I Just Read About That…

 [ATTENDED: April 17, 2018] Julien Baker

We saw Julien Baker open for The Decemberists almost exactly one year ago.  I knew her music (and that she was a quiet singer) but Sarah and I were really blown away by her live performance.

So when I saw that she was playing again, this time in a venue we’d never been to before, I thought it would be a fun birthday present for Sarah.  An opportunity to see this artist as a headliner when the crowd was there for her (we felt the Philly crowd was a bit rude for this quiet singer).

White Eagle Hall proved to be a gorgeous venue, both in appearance and sound quality.  Baker was an excellent first show to test out the acoustics because it was incredibly quiet and her voice and guitar rang out beautifully.  Although it must be said having the bars right on the floor did make for some unexpectedly loud bursts of noise.

Interestingly I felt like this show was radically different from the previous one.  The previous one felt like she was pulling out all of the stops to not be a “girl with a guitar.”  She looped notes and sang with real power.  She won us over.

But this show was so intimate as to be almost uncomfortable.  There were moments when it was so quiet I was nervous someone would try to break the tension.  She didn’t really chat or laugh much.  And when she did talk into the microphone, she was so quiet I could barely hear her (despite the amazing acoustics).

Baker had a piano out her with her and she played it on one or two songs, like the opener “Over,” but mostly it was just her and her electric guitar.  She busted out an acoustic guitar later in the show for a few songs.

To my recollection, there was no looping (although there must have been some on “Sprained Ankle“).  But the looping that did happen was subtle (or I just couldn’t see her well because of the tall people).

It seemed to us like she was bummed out or unhappy with the way the night was going or something.

None of this came out in her performance exactly.  She sounded amazing (her voice is truly impressive, like in “Turn Out the Lights“).  It was more of the between song times that felt awkward.

There was am amusing moment where she said she’d never played in New Jersey before and some meathead shouted “New York loves you” which got a puzzled reaction from her.  But otherwise it was mostly subdued banter.

The audience (meathead aside) was phenomenal.  No chatting, no whispering, just paying attention.  Except when they sang along (I don’t say we because I don’t know her new album at all).  It was pretty great to hear a room full of people sing along quietly with a quiet singer.

But there were moments in the other show where she really whaled–her voice soaring (she held a powerful note for a long time in “Turn Out The Lights” which she did not do this night).

At one point something happened and she stopped and looked up and somebody said something .  She seemed annoyed, but said something like you noticed that too and then started again.  I have no idea what happened.

About five songs from the end she brought out violinist Camille Faulkner to play with her on a few songs.  They started with “Even” and that quiet violin added a lot of warmth to the songs.  Then Julien said something to her and it seemed like she was going to leave the stage but then got called back.  It was just more awkwardness.  But Camille stayed out for a few more songs.

When Julien played “Something,” she said “this is the last song I’m going to play for you tonight.”

I was really hoping she wasn’t going to do an encore.  And she didn’t, so we could go home.

This was perhaps the most conflicted I’ve felt after a show.  Her music and her voice were beautiful and I really enjoyed what I heard, but I didn’t come away feeling very happy about the show.  I wasn’t disappointed at all, just…unsettled?

I was lucky that Tancred was hanging out to put a happy spin on the night.

There’s a review over at NJ.com that confirms my feelings about the show, although that reviewer came away feeling cathartic rather than unsettled, but it is comforting to know that things were certainly intense

As she stood in the spotlight … the singer generally maintained her composure, but as she intermittently receded into the shadows, briefly between numbers, it was clear the emotional toll Baker pays each night to perform these intensely doleful songs. More than once it appeared as though she might burst into tears, only to steel herself, step to the microphone once more and begin her next melancholy offering.

It’s unclear just how much a misstep, on a song called “Red Door,” affected her this night. The lesser-known tune is tethered to a more complicated guitar melody than most of Baker’s instrumentally sparse tracks, and late in the song, she picked a note on her Telecaster that was, unfortunately, a clear mistake.

1. Over*
2. Appointments*
3. Turn Out the Lights*
4. Funeral Pyre
5. Sprained Ankle**
6. Happy To Be Here*
7. Red Door
8. Rejoice**
9. Blacktop**
10. Everybody Does**
11. Even*
12. Sour Breath*
13. Everything That Helps You Sleep*
14. Go Home**
15. Something*

*from Turn Out the Lights
**from Sprained Ankle