Last night had to be one of the couple best-behaved crowds I've ever seen at the Neurolux. Bill Callahan played, and while he brought a band with him and often had some full volume going, much of it was quiet and spare, and for once the guy onstage wasn't competing with the noise of the kids in the back.
Callahan put on a great show. He's an odd duck, stock still mostly, sometimes jogging in place, sometimes doing a weirdly choked endzone-dance-knee-wiggle thing, but his voice is something beautiful and unique, and his songs are amazing almost without exception.
He dug deep into A River Ain't Too Much To Love, his last record as smog., and he also brought out a few classics "from my cassette collection," as Richard said, and a lot of songs from his two most recent records, both recorded under his own name.
Apparently the neighborhood conflict has begun at the Lux, as complaints from the new residential tower across the alley are forcing them to end shows at 11, but Callahan played until about 11:30, coming back for an encore, thumbing his nose at the "fat cat lawyer" who's always the villain.
Set closer "Let Me See The Colts" was the highpoint of the evening, I'd say, working the loud-quiet-loud progression with builds from cello and violin over the evocative lyrics of that song's chorus. A great show.
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