Arborea at Amnesia, San Francisco, 10/21/11
It’s true. I have a feeling I’ve seen at least one gig at Amnesia in the past, but I could be mistaken. It might have been some other tiny bar around the corner somewhere. Amnesia is one of those red-lit little bars that I’ve passed countless times. The music can be heard from the street, but I’m usually making a beeline for some other venue, dodging the Friday night hipsters and bar hoppers who populate any major thoroughfare on any given weekend.
As for Arborea, who hail from the far away state of Maine, I’ve been listening to them for a couple of years now. I even went so far as to send some money their way via Kickstarter so they could raise money for the recording of their newest release, the phenomenal “Red Planet”. They’re a husband and wife duo, with Buck Curran playing acoustic and electric guitar and Shanti Curran singing, as well as playing banjo, dulcimer, pump organ, kalimba, and ukulele.
The club was loud, with people raising their voices in order to be heard over the canned music, and I was wondering if Arborea, being the opening band, would have to contend with people rudely conversing during their set.
I've included photos for illustration purposes only. One day soon, I hope to have a camera that will provide me with a little more clarity. There are some nice photos from the Amnesia show on Arborea's site (follow the link near the top of the page).
It turns out that, for the most part, I needn’t have worried about the audience noise. Shanti introduced the first song by saying that it was going to be a quiet one, partially because she was still soundchecking and partially because she wanted to make people feel self-conscious for talking. She said it in a joking manner, but it was very effective in getting people to shut up. I think the first song was called Starburst. The word “star” was in there, at least. As a hush fell over the small crowd, Shanti sang in her high, delicate voice and accompanied herself on a kalimba,
Buck joined her on stage for the duration of the set. The duo concentrated on songs from their newest release, the aforementioned “Red Planet”. They’d even propped up a vinyl copy towards the front of the stage. It’s nice to see bands bringing heavy boxes of vinyl on tour in an age when some touring artists have taken to just bringing along download cards of their releases. Shanti’s beautiful vocals and delicately plucked accompaniment formed a spidery sonic frame over which Buck provided a warm blanket of psych guitar. The pair was perfectly balanced, with the gentle, melancholy waves of soul-satisfying guitar sound providing just the right counterpoint to the delicate sounds of Shanti’s instruments. Many of the songs dealt either directly or indirectly with the seasons, especially Autumn and Winter. We were treated to Careless Love, Song For Obol, and the traditional song Black Is The Colour from “Red Planet”, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment. I’m happy to report that the live versions of these songs are every bit as captivating as the studio versions. This is music that demands silence, and for the most part, the crowd cooperated, although an annoying conversation started up behind us during the final song. I guess some people have no class. Of course, that’s a given when you’re in a bar, where the amount of class a person has is inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol in his or her bloodstream. During the final song, they were joined on stage by a friend, who played pump organ, although it was barely audible (perhaps because of the aforementioned conversation).
Arborea performing Arms & Horses:
We decided to head home after Arborea’s set, missing sets by The Beehavers and Magic Leaves. I had checked both bands out online, and had come away somewhat ambivalent about their music, so the need for sleep won out over any curiosity about what the other bands sets might have been like.
Here's a video for Careless Love:
Arborea has a pretty heavy presence on YouTube, so if you like these videos, click over and watch more.
Here’s a short live set they played on WFMU some time back. Download away!
Also check out Arborea on Facebook.
It has been a week since I wrote this post, but I haven't had a chance to actually publish it until now, because on the day that the gig took place, and totally unbeknownst to me at the time, my dad was admitted to the emergency room with a broken hip and complications resulting from the lung cancer that he's had for nearly a year now. I'm still not entirely sure why I didn't find out about his hospital admission until after the weekend was over, but that's the way life works sometimes, I guess. At any rate, things don't look good, and his future is now most likely numbered in months. Years before this site existed, and indeed years before I'd hear about a new thing called the internet, it was my dad who took me to my first and second concerts, so I guess he was an early enabler in what has become a lifelong live music obsession. That first concert was back in 1980 (for years I remembered it as 1979) at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, featuring Ted Nugent and the Scorpions. My dad actually liked the Scorpions. In fact, I think they were the only band I listened to that he admitted liking. He didn't care for Ted Nugent. Of course, I no longer like Nugent either, especially since he's a bit of a right wing nut these days. I can still remember my dad not wanting me to push towards the front because he was afraid that I (and my friend Steve) would get trampled. The second concert, and the final one he took me to, was Van Halen. He fell asleep.
You've got to admire a man who can fall asleep during a Van Halen concert.
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