Friday Night

You may remember that a little while back I featured the Horse Feathers and Dawn Landes in two different posts.  Well, the music gods conspired and decided tocombine the two for a tour which happened to stop in Denver last friday night at the Hi-Dive.  And man, was it a good concert.  

Dawn Landes opened and nearly stole the show with her unassuming yet charming personality which shone through with her anecdotes, jokes, and even a reading from Kerouac's On the Road.  After she got off the stage I went over and talked to her.  She was as just as nice and interesting as her music would lead you to believe.  After our conversation, and suffering from a bit of a school boy crush, I figured, "That's it.  The show's over.  Anything else will just be a disappointment."

Then the Horse Feathers played.  And all I can say is: wow.  There were only four of them on stage (guitarist, fiddler, cellist, and banjo/mandolin/keyboard/percussionist), but the music had the depth and breadth of a full symphony orchestra.  What struck me the most was how moving the music was.  And by moving I don't necessarily mean that it was emotionally stirring (though it was at times), but that there was a lot of movement within the music.  The undulation of the strings conjured images of rolling hills.  The pounding drums were thunder claps.  The music was both lively and calming.  The most descriptive moment of the concert came at one point when someone in the crowd yelled, "You rock!" to which the lead singer replied, "gently." :)