Live in a Living Room | David Bazan House Show

Everyone knows that I love David Bazan.  His gritty and booming voice, melodic and dissonant chords, and matter-of-fact and story telling musical musings puts him as one of the most often played musician on my iPod and in my car on these things called "CDs" (not everyone got the iPod jack option).  Over the years, I have seen Sir Bazan many times live, the first being in Charleston.  At this show he was playing as part of Pedro the Lion, so I was merely intrigued as I really did not know much about him.  My second Bazan siting was at New Brooklyn Tavern in Columbia, SC, and by this point I'd back trailed in his music and fallen in love.  This is also when I learned of the beauty of his solo material.  Time endured, and I made my way up to DC and so did David.  I saw him again at the 9:30 club, this time playing as part of a band but singing solo material...In other words he was Michael, they were Tito.  Then there was tonight.

Tonight, I saw the most intimate performance of Mr. Bazan.  It was a living room show.  As the name implies, it occurred in a living room on Capitol Hill with about 30 of DC's finest hipsters ready to hear one man and his guitar with only a tiny amp and tapping foot serving as backup.  To give you an idea of exactly how intimate this show was, take a look below:

Those brown things are my feet, that man with the guitar is David Bazan.  Awesome.

Most of the material hailed from the most recent album, Curse your Branches, but there were also songs played from Fewer Moving Pieces and Control.  In his normal style, a cover was also played by Bazan.  Tonight he played Flirted With You All of My Life by the late Vic Chesnutt.  What I love about Bazan covers is that he doesn't just replay the song.  He feels it, makes it his own, and makes you want more.

He also explained the song Options, which is one of my favorites but the lyrics are a bit rough.  Basically it describes feeling trapped in a relationship, and the constant wonder if you're settling and if you should escape.  Here's a taste:

Options | David Bazan | Living Room Show, 5.10.10 from kashiad on Vimeo.


Anyhow, during one of his legendary Q & A parts of the show, someone asked how his wife took the above mentioned song, given its content. His response was that he let his wife in on "the first floor" rather than letting it be a surprise and presented the song and its lyrics to her as a universal theme, with the assurance that he was not going to be the guy that he is singing about.  Also, during another Q & A (yes, another...there were at least 5) things got political.  In his dry, sarcastic humor Bazan mentioned how ironic it was that he was "so close to where they are plotting to take away our freedoms" going on to mention that "people are scary when they think you are trying to take their shit....and they have guns."  Obviously a bit of commentary on the teabaggers and all other ridiculous things that lie within the beltway.

"I got a question," someone belted, "why do you always sing with your eye closed?"  This is something I've also wondered.  He said (as I hypothesized) that he keeps his eyes closed because he does not want to be distracted.  He went on to say that given the intimate nature of a living room show, he keeps his eyes closed to keep from awkwardly staring at one or a few people.  But he comforted us all like little children at story time, telling us that just because his eyes are closed doesn't mean we're forgotten.  The last thing that I thought was interesting from the open forum was that when producing the Headphones album he was shooting for a different sound, in fact he went on to call the Headphones EP "sterile." This shows the beauty of songwriting: you can go in with an idea, but that it usually changes.

Even with an obvious sore throat, Bazan did not disappoint; in fact he impressed me more.  By changing progressions and chord structures he still made these songs work.  At one point, he did forget the lyrics to a song and stopped, says "wait, that's not right...oh yeah!" and continues on.  I loved it.  He essentially did a mash up of two songs-- Harmless Sparks and Fewer Broken Pieces-- from Curse your Branches and Fewer Moving Parts EP, respectfully, moving seamlessly from the harmonic Oooos and Ahhhhs of Harmless Sparks into the loaded first words, "If you make a reference to some trouble that you know,"  of  Fewer Broken Pieces.  I was also moved to hear Curse your Branches "raw" as its sounds incredibly hi-fi and produced on the album (not in a bad way) due to the presence of a full band. Once again and I don't think I can say it enough, something about Bazan's voice hypnotizes you.  Its rich like maple syrup that is cut with a rawness that only years of life experience can bring:


Curse your Branches | David Bazan | Living Room Show, 5.10.10 from kashiad on Vimeo.


One of the songs that signaled the end was How I Remember, a song that I love for the lyric "Red and Yellow, Black and White, they're precious in his sight, but who he roots for in a fight...that's how I remember." I of course have my own interpretation as a listener, but I wonder if that lyric is a nod to David's constant struggle with his faith and how to incorporate it in his life.  Listen up:


How I Remember | David Bazan | Living Room Show, 5.10.10 from kashiad on Vimeo.


Hands down, that was the best $20 I've spent on a show in a very long time, and if you get the chance I encourage you to see David Bazan, preferably in a living room, near you.

*Yes, I took all of the photos and videos so please,  don't steal*