After catching Koji's set at Summer Camp earlier in the night, I wasn't quite running late for Bazan's 10:30 show but I was certainly running a little later than I would have liked and once I arrived at Lincoln Hall, I knew I'd be lucky to get in by the time openers Say Hi started their set. The line wasn't just down the alley adjacent to Lincoln Hall, it ran all the way down to the next block and wrapped around a neighboring building. Thankfully, I'd learned from the cold walk to my car the night before and brought extra layers. The wait didn't bother me. If anything, it made me happy. Bazan's a legend of indie rock and he deserves that kind of crowd.
Bazan wasn't the only one deserving of that kind of crowd. Lincoln Hall's just the cool kind of venue that deserves that kind of crowd too. It took me a good 10 shows at Lincoln Hall's sister venue, Schubas, before I got to see the place packed to capacity and just 4 shows in to the concert hall's infancy, Lincoln Hall played host to it's first sold out show, brining a little over 500 Midwestern folks to the fledgling venue. I'm sure once word spreads of how awesome the venue is, Lincoln Hall will be selling out alot more shows.
Say Hi hit the stage first and while I have to admit that I'm unfamiliar with their music apart from the fact that they used to be known as (the sort of dreadfully named) Say Hi To Your Mom, I enjoyed their set enough to snag a copy of Oohs and Aahs, their latest album. Say Hi was fuzzy and poppy with a melancholy that kept them from being totally out of step with Bazan. Lead singer Eric Elbogen even slightly resembled Bazan and pulled double duty that night by playing guitar in Bazan's backing band.
When Bazan took the stage, opening with "Hard to Be", the first track off his latest album, Curse Your Branches, I had never seen so many cameras and iPhones being extracted at a concert to snap pictures as I did then. The crowd was full of dedicated Bazan fans and the fact that they were silent for the vast majority of Bazan's set was not because of boredem but instead a testament to how enthralled and attentive they were. And they had every reason to be. Incredibly prolific with his lyrics, Bazan's voice was just as rich and evocative in person as it is on record.
Personally, I have heard Bazan live before but on that instance, he was solo. Hearing him with a band gives his music a whole new dimension. Songs like "Bless This Mess" and "Curse Your Branches" got a makeover thanks to the impassioned fellows behind him who gave each song a fuzzier, louder layer that made it apparent that the member's of Bazan's band has just as much respect and passion for the music they were playing as David himself did.
While the crowd was excited regardless, they were clearly glad to hear older tracks stretching from his 2006 EP, all the way back to his Pedro The Lion days. I was thrilled to hear Bazan launch into "Fewer Broken Pieces" while "Priests and Paramedics" proved to be a fan favorite.
During Bazan's legendary Q & A, we got to hear such audience provided gems as "When's the last time you shaved your beard?" (10 years ago, for his wedding), "What do you think of raccoons?" (He's not crazy about them), and "How's the van?" I was particularly interested in the last question as I donated a good $20 to help Bazan buy that van earlier in the year when he was raising money to help fund his vehicle purchase. The van is great, if you were wondering, and if Bazan could split it into 700 pieces and give one to each of the 700 people who donated and received a snazzy "I helped Bazan buy a van" shirt, he would.
These Q & A sessions, coupled with Bazan's plethora of house shows and the fact that as an artist, David wears his heart on his sleeve, makes his fans feel as if they know Bazan in a way. We're not entitled to David's music, we're just the disciples of the melancholy messiah of indie rock and we're lucky to be. Album after album, show after show, Bazan delivers.
If you weren't lucky enough to catch David at Lincoln Hall, Bazan returns to the Midwest at the beginning of December to play a number of house shows.
Bazan wasn't the only one deserving of that kind of crowd. Lincoln Hall's just the cool kind of venue that deserves that kind of crowd too. It took me a good 10 shows at Lincoln Hall's sister venue, Schubas, before I got to see the place packed to capacity and just 4 shows in to the concert hall's infancy, Lincoln Hall played host to it's first sold out show, brining a little over 500 Midwestern folks to the fledgling venue. I'm sure once word spreads of how awesome the venue is, Lincoln Hall will be selling out alot more shows.
Say Hi hit the stage first and while I have to admit that I'm unfamiliar with their music apart from the fact that they used to be known as (the sort of dreadfully named) Say Hi To Your Mom, I enjoyed their set enough to snag a copy of Oohs and Aahs, their latest album. Say Hi was fuzzy and poppy with a melancholy that kept them from being totally out of step with Bazan. Lead singer Eric Elbogen even slightly resembled Bazan and pulled double duty that night by playing guitar in Bazan's backing band.
When Bazan took the stage, opening with "Hard to Be", the first track off his latest album, Curse Your Branches, I had never seen so many cameras and iPhones being extracted at a concert to snap pictures as I did then. The crowd was full of dedicated Bazan fans and the fact that they were silent for the vast majority of Bazan's set was not because of boredem but instead a testament to how enthralled and attentive they were. And they had every reason to be. Incredibly prolific with his lyrics, Bazan's voice was just as rich and evocative in person as it is on record.
Personally, I have heard Bazan live before but on that instance, he was solo. Hearing him with a band gives his music a whole new dimension. Songs like "Bless This Mess" and "Curse Your Branches" got a makeover thanks to the impassioned fellows behind him who gave each song a fuzzier, louder layer that made it apparent that the member's of Bazan's band has just as much respect and passion for the music they were playing as David himself did.
While the crowd was excited regardless, they were clearly glad to hear older tracks stretching from his 2006 EP, all the way back to his Pedro The Lion days. I was thrilled to hear Bazan launch into "Fewer Broken Pieces" while "Priests and Paramedics" proved to be a fan favorite.
During Bazan's legendary Q & A, we got to hear such audience provided gems as "When's the last time you shaved your beard?" (10 years ago, for his wedding), "What do you think of raccoons?" (He's not crazy about them), and "How's the van?" I was particularly interested in the last question as I donated a good $20 to help Bazan buy that van earlier in the year when he was raising money to help fund his vehicle purchase. The van is great, if you were wondering, and if Bazan could split it into 700 pieces and give one to each of the 700 people who donated and received a snazzy "I helped Bazan buy a van" shirt, he would.
These Q & A sessions, coupled with Bazan's plethora of house shows and the fact that as an artist, David wears his heart on his sleeve, makes his fans feel as if they know Bazan in a way. We're not entitled to David's music, we're just the disciples of the melancholy messiah of indie rock and we're lucky to be. Album after album, show after show, Bazan delivers.
If you weren't lucky enough to catch David at Lincoln Hall, Bazan returns to the Midwest at the beginning of December to play a number of house shows.
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