Espers, Aug. 19, Penn Treaty Park

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Espers, Aug. 19, Penn Treaty Park

POSTED: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 5:35 PM

Filed Under: Music | Philly Bands Show

Cat Stevens

I was a little skeptical when I plopped down on the half-wet grass yesterday at Penn Treaty Park to see the Espers. It wasn't that I doubted their live capacities ' rather, I doubted God's capacity to prevent it from raining during the show. But it turns out my lack of faith was unfounded: Both the Espers and the opening act, The Oubliette Ensemble ' a ragtag bunch who plays Medieval music "on completely non-Medieval instruments" ' performed without so much as a drizzle landing on their noses.

The outdoor venue provided a few other mishaps, though. The Espers' drums sounded like they were "evaporating into thin air," as frontman Greg Weeks himself admitted. And the setting seemed to contribute to the band sounding less pleasantly spooky than it does usually, and instead, more traditionally folky ' though that could be blamed on the fact that they just got back from the Philadelphia Folk Festival. One more outdoor complaint: Who was burning the mother fuckin' incense?? Whoever you are, why must you strictly adhere to the hippie-dippie stereotype of a folk listener? Oy.

Truth be told, though, it was a good show ' Meg Baird's vocals were disarmingly lovely as usual, Weeks was wholly on point, and the entire band continued to feel like a more authentic and genuine psych-rock band than, say, Devendra or their other more fashion-forward, tabloids-making peers. Not that I could blame Weeks if he started dating Natalie Portman.

jesselun

Posted 2009-08-21 09:53:32

I must have missed Espers at PFF 09. They sure were great at PFF 08

Posted by Holly Otterbein" @ 5:35 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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