I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 8, 2020] Destroyer

I really enjoy Dan Bejar’s work with New Pornographers.  I haven’t loved all of his Destroyer albums, but Destroyer’s Rubies is fantastic and Kaputt is a lot of fun.

When New Pornographers toured recently, Bejar was not a part of the group.  So when I saw that Destroyer was touring a few months afterward, I thought it would be a good way to complete the set.

I had read that the Destroyer live show was pretty terrific, but I had also read that Bejar felt the best shows were when he faced the band rather than the audience.  So who knew what might happen.

The crowd around me was pretty excited to be sure.  A guy behind me was practically vibrating and he yelled “I love you Dan” at several points.  It may have been the only time that a singer has not acknowledged such a declaration, even in a cursory way.

This show was also the first time I went out while we were under the looming threat of the Coronavirus.  Things had not gotten serious yet, but it was coming.  I even brought a tube of hand sanitizer (this was before they were all sold out).  I was very aware of the fact that I was not touching anyone or anything and I’ve never seen the line for the bathroom be so long because people were washing their hands!

I also never would have guessed that this would be my last concert for … who knows how long (at least two months, by my estimate).

So Dan and the band came out.  There were six musicians with him.

On the far side of the stage were a trumpet player, a guitarist and a bass player.  A drummer straight back and then in front of me were two keyboardists (one of whom also played guitar).  They were arranged in a semi-circle with Dan in the center.

The most fascinating thing was that Dan’s microphone stand was set up so that the microphone was at his waist.  Basically he held onto the stand almost like a cane when he sang and returned the mic to the stand often when he bent over to drink whatever he was drinking.

I didn’t know the new album at all.  But I understand the general style of Destroyer, so I figured it would all be enjoyable–symphonic songs with clever lyrics done in Bejar’s rather droll singing style.

What was interesting is that they opened with “Crimson Tide” and I was sure that I knew the song.  It sounded familiar and yet it is from the new album, so I guess it just sounds like classic Destroyer.

I enjoyed standing right in front of keyboardist Ted Bois because he started most of the songs or at least seemed to play the majority of the melodies. Behind him, David Carswell played additional keys and additional guitars.  It became apparent throughout the show that he was responsible for most of the diverse sounds that were played.

Bejar apparently doesn’t like touring.  I don’t know if it’s stage fright or just the hassle.  At one point during the end of “Kinda Dark” he grabbed a tambourine and turned to face the band and he really seemed to let loose and enjoy himself.

Which isn’t to say he didn’t seem to enjoy himself at other times.  He did smile a few times.  But mostly he seemed deep into the music.

I also wasn’t sure how Bejar felt about people taking pictures of the show (I recently read that Neko Case and the rest of the New Pornographers don’t like it).  Since I was up front I didn’t want to upset him, so I was trying to be very discreet with my phone.  Other people were not discreet at all though, and he didn’t say anything.  Nevertheless, it wasn’t always easy trying to get clear pictures or videos when holding a phone at chest height and the two people on either side of you are swaying and dancing (and because of the virus I didn’t want to actually touch them).

It was during “Cover From the Sun” that I realized that the girl standing in front of me was dancing in the most Elaine Benes style I have ever seen in person.  She would arhythmically lean forward and then lurch her right shoulder back at random times.  And then she would lean to the left as if she were drunk–but she had been studying a book before the show began, so I don’t think she was drunk.  I was just transfixed by her utterly incomprehensible movements.  I tried to get a video of her but I was too close, but you can see her lurch into view in some of these.

Back on stage, I was really impressed with trumpet player JP Carter.  He played primarily with one hand while his other hand was on an effects pedal of some sort.  He manipulated the trumpet sound throughout the show–creating sounds and textures–and sometimes he just played beautiful clean solos.

Lead guitarist Nicholas Bragg rocked out quite a lot.  In fact, this show rocked much more intensely than I would have expected the sometimes lounge-music vibe that Destroyer songs tend to have.

This was most evident from Destroyer’s amazing rhythm section of Colin Cowan on bass and Joshua Wells on drums.  Cowan made an amazingly diverse array of sounds from his bass–including some fast high solos midsong and he used a lot of effects pedals to create a really cool low end.  And Wells, when he wasn’t hitting drums pads to make sounds, was a wildman behind the kit making all of the songs even more intense.

Several of the songs jammed out for a few extra minutes with the band going full throttle and Bejar most often hitting a tambourine or crouching like he was getting out of the way so we could watch the band he has assembled.

I didn’t know if he’d play anything I knew, but I was thrilled that he played “European Oils” from Rubies, which is my favorite Destroyer song.  But the crowd went berserk when they started playing the epic “Bay of Pigs (detail)” from Kaputt.  It runs nearly 12 minutes on the record and starts very quietly but just builds and builds for the entire song.  It was very unfortunate that a drunk fan shouted “I love you Dan” during the opening quiet section (it wasn’t the guy behind me, he waited until breaks between songs).  I was sure that Bejar was going to get annoyed or something–it was really distracting since everyone else was so quiet–but he was in the zone and just kept going.

The band left the stage after this song and I wasn’t sure if we’d get an encore.  Even though Dan was stoic and hard to read the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

But they did come back for two songs, “Poor in Love” from Kaputt and then they surprised me by ending the show with a return to Destroyer’s Rubies with an outstanding version of “Looters Follies” The wild crashing ending was awesome and really encapsulated the band well.  In fact, Dan left the stage while the band continued to rock out for a few minutes–having a great time.

It was a fun show, much more exciting than I would have imagined and while it wouldn’t have been my choice for the last show I’d see before all live music went away, it was still a great sow.

SETLIST

1. Crimson Tide ¿
2. Kinda Dark ¿
3. The Raven ¿
4. Cover From the Sun ⊄
5. Kaputt ⊗
6. Times Square ∇
7. Bangkok ∇
8. It Just Doesn’t Happen ¿
9. Cue Synthesizer ¿
10. University Hill ¿
11. Tinseltown Swimming in Blood ⊄
12. Chinatown ⊗
13. European Oils ♦
14. foolssong ¿
15. Bay of Pigs (detail) ⊗
    encore
16. Poor in Love ⊗
17. Looters’ Follies ♦

¿ = Have We Met (2020)
⊄ = Ken (2017)
∇ = Poison Season (2015)
⊗ = Kaputt (2011)
♦ = Destroyer’s Rubies (2006)