i got to see the legendary (yes, *legendary*) vic chesnutt at the echoplex in los angeles last night. chesnutt is an athens, ga mainstay and always a pleasure to see live, especially when i am particularly missing home. athens has pretty much claimed vic as a hometown hero, though he is known around the world for his disturbingly dark and funny lyrics, haunting vocals, and musical collaborations with everyone and their brother. currently, he is touring with elf power, who he recently recorded and album with. they used the track listing of 'dark developments', this latest album, for a setlist for their live show (with the exception of a couple of the closing songs).
chesnutt is an absolute pleasure to experience live. he is so charming and funny, you hardly realize that he just made a fart joke. after announcing that they were playing all songs from the new album, there was halfhearted applause from the audience. to which he replied, "hey, it's ok, 'cause by the time we announce that again at the end they will be *COMING*...."
the band and vic seemed quite at ease with each other and in a very relaxed mood (christina believes laura carter, elf power's multi-instrumental member, may have been napping during part of the show). as usual, the songs, which i had only heard snippets of before this show, were moving, sad, funny, lighthearted, intense, and esoteric all at once. i think i can truly say i've never not liked anything i've heard from chesnutt. he seems to be able to capture emotion that not too many can pull off, finding distinct humor in the major disappointments in life, while not coming off as very bitter, but with a finish that doesn't leave you feeling like cutting yourself. he sings love songs about dirt and blood clots and anthems to erections. it's pretty, pretty stuff.
the opening track of 'dark disturbances', 'mystery', is a true vic classic, complete with harmonica and some random "la-da-das" sung in a falsetto voice. 'little fucker' is a song he wrote about himself, it seems. 'and how' ("like they used to say in old-timey hollywood!") is a feel good ditty, with some fun backing vocals by the elf power crew. i really liked 'we are mean': in the city is is gray/in the country it is green/in the country we are happy/in the city we are MEAN...
the song 'the bilocating dog' is about a family who thought their dog was in two places at once, which is awesome.
they closed the show with 'independence day', a song off vic's first record recorded 20 years ago. this heart wrenching tune is played often by vic, but i could hear it every time i see him. it is beautiful and can mean so many different things; he even prefaced it by saying it carried much different meaning for himself than it did when he first wrote it.
he had a hard time figuring out what to play for an encore, so he took a request from an audience member and did 'tarragon' before being carried off stage, flapping his arms as if flying.
so yeah, about that sentence: vic was telling stories before most every song, and before the song
"phil the fiddler" (vic was pissed that it's thunder was stolen by 'joe the plumber'.i think his exact words were "lying sack of shit".), he told us about a line in the song: "the kid with the aubergine eye". he was sitting on his porch, smoking, when he heard someone singing jubilantly. he even demonstrated with a childlike "la-la-la-laaaaa". he thought this was nice. he spotted the little guy, about 10, walking down the road singing...with a black eye. which he thought was even nicer. how we all should want to be the boy with the aubergine eye, singing even after getting our asses handed to us.
