Despite the fact that the major crowd surge happened right before Maps & Atlases came on stage at the Bowery Ballroom last Monday night, Delicate Steve stole the night away with an impressive set that only further proved that the talent he displays on his album Wondervisions is definitely a release to pay attention to.
That night opened with a noisy but energetic set from Chicago’s Gypsy Blood, a band formed two years ago who are now touring in support of their first album, Cold In The Guestway. Though the studio album is worth listening to on its own, their live performance tended towards being a little too messy, especially since the Bowery Ballroom’s small venue space isn’t very forgiving when it comes to the whole wall-of-sound style. At any rate, though, the level of enthusiasm that they imparted into their performance was enough to keep the audiences’ ears perked for what came next.
The excitement jumped up to tangible levels though when Delicate Steve finally came on with a full band backing him (including a guitarist who looked curiously like his twin). With a few twists of the disco ball hanging above the stage, Delicate Steve put on a near-perfectly arranged show that opened gently with the same intro played on his album that powerfully segued into a much stronger jam that perfectly elevated the mood of the audience. When the lights lowered down into a blue-green haze punctuated by white blobs on the wall created by the disco ball, an audience member yelled out "I feel like I'm underwater!" which prompted Delicate Steve to agree before gently (delicately?) dropping into an exquisite, slightly slowed down and, quite honestly, aquatic-sounding rendition of one of the strongest songs on his album, "Proud Elephants." Delicate Steve and his band followed up the enchantment that they summoned up by next charging through the rest of the set with technical care and happy abandon, with the end result being a perfectly polished finish that almost made the live show seem as well-constructed as the studio album.
Though Delicate Steve definitely stole the night, a lot of the crowd had come there specifically to see Maps & Atlases, a band that has good talent as well as a pretty amicable stage presence. They had a lot of the young people in the crowd singing along with them (always a nice thing) and appeared to be having quite a bit of fun with a whole lot of ease. Lead singer Dave Davison’s vocals during the night were perhaps the most impressive aspect of the performance; even during the moments when a little bit of boredom set in from the relative sameness of some of their songs, his voice maintained a constantly interesting quality to it, with just the right balance of smooth control and raspy growls that hit just right throughout each song. It has this likably familiar aspect to it that was best highlighted during the encore when the band covered an Elvis Costello song in the middle of their own other songs. Davison, with his lovably nerdy glasses, cool but compassionate stage persona, fluffy tousled hair, and (most significantly) Costello-like voice almost appeared to be some indie incarnate of the older musician himself up there on the stage, proving that imitation or influence is not always a bad thing but rather something to be admired when done so skillfully.
While all of the bands at Bowery Ballroom that night balanced each other out with their different styles, attitudes and, of course, sounds, it was ultimately Delicate Steve who proved to be someone to watch out for the in the future. It is in his rare capability to create an album that is intensely enjoyable while also doing a live show that is at once faithful to the spirit of that album and markedly different from its source that Delicate Steve will find success in his career. After all, who could resist an artist who manages to stay true to his own musical style while also being able to play with and tweak it a bit live?
