Listening (to Lambchop by myself again)

 

Although Kurt Wagner's voice has always created spaces in which one is only too happy to spend time, the last Lambchop album that I dealt with more intensively was the 2008 release “OH (Ohio)”. The cover and inside cover showed a couple relaxing after making love, while various violent scenarios unfold in the background through the open window. The album came out in 2008, the albums before that that I was somewhat familiar with were the release “It’s a Woman”, “No, you C’mon/Aw, C’mon” & “Damaged”. 

Well, that was a few years ago now. I didn't exactly have the songs in my ear when I encountered Kurt Wagner's voice again yesterday in „Heimathafen Neukölln“ in Berlin. The concert that friends had invited me to was announced as an intimate piano concert with only Andrew Broder on the piano. Andrew Broder had already worked on the albums “The Bible” & “Showtunes”. 

„Together they manage to reduce the classic Lambchop songs to their essence and thereby bring the emotional power to life.”

I'm not exactly a fan of piano music, and after the initial joy at the successful stage setting (there were only two light sources: one was the piano was illuminated, the other light cone was illuminated by Kurt Wagner, as it suited the scene, this time not in the flannel shirt, but in a stylish double-breasted suit, but not without the obligatory cap), after 15 minutes I thought it might get boring. Always just the piano & the voice. But what nonsense! Of course, Kurt Wagner's voice is never boring & you're willing to listen to him for an entire evening or longer. After an encore it was over after 75 minutes. But the two actually managed to create a kind of flow. The two's playing was a little reminiscent of a classic mixtape. Broder sometimes simply played through & Kurt Wagner got in and out of the pieces & with vocal outbursts from his melodious voice, a whoop here, a hey there, it wasn't even necessary, the audience was completely thrilled. An audience that was already very friendly. Kurt tells familiar stories, in a different set-up, but those who have accompanied him to this day shake their heads in enchantment. I didn't recognize any songs, I wasn't loyal enough to Lambchop's side. On the same tour they covered Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime", even I didn't recognize that and I have to assume they played it. But a highlight was definitely Sun June’s ‘Listening (to Lambchop by myself again). A beautiful evening that I don't want to miss. Thanks!

„Picture this. A stage in almost total darkness. Two spotlights illuminating a microphone and a piano. Two men wander on stage, one of whom has his hands jammed into his trouser pockets (where they remain for almost the entire night), choosing to lurk out of the reach of his spotlight.

The piano player, undoubtedly excellent, embarks on a jazzy run that he doesn’t then cease for almost half an hour. Neither man speaks. Neither says hello. Both take this very seriously.

Broder creates a suite – veering from jazz to lounge to contemporary classical – over which Wagner sings. Each song runs into the last, each sounds relatively similar to the one just gone.“

-Gavin McNamara-