(((folkYeah!))) Presents brought Vetiver to Moe’s Alley on Wednesday, November 6th in Santa Cruz, California. The Moe’s show was an early tour stop as the band wends its way through a string of dates in the Western United States and then begin a large European tour that will take them well into the new year. The band is touring in support of the fantastic new record, Up on High. The album, compared to past offerings, is a beautifully stripped back and simple collection of songs that focuses more on lyrics and the song and less on slick production.
The show in Santa Cruz was scaled back, the band played as a four-piece and revisited some old favorites as well as new material from the latest record. Aside from the fantastic and near-perfect playing from the band was the unwavering attention given them from the audience. At times the room (which was impressively full considering this was a school night) was so quiet, whispers from the band in between songs could be heard in the crowd. At one point someone gently whispered, “why are we so quiet?” which garnered some laughs. But we all knew why we were so quiet; we were there to listen to a band that tours not nearly enough.
Andy Cabic’s lyrics are stunners. They are thought-provoking and matched with an incredible level of musicianship. The focus of the performance was Cabic’s words and people came to not only hear but really focus in on them. The show opened with a contemplative “The Living End”. This opening track from Up on High set the tone for the night. Here was a new song, deep and inviting, coloring the room with thought and intention. It was an invocation of sorts and the reason most in attendance that night had made the trek to see this band.
Highlights of the night had to have been the lively and driving rendition of “Swaying” from the new album, a deftly and delicately played “Rolling Sea” that left the room damn near breathless as well as a bouncing “Current Carry”. If there was a spacey jam of the night it would have to have been the mid-set “Strictly Rule” that evoked the mystery of love with the opening line, “Ooh you make me but I can’t see how or why.” This is the essence of Cabic’s writing, giving voice to the confusion that is new love and being moved by a muse in spite of ourselves, And where that song elicited a kind of stoney feeling, these were not jammy versions of the album cuts. The songs were tight and played faithfully to their recorded counterparts. “Wanted, Never Asked” was a perfect example of this and left the crowd swaying in contentment.
These shows are not barn-burning romps through the band’s material. If you go to one of these shows, know that you’re going to witness the beauty of artistic creation and the rendering of songs that have become, to many of us, reminders of past moments in our lives and some memories yet to be made with their sounds ringing in our ears. Vetiver, as a band, is an ever-changing cast of players save Cabic who oozes sentimentality and can phrase feelings in a manner that should put him among some of the greatest songwriters of our time. If you have a chance to go, GO. Listen carefully and embrace your opportunity to see and hear something that will most certainly move you.
