Thao, Portland Cello Project – Live @ The Rhythm Room

It’s said that tours make strange bedfellows; either the musicians are at each others throats or they become really tight. Fortunately for Phoenix, these musicians were at the end of a six-week tour and chose the latter path. Each musician contributed to each other’s performance, sometimes just for a song, sometimes for a set. The communication between them was friendly and at times short-handed in a way that occurs when you spend a lot of time with someone, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The opening musician was David Shultz, a singer-songwriter and his acoustic guitar. His style was largely folk of the storytelling variety. He played the first few songs by himself. His delivery was strong as was his writing. After that, Sam, a cellist from Portland Cello Project, played and sang a vaguely country duet with David. Doug, also from PCP and one of the few musicians (along with Adam and Willis of GDSD) to play in all three sets, replaced Sam for the next few songs. His cello provided an added dimension to and played well with the guitar, most notably through a cover of Paul Simon’s “Duncan,” delivered with excellent vocal emotion. As if not to hurt any feelings, Doug left the stage and was replaced by The Get Down Stay Down on drums and electric bass. They played on the final two songs of the set and while the songs remained folksy stories, the added instrumentation lent a slight rock feel to the songs.

When Portland Cello Project began, anyone unfamiliar with their music might have been confused, wondering just how classical music found its way on stage. The confusion would have quickly been cleared up however as Douglas Jenkins, lead cellist, explained that the PCP was formed to play non-classical music in places where the cello is normally not heard. Sitting in a circle, the quartet quickly illustrated Doug’s introduction as they opened with a modified hard rock song. Moving from plucking to bowing, each cello weaving in and out of each other created a layered effect. This carried through into the second song, which could have passed for chamber music if not for the rock and roll quality and attitude with which the music was played.

Shifting gears a little, one of the women introduced the next song as being part of a side project. The only song with lyrics was sung in female harmony. The lyrics were vulnerable, playful, and poetic. Most of the song was a duet but the two men provided support on the chorus. Parts of the song found one cellist strumming it like a guitar. Even so, it was probably the weakest piece of the set. It was followed by “Danse del Fuego,” perhaps the strongest piece. It was, as Doug introduced, the only classical music to be played all night. Like other pieces it was layered and entrancing, but listening was only half the experience. They each moved through different ways to elicit sound from the instrument, from plucking to bowing and everything in between. It was obvious they loved and were making love to the experience.

Shifting gears even further, the second half of the set consisted of interpreted covers of decidedly non-classical music. Explaining that a previous tour with Buckethead forced them to “deal with the adolescents by learning a bunch of video game and hard rock songs,” Doug led the quartet through a rich interpretation of the Halo theme followed by an aggressively played arrangement of a Pantera song, which appears on their latest album. In yet another example of the friendships and fluid lines that evolve during a tour, Willis and Adam, The Get Down Stay Down, provided rhythm support for the audience participation rendition of Outkast’s “Hey Ya.” Serving as the audience gauge, the song was a contest of sorts across the tour. Phoenix scored a 7.8. The results for the other cities can be found on PCP’s website. Downshifting to close the set, Doug told the story of working with Elliot Smith’s producer and being given this unreleased Elliot song to make their own, which they did wonderfully. It’s a testament to their musical talent that Elliot’s voice could be heard throughout the instrumental while still being a unique PCP piece.

After what seemed like an extended break, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down took the stage, their trio made a quartet with the addition of none other than our familiar friend, multi-instrumentalist Doug on guitar, horn, and keyboard. He played so fluidly with the band that I had to go home and confirm that he actually belonged to PCP. The crowd had grown and seemed to be drawn into Thao’s stage presence, which was sexy without being overtly sexual and aggressive yet gentle, her voice moving from screaming to singing in an instant.

The band was playful and, at one point, all gathered around the drum kit with their own sticks for a childlike percussive break. Thao moved back and forth from an acoustic guitar to an instrument that had the f-holed body of a stringed instrument but the structure of a guitar (I’m sure it has a name, I just don’t know what it is.) About five songs in they played “Big Kid Table,” the only song of theirs I recognized. Unfortunately, by that point it was getting late and, being a Tuesday, I called it a night, Thao continued to hold the audience entranced.

On the way home I considered the experience. Within the space of a few hours, the lines between folk, classical, and indie rock blurred and faded, as did the lines between people. All of the musicians were there as much to support each other as to promote themselves. It didn’t matter that the musicians spoke different genres, Portland Cello Project illustrated that to be a meaningless concept. They spoke the same language and their willingness to communicate across band lines made the experience excellent for everyone.

Tagged as: Phoenix

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