The Long Winters / South San Gabriel
Rotown, Rotterdam
20/08/03
…And Yesaw, the God of alt-country smiled down upon him and proclaimed, “With this dirty baseball cap and the beard of the troubled soul, you shall tell your stories and your voice shall fly through the air, singing tales of woe, and humbling all who stand before you!”
Perhaps the most famous apostle of Yesaw to wield the lamented baseball cap of doom is Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, but he does not walk alone in this world. Will Johnson, who is perhaps more famous for his work with Centro-Matic, is also full of power, and slowed the pace down in Rotown with South San Gabriel. Armed with just an electric guitar and his mouth (aided magnificently by cap and beard), his voice can soar and send shivers down the spine of any audience.
At times it was reminiscent of the power of Songs:Ohia, yet the songs never fell into the trap of sounding overly maudlin or “samey”, which can be a pitfall of Jason Molina shows (mainly because he plays so many new songs you never know quite what page you are on). Johnson is saved from this fate by the assistance of Scott Dandom though, assisting throughout with added violin, keyboards and backing vocals. The violin being quite basic compared to someone like Andrew Bird who is a star in his own right, but it remained effective, evoking added emotion from the songs. It’s when the two voices combine that their power is lifted even higher though. Thus, the majority of the audience was suitably impressed with the 45-minute set.
The Long Winters were the official headliners of the night, though - seemingly quite unknown around the world thus far, and it’s difficult when you are writing music which isn’t particularly fashionable, to break out of your local area and win a new fan base over, but the Long Winters are attempting to do just that with some well crafted songwriting and strong vocal melodies.
They too were reduced to only two members as part of this promotional tour, with John Roderick on lead vocals and guitar, and Sean Nelson singing backing. Well, backing sounds pretty insignificant, so don’t leave with a bad impression. After all, when these two are singing together there is something magical in the air.
It’s quite unfair, actually. Having spent a number of years of my life playing in unknown bands, having no singing ability at all myself, and always seeking someone with a touch of vocal talent, I know that it’s really hard thing to find the right people. Then you come along and see a band like this and you realize that all the bloody talented vocalists gravitate towards each other, making it near impossible to get in on the game. Bastards!
All you can do is go along and watch them in action because I promise that it will make you smile. Even with the songs stripped back for this Rotown performance, the magic is clearly apparent. Apart from standing there smiling like a fool yourself, you just have to look around and notice that others have random smiles drawn across their face too. Individually those voices are good, but when they’re singing together or alternating on parts it’s a joy to listen to.
Of course a selection of tracks from new album When I Pretend to Fall were brought out to play as well as some from The Worst You Can Do Is Harm. My favourite moment of the night being ‘Scared Straight’ as it’s just so damn infectious. This should have been the song of the summer, whereas the Thrills are getting all the attention for taking up the chewed leash of The Supernaturals.
Based on this performance, maybe good things do lie ahead for the Long Winters, though. The Posies had the advantage of being from Seattle and playing this style of music when it was the centre of the universe, but they’re still surviving now as good music conquers some, if not all. Well, John and company have conquered a little so far, but perhaps stand a chance of gaining much more after a winter tour with Death Cab For Cutie and playing to a whole new audience.
Steven McCarron
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