Concert Review & Photos: Joseph Arthur @ Jammin’ Java (in Vienna, VA) 12/7
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"A rock and roll engine bringing the goods."
Due to other music commitments, a detour was taken by this critic from the most local stop on Joseph Arthur’s current tour with the addition of Mike Mills from R.E.M. on bass. Instead of Thursday’s show at Sellersville Theater a jaunt to Washington, D.C. suburb Vienna, VA’s venue Jammin’ Java occurred this past Saturday. And boy what a show it was.
Scheduled to begin at 9:30, it did not get underway until 10:30 or so. While waiting in the cramped confines of the bar and table area during soundcheck when many ticketholders were forced to wait outside in some bitter weather, a video monitor showed Mills do a rarely viewed check of his bass alone, including a tuneup with a blast from deep R.E.M. past with the theme to “Barney Miller.” This was a good sign of what was to come.
After a splendid opening folk set from singer-songwriter Caroline Rose, Arthur, Mills and drummer Bill Dobrow took the stage and quickly pummeled the crowd with awe-inspiring rock. Arthur and his soulful and cracked voice as mixed with the harmonies of Mills created a great mix of vocals. Arthur does not shy away from guitar artistry either, as was apparent from the first song, “Blue Lights in the Rear View.” For nearly half of the song’s seven-plus minutes Arthur jammed away, moving from his perch at stage right to the center. Mills joined him with his bass lines blazing in the mix.
The nearly two-hour set focused on Arthur’s 2013 record The Ballad of Boogie Christ. Ironic, daring and showcasing Arthur’s glorious songwriting abilities, the album pops before the ears live. The rhythms of “I Used to Know How to Walk on Water” and the humor and candor of the album’s title track sounded sublime. “I Miss the Zoo,” certainly one of 2013’s greatest songs, showcases Arthur’s poetic sensibilities (Arthur is a published poet as well). He often uses this song to work on a painting on stage as he did on this night, finishing one he began during the gorgeous “Invisible Hands.” If at a distance the painting sounds like a gimmick it certainly is not. Arthur is the genuine article, living the life of a Renaissance man artist, 2013 edition, before one’s eyes.
Dubbing themselves The New Professionals, Arthur, Mills, and Dobrow broke from the latter term as they engaged in a great bit of banter with the audience. From Mills calling the audience a “heckling bunch” to Arthur poking fun at the audience, calling them at one point the “lamest audience” of the whole tour, during the encore the band descended into craziness with a seemingly spur of the moment song about giving 100% of one’s earnings to a certain fedora-wearing individual (who in this case was Arthur). This as well as a spirited “cover” of “(Don't Go Back to) Rockville” and a glorious jamfest for “It’s Ok to be Young/Gone” made the encore a blast. The gorgeous harmonizing of Arthur, Mills, and Dobrow (whose drumming was excellent throughout, showing why he has played for the likes of The Black Crowes and Yoko Ono) on the finale of “Currency of Love” brought the show to a beautiful close.
As stated at the outset of the show by Arthur, the band was a “rock and roll engine bringing the goods.” The “goods” in this case was one of the greatest concert experiences of 2013 or any year for that matter.
Setlist
- Blue Lights in the Rear View
- Saint of Impossible Causes
- The Ballad of Boogie Christ
- I Used to Know How to Walk on Water
- Black Flowers
- Invisible Hands (painting; guitar loop)
- In the Sun
- Travel as Equals
- I Miss the Zoo
- Akron Skies
Encore
- (Don't Go Back to) Rockville
- I Am the Witness
- It’s Ok to be Young/Gone
- 100%
- Currency of Love
