“We’re always better looking the farther away the audience is, so this is the best night of the tour so far,” Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak joked in introducing the band during their opening slot for The National last week at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Wasner’s humorous self-deprecation was both charming and winningly introspective, and immediately established a connection with the growing audience. This two person band from Baltimore, who before the release of 2011’s Civilian played clubs of maybe 200 people, is now opening for The National at year’s end in a 7,000-capacity auditorium. At 7:30pm on a Saturday night, the gathered crowd was small— it was still very early in the evening by concert standards— and looked smaller in such a large space, but the couple hundred in attendance were treated to an opening act loaded with heart and promise.
Wye Oak has been touring the release of their third album Civilian since the beginning of this year, and despite playing 200 shows this year alone, the rhythmic and lyrical integrity of the album’s songs have lost none of their potency after months on tour. The band is comprised of only two people, Jenn Wasner (lead vocals, guitar) and Andy Stack (drums, keyboard, backup vocals), and yet their collective sound is one of a much larger group. Stack seamlessly maintained his instruments throughout the set— playing the drums with his feet and right hand while his left hand pounded away at the keyboard. Wasner was constantly jumping from one electric guitar to another in order to complete the expansive rock-and-roll sound, while simultaneously overlaying the songs with her ethereal vocals. And just because she sticks to guitar doesn’t mean she is any less of an instrumentalist. Watching her play is hypnotic, as she can swing from fragile, vulnerable finger-picking to wall of sound wailing.
They began the set with “Holy Holy,” taking their time to work into the song’s intensive cacophony of instruments and allowing Wasner’s voice to firmly capture the crowd’s attention. Within the expanse of the auditorium, her voice took on a more complex richness than was conveyed in the album, evoking comparisons to Neko Case’s sultry timbre. When she exhaled the lyric “holy, holy, holy…would you like to know me?,” enthusiastic cheers issued from the crowd, indicating that they would indeed like to hear more. Wye Oak responded with three more songs from the new record—“Hot As Day,” “Dog Eyes,” and the brilliant title track “Civilian.” They truly threw themselves into this rendition of “Civilian”—Wasner’s voice smoothly transitioning from a plaintive, hymn-like sound to something with more edged grit that looped and expanded while Stack’s drums popped and pulsated. The song had an anthemic quality that was undeniable, making the crowd collectively sway and gyrate until the final chords.
Wye Oak ended the set with The Knot‘s “That I Do” and the delicately melancholic “I Hope You Die” from their 2010 EP My Neighbor/My Creator. “I Hope You Die” describes a farewell to a failed relationship, conveying a graceful finality to the larger sounds that had issued from their previous songs. For this track, Stack softened the drum beat and let the keyboard sounds float in the background, leaving the void to be filled by slow guitar strum and Wasner’s magnetic drone. The effect was bittersweet and touching, and provided a fitting close to the show.
On this stage, in this huge auditorium, Wye Oak seemed wholeheartedly vulnerable—a small fish in a large pond, but by no means forgettable. They readily admitted that this was among the larger venues they’d played this tour and at times their sound seemed almost too intimate for the space, but they held nothing back. And it is that unreserved outpouring of sound and lyrical profundity that garnered critical acclaim this year and compelled The National to make Wye Oak a reoccurring part of their concert performances. It is this blend of masterful instrumentation and brutally honest poetry that will bring audiences back on their next tour to see them in a space all their own.
Setlist:
Holy Holy
Hot As Day
Dog Eyes
Civilian
That I Do
I Hope You Die
