A Shiny New Machine

Concert Review – Kevin Devine @ Great Scott 2/22/07

Last night I saw one of the defining shows of my show-going career. Seriously. I’d been pretty excited for this show since I first heard of it, and was expecting greatness. Usually having high expectations for a concert tends to be a bad sign; rarely can bands live up to my own self-made hype.

This show, however, did not disappoint. In addition to Kevin Devine, Pablo, a new favorite of mine was set to open the act. And, as if that weren’t enough, Jennifer O’Connor, and artist whom I had heard many good things about was also playing. Pablo, fronted by singer/songwriter Paul Schalda, started off the night with a great set spanning the majority of their fantastic debut album Half the Time (BUY). Highlights of their performance included the bombastic rendition of the opening track on the album “Wall Street,” as well as the stand-out track from the album “Loser Crew” (which I captured on video and is posted at the bottom of this review).

Next up was the rather forgettable, but local Choo Choo La Rouge. They struck me as the type of band that would shine more on record rather than live, so I’ll have to give their album a shot. Jennifer O’Connor then took the stage and lived up to the hype with a mixture of somewhat-grungey songs and more delicate numbers. There was one song thrown in there that made use of what was hands down the most badass violin riff I’ve ever heard. If any readers know what song that is please help me out and let me know the name of it and where I can find that song / album. Her set finished with both KD and most of Pablo taking the stage for an awesome group song. I got a picture of this moment and it happens to be the only picture from the night that came out semi-decent.

Next up was the main event. Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band; the GDB on this tour being mostly made up of the members of Pablo. KD’s set started out solo and acoustic with “A Billion Bees,” one of the softer tracks on his latest album Put Your Ghost To Rest (BUY). After the acoustic intro the band took the stage to get to the more meaty rocking songs from his catalog. Most of the songs he played were off the newest album, but he did mix in a bunch of songs off of his last two releases Split the Country, Split the Streets and Make the Clocks Move (BUY & BUY, respectively).

Kevin played quite a long set, clocking in at almost 90 minutes. Near the end of his performance the band walked off stage and Kevin went acoustic again to finish the set with a few solo songs, including an awesome cover of Sinead O’Connor’s song “Black Boys on Mopeds” and a throwback to KD’s old band Miracle of ’86 with the song “Every Famous Last Word.” Kevin ended the night with a sing-along version of “Ballgame” from his second album Make the Clocks Move.

All in all, it was a fantastic night for live music. Stand out songs from KD’s performance included “Me & My Friends” (video posted below), “Noose Dressed Like a Necklace” – one of my favorite songs ever (album mp3 included below), and “The Burning City Smoking” (arguably the best song on PYGTR). I have to say, however, that the highlight of the night for me was not one of these three. During the latter acoustic portion of the set, Paul Schalda of Pablo joined KD on stage to sing for the song “Lord, I Know We Don’t Talk.” I wish I still had room on my camera to capture this moment, but in retrospect I should have just deleted the video for “Me & My Friends” to get this. Paul’s voice worked so beautifully with Kevin’s on this song, it was almost surreal. All I can really say is “wow.” Hands down one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

Pablo – Loser Crew

Kevin Devine – Me & My Friends

Photos (Click for Larger Image):

MP3: Kevin Devine – Noose Dressed Like a Necklace | (Buy – Make the Clocks Move)

MP3: Kevin Devine – Brooklyn Boy | (Buy – Put Your Ghost To Rest)

MP3: Kevin Devine – The Longer I Lay Here (Pedro the Lion Cover)

POSTED BY: Chris