"Best night of the tour," Ben Kweller announced to a packed house at the 9:30 club on Thursday night. "I'm calling it now." The crowd shouted in thunderous approval as Kweller broke into "Things I Like to Do," a simple and honest jam with the country twang of Kweller's new album "Changing Horses."
On tour with Kweller is Jones Street Station, a New York-based bluegrass/folk-rock band whose impressive array of on-stage instruments included a mandolin, an accordion, a banjo, moogs and a tool belt of harmonicas slung around the hips of vocalist Jon Hull. Their MySpace promises songs that sound like "the smooth-meter turned up to 11," but their dynamic, jamming on-stage presence seemed to prove otherwise.
Flexibility and diversity seemed to be Jones Street's trademarks, as the boys traded vocal lines between Hull, Danny Erker and Jonathan Benedict, while Erker occasionally ceased his mandolin shredding skills to pick up an acoustic guitar. The band's members, Erker, Hull, Benedict, Walt Wells and Sam Rockwell, defied any sort of label, their attire ranging from hippie-like plaid and faded jeans to big-collared '70s-style suits to dress casual button downs. Their diversity of appearance proved an effective contrast to their vocal cohesion, as a number of their songs demanded intense vocal harmonies.
This was especially prevalent in their set's closing song, "Tall Buildings," a powerful all-acoustic number, in which the boys lined up at the edge of the stage sans microphones and crooned a cappella harmonies to a crowd hushed by the gruff intensity and sharp precision of their vocals.
Also on this tour were the Watson Twins, whose shy and friendly Southern demeanor provided an unexpected but welcome calm before Kweller's set. Their smoky voices and harmonized choruses of "oohs" gracefully blended with the seductive bass line present in a number of their songs.
Like Jones Street Station, the girls took turns on lead vocals mid-song during their performance of "Only You," and their rolling keyboard phrases provided a hypnotizing background to the their intense Jem-like harmonies.
A dark, slow R&B-like introduction seemed out of place among the indie-folk vibe, but the reasoning behind it was clear when the song revealed itself to be a cover of Bill Withers' 1971 lament "Ain't No Sunshine," in which the girls proved that they had the musical chops to take on such a distinct classic and still make it their own.
The highlight of the girls' set came when Leigh Watson declared to a previously unenthused crowd that the 9:30 club was one of the band's favorite venues before launching into "How Am I to Be," the first single off their latest album, "Fire Songs." The girls implored the crowd to move with them: "Give us just a little something - a little hip shake," they joked. "Don't worry; it's dark in here. No one will see."
Before closing their set, the Watson Twins gave a shout-out to the failing independent music stores across the nation, encouraging the audience to support small-time musicians. "We're supporting the old school cause," Chandra said.
Ben Kweller took the stage at 10 p.m. to an audience of old-school fans, whom he acknowledged by playing a set dominated by well-known classics. A crowd previously apprehensive about embracing Kweller's drastic change in style was more than appeased by the set's opener "Walk On Me," a track from his first album "Sha Sha."
The crowd grew even closer to Kweller when he took several breaks to chat with members of the audience, even pausing in the middle of a song to lightheartedly chastise a possibly inebriated audience member who kept shouting for Kweller to bring on stage his friend and musical acquaintance Jason Roberts.
"Do you know him?" Kweller said. "Then go to his house and hang out with him!" he shouted before accepting a shot of J?ger passed to him from the back of the room.
Fronting a small band that included a steel guitar as well as a slide guitar, Kweller balanced bouncing country tunes like "Things I Like to Do" with slow, poignant classics like "On My Way," to which the audience swayed and sang softly along. The peak of the performance came when the band exited the stage and left Kweller alone to serenade the audience with only his piano and a white spotlight.
This segment of the show gave Kweller the chance to shine as the pianist that he truly is, as he pounded out his signature, marching piano chords, utilizing dramatic dynamics to support his soft, scratching voice during "Thirteen," another old favorite. A brief reunion between Kweller and his guitar occurred, building suspense as the audience waited for what they knew would be the set's closer, the 2003 single "Falling." Kweller's method of suspense building proved effective as the room exploded into dancing and cheers upon the opening chords.
For his encore, Kweller was joined by both opening acts, whose unity shown through as they slung arms around each other and danced while singing backup to Kweller's energetic, rallying new track "Fight." And though Kweller's new artistic direction may have been controversial among old fans, their receptiveness to both his new songs and the two country-infused opening acts showed that his audience would always be open minded and welcoming to any changes that his repertoire may have to offer.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
