Concert review/photos: Okkervil River/Typhoon @ Union Transfer 3/28
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.
Valleys and peaks of lyrical majesty.
Four bands, two headliners — Okkervil River and Typhoon — and two openers — Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Hundred Visions — four hours of high quality rock and folk and a sold-out Union Transfer made for a highly memorable night last Friday. Hailing from Austin (Visions and River), Maine (Lady Lamb) and Portland (Typhoon), the lineup unleashed a varying barrage of guitar licks, instrumentation and lyrical sensibility.
First up was Hundred Visions, a foursome led by wavy-haired Ben Maddox. The self-proclaimed “psychic taco rockers” oozed with grunge and angular hooks. While Maddox did some headbanging against the purple light, drummer Eric Loftis served up sonic exclamation points to the affair. A great band is in the making here.
Next up was one of the two artists that night that excited this critic the most, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. The brainchild of Aly Spaltro, Lady Lamb released my favorite album of 2013, Ripley Pine. Though on stage very briefly on this night, her electrifying guitar artistry and resonant vocals certainly enraptured an audience that was much fuller as the main band set times approached. Opening with the jaw-dropping emotional rollercoaster of “Bird Balloons,” on which Spaltro showcases her rock sensibilities (versus the folk that resonates in much of her work), Lady Lamb crafted a set that even reached into a new track, the banjo-laced “You’re Turning Violet, Violet Clementine.” Spaltro’s soul was laid bare throughout, most especially on set closer “Taxidermist Taxidermist,” a dirge that unravels its emotional threads one brilliant chord at a time. She is about to work on her second album and the music world could not be luckier to have more of her work at its fingertips.
As a counterpoint to the spare Lady Lamb, the bursting-at-the-seams musicianship of Typhoon next took the stage. Led by Kyle Morton, the 11-member collective infused a jolt of joy into the crowd. Horns, multiple drummers, violins, keyboards and the old-fashioned guitar and bass combo propelled them through their set. From one song to the next the multitudes of sound possibilities were endless, as voices harmonized with the folk instrumentation and a crowd intermittently singing along in whispers. Typhoon certainly are a talented crew that will not cease to musically amaze with the possibilities.
Fourth and finally, Okkervil River took the stage. After skipping Philadelphia in 2013 during their tour in support of the phenomenal The Silver Gymnasium, it was wonderful to see them land in the City of Brotherly Love. At the helm is one of rock’s most underrated songwriters, Will Sheff. Steering the current band of five through his vast imagination that has touched on theatre, his adolescence and universes adjacent to Tim Hardin songs, Sheff can compose a concept album without pretension in his sleep. Opening with the glorious fun of “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe,” Sheff and company knew how to keep the crowd energized after the folk storm that had come before. Using the vast space on the stage between the crowd and the drum kit as a launching pad for stretching his body and guitar to glorious lengths, Sheff was amazing to watch in action. Matching Sheff’s intensity with an energized electric guitar panache was Lauren Gurgiolo. And the lighting, from the pre-set fun of flashing in response to an ’80s heavy soundtrack to set the stage for the setting of Sheff’s younger years in The Silver Gymnasium, was a blast of strobe, blues, reds and whites to provide counterpoint to the emotions and energy of songs like “It Was My Season” and “Down Down the Deep River.”
The greatest highlights for a fan like this critic are their highest octane works and the epic songwriting capabilities. The former is found in spades on the masterful “For Real,” a song with so many jolts of guitar and percussion that one’s heart and soul can do nothing but leap and sway to its every note. The latter is best encapsulated by his solo encore opener “A Stone.” A song populated with valleys and peaks of lyrical majesty, it is Sheff at his most beautiful. If “For Real” leaves one raw “A Stone” reinvigorates the listener. And to end the show with the pop treasure “Unless It’s Kicks” is a perfect conclusion to not only a highlight reel of Okkervil River but also a night of rock magic on Spring Garden Street.
More reviews and photos by Chris Sikich:
