 "Photo:")
Okkervil River pranced onto the stage in the Pearl Street ballroom Wednesday night wearing the classiest of suits. In all its formal-wearing glory, it delivered an 18-song set filled with constant energy.
Before the band's entrance, Damien Jurado opened and played 10 songs. With his raspy voice and folk guitar riffs, he sounded a lot like Bruce Springsteen from the "Nebraska" era. It went well to supplement Okkervil River's style of folk-inspired rock music.
During the headliner's performance, vocalist and guitarist Will Sheff grabbed the mic at several points as he walked around stage. Drummer Travis Nelson often held up one of his drum sticks as if to point to his fellow band mates and the audience. Jonathan Meiburg wore his accordion well.
Bass player Patrick Pestorius, Seth Warren on keyboard, Scott Bracket on the trumpet and Brian Cassidy on the mandolin constantly reminded fans what makes Okkervil River such a notable act: the ability to merge all of those elements into one fluid unique sound.
Suits may seem like an odd choice of attire for a rock band that moves around a lot. But the immediate mood set by the band made the suit jackets, ties, and suspenders seem appropriate, as they opened the show with "A King and Queen." This mellow song with trumpet solos from 2005's "Black Sheep Dog" could easily be part of a classical music orchestra, a place where suits are commonplace.
Points of the set were filled with a back-and-forth between older and newer songs. They played "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe," the first single off their new album, "The Stage Names," between "Red," from 2002's "Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See," and "Real Life," a song off of 2005's "Black Sheep".
But in general, they stuck to playing a lot of the new stuff from "The Stage Names," like "Unless it Kicks," "A Girl in Port," and "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene."
They also picked many songs from "Black Sheep Dog," like "The Last Thoughts," "Black," "No Key, No Plan," and "A Stone." They dove into some older songs with "It Ends with a Fall" and "Real Life."
Much like a marathon, each song came one after another, with only a few breaks. One funny break came when Sheff had problems setting the capo to the right place on the guitar to play "Plus Ones." The problem was quickly solved by Brian Cassidy who, according to Sheff, can fix anything. Gracious for the job Cassidy did setting up the capo, Sheff asked the audience to forget about the timeout as he began to strum the riff for "Plus Ones."
The show ended in a great way with "Westfall," an upbeat song that begins with notes from a mandolin off of "Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See". Sheff crooned as he sang "When I was younger, handsomer and stronger, I felt like I could do anything."
The band left the stage for only a few minutes and came back as the crowd clapped wildly. They played a four-song encore set that included a stripped down acoustic version of "A Stone," with only Sheff and Cassidy on stage, followed by "O'Dana" (originally by the 1970s American pop band Big Star) and "John Allyn Smith Sails."
Throughout the show, Okkervil River maintained class and preserved their suits neatly. At times they sounded like an orchestra while still being a rock band. The songs all flowed well into one another, and the band members never stopped smiling and neither did the audience, who foot-tapped and danced the night away.
Allie Roth can be reached at aroth@student.umass.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!