only drawback to the show was being in line really early in the freezing cold, but not quite early enough to get a decent table with a sight line to the stage. :(
So we settled in at one right across from my favorite bartender's station. I hadn't been there at a show for several months, and he still remembered my order! :) That's the kind of guy I tip really well.
Fortunately we brought a deck of cards to pass the time, and several people walked by and asked what we were playing. One guy recognized the game as Spite & Malice, and took a picture to send to his girlfriend (they play a lot, apparently), who had to miss the show. Aww..
The Varsity had done quite a bit of remodeling since I was last there, and completely reworked the bathrooms upstairs to be sort of along the lines of their quirky business partner, the Loring Pasta Bar. The individual bathroom stalls had a fun and creepy old castle feel to them,
and the hygiene station was cool looking.
Despite the cold, a nice night out all around.
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