On Tuesday November 9th, the Mazda2 sponsored Mayer Hawthorne tour rolled through Portland, Oregon. With corporate sponsorship giving a boost to young, touring musicians instead of bidding for the naming right to taxpayer funded billion dollar sports stadiums, I felt a twinge of admiration for the car company. The Aladdin Theater in Portland’s inner Southeast, is an intimate mix of theater style seating and a small GA section in front of the stage that hosted Mike Gordon’s (soft “G”) Portland blowout the night before. While the haze of waving arms and spastic hippie dancing would be left to the back burner tonight, local openers Soap Collectors took the stage at 8:30 to a sparsely populated theater that seats 620. They played an inspired set of post-Postal Service electro indie pop with a mix of electronic and live drums, tremolo’d out guitar, fender Rhodes and Lizzy Ellison’s gorgeous voice. Think Lea Michele, hipsterized.
Next up came Gordon Voidwell and his band’s Cross-Color by way of Salt-N-Pepa fashion sense. Literally, ordering the crowd out of their seats to come dance, Voidwell busted into a jarring but infectious mix of nerd rap and 80s hip hop/R and B. With clear nods to Cameo, Sheila E, and hell, even Jan Hammer’s Miami Vice soundtrack, Voidwell’s sound is straight out of 1986. However, I imagine his lyrics, which I couldn’t understand are smart, witty, and subversive; making him and his band the perfect projection of New York City hipsterdom, if that’s your thing. Check out their song “White Friends”, my favorite by far.
It is worth noting the utter bizarreness of the scene that took place during Voidwell’s set. Mazda2, avoiding an underage drinking scandal like the plague, decided to institute an “all minors need to be accompanied by an adult” rule for their tour. Please picture both a kindly mother calmly knitting to Soap Collectors in her North Face raincoat and her lanky son nervously biting his nails, trying desperately to figure out how he was going to look remotely cool. During Voidwell’s top ten hits from ‘86, mothers of all varieties, some hippie, some slutty, were breaking it down on the dance floor! Shaking it like your mother’s friend did during “Oh What a Night (December 1963)” at your sister’s Bar Mitzvah. Even middle-aged white men were awkwardly giving it up; simultaneously awesome, and hilarious.
And finally, on to the headlining portion of our show! Mayer Hawthorne, originally a DJ and producer form Ann Arbor, MI was signed to Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw records on the strength of bedroom soul tracks he constructed in his free time. His debut album, A Strange Arrangement, has become something of a mini-sensation in the newly popular “white boy soul” genre. Hitting the stage in matching red sweaters, his band, the County immediately popped off with powerfully tight arrangements that were anything but strange. The classic, Motown stylings with Funk Brother influenced rhythms and chord progressions were achingly familiar, occasionally bringing you back to dad’s midlife crisis when he bought the Big Chill soundtrack and danced weirdly in the living room to “Aint to Proud to Beg” after sneaking out back to “pull some weeds”. The County’s arrangements were fleshed out by proficient and soulful keyboard work, crispy drumming and just a smattering of rip-roaring electric guitar. Hawthorne, himself filled the role of consummate modern day soul front man with self-effacing humor, dancing instructions, story telling and buttery vocals.
Mixing the sugar-sweet melodies of “Make her Mine” with the inspired power of his love letter to Mary Jane, “Green Eyed Love”, Hawthorne and the County projected a polished, flexible, and tight show; one that allows us millennials to wistfully imagine what it must have been like to see the real deal from Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye. (For the epitome, pick up Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963 – the greatest soul record of all time.) Hawthorne is clearly gaining momentum in the mainstream community (though tonight’s ticket sales didn’t show it) as he has befriended Snoop Dog (he played a bit of his “Gangsta of Luv” remix) and is working on a very quick follow up album. Playing a new track with impeccable precision and studio sheen, the County quickly veered into the intended crowd pleasing cover of The Doobie Brother’s “What a Fool Believes”, though I think a portion of Hawthorne’s audience may be far too young to know the song.
Hawthorne’s proficiency at ballads highlights his resonant voice and embodies the blue-eyed soul aesthetic he is shooting for. “I Wish it Would Rain” (an original, not The Temptations song) and “It Just Aint Gonna Work Out” are two excellent examples with the later being a starkly gorgeous break-up tune. If there was one glaring weakness to the show it had to be the venue. While the Aladdin’s sound is crystal clear and is a wonderful place to see a concert, the number of empty seats impacted the energy. Only a third full, the Mazda2 tour could have rolled into the Doug Fir Lounge and blown up. However, “beggars can’t be choosers”, or “haste makes waste”, whatever mom used to say. Mayer Hawthorne and the County are movin’ on up.
