by eliza czander
After a couple of days of great acts passing through our beloved city, Sunday night was a fantastic cap to this past weekend. The Wooden Birds and Great Lake Swimmers played the Bowery Ballroom and lord was it lovely. The Wooden Birds hit the stage first and front man Andrew Kenny instantly captured the crowd with his gorgeous songwriting and mellifluous vocals. I hadn’t even realized that one of my favorite artists, Matt Pond, was the guitarist for the Birds. Extra points! Playing pretty much every song off of their debut album Magnolia, it was clear that this a band that should have some staying power. “False Alarm” is one of those songs that can bring you to your knees, even while your standing in a concert hall with a hundred people around you. The mood in the ballroom was so incredibly peaceful, and created the perfect atmosphere for Great Lake Swimmers to fall in to.
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Promoting their fourth album, Lost Channels, GLS proved that beautiful and melancholic ambient folk rock will always have a place in this world. It doesn’t stray far from the three albums prior, but Lost Channels features more vocal harmonies and texture, and subtle nuances that one can only discover after a few listens. Needless to say, to see them live was a very special thing. Tony Dekker’s voice is truly otherworldly, and when he squeezed his eyes shut, and let his fingers fall from the strings of his guitar, the words he was singing warmed the entire room as people swayed and watched in awe. We were all transported to snowy hillsides and castles in the woods; the kind of places where GLS records their music. Obviously the set was heavy with tunes from the new album, which was fine by me since the album is no doubt a freaking work of art, but they also played some songs I recognized from Bodies and Minds, specifically the beautiful “Imaginary Sky,” which I feel like I’ll play for my children some day. It has that whimsical, pure appeal to it.
Tony played a couple of acoustic songs solo toward the end of the set, and during “Stealing Tomorrow” I’m pretty sure I saw a tear roll down the cheek of a girl in front of me. Not often do you see someone so affected at midnight on Delancey Street. It was a performance that was as sincere as it was stunning and it gave me hope. I’m thankful for bands like this, so for anyone out there that loves Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, make sure you give both The Wooden Birds and Great Lake Swimmers a fair shot. You’ll thank me for it.
