Words and Photos: Ethan Vara

Kurt Vile has always sounded like an anachronism to me. Although I can’t quite place his musical styling to a specific decade, stomach he has always seemed like an old soul unadulterated by the modern world, link making the exact type of music he wants to; music which can range from folk, to blues, to lo-fi, but more often than not stays planted as straight up rock and roll.

Walking up to the Pearl St. Ballroom in Northampton on the evening of February 18th (which coincidentally is National Drink Wine Day), the old street lamps projected a warm yellowy glow throughout the tree lined street. The venue itself was an old brick building tucked away on the corner of a stone walled street cove next to a 19th century train station; across from which lay a chromed out, logo-less tour bus.

Next to the bus was an old brick warehouse with the name of a camping company emblazoned across the front of it, in a hand painted font that looked like it was straight off of the Steve Powers designed cover for Vile’s  2013 release, Wakin on a Pretty Daze. I joined the line that had already begun to form outside, eager to see Vile live for the first time. Looking around at the scenery, I thought to myself that this whole setting seemed like it was stuck in time, and was quite a Vile-esque atmosphere if there ever was one.

Inside, the venue itself was pretty bare bones; with an open floor, low stage, and big, Victorian looking balcony windows sealed in plastic wrap to keep out the western Massachusetts winter. The opener, Xylouris White came out of the gate with an impressive set dripping with world class musicianship. The duo is comprised of two bonafide and accomplished virtuosos in their respective fields; Australian Jim White (drums), and George Xylouris (lute) from the Greek island of Crete. White’s unique, punk-ish offbeat jazz style and Xylouris’ expressive and fast paced lute playing would build throughout each song and erupt in a precise, improvised outpour of musical conversation.

After a brief intermission, Kurt Vile sauntered on stage with hair down past his shoulders holding a bottle of wine. He acknowledged the crowd with a nod of his head and a tip of his bottle as he walked across the stage, placing it down next to his pedal board, only to pick it up and relocate it to a safer spot behind an amp upon further assessment. To open the set, the Violators jumped right into the slinky, organ laden riff of “Dust Bunnies” from Vile’s latest release, b’lieve i’m goin down.

The band performed like a well oiled machine from the onset of the show, settling the crowd and themselves right into the reverbed out groove that could only be described as “D-Lux” by the sharpie written words on the neon gaff tape upon one of Vile’s foot pedals.

The Violators cruised through a few more of their new songs, including their now Jeopardy famous single “Pretty Pimpin”, and the steady, galloping guitar picked jam “Wheelhouse”. The first few songs of the set sounded musically tight, but I thought the overall mix of the band was slightly off – maybe the vocals needed a tad more reverb.

The band, the mix, and the audience seemed to fully gel soon after, and the songs began to get more loose and drawn out. You could see the band start to stretch their legs, and “Wakin on a Pretty Day” introduced the Violators’ first long drawn out jam; segueing from floaty, airy rhythms to hard hitting solos with a heavy emphasis on fuzz and wah coming from the syrupy tones of Vile’s acoustic guitar.

After a few solo acoustic songs from Vile, he was rejoined on stage by his band and surprise guest, indie rock legend (and Amherst native), J Mascis. The Violators dug deeper into their catalog, with Mascis delivering some of his soloing expertise to the heaviest hitting songs of the night, “Hunchback” and “Freak Train” off of Vile’s 2009 release, Childish Prodigy.

The show closed with a delicate, ethereal performance of “Baby’s Arms” by the Violators, with the crowd singing along to Vile’s every word. As the band began to file off backstage, Kurt headed towards the amp where he had stored his wine at the beginning of the show. He picked it up, raised it to the crowd (to much applause), and left.
I came into this show with high expectations, and Vile and the Violators certainly met them. In the hands of such deft and well seasoned musicians, each song was injected with a dash of improvisation, and a warm, encompassing D-lux vibe that left me reeling for more.