Hamilton is quickly gaining a reputation for cool shows at unbeknownst venues. We can thank Pete Hall of A Northern Chorus and Tim Lidster for kindly providing space for a few indie upstarts and those of us who like them.
Last minute addition Viking Moses brought a sense of spirituality and pagan mystery to an otherwise bluesy set, played while kneeling on the floor with head upturned Charlie Brown-style. It was immediately clear why neo-folk icons such as Devendra Banhart, Will Oldham, and Little Wings have taken kindly to this Las Vegas drifter. Alone with an acoustic, many ghosts from our American past were invoked. As I was listening from the next hallway so as not to disturb with my entry, I have no photographic evidence of his haunting performance.
Picastro surprised me with a very good sense of tension-through drone. Liz Hysen kept her voice low, yet she provided a degree of melodic juxtaposition that served the music quite well. Most of the songs they played were relatively static, although on occasion they would dip into the Godspeed slow-swell-to-climax formula. I can see them fitting in nicely with the Kranky records crowd, and their upcoming released on Polyvinyl should bring some new fans to the party.
Zak Hanna of Picastro
Liz Hysen of Picastro
Tony Dekker has expanded his solo act into a four-piece for his new release coming this August on Misra records. The new set list has quite the Mark Kozelek/Neil Young feel to it, and the band country-rocked accordingly hard. Dekker's voice is still as pretty as ever, and despite the hushed feel of his debut release, he indeed has the strength to be heard quite readily over the band. After the success of Kozelek's Sun Kil Moon project, is the indie world prepared for another trad-rock release? Based on this performance, Dekker certainly has both the integrity and the attitude to find the audience he deserves.
Great Lake Swimmers
the pretty lights of Tony Dekker
As a side note, at the show I was shown a photoalbum from one British soldier's tour in Afghanistan during and after the first world war. While the context is quite different, it was interesting to note the continual process of colonial imposition made so personal and so immediate (and yet time itself is here mediated by both the physicality of yellowing paper and the monochrome scale of the imagery). Something as simple as the folds in an officer uniform that was worn for a portrait evokes a grand narrative of daily intensities. It's scary how much the colonialized world can be seen as a readymade by some people, and a modifiable entitlement by others.
Lidster, it's time to get this piece of history online.
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