Three indie-folk bands took the stage to a packed house at Turner Hall Ballroom Saturday night. The enthusiastic crowd was audibly pleased by the show, but the biggest reaction of the night belonged to an adorable mid-set wedding proposal. She said yes, and every single puppy and kitten-related video on YouTube suddenly got out-cuted.
Oh, and the bands were awesome too.
Dawes, a Los Angeles folk group led by vocalist and lead guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, was the first headliner to take the stage. At first, the guitars sounded timid, but after some quick sound adjustments, they began to blend beautifully with Goldsmith’s conversational lyrics on “Peace In the Valley.” The song also ended with a terrific slow-building jam session that showed off the group’s rich harmonies and climactic crescendos.
Many of Dawes’ selections Saturday night featured small jam sessions and Goldsmith’s guitar riffs. Normally, jam sessions feel like repetitive padding for when the band runs out of music. In this case, the group’s little rock tangents evolved and grew as they went along, giving the songs momentum instead of feeling stagnant.
Goldsmith and the rest of his band mates also gave the performance aspect of the show the same kind of care and attention as they gave their music. Their conversations with the crowd between numbers were short but fun, but the real personality of the band came out during the songs.
Goldsmith turned the lyrics into musical storytelling, adding extra aching heart and emotion to songs like “If I Wanted Someone.” Even “A Little Bit of Everything,” which is a subdued series of conversations on their CD, gained additional heartbreak from Goldsmith’s country-worn voice and intimate performance.
Ending their rendition of the compulsively catchy “When My Time Comes” by turning the mic to the audience was another brilliant tactic that sent the crowd into an exuberant frenzy.
Dawes also got an emotional boost from an on-stage wedding proposal. Goldsmith invited the couple on stage, the man anxious and the woman with her hands at her mouth. After some cute words, he got on one knee, a tear-worthy moment made even more adorable by Goldsmith’s ecstatic little hop.
After the two lovebirds left the stage, Goldsmith led into the next song, proclaiming “Best. Dawes show. Ever.” I doubt many in the audience would disagree.
Perhaps the only people disappointed by Dawes were Oregon-based Blitzen Trapper, who had the unenviable task of taking the stage afterward. Despite the dual headliner peg of the tour, Blitzen Trapper seemed to be at the wrong show.
While the two previous acts performed folk music with a touch of country flavor, the Portland natives lean far more towards alternative rock. As a result, their rock-tinged set lacked the layered richness of Dawes’s selections.
It didn’t help matters that by the time Blitzen Trapper began playing, over three hours had passed since the doors opened at 8 p.m. By that time, most of the crowd’s energy had seemingly exhausted. Even the applause sounded merely polite.
The openers of the long night were The Belle Brigade, a brother/sister-led band that started the night off with a pleasant kick. The band will surely become more famous due to their appearance on the “Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1” soundtrack, but they deserve to be known more for their high energy and cute family stage dynamic.
Barbara Gruska doesn’t look like your typical folk singer with her poofy curled hair and toothy grin, but the spunky guitarist/singer can rock with the best, bouncing across the stage and dropping on her knees for her guitar solos.
She, as well as the rest of The Belle Brigade, provided a nice bolt of energy to start the night, which Dawes built nicely upon. It’s unfortunate Blitzen Trapper couldn’t keep up the energy. Maybe they could’ve used a marriage proposal.