Well, who knew? Apparently Butch Walker is an avid reader of HAD - enough so that he made mention of yesterday's post at his show last night. We suppose he's right that we haven't really heard his other records, but the "hipster CORRECTION: doofus" (our bad) thing? You've got us all wrong Butch: hipsters won't even talk to us! But we digress...
Last night's show was a solo affair for Butch Walker. Walker played a mix of piano, guitar, and what appeared to be a Fender Rhodes. The Independent was setup in seated "cocktail table" mode, and the atmosphere was definitely what one would refer to as intimate. The crowd was clearly littered with Butch Walker devotees, and many of the tunes had a singalong going before they had even started. Walker played a fair amount of material off of his new record, along with some older favorites. Despite our (admitted) unfamiliarity, some of these tunes really grabbed us: in particular "Mixtape" is a track that's definitely worth your time.
Walker's live show was rock solid, and the strongest aspects of his record were paralleled in a live setting. His songwriting sensibility is dead on, and his vocals are some of the truest we've heard in a long while. There aren't many rock singers out there today who really have a huge vocal range, and use it in as versatile a way as Walker did last night.
The biggest disappointments to us was the absence of a full band. Not that Walker didn't hold his own over the course of the night, but many of the songs' strongest riffs were often absent from the tunes. It didn't make them any less worthwhile, but we did find ourselves humming many of the lead guitar lines when Walker hit the instrumental breaks. We're hoping that next time he's in town Walker shows up with a full band - we'd love to hear these tunes with all their riffage in tact.
More photos over at the HAD Archive
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Butch Walker Played The Independent
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3 comments:
If it makes you feel better, he said "hipster doofus blog", not "hipster douchebag". The proof will be on YouTube eventually.
That's a bit better, but really: we actually are enjoying the record around here. If he had managed to get past the first two sentences he might have gotten that. Ah, well...
butch is one artist who really is in tune with his fans. no doubt he read your full article and made the comment tongue-in-cheek. once you familiarize yourself with his first solo album (left of self-centered) and most of the marvie stuff, you'll "get it." glad to know that he's got your attention. welcome to the club!
ps - if you're loving "mixtape," do yourself a solid and track down "vampires in love" from the marvies (marvelous 3). it's my personal fave. well, that and "far away from close" from LOSC. have fun, and see you @ the next show!
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