Present Joys

Last night (1 nov 2013) at the A&R Music Bar, I saw John Vanderslice play a great show. Right now he’s just touring with Jason Slota, who plays drums and Moog, often simultaneously. The show consisted of a few songs from Dagger Beach and Pixel Revolt, lots of songs from Emerald City, a few Bowie covers, and lots of other good stuff mixed in. The best parts: “Kookaburra”, where JV switched from acoustic to electric guitar halfway through in order to play a rockin’ solo; also “Underneath the Leaves”, a personal favorite, complete with pedal-fired synth sample!

Cool, talented, fantastic people, photographed by John Vanderslice during the recording of Heretic Pride.

On election night, 6 nov, I got to see John Vanderslice and Crooked Fingers play at a really cute, local bar here in Columbus. JV was super cool. I got to talk to him while he was making his setlist. I requested a couple songs, one of which he acceded to play. (It was “Keep the Dream Alive”!) He dedicated it to me in the middle of the set, and performed it un-amplified! I bought a vinyl LP of one of my favorite JV albums, Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, which he signed for me. (Crooked Fingers were also great!)

John Vanderslice playing some songs in the early morning in the woods. This is really pretty and nicely-filmed.

johnvanderslice:

NYCTaper just posted our Mercury Lounge set from last week. It’s a very good recording.

Photo by the excellent Elizabeth Weinberg

The recording is indeed very good! And the setlist is fantastic. Best of all, though, is the way JV runs the show. It’s more like a giant party than a concert. Highly recommended!