Unfortunately with today’s unexpected snow day my review of Wednesday’s Blitzen Trapper concert has yet to be put online in all of its edited glory. So I’m posting some of the raw material here for now.
*Editor’s Note: This has since been changed and the article can be read in its entirety here.
Blitzen Trapper 2.25
Blitzen Trapper Review
By: Peter Rizzo
Collegian Staff
NORTHAMPTON-On Wednesday night, Northamton’s Pearl Street Theater played host to Portland, Oregon six-piece Blitzen Trapper as well as their opening act and fellow Northwestern resident, Alela Diane. Alela Diane who hails from Nevada City, California is currently supporting the band through mid-March behind her latest effort, “To Be Still” now out on Rough Trade records.
Backed by a quintet of musicians, Alela Diane opened the concert at half past eight to a modest but budding crowd, playing tunes in her signature sound, one that ranges from gentle Americana to bouts of acid folk. The familiar sound was augmented here by dual female vocalists which added a soothing lullaby quality to the music.
The highlight of the set found Diane and her band pulling from her latest effort on the song “Every Path.” Here Diane showcased her vocal range harmonizing with her back-up singers on the song’s repeated lyrical refrain “Every path has lead me back to you” over shuffling drums and simple picking from the rhythm section. The result of which was a haunting melody that lingered on after the band began dismantling their stage set-up.
In the meantime the assembled club-goers had begun to pack the front of the stage in anticipation for the main set while the Velvet Underground’s “Velvet Underground and Nico” LP played in the background. Soon enough, Blitzen Trapper arrived unleashing a slew of noise on the crowd before leading off the set with the tune “Fire & Fast Bullets” off their fourth album “Furr.” The track featured lead singer Eric Earley making up for his surprisingly small stage stature by accenting his lyrics with hand motions and working his duct taped Gibson guitar for a note perfect rendition of the album’s solo.
For the early part of the set, the band stuck strictly to playing new material, stopping only between songs to thank the modest Wednesday night crowd. This included admirable versions of new tracks like “Saturday Nite” and “Furr” opener “Sleepytime in the Western World,” however despite the enthusiasm it was clear that the band had yet to settle into a groove.
If the band’s sound is hard to characterize, the band members themselves seem harder to define, as the motley group that hardly looks like a cohesive unit.
On stage, backing vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Marty Marquis counters Earley’s clean-cut looks with cleaner vocals, made all the more unsuspecting by his wild mane of red hair, lumberjack flannel and professor glasses. Elsewhere Erik Menteer, the band’s backing electric guitarist provides the band with the requisite Johnny Greenwood look-a-like while keyboardist Drew Laughery’s looks would be more at home in an alternative band rather than a folk one.
Though all these unique styles come with unique influences, one’s that enable the band to traverse a wide array of sounds that range from their earlier more blues influenced material to the keyboard laden pop attack of their latest album. However it was clearly with their earlier material that they were the most comfortable, as with these tracks the band finally settles into some stage banter, making small talk about the location of Oregon as well as the current economic crisis.
