In a short but sweet set Jeffrey strummed out antifolk tales reminiscent of past tour buddies such as Kimya Dawson and Adam Green but with the added twist of accompanying comic books illustrating the story of the song. This quirky addition to the standard gig set up certainly seemed to endear Mr Lewis to those in the crowd as his songs were met with a great reception and even some rave style dancing in the front row - surely a first for an acoustic antifolk gig!
Quasi are a band I wanted to like live, they really are. They tick all of the right boxes, they feature members of great bands such as Sleater-Kinney and Heatmiser. They play a brand of American indie rock that is pretty hard to not nod your head to and they happen to have a bloody brilliant drummer in Sleater-Kinney stickswoman Janet Weiss. So it was with great surprise I found myself wishing I was at home listening to their cds instead of watching them live.
Janet drummed her way through the set like a slightly more feminine Keith Moon and she sure can hit the tubs. It was a shame however that the drums, as good as they are, were far too loud to be able to hear ex husband Sam Coomes vocals clearly. This did improve towards the end of the set when Sam moved from being perched behind his keyboard and picked up his guitar however the damage had already been done for the most part.
Quasi provide little audience interaction between songs keeping it down to a polite Thank you now and then, and whilst this is all well and good for some bands who like to radiate an air of coolness, I cant help but think it doesnt really fit with the Quasi image or sound, especially when following someone as naturally charismatic as Jeffrey Lewis.
When you can actually hear Sams vocals he sounds like Wayne Coyne would if he wasnt so bloody cheerful. He rasps in a distinctive squall over crashing cymbals and drums, and for the most part, his keyboard that looks scarily like its in a coffin. A brief flash of stage presence shines through when we get a foot being used to play a keyboard part on an instrumental prog rock style ending of a song. Other than that its business as usual with Coomes playing the part of the very orthodox front man.
So maybe it was the sound quality or maybe its just that I was too much of a Jeffrey Lewis fanboy to fully enjoy the Quasi live experience. One things for sure, you could do a lot worse than see Janet Weiss play the drums live, just make sure the vocals are audible whilst you do it!
article by: Jan-Paul Maddix
published: 31/08/2006 20:45
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