(Photo credit: Justin Philpott)
Who is Kurt Vile? I’ve been a fan of his music for a several years now, but his persona preserves some kind of mystical ambiguity in my head. The videos I’ve watched on YouTube and interviews I’ve read paint an incomplete picture of the singer/songwriter. Here is this reserved, lurchy, and awkward fella with outrageously long, curly hair—you instinctively want to write him off because there is no way he can offer you anything of value. However, his music is insightful, honest and hard-hitting. And he can play one hell of a guitar. I was extremely excited to see Kurt Vile live in concert. I believed it would put my mind at ease. What better window into a man’s soul than to watch him rock out on stage for 90 minutes?
Kurt Vile along with his backing band, the aptly named Violators, stopped into Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre on October 25th. I wonder if this name presents a challenge when crossing the border? The concert coincided with the one-month anniversary with his latest album release, b’lieve i’m goin down… on Matador Records. Yes, this is the correct spelling and punctuation. And no, it is not a hip-hop album.
The band opened with “Dust Bunnies,” the third track from new album. In the songs opening line, Vile sings “You may think that it is funny now / that I got a headache like a shop vac coughing dust bunnies.” As odd as that lyric might be, you know just how awful that headache is. It is ineloquent eloquence; something Vile is all too good at.
Before the show, I would have guessed Vile to be more detached and withdrawn on stage. But, he basked in the spotlight. He was in his element and was clearly surrounded by musicians he was comfortable playing with. To put it mildly, Vile is an unusual dude. He wore a black t-shirt with the saying “What’s up?” in big, bold white letters. Offstage, Vile would have a crewmember get his guitar tuned for his next song (nothing unusual about that). However, when the guitar swap was made between songs, Vile would re-tune the guitar himself. This produced short delays between songs, primetime for Vile to engage the audience. But he would muster only loud, shrieking Wooos! This was a little disappointing. Vile was goofy on stage, clearly enjoying himself. At points, this goofiness may have detracted from the music.
Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel were the founding members of the band The War on Drugs in Philadelphia back in 2005. Vile left in 2008 to pursue his solo career. The two are still great friends; however, after seeing both in concert this year and listening to their recent releases, substantial differences are apparent. Vile is raw, unabashed and impulsive, while Granduciel is more honed, exacting and calculating. Both are tremendous musicians in their own right. The War on Drugs put on a serious show, Kurt Vile put on a fun show—I guess it depends what you’re craving.
The most disappointing part of the concert was the vocals, which were almost drowned out. The culprit was a combination of poorly balanced volume levels between the microphone and the instruments and Kurt Vile’s placid style of signing. I asked my friend if they could make out any of the lyrics – they did not know any of Kurt Vile’s music prior to the concert. They answered “not one.”
“Pretty Pimpin,” the first single and opening track, from b’lieve i’m goin down…, is playful, infectious and great live. In the song Vile sings “I woke up this morning / didn’t recognize the man in the mirror / then I laughed and I said / oh silly me, that’s just me.” The song imparts what a struggle it can be for Vile to get through the day maintaining appearances and giving people what they expect from him. As Vile recoils, he sings “all I want is to just have fun and live my life like a son of a gun.” Here, like in many other Kurt Vile songs, his voice has this arrogant sneer to it. It is very reminiscent to Bob Dylan on “Like a Rolling Stone.” The audience was joyfully treated to an extra-twangy rendition of “I’m an Outlaw,” from the new album, in which Vile plays the banjo. Vile’s best lyric on the new album is in the song “Wild Imagination” where he movingly signs “I’m looking at you / but it’s only a picture so I take that back / but it ain’t really a picture / it’s just an image on the screen.” It’s one of his saddest songs and it really hit the mark at the live show.
The set was incredibly varied. It contained two songs from 2008’s Childish Prodigy: “He’s Alright” and a frenzied version of “Freak Train” which received his biggest ovation. It also contained two songs from 2011’s Smoke Ring for my Halo: “In my Time” and “Jesus Fever.” A handful of songs were played from 2013’s Wakin on a Pretty Daze. One of which is my favourite Kurt Vile song: “Wakin on a Pretty Day.” It is my go to chill-out song. One of my favourite moments in music is when the song “appears” to be coming to an end about 4 minutes in—it goes dead, then suddenly comes back to life right in stride. The live rendition of “Wakin on a Pretty Day” left much to be desired. It did not have the same sprawling vibe found on the album and Vile did not sing the song with as much emotion. From Daze, Vile also played the 10-minute epic “Goldtone.” The song details Vile’s song writing process or what he calls his search for a ‘goldtone.’ In the song’s lyrics he acknowledges the perception that he often appears zoned out (“I might be adrift / but I’m still alert / concentrate my hurt into a gold tone”). The encore numbers were the riff-heavy “KV Crimes” and “Downbound Train,” a Springsteen cover.
The Phoenix Concert Theatre was jammed packed. It is a dark and gloomy venue with none of the charm of Massey Hall or the Danforth. However, it is perfect for Kurt Vile’s style of music. The crowd was alive, energetic and involved in the show. It is hard to recall a more perfect atmosphere for a concert. The concert contained many positive and negative notes that on a whole balanced out. I have seen better live shows and I have certainly seen worse. In the end, I left feeling satisfied and pleased to get an idea of what this Kurt Vile character is like in person.