In-store: Vetiver

Vetiver

Sonic Boom. Friday, May 15, 2009.

With some time to kill before the Vaselines gig, decided to drop into the basement at Sonic Boom to check out an in-store performance by Vetiver¹, a band I knew pretty much nothing about. A quick glance online told me that frontman Andy Cabic is a friend of Devendra Banhart, and that the band had come up through that whole freak-folk scene, but I headed in without much more foreknowledge.

A decent-sized crowd trickled into the basement but there was still plenty elbow room as the band took the stage. Cabic greeted the room with a genial "Hey everbody", his voice bringing to mind Ira Kaplan, which may explain why, as the band launched into "Oh Papa", my first impression was of something not unlike a mellow Yo La Tengo playing some country-ish Grateful Dead tunes. Despite being near the end of their tour, and playing a show for non-paying customers, the band was warm and cheerful, which largely matched the tone of the songs they played. "Maureen", with excellent harmony vox from keyb player Sarah Versprille, was a quiet gem, and I was starting to find myself rather captivated. The band moved into a couple songs from their recent Tight Knit album, which showed off a bit more bounce than the older tunes.

The band threw in a cover of Loudon Wainwright's evocative "The Swimming Song", and ended on the location-appropriate "Wishing Well", a sorta second-cousin to "You Ain't Going Nowhere", which the band had recently released as a single on Record Store Day. It was a lovely half-hour set, and if I didn't have a ticket in hand for a different gig, I'd've probably headed down to The Horseshoe to hear more.² As it is, the band made at least one fan from the show, and I'm pretty sure disc-purchasing will follow. I'll keep my eyes open for next time they come around.

A track from this performance is posted here.

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¹ A note on pronunciation: I'd been saying their name like a french word, like vuh-tee-ver, but it turns out it's said more like "whatever".

² Although one wonders if a frisky Friday night crowd at the 'Shoe would drown out the band's more gentle material.