Bowerbirds at Schubas, Chicago, July 20, 2008

As if the last night of Pitchfork Music Festival wasn’t enough to sate my need for live music, I decided to catch North Carolina’s Bowerbirds at Schubas after leaving Union Park after Cut Copy’s four-song, festival-closing performance (and by far the best four-song only performance I’ve experienced).

Bowerbirds are quite a change of tone and volume from Cut Copy, but after a tiring weekend full of blasting loudspeakers, it was nice to end things on softer, more acoustic notes. I’ve been a fan of this band for some time now, but the live performance made my love for the band grow even stronger.

Consisting of just three members, the band is led by Phil Moore, who handles the singing, guitar-plucking, and songwriting duties, as well as adding an unexpected ebullience factor (sorry for the 10-cent word, but I can’t think of a better one for Moore’s lighthearted and excitable enthusiasm for playing his songs). Moore was so excited to be playing each tune–many of them new songs that will end up on their next LP–that accordionist and back-up singer (and gf) Beth Tacular had to tell him a few times to wait before counting out the next song. He had a tendancy to start a song seconds after the end of the previous one.

Bowerbirds’ music is slow and enchanting, and Moore’s singing style demands attention to every word and phrasing. The vocals are both tender and intensifying, working through tension and release of the narrative at hand and the way Moore delivers his lines. Tacular and violinist Mark Paulson (who is also performing violining duties for Bon Iver while Bowerbirds support his tour), add the eerie backgrounding to Moore’s tales, and the three produce a sound live that is fuller and more visceral than the recorded versions.

They played an excellent new song called “Chimes,” and encored with my fave, “Bur Oak” (by my suggestion, which I kind of shouted out from the audience as loud as one can when the audience is small and basically silent. Thanks for playing that one).

Watch Bowerbirds perform in interesting locales at La Blogotheque and get their new (re-released) album Hymns to a Dark Horse, now out on Dead Oceans.