Liam Finn & Laura Veirs

It has been a while since I have been equally excited to see an opening act and main performer as was the case with the Liam Finn/Laura Veirs concert. I must admit however that I was interested in each artist for different reasons. I have enjoyed Laura since 2004’s Carbon Glaciers and never had an opportunity to see her live, much less in the intimate setting that is The Rhythm Room. On the other hand, I have never even heard a track from Liam’s debut, but as an heir to the Crowded House/Split Enz legacy I was interested to see what he has done with his genetic inheritance. Whether or not others shared my motivation I cannot say, but the bar was packed nonetheless.

Technology, particularly live looping, has allowed many possibilities. Among them is the ability to take something sparse and simple and turn it into something very lush and complex, which is exactly what Liam did. Fronting a two person band, he brandished his electric guitar and 3-piece kit drumsticks with the energy of a playing child while his band mate, Eliza Jane (EJ), provided simple percussion, backing vocals, and an often quiet counterpoint.

Drawing all of his material from his only album to date he opened with “Better to Be,” which alternated between fuzzy, loud rock and heartfelt quiet folk. Halfway through the song, as he did numerous times throughout his set, he looped his guitar and moved over to the drums, on which he played simple rhythms with equally loud exuberance. His next two songs, “Energy Spent” and “Music Moves My Feet” were more subdued and very evocative of his father’s style. Preferring a more chaotic presentation, these were the only songs in which that comparison could be made.

His next song, “I’ll Be Lightening”, again found him loud and fast, playing his guitar, looping, and accompanying himself on drums, while EJ played a flanged auto harp. This and his next three songs, including “Wise Man” and “Second Chance”, were very psychedelic and featured a swirling, complex interplay of vocal, guitar, and rhythm loops. He followed this with a couple of flat out rock pieces that found EJ’s vocals literally go from whispers to screams and growls. He closed his 45 minute set with “Lead Balloon”, punctuated with fuzzy noises, looped laughter, and Liam jumping around the stage, obviously having a blast. While the transition was taking place, he mingled with the crowd, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and being genuinely friendly and accessible.

If Liam’s music was simple, Laura’s was even more so as it was just her, an acoustic guitar, and some live looping. Nearly half of her set was drawn from her newest album, Saltbreakers while the rest of the show was filled out by tracks from Year of Meteors and Carbon Glacier. She opened with “Pink Light”, providing her own backing vocals and simple guitar slapping percussion. Next were “Ether Song” and “Wandering Kind”, which, like most of her performance, were quiet and haunting. She appeared very comfortable on stage and between each song she talked with the audience.

Following this were “Magnetized” and “Spelunking” from a prior album, again delivered from the heart. “Cast a Hook” and her comments on the fact that she had a lot of sea and mermaid imagery in her songs provided me with a metaphor that made sense of her music. Like the sea, or outer space (which also frequently appears in her imagery), her music is expansive. In all three instances there is a lot of space between and what is there is often achingly beautiful. Showing her comfort with the audience, she scrapped her next song part way through due to malfunctioning looping and recovered with a love song.

Next she pulled out her Banjo and played the traditional “Buckled In”, with which she had the whole audience clapping. Back came the acoustic for a cover of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Spike Drivers Blues”. As she introduced the song she shared that his unique guitar style was highly influential in the development of her own, and, as a compliment to her, it shows. Next came “Nightingale”, “Ocean Night Song”, and “Riptide” all three continuing her descriptive imagery and lilting self-background vocals. She briefly left the stage and returned for two audience input encores “Wrecking” and “Jailhouse is on Fire.” Further demonstrating her approachability and independent spirit, she worked her merchandise table after she left the stage. At a little under an hour for each performer, my only complaint is that the sets weren’t long enough.

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