It’s an inevitable truth that being a part of the audience at a show for The Builders and The Butchers means being as much a part of the performance as the band itself. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Ryan Sollee reminded everyone of this with a vengeance on Thursday night, as the Portland darlings held a CD release party at the Wonder Ballroom to kick off their first headlining summer tour.
Midway through “Bottom of the Lake,” Sollee decided the crowd was simply not doing their part, and so he knelt down, grabbed one of the many self-made instruments scattered at the front of the stage and began to furiously shake it to the tune of the music. Within seconds, the audience remembered their roles and began reaching for tambourines and pot lids and whatever else they could find to contribute their own bit of musical madness to the carnival The Builders and The Butchers were creating, once again.
Chosen by a local publication as Portland’s “Best New Band in 2008,” The Builders and The Butchers have continued to build their fan base by turning each and every performance into a hand-clappin’, devil-shoutin’, hoot-and-hollerin’ good time. Singing of murder and blood and many a sinister subject, the group relishes the positive response they get from their crowds. “It’s great to see people dancing along to such dark things,” mandolin/banjo player Harvey Tumbelson says, with a haunted laugh.
That darkness in the band’s material was first inspired by the members’ sunlight-depraved history in Alaska, where they all lived before separately relocating to Portland. And their experience in rainy-day Oregon hasn’t exactly injected any cheeriness into The Builders and The Butchers’ catalog. “Stylistically, I never wrote anything in Alaska like I’ve been inspired to write here,” Sollee says.
Getting their start at small venues throughout the city, the band has begun to test waters the size of an ocean with recent appearances at the Sasquatch! Music Festival and an upcoming tour stop at Lollapalooza. Will these larger crowds affect the way the band shines?
“At a festival, people in the crowd are just small specks to us,” bassist Alex Ellis says. “That’s why we prefer smaller clubs, because we can tell if people are into it or not. There’s nothing like connecting with an audience by unplugging and getting down on the floor with them.”
The band stopped just short of doing such a thing at this Wonder Ballroom performance, but the connection with their fans was more evident than ever. Brimming with enthusiasm throughout the show, the crowd seemed eager to send their beloved band out on the road with a reminder they’d be ready to pick up the revival where they left off, once The Builders and The Butchers returned home.
The band gratified their fans with the songs they know by heart, then captivated them with less tried and true tunes from their newest release Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well, produced by The Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk. Clapalongs and singalongs were abundant through the night, and at the beginning of “In the Branches,” when Sollee asked the fans to hum until he said ‘stop,’ they obeyed, no questions asked.
And in the show’s closer, as Sollee bellowed the lyrics “Your love is so much sweeter when it rains,” the shimmying and shaking reached a frenzied high—both the band and the crowd seemed to encourage the roof of the venue to tear away, inviting some of Portland’s precipitation to bathe and baptize them.
Returning for an encore after a mere 45 seconds off the stage, all of the band was grinning from ear-to-ear—euphoric, as always, from the joy their performance had brought them and their fans. Sollee grabbed the mic and thanked the group, swearing other crowds would have to bleed to be as good as Portland’s. With the ability this band has at congregating an audience together, blood may, indeed, be shed on the tour. But that’s what every good show by The Builders and The Butchers is all about.
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Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
Hello to Steve and Nicci - thanks for the cards guys, great photos Steve - and Great writing Nicci -
I had such a fantastic time at this show, and you bring it back in my head through your writing beautifully. I’m sad to see my buddy Paul leaving the band, but what can ya’ do?
Anyway - Did you get any shots of the last song when he grabbed several of us and brought us on stage?
Hit me up if so… that would be kind of fun to add to my collection - if it’s ok with you of course, Steve.