Concert Review: Wood Brothers / Ryan Montbleau June 4, 2021

Shakori Grassroots Live

June 4, 2021

 

“It’s such a blessing to be here,” Ryan Montbleau said about halfway through his opening set on Friday night. Were truer words ever spoken? After fifteen months of livestreams and lamentations, live music is back. It is, indeed, a blessing. 

This was my first time going to Shakori and it was a perfect evening. You drive out to Pittsboro on mostly back roads. When our GPS said we’d arrived, it wasn’t immediately clear that we had–on both sides of the road were vast fields. A minute later, we saw the dirt road entrance to Shakori and saw the cars parking in one of those fields. We pulled in behind a couple of guys–maybe a father and son–drinking Natty Lights in the back of their pickup truck. It was that kind of feeling: loose, easy, no seat belts needed because you’re not going far, not going fast. 

Ryan played for a good long while–well over an hour, and it was such a treat to hear him again. I’d never really connected his sound with Martin Sexton before, but hearing his vocal range and lyrical playfulness reminded me of Martin like no one else has. The last time I saw Ryan, he had his full band, and it was great to hear him in a stripped down, guy-and-a-guitar setting. He has a fantastic rapport with the audience and used cover songs brilliantly to bridge the gap for new listeners, notably his now-famous version of “Fast Car,” and his very funny version of Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me.” Hearing songs off I Was Just Leaving, Ryan’s beautifully crafted 2017 album, was the highlight for me, especially the title track, “Bright Side,” and “Time and Again.” If you haven’t spent time with that record yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

Shakori was set up in pods for social distancing and, for the most part, people were good about the set up. Most people put on masks when they moved about, although I did hear some questioning whether or not we needed them outside at this point. My unsolicited opinion on this is that we should wear masks when we can’t give each other space–it’s just a courtesy. As a kinda big white dude myself, too many people who look like me are anti-vaxxers, so it’s not out of the question for people to assume when they see me that I consider people who follow basic science sheep. So I wear a mask, even though I’m vaccinated, just to reassure people that I am doing my part to keep them safe. OK, back to music.

I’ve seen The Wood Brothers a whole bunch of times and I’m amazed that they can make familiar songs fresh and they are able to exude such joy in music-making. Oliver Wood (guitar, vocals) said they were calling this the “Everyone’s a A Little Bit Broken tour,” in an acknowledgement of this past year. “I’m broken, Jano’s broken, my little brother Chris, man is he broken!” he said, introducing the rest of the band, Jano Rix (drums, keyboard, shitar, and vocals) and Chris Wood (bass, harmonica, vocals). “But we got fixed too!” he said, and I do wonder how musicians will approach their return after a year where all of us have had to ask ourselves what really matters. I imagine that many musicians have thought about the ways to “fix” something fundamentally broken in the industry: that the only way to make money is to spend much of your life on the road. 

But this wasn’t a night for that: it was just to celebrate being back together. The Wood Brothers played something from every record. From their newer work, the harmonies on “A Little Bit Sweet,” were absolutely perfect and “Happiness Jones,” had the whole crowd on its feet. I was so excited to hear the first riffs from songs like “Mary Anna,” and, “Atlas.” Oliver had a lot of fun with his vocal range on those songs, holding notes and going high. 

The whole set was a reminder of what it’s like to be in the physical presence of people who love something–and I mean that about the audience as well as the musicians. One of my favorite things that Oliver says periodically in concert is “Are you with us?” It’s a reminder that a concert is actually a mutual effort, not just about excellent musicianship. A staple of the Wood Brothers’ show–the one mic set up–is a telling example. As Chris, Jano, and Oliver gathered about the single microphone, Oliver reminded the audience that for it to work, everyone needs to get quiet and it kind of ruins it if folks are shushing each other. They played just two songs in this format– “Firewater,” one of my favorites to hear live, because of the gorgeous harmonies, and “Liza Jane,” which ended in a really fun call-and-response between the band and crowd. 

This was the first Wood Brothers show where I didn’t hear, “Postcards From Hell.” But that’s where the band is at this point: they can put together a set list of incredible songs from up and down their catalogue and there will inevitably be amazing songs that don’t make the list. The encore started with a song that will probably always be played and reimagined: “Luckiest Man.” In this version, Jano came back on stage first and played an introduction on the keyboards evoking a gospel organ. It’s one of those songs that I’ve heard hundreds of times but it feels fresh and new and revelatory each time I hear it. They started the song with an understated approach, but built the energy, culminating in the final chorus. The Wood Brothers have such a gift for tension-and-release and making their individual songs, as well as their sets, dynamic. The finale was “Honey Jar,” with everybody up and dancing under the stars. What a night. 

 

Check out photos from the show here!