There was snow on the summit of Highway 17 as the mercury dropped from a fairly balmy California Spring day and threw the central coast back into Winter. Inside the warm and brightly lit Rio Theater in Santa Cruz on March 5th , staff scurried to wrap up last minute details. It was a Sunday show and those who braved both the cold and going out on a school night were about to be rewarded for the effort.
First up was Shook Twins this night comprised of twin sisters Laurie and Katelyn Shook and bandmate Niko Slice. The girls, visibly excited, took the stage with beaming smiles. The trio’s sound immediately brought to mind Jeff Sussman era ThaMuseMeant (which, if you know that band, you know that this is high praise because that band was exceptional). Shook Twins had recorded two records in Santa Cruz, knew the town and had aspired to play the Rio Stage. So this first appearance felt good and they told us so. And they were opening for “The frickin’ Wood Brothers” (their words) and that was exciting in and of itself. Shook Twins spun the audience through waves of spot on harmonies, layers of effects, loops, and just some really solid song crafting. Loop pedals and effects machines can be downright cliche now but there was something different here. They used these effects to affect, created deep grooves interwoven with their crystalline harmonies that created something really fresh and good. The music was doled out with smiles, laughter, and care. The Santa Cruz crowd ate it up, “you guys are rad!” shouted one, “I kinda love you” shouted another. “Windows” was the final tune of the set and it was a well chosen experimental journey that invoked 60’s acid and its aid to see through a time travel window into the 60’s to eat more of that acid and meet some cool people. This was drippy psychedelia and it fit this Portland band’s roots. Shook Twins left the stage in a swirl of sound and smiles.
You know it is going to be a good night when the opener gives you pause to stop and pay attention. After a pretty involved stage change, the lean and lanky Oliver Wood came up the stage steps followed by his brother Chris Wood and bandmate Jano Rix. The Wood Brothers, after a couple years, were back in Santa Cruz and it felt good. The crowd was effusive and the band was smiling. A slow and reverent verse of Bob Marley’s “Stop That Train” was the invocation for the night and this eased the crowd into the first Wood Brother’s song, “Two Places.” The thing about The Wood Brothers and this is important, is that their songwriting reflects the reality of their lives and “Two Places” is representative of that. Here are family men who really love their wives and kids, torn by the call of the road and the elemental pull to get out there and perform but spend day after day on the road away from the people they love. Every touring musician does this, of course, but for some reason, it is all the more apparent with The Wood Brothers.
Their lyrics can be so good that the listener might forget to breathe for a second as in “Keep Me Around” in which the depressed main character continually shows the person he loves his grey side but is constantly reminded and graced by her light:
Sad and lonely, they go and come
You think you don’t need ‘em
But you gotta have some
Try asking the dark where the light comes from
That is a golden lyric! But the secret is that every word is rooted in the truth of everyday personal experience while holding up the beauty of what that truth can reveal.
Those tunes fell early in the setlist with fans yipping approval when a lyric rang particularly true. “Smoke Ring Halo” found a real sweet spot early in the set, too, following a sing-along version of “Loaded” in which more than a few beer cans swayed to the lazy lope of the chorus. The music is not all heady, thought-provoking lyrics, actually, wait, yes it is but there are tunes in which the rock takes center stage as in “Snake Eyes” for which Oliver slipped a glass slide on on his finger and lit that place up. Chris’s thumping bass found perfection with Jano’s drum work and the groove built and built until Chris clearly could not hold back and began dancing all over the stage, wiggling here and there and pushing Oliver’s slide work up and up until the notes soared from the stage. “American Heartache” followed and was dedicated to this fucked up time and headspace in which we find our nation. The notes were heavy and purposeful in contrast to the celebratory “Snake Eyes” and gave way to a pensive and more surreal soundscape that hinted at our daily national confusion. The lyrics described a society bent on instant gratification but gripped in passivity – lost and adrift:
The bridge of the tune brought the frustration as Oliver’s guitar growled out lines so palpable that you could feel the anger. Chris, head down and focused, moved up and down the neck of his bass with purpose while Jano pounded skins. And can we talk about the man’s kit for a minute? It looks like the whole thing was assembled in his basement or workshop (which it probably was) and is mostly comprised of handmade instruments that he puts together from stuff he finds lying around in the damn house. Junky it may appear but honest it is and he can play the hell out of that thing.
Half-way through the set, all microphones, save one, were muted and the band huddled around the single mic joined by the Shook Twins. It was a portion of the show, Chris said, that they like to call “Oh, Wood Brother Where Art Thou?” Then together with Laurie, Katelyn and Nico, they played “Up Above My Head” and it was glorious. Smart phones were conspicuously absent in the crowd and no one intruded on the vibe. It was old-timey and time travel in its own right. This was a really great way to break up a set.
A funky version of “One More Day” found its place in first part of the second half of the set and again inspired Chris Wood to dance all over the stage (and eventually off of it) as Jano took over with a drums and organ break that kept the audience moving, arms held high and smiles all around. The drums and organ break found its way back into the “One More Day” finish and then they started one of the most touching tunes in their canon. “The Muse” might be one of the prettiest love songs penned in contemporary music.
As I sit on the edge of this never made bed
Old guitar in my lap a new tune in my head
There she stands in the doorway just brushing her hair
My beautiful muse in her underwear
And there again is that truth – that simple everyday experience that viewed through the lens of a songwriter can suddenly be the lyrics of a song that probably all of us wish we could sing. The set was fluid and moved freely, the band cherry-picking tunes from its entire catalogue and contrasting new sounds with old. Toward the end of the set came the one shouted request from an otherwise respectful Sunday audience, “Luckiest Man!” and the request was met with cheers. And that set up the encore.
When the band came back to the stage to shouts and cheers, it was just Jano who sat down behind his kit but instead of picking up sticks turned to his keyboard and began an extended introduction that dripped with reverb. As he played Oliver and Chris came back up and took up their instruments and Oliver strummed out the opening notes of what now has become an anthem among the band’s fans. It was both touching and gratifying when Oliver simply pointed to the crowd and said, “I don’t need to sing this, you do it” and the band laid back for the crowd to take the reigns. It has to feel good to a band when one of their songs takes the form of a sing-along. It was a beautiful way to end a really special night but the band was not finished. With a dedication to Levon Helm, the band punched into a rousing version of “Ophelia” that got the dance floor moving one more time. As the final note diminished and the cheers overtook the music, smiles beamed out from the crowd with shouts of “Thank you!”
