CONCERT REVIEW: The Low Anthem @ First Unitarian Church, 2/25

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CONCERT REVIEW: The Low Anthem @ First Unitarian Church, 2/25

POSTED: Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Critical Mass | Events | Music | Arts Events Concert Review

The Low Anthem

The Low Anthem got their timing right. At a moment when woodsy, Americana-inspired lyrics are approaching the mainstream (think Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver), this New England band sings songs steeped in tradition. When they performed at the First Unitarian Church on Fri., Feb. 25, the place was packed, with a large portion of the crowd sitting on the floor and in the aisles. The mood was mellow and the crowd stayed seated, befitting the Low Anthem's mostly-slow folk tunes.

The band began with "Ghost Woman Blues," the opening track off their new album. For this song and others scattered throughout the 17-song show, frontman Ben Knox Miller and company grouped around a single condenser microphone standing at center stage. Accompanied by Miller's guitar and Jocie Adams's clarinet, the four-piece sang in close harmony with remarkably precise pitch for a live show. Next, they spread across the stage, taking up a variety of instruments. Over the course of the performance, every member of the band played multiple instruments; Mat Davidson, for example, covered bass, harmonium, fiddle, clarinet, banjo, and a wood saw played with a violin bow. Like his bandmates, he played them all with such clarity and natural flair that I couldn't have guessed which was "his" instrument.

Despite the variety of instrumentation, however, the show was hampered by a lack of variety in the songs themselves. Almost every one was slow, including songs that were recorded at faster tempos. Lacking real familiarity with each tune, I was at times hard-pressed to tell the difference between them; the concert occasionally dragged and I craved something more upbeat.

Overall pacing aside, though, there were excellent individual songs. Highlights of the concert included "This God Damn House," a song written by Dan Lefkowitz, a former member of the band who opened for them on Friday and later joined them for a song. The song tells the story of a man alone in bed after his lover has left; though she asks him to spend another day there, he grapples with a feeling of suffocation. In this and other songs, the band excelled at producing an atmosphere, both lyrically (the vocals were clear enough to understand, as they always should be but rarely are at shows) and sonically. The harmonium provided a foundation for many of the songs, while the bending of the saw added a ghostly whistling on top.

In one song, Miller asked the audience for help. It wasn't the usual clapping along or singing: he told everyone to call the person next to them and then hold their phones together, both on speaker phone, creating a cricket-like chirping sound. Instead of sounding futuristic, the noise blended with the acoustic instruments onstage, and the audience was drawn into the performance.

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