A Night With Dar Williams

Dar Williams earned her ticket fees last night. I just wish I could say the same of her opening act. I’d have probably been happier if I hadn’t rushed to get to the concert after work, but instead waited until the group who opened had done their thing.

The opening act was some group called “The Ben Taylor Band.” To be honest, they struck me as a bunch of overage Backstreet Boys, and ones who hadn’t aged particularly gracefully at that. The best thing they did was a cover of “Night People,” so that should give you a clue as to how deep most of their lyrics were. To be honest, the lead singer (Ben Taylor, of course) did have a sweet voice when he wasn’t trying to be funky punky, and he sang a duet with Dar would have actually been quite nice if he hadn’t forgotten the words. (In his defense, he’d only just learned the song the night before, so I suppose I have to make some allowances there.)

And yes, MRG, Dar did do “After All”. She did a good mix of songs from her new album and previous albums. The performances weren’t merely replays of the album versions, but took full advantage of the live setting. Except for “Iowa” (a song I strongly dislke, finding it too long and repetitive) I was enthralled during the entire show, and found it ending far too soon. Following (in no particular order) is the unofficial, probably incomplete playlist:

Spring Street

And a God Descended

After All

As Cool As I Am

Iowa (Traveling III)

The Christians and the Pagans

Road Buddy

Farewell to the Old Me

I Saw A Bird Fly Away

The Beauty of the Rain

The World’s Not Falling Apart

Fishing in the Morning

Wishering Pines

I Have Lost my Dreams

Mercy of the Fallen

When I Was A Boy

Dar did two encores, the second as a solo singing “When I Was A Boy”. By the end of that final song you could tell her energy (and voice) were starting to flag. She was still getting ready to head out to the lobby and sign CD’s though. It made me tired just watching her!

I have to mention one of the members of Dar’s back-up band, percussionist Carol Steele. Name any stereotype of an alternative rock band member, and Carol Steele breaks it. If you passed her in the grocery store you probably wouldn’t give a second glance at this middle-aged, matronly woman who wouldn’t look out of place in a 50’s family show. But put this woman behind a set of bongo drums and look out! We are talking some very wicked rythms here, paired with energy that would make the Energizer Bunny look like a bannana slug. The Socialist was actually quite impressed by her (at least, I think he was), and told me later he’d been watching her play for most of the evening.

I’m now suffering the expected sleep deprivation from getting in late and getting up early. It’s worth every second of the misery though.