reCAP :: John Butler Trio w/ Monica Heldal :: 2014.11.20
Supporting their latest studio recording, Flesh & Blood, Australia’s John Butler Trio began the last weekend of its American tour with a nearly sold out performance at The Capitol Theater on Thursday night.
“How’s it goin’ everybody? We’re happy to be here, this is a special place,” the singer said, greeting the crowd. Bringing his social and cultural ethos to the forefront, he acknowledged ancestors and “…the Native peoples of this land,” before thanking The Capitol for having the band.
With that, the trio – including on bass Byron Luiters and newest member Grant Gerathy on drums – slowly grooved into the ethereal and spiritual tone poem, “Cold Wind” from the new recording. From his instrument, an amplified 12 string acoustic guitar, he drew airy, haunting sounds that embodied the sound of winds rushing over a baron land – while scenes of Australia’s parched outback with sparse shrubs and small trees splashed upon the theater walls and ceilings.
Butler accentuated his guitar prowess with the 12 string on both “Used To Get High” and “Betterman,” – the former featuring a funky rhythm driven by the electric bass and the latter multiple musical peaks and valleys and drawing the first huge cheer from the crowd. “Bullet Girl” from the new release began with a mellow hush and then a slow build that highlighted three part vocal harmonies amongst the band members.
Picking up a hollow body electric guitar, Butler led the band into a groovy improvised musical prologue that built to a heavy, wailing rhythm, then with a count off, pivoted into “I’d Do Anything,” drawing another large cheer from the crowd. Psychedelic Purples and crimson colors lit the walls in the shapes of the jelly inside of a lava lamp.
Taking a seat on a stool and picking up a steel dobro laid across his lap, he acknowledged the area’s proximity to NYC in his introduction to “Fire In The Sky.” “This is a song we wrote about a really big event in our lives, in all of our lives, a surreal day….We were in San Francisco. We all lost something that day, but yet, governments and armies just keep on killing …. Just stop! It all came tumbling down and the whole world has changed.” There was an uncanny quality and tone in the performance of the song, and red and black shadows splattered the décor of the theater while bulbs of yellow the moved up the walls like embers into the sky.
Butler was back on the 12-string acoustic for one of his most well known songs, “Pickapart,” which featured pounding, thunderous rhythms of Gerathy and Luiters. While the steady and awesome longtime drummer Nicky Bomba will be missed, by this point in the performance, it could certainly be acknowledged that Gerathy and Luiters certainly have as much of a tight cadence and cohesiveness as any other rhythm section. Arrows flew across the walls, and the crowd gave its loudest and proudest cheers of the night as the song concluded.
The rhythm section left Butler solo onstage, and he again took comfort on his stool to play solo. “I’ve tried many times to retire this guitar,” he said of a trusted old instrument that he’s been playing since his days as a busker. “At this point, she’s more glue than she is wood…but she stays with me. I wrote this on it, and it reminds me of where I’ve come from. Hopefully you like it,” he concluded with a chuckle. “Ocean” is a solo instrumental, but amplified and with effects pedals, it highlighted what a spectacular guitarist Butler really is, his fingers adroitly moving up and down the instruments neck and finger picking notes, then moving towards the body of the guitar to delicately bang out a percussive beat. Blue and white colors washed the theater walls in gently rolling waves of light. As the song concluded in a blazing wail of guitar tones, the crowd let out a bellowing cheer of applause, acknowledging the true greatness of a musician.
The band now back together, they closed out the set with the bluesy rock dirge “Devil Woman” from the new recording. Then, to the crowd, Butler said, “Will you sing with us on this one?” To which he initially got a weak response. “That was shit! Do you feel like singing, Ya’ll!” he said, this time with more vigor, and repeated it one last time. “I’m going to sing it out to you and your going to give it back, and if you don’t I’m going to let you know,” he said with a laugh. The set finale, “Zebra,” was a funky and bluesy rocker that again drew huge cheers. Breaking the rhythm down mid-song, he began to scat and holler, in a guttural, yet bellowing voice; “Let me hear you say, Dah oh!” to which the crowd follwed along in unison. This scatting and rapping went along for a good three minutes before the song came to a rousing end.
To bring the performance to a close, the band returned for a two-song encore. “Funky Tonight" was a scorching, loud rocker that featured Butler blazing sparks from his strings. Then, a pounding bass drum lead the band and the crowd, hands clapping along in unison to the beat, into the big rock show ending of “Living In The City.” With a wave and thanks for having us to the crowd, JB3 drew a huge ovation from the nearly sold out crowd as they left the stage.
The opening act was Norwegian folk songwriter Monica Heldal. She performed stark and sparse acoustic ballads, accompanied by a lone electric guitarist, who added ghostly, hallowed tones to her songs and salty dog vocals. Musically, her stark story songs incorporated lovely Americana laced tones and Celtic influences. By the looks of the folks who grabbed merchandise between sets, Monica won’t be a newcomer for long.