By: Greg Sietz
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Alan Sparhawk and Low at First Avenue - Photo by Chuck Olsen
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Though they played only about six songs, Duluth's Trampled by Turtles opened the evening of music Friday at First Avenue with a musical roller-coaster of unbelievably fast bluegrass tunes mixed with slower, more thoughtful numbers. The fun the band was having infected the entire club.
Punctually, at 8:15 Alan Sparhawk and Low stepped onto a stage ringed by five Balsam fir trees. Because the trees were unlit and undecorated, it was as if the band was playing in the middle of a forest or on a Christmas tree farm, not a bad thing for Low. It also hinted at just how packed that stage would get during the show. For a band that has shown up on even the largest stage with nothing but a drum, a high hat and a couple of amps, Friday night's show was very different.
A choir of seven squeezed in between two trees. Eric Pollard, drummer Alan Sparhawk’s side project The Retribution Gospel Choir, joined as well, a departure from the usual minimalist percussion provided by Mimi Parker. Friend Marc Gartman (of No Wait Wait) sat in back with a lap guitar. As we knew would be the case, bassist Zak Sally wasn't there. In his place stood Matt Livingston in a red cardigan, a black dress shirt buttoned up to the neck, and thick-rimmed glasses. Livingston looked like he would have been more at home on stage with Weezer than Low. But, no one really expected him to be a new Zak Sally.
In an interview with The Pulse of the Twin Cities last week, Alan Sparhawk said that the show would be about two-thirds Christmas music, and he wasn't joking about the proportions. The show was neatly split up into thirds. The first third was made up of several Christmas songs, including "Little Drummer Boy," accompanied by the choir, Pollard, and even the Turtles, who came on stage to play along on one of my favorite Low songs, "Just Like Christmas." After that song, the choir and everyone else left the stage, leaving just the core members of Low – who appeared lost amidst all the equipment, instruments and trees still on stage -- to play a set of songs from their back catalog.
Where the Christmas songs had been rich, layered compositions, in this middle portion they made a concerted effort to return to their "slowcore" roots. The set featured strong and steady work on the bass by Livingston, and a really beautiful, sparse rendition of "Blue Christmas," sung by Mimi. On this and a few other songs, she sang more confidently than I have ever heard her.
For the last third of the show, the choir and other guests came back on stage. Here, the “wall of sound” had the greatest effect. Where before I had been a little perplexed by the number of musicians on stage and the relatively small sound they were creating, the choir now made themselves known and the songs became big, soaring tunes. This was most apparent in another of my favorite songs, “Last Snowstorm of the Year.”
Over the course of the night, Sparhawk’s banter seemed a little precarious, as did the performance at times. I got the sense that he would have liked it if he could just simply entertain and enlighten as he and Low have done for years. In the midst of thanking the choir and all the friends that had joined him on stage, he lamented that there was one talented musician who was unfortunately not there, obliquely noting Zak Sally’s absence that everyone couldn't help feel.
Read the full version of this review in Greg Seitz blog at http://dharmablog.everyday-beat.org
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Low, Trampled by Turtles
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