Jay Farrar/Benjamin Gibbard tour
Sorry if this has been covered extensively here previously, but I wanted to recommend the Farrar/Gibbard tour supporting their release that puts music to Jack Kerouac words. They are doing a short list of dates, opening in Portland last night. I walked in cold, having not heard the record and somehow having kind of missed the boat on Death Cab for Cutie and thus not very familiar with Gibbard (sorry, not intentional, I just don’t keep up w/ everything…).
I thought the show was terrific, worked surprisingly well given so much new material and a band that hasn’t played together long. Drummer Jon Wurster (Superhchunk, Mountain Goats etc.) held it all together, and Mark Spencer (Son Volt) added a lot. But this was Farrar and Gibbard’s show and they sang amazingly well both separately and together, and seemed quite energized by the material.
I don’t want to present a spoiler so will simply say that the 2 closing covers in the encore were very well selected to capture the spirit of Kerouac and the event, and alone worth the price of admission for any Farrar fan. Jay really sang the hell out of a classic.
All in all, this was a great night of music. I have long been a huge Farrar fan, admire his vocals in particular, and seeing him tackle a challenging project like this with such gusto was highly enjoyable. And he and Gibbard worked well together, backed by a great band.
Tour dates, starting in Seattle tonight:
http://www.jayfarrar.net/tour/