When many of the night's stars, including Feist, Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver, and My Brightest Diamond, got together for a generally lame version of "This Land Is Your Land" at the end of the show, it seemed to highlight everything stiflingly safe about the project. Then Sharon Jones-- who wrapped up the gig's tightest, loosest set minutes earlier-- came out from the wings looking mighty skeptical. "I don't want to burst your bubble...," she joked, poking fun at the acoustic jam session. And then the 53-year-old singer and her band the Dap-Kings went in on their funked-out "This Land" while the DWTN all-stars bobbed awkwardly on the side of the stage. It was a genuinely funny and self-aware switcheroo that made the rest of the show's pleasantness go down a lot easier. Because one person's quilted hammock afternoon is another's misty-eyed introspection. Because musical refinement need not be toothless mush. The three-hour revue was broken into two halves. Part one-- with Dirty Projectors, the National, David Byrne, and others-- was fun; part two-- with Bon Iver, Feist, and Sharon Jones-- was more than fun. Dirty Projectors are not quite ready for Radio City Music Hall; at times, the venue engulfed their queer funk. And when David Byrne joined them for two songs, the chasm between Projector frontman Dave Longstreth's off-putting inelegance and Byrne's affable quirk became starkly clear. DWTN highlight "Knotty Pine" easily rose above the rest of their opening four-song stint. My Brightest Diamond mastermind Shara Worden demonstrated one of the night's main themes-- the wonders of the human voice-- with her one-song showcase. Her take on Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" came through with startling range and soul, once again proving that she's just a few great songs away from indie royalty. I give all the credit in the world to the National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner, who put together the DWTN album and concert...but I still wish their band was more engaging live. Singer Matt Berninger clutched the mic like an Ian Curtis-in-training, but his deep thoughts lumbered; guest appearances from Bon Iver and My Brightest Diamond were welcomed. TV on the Radio guitarist-producer Dave Sitek took center stage for his DWTN cover of the Troggs' "With a Girl Like You", backed by a 15-strong horn 'n' handclap choir. Sitek's scratched-out vocals contrasted the night's generally heaven-bound pipes well, and his smart suit easily won him Best Dressed Male honors (it's all about the pocket square, folks). Overarching legend David Byrne finished the first set with three tunes from his previous Red Hot contributions. All three had grooves, drums, and Byrne showing everyone else how to dance without embarrassment. Byrne works somewhere between seasoned and beatific nowadays, and the casual vibe suits him. He sounded completely free and comfortable, and his amiability rubbed off on Bon Iver and Feist, who joined him on two different songs. Elder statesmen do not get much better than this. David Byrne has maintained a near-unprecedented level of credibility for more than 30 years. And, based on last night, the two artists who followed him seemed like the best candidates to attempt a similar track record. Bon Iver's Justin Vernon is still a young songwriter with about one and a half album's worth of songs to his name, but one gets the impression he could stick around for a while. His band's four songs were impeccable, with flowing harmonies to spare, but the band members' generousness-- they lent vocals to nearly every performer throughout the night-- was equally admirable. Simple fact: Any song sounds better with Bon Iver singing backups. Vernon even showed off some of his inner Crazy Horse with a couple ragged guitar solos. This guy is ready for more. One of the show's ancillary highlights was a series of old Red Hot videos (DWTN is the AIDS organization's 20th comp) shown between sets. There was the hilarious Iggy Pop-Debbie Harry duet for "Well, Did You Evah?" from 1990's Red Hot + Blue, and an equally amazing mini-documentary with Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, and Kathleen Hanna showing the crowd what a 1990s alternative girl used to look and sound like. And then there was Feist, a potential poster girl for all things girly, boppy, and un-Bikini Kill-y. But (former punk) Leslie Feist is smart. Directly following the Kim Gordon montage, she took the stage by herself and came through with the most badass set of the night. Not badass in the self-mutilating Iggy sense or the sear-your-ears Sonic Youth variety-- she still played tasteful guitar and sang beautifully enough to seduce your grandmother. But badass in the sense that she didn't do "1234"...or any of her own solo songs, for that matter. She winged it with a bluesy Bob Dylan cover that would please Jack White, a take on bluegrass vet Tim O'Brien's obscure "Wagoner's Lad", and, best of all, a version of California folkie Little Wings' "Look at What the Light Did Now" that she apparently "heard last week" and liked. Only getting some accompaniment from Bon Iver for the Vashti Bunyan cover "Train Song", Feist's no-nonsense, one-woman-with-a-guitar austerity was striking. She killed without thrashing. Finally, Sharon Jones and her Dap-Kings strutted out, providing a necessary complement to the rest of the night's sit-down pleasantries. There was sex, dancing, funk, James Brown. No pretty harmonies here, thank you very much. After watching Jones deliver in a way nobody else could, it would be easy to dismiss the rest of the show as poor-me amateur hour. But that would be a bit shortsighted. Without Jones and the "This Land" routine, the DWTN concert still would have been a success. With her, it turned into a joyful spectacle that trumped its impressive recorded counterpart in every way. |
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The recent two-disc indie-rama comp from