Quiet Color

by alyssa coluccio

Sitting in Town Hall on Wednesday night, you never would have known that, beyond it’s glass doors, taxis were whirling past and the lights of Time Square were shining bright.  In fact, there were several points during the night when I actually believed I was sitting on the front porch of an old southern farmhouse, sipping lemonade as the sun went down, and listening to the locals strumming their guitars and plucking their banjos- except the locals were Ben Kweller and his band, and they were not singing your standard version of “Home On The Range.”

Artist: Ben Kweller Song: Gypsy Rose

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For the New York performance of his Changing Horses Tour, Kweller, along with openers Jones Street Station and The Watson Twins, treated the audience to a night that fused the sounds of country, folk, pop, and blues with a huge dose of southern charm and an even greater amount of good energy.

Jones Street Station were the first to take the stage, bringing with them what looked to be the contents of an entire small music store- drums, bass, keyboards, banjos, harmonicas, accordions, ukuleles, acoustics, etc.- and delivering a solid set that alternated between high-energy country and sweet, slow folk ballads.  Highlights included a banjo-laden tribute to country roads and the beautiful acoustic-folk ballad “Tall Buildings;” featuring unique harmonies and a slow, sad harmonica.

Artist: Ben Kweller Song: Sawdust Man

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The Watson Twins began their set as the last few stragglers filtered into the theatre and took their seats.  In contrast to Jones’s root-rock, the Watson Twins offered sweet and sultry folk, showcasing their impeccable harmonies in a cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and later, bringing the energy back with the upbeat fan-favorite, “How Am I To Be.”

After a set change that seemed far too long for the sparse amount of instruments that littered the stage ahead, Ben Kweller finally took the stage.  Without wasting any time, Kweller jumped right into “Walk On Me,” uniting the audience in familiar song and tearing up the stage with infectious energy.  Things only got better from there as he ran through an awesome version of “Run,” before starting in on material from his newly released CD, Changing Horses.  From the slower, sunshine-filled “On Her Own,” to the Dylan-esque “Wantin’ Her Again,” every song radiated personality.  “Gypsy Rose” caused the audience to erupt into song, while his solo piano performance of “On My Way” elicited a unity between audience and performer- both alive in the music and the dim of the red lights.  “Falling” was even better live than I could have imagined, and both “Hurtin’ You” and “Homeward Bound” truly shined with the addition of the Watson Twins’ back up vocals.  A few other songs rounded out the set before Kweller presented an alternate version of “Sundress”- throwing the audience by slowing down the first two choruses before exploding 1001% into the ending chorus.  An encore performance that included crazy audience members rushing the stage, a surprise guest appearance by the cutest dancing baby in the world, and the most perfect version of “Penny On The Train Track” ever to exist, topped off the night.

Leaving the theatre and stepping back into the city, I couldn’t help but smile- the high of Kweller’s show had transformed the blinking lights of Manhattan apartments into a sky filled with stars, and the bus fumes too, into sweet, country air.