I know, I know. I said I was going to get the hang of the photo thing. I actually brought my camera to see the Welcome Wagon at Southpaw last night. Unfortunately, I left the memory card in my computer. A rookie mistake. It won’t happen again. Hopefully, this iphone photo will suffice.
It’s a shame I wasn’t able to take pictures, either, because the show was very good. For the unfamiliar, The Welcome Wagon is the project of Presbyterian minister Vito Aiuto and Monique (they’re married). Their debut album Welcome to the Welcome Wagon was heavily produced by Sufjan Stevens for his record label, Asthmatic Kitty. The music last night was definitely more stripped down than on the album- no drums, no Sufjan production value. It still sounded like something Sufjan would want for his label, but it didn’t sound so much LIKE Mr. Stevens. There was a keyboard player, an electric guitar, a stand-up bass, and two back-up vocalists in addition to the Reverend Vito and the shy, earnest Monique. This quieter, calmer side to the band was a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it was great to hear them in a pure form. Vito and Monique stood at the front of the stage and lovingly sang to each other over music stands. They were so gracious to the audience it was difficult not to fall a little bit in love with them. At one point, they explained that they like to bring gifts for the audience, and that tonight they wanted to give their gift to a person who got short-changed in grade school. They ended up giving a poppyseed streudel to someone with the last name Zuckerman. Adorable!
On the other hand, there were fewer big, exciting moments in the songs than I thought there would be. While all of the songs are well-written and incredibly interesting, most of them simply floated along, jut like Monique’s voice pleasantly fits in over Vito’s. It was interesting, when they added elements from more traditional church and spiritual music, the songs were stronger. Occaisonally the keyboards would play organ sounds, and when the band had the audience clap and stomp on their last song, it produced a surge of uplifting music- the sort of moment that the concertgoing experience is all about. I wonder if the band isn’t a little bit afraid to be labeled as a religious indie band? I would use that to my advantage and let these traditional influences shine out a bit more.
Overall, I’d say the Welcome Wagon is deserving of all the praise they’ve recently received. There’s an mp3 below for you to check out.
