[ATTENDED: July 24, 2016] David Wax Museum
David Wax Museum was supposed to play on Saturday. Then it rained. Really really hard. For us, as we waited it out under a tent, the momentum was gone. The kids were wiped out. They kicked everyone out of the park because of thunder and lightning. So even when the sun came back out, we decided to go home.
Well, it turned out that David Wax’s show was cancelled, but they were able to stick around until Sunday and the organizers squeezed them in and we got to see them anyhow!
I knew of David Wax Museum from a Tiny Desk and a Newport Folk performance broadcast on NPR a few years ago. They played really fun, upbeat music (and used a donkey jaw bone as an instrument) and I was really psyched to see them.
Their set started literally just as The Districts finished up, so we had to hustle over. And we caught them for the middle of their first song “Yes Maria,” a song I know pretty well and a wonderfully upbeat number.
And then they continued to have one of the most fun sets of the weekend. Their songs have a Mexican flavor (co-lead singer Suz Slezak was wearing a (very hot looking) poncho foe the set while Wax was wearing a very sharp looking pseudo-mariachi suit.
They talked to the audience a lot. They said they had driven to the show on Friday night from North Dakota (can that be right?). Since it was the final night of their tour, they were actually kind of happy that the previous night was cancelled and rescheduled. They only had to drive from the hotel nearby. Suz said that it was the first show that they were really well rested for.
Their set included a bunch of sing-alongs, big clapping sections and lots of lyrics in Spanish.
Wax primarily plays the jarana, a Mexican instrument similar to a tiny guitar. Slezak plays keyboards and fiddle as well as singing along. And she’s the one who plays the quijada, a percussion instrument made from a donkey’s jawbone. And yes it was great to see it in action.
Sarah told me after the show that it was her favorite set of the weekend. I was pretty excited to get their latest album and then, to our surprise they cam over to the merch booth (instead of the meet and greet tent) and signed out disc. I chatted with them a few minutes, and they were super nice. Suz showed Tabby her necklace which has one of the teeth from the jawbone. And their adorable daughter was there too. She’s 2 and it was the first show of theirs that she got to watch (although I think mostly she was just hot).
I’m so glad that they were able to play and, as with The Districts, I’d love to see them in a smaller venue where they get a longer set.
See some colorful photos and stream their set here.
Setlist:
Yes, Maria, Yes
Dark Night of the Heart
Forgiveness
Harder Before It Gets Easier
Blood Jump
Chuchumbe
Don’t Lose Heart
Born With A Broken Heart
Colas
Guesthouse
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We went to this festival with the family back in 2016. It was really hot. The kids were in the in-between age where they didn’t really like the music but were too old to just enjoy being outside.
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