Erika Wennerstrom and the Heartless Bastards brought forth a great degree of swagger to the Trees stage last Thursday night. As the evening marked the official beginning of the July 4th Holiday weekend, the mid-sized venue’s two stories were packed a little tighter than usual, and the air was tinged with an extra dose of festive energy. Fans eagerly whooped and hollered song requests, moved excitedly around the floor with whirling (if not graceful) dance steps, and manically shouted their approval towards the band members as the short between-song moments of tuning and banter briefly offered respite to the bleeding eardrums. It also just happened to be the Bastards’ last show for the time being, as they are winding down a two-month jaunt that has taken them around the country in support of the recently released, Restless Ones, their fifth full-length release. So, the circumstances being what they were, it proved to be no surprise that the audience was treated to both a rousing and inspired 90-minute set that served as a worthy and triumphant exhibition for longtime followers and served to announce the presence of a true musical force.
Seeped in the blues-rock tradition with a dash of alt-country thrown in for extra measure, Heartless Bastards have long been able to marry catchy choruses with sharp, aggressive instrumentation. They make use with a lot of “whoa’s and ah-s” and have a tendency, like on the show opening number, “Simple Feeling” to repeat the chorus over and over again until the songs morph into sorts of mantras that stick on repeat mode in your hand long after they end. What makes these types of songs interesting and far from redundant is the magical and mysterious nature of Wennerstrom’s voice. Shifting in tone, power, and range, she is capable of occupying the understated and jazzy spectrum of someone like Norah Jones as easily as she is the more rollicking thunder of a Robert Plant or a Roger Daltrey. The girl knows how to carry a tune and judging from her stage presence she has also become more comfortable carrying the crowd and commanding the room, as well. Throughout the evening, she vaulted her way through the rough and tumble blues and rock of tracks like “Gates of Dawn” and “Parted Ways”, brought heartfelt emotion to more personal numbers like, “Hi-Line” and “Skin and Bone”, and even ditched her guitar a couple of times for a divinely inspired couple of minutes of pure testimony.
The crowd held onto her every word as she treated us to stories ranging from her grandmother’s long-ago vocal recordings (the compelling classical music that accompanied the band’s stage entrance) to the band’s week spent in Dallas last year mixing their album with famed local producer John Congleton. Her sweet nature resonated well. It was easy to tell she was genuinely pleased with the crowd and proud of the inspiration her band’s work has brought to others. The show’s success was also due in no small part to the thunderous roar crafted by the other four Bastards: bassist Jesse Ebaugh, guitarist Mark Nathan, drummer Dave Colvin, and multi-instrumentalist Kyleen King. They’re a group that has evolved far from the bar-band rock of the group’s early days and have molded themselves into a unit capable of playing arenas should they so desire (well, technically they did open some arena shows for Bob Segar earlier this year). They brought a tightly wound groove to songs like “Black Cloud” “Late in the Night” and “Only For You”, and really let their jam/psychedelic flags fly when they let loose on the outro of “Down in the Canyon”. Additionally, they kept in sync with Wennerstrom; they riffed along during songs’ verses, stepped forward for solos and instrumental breaks, but displayed enough restraint to avoid muddying up the gentle soul that lies at the heart of most of the band’s work.
In stark contrast to the energy brought forth by the main act, Craig Finn opened the night with a solid and understated 40-minute set of tunes that mixed Hold Steady numbers with several from a forthcoming album of new solo material. Accompanied by only a single fellow guitarist (save for the last two numbers where he was joined by Ebaugh and Colvin), Finn’s charmingly flavorful lyrics held up nicely despite the lack of raucous intensity normally brought forth in the Hold Steady environment. It was a treat to hear him play the part of solo troubadour and it’s a hat he wears well. A master storyteller, Finn ably held court with the fluctuating arrival of attendees as he reminisced on youthful days spent in Minnesota, offered forth some insightful local commentary, and most strikingly, delivered a heartfelt and emotionally gripping anecdote that served as the introduction for his recent song, “Newmyer’s Roof”. It was a direct and personal 9/11 story that managed to turn the feelings of shame, horror, and confusion into a tale of ultimate love and salvation. All told from a uniquely equipped Craig Finn perspective, it proved to be a true moment of profundity and an amazing closer to his time on stage. Having traveled the road before and sharing a mutual respect and appreciation for each other’s work, here’s to hoping Finn and the Heartless Bastards link up again at some point down the road.
