Low + Carter Tanton - Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA; Sept. 24, 2008)

“This is a pretty funky joint,” deadpanned Alan Sparhawk during Low’s Wednesday evening show at the Museum of Fine Arts. As the MFA continues to bring indie artists to its Remis Auditorium, more and more Boston music enthusiasts are appreciating the oddly satisfying experience of a small, sit down venue with stripped down stage and crystal clear sound. At worst, the venue feels academic (as Sparhawk later said, “I feel like I should save time for Q&A”). But at best, the listener can solely focus on the music without the usual concert distractions of bar clamor, poor sightlines and muddled sound. Indeed, the stark room and the hushed audience offered a fitting setting for Low’s so-called slow-core and post-rock ponderings.

Low’s songs contemplate the ordinary and the sublime with somber reserve; yet at the same time, they harbor latent, volatile emotion. Though you may get lost in the music, you’re never put at ease. The same could be said about Sparhawk. A veteran of the stage, Sparkhawk performs with incredible ease and skill, but his range of intense emotion is at times unsettling. Even during welcomed lighthearted moments, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or show concern. When Sparhawk wished a friend in the audience a happy birthday, he added, “Thirty-two’s a bad year. You go crazy. It’s when you’re supposed to be crucified. That’s why Jesus died at thirty-three.” - which might have been (sort of) amusing had Sparhawk not been referencing his own mental breakdown a few years ago. Likewise, a new Christmas song started off innocently (“Tapping on the rooftop…”), but quickly turned menacing as Sparhawk yelled “Santa Claus is coming!” The words were not so much a gleeful declaration as they were a command to get the hell out of the house.

Though a prolific band, Low focused their set on their last two albums, far more rock influenced than their preceding slow, sometimes ambient pieces. Noticeably absent were songs from 2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire, which perfected their rich, somber sound during a time when nothing else quite matched its uniqueness.

Like many post-rock shows, there was an ineffable, transcendent moment that grips the listener with inexplicable emotion. For me, that moment came during their set ending “Shots and Ladders,” a song with simple lyrics and building, unrelenting layered guitar and bass that made tears well up in my eyes throughout the song.

Opening for Low was local, Carter Tanton, who usually performs with three-piece Tulsa. Playing acoustic bluegrass classics like the Carter Family’s “Are You Tired of Me, My Darling” and the Louvin Brothers’ “The Christian Life,” Tanton offered a lovely emotional warm-up to Low’s set. Of the few Tulsa songs he performed solo, “Mass” stood out as evidence to Tanton’s impressive songwriting. Tanton’s passionate and touching vocal performance rivals that of Robin Pecknold of the Fleet Foxes and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Tulsa’s definitely a band to watch.

LOW’S SETLIST:
1. Pretty People - Drums and Guns
2. Breaker - Drums and Guns
3. Always Fade - Drums and Guns
4. Candy Girl- Trust
5. Walk Into the Sea - The Great Destroyer
6. Hatchet - Drums and Guns
7. Santa’s Coming Over - New! Imagines a less than amicable Santa
8. My Heart is For Free (presumed title) - New? Includes the lyric “A heart that won’t burst and the lips that don’t thirst”
9. California - The Great Destroyer
10. On the Edge Of - The Great Destroyer
11. Shots and Ladders - Trust

ENCORE
1. Shame - Long Division (request from Low’s birthday celebrating friend)
2. When I Go Deaf - The Great Destroyer (crowd request)

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