On June 5th a full house packed into the back of the Rough Trade Record Shop in Brooklyn, New York to see Benjamin Booker and friends celebrate the release of his second album Witness.
Opening the show was High Water the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Will Epstein. The four-piece worked their way through experimental numbers that were soft and toyed with sonic textures. Playing songs like “Changed The Locks” the group worked with sound palettes and slow builds behind Epstein’s fluttering voice, electro squiggles and saxophone squawks. They moved from gentle easy listening to off-kilter notes easily and ended their set with a very pretty take on Bob Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Faith.”
The crowd was clearly there for Booker ho brought a new six-piece band to the stage with him. Last time he played the NYC he was fronting a three-piece raucous/sloppy power trio but tonight it was clear from the opener “Right On You” that he is moving in a new direction.
Booker is blossoming into a full-on stage general/lead singer and tonight he was among friends, quite literally with a packed VIP section of college buddies who he mentioned multiple times. He is not solely playing lead guitar, rather focusing on his vocal delivery and capturing the audience. The added musicians also help his expanding sound as Sondra Williams provided gorgeous supporting vocals on tracks like “Witness” and the show’s soul centerpiece “Carry” while multi-instrumentalist Oliver Hill added violins and keys to the slow burning “Believe”.
Comfortable in his role and having a blast Booker even shouted out his Airbnb host before delivering an Otis Redding-inspired “Overtime” from his most recent release. The core of his group also dug into some older songs with “Have You Seen My Son” cooking early, “Happy Homes” fuzzed while “Chippewa” boogied mid-set, and “Old Hearts” closed out the hour-long show.
Both of his styles combined for the lone encore number as “Violent Shiver” saw Booker take over the lead guitar lines while also pausing multiple times mid-song to engage the crowd. He made everyone get as low as they could before popping back up and jumping for joy to finish out the song. While it sapped the propulsive final tune of its punkish abandon, it also cemented Booker as a growing bandleader, showmen and a hell of a fun frontman.
One Response
I was at this show and it was not good.