Put around 100 fans of a band in a small room to watch them perform and you will see some serious magic. That is just what happened on December 8 at the Swing House studio in Atwater Village when Calexico showed up to play an intimate set of music for all of us that donated to their Pledge Music campaign. I had never been to this venue and to make it even more interesting to me, I lived down the street when I was in kindergarten.
The evening started with a brief Q&A with lead singer Joey Burns. Questions were answered thoughfullly and you could tell that the audience was full of excited fans. Burns answered questions about the new songs, why only 4 of them were there and when Calexico would play Pappy and Harriet’s again.
After the brief Q&A, the band came out. Joining Joey Burns was John Convertino, Sergio Mendoza and Conner Gallaher. I had never seen Conner and I wasn’t disappointed.
The Set List
- End of the World With You- New
- Voices in Field – New
- Town and Miss Lorraine – New
- Cumbia de Donde
- Dead in the Water – New?
- Black Heart
- Girl in the Forest – New
- Stray
- Falling from the Sky
- Thrown to the Wild – New
- Music Box – New
- Sunken Waltz
- Alone Again Or
- Under the Wheels
The set list showed Crystal Frontier, but I don’t recall them playing that song.
It is unbelievable to think about seeing Calexico and not having Martin and Jacob on trumpets, but Sergio Mendoza did a pretty good job of filling in for parts that were missing. They played most of the new album and Joey would talk briefly about the new songs. His commentary about writing “Girl in the Forest” was especially sweet.
As usual, the set was powerful when needed and they could back off and play so delicately. Conner Gallaher played supper aggressive licks that kind of reminded me of the guitar work on Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend album. Kind of jangly and distorted that felt like it lived just outside of the song. This was really noticeable on End of the World With You. Listen to Matthew Sweet’s track “Girlfriend” and you will hear what I am talking about.
The biggest highlight for me was getting to meet Joey Burns after the show. After most shows that I have been to, the band seems to be pretty accessible. But, with such a small audience this night, it was a little easier to interact. My original intent was to just say hi and tell him I am looking forward to the album release. Once that was done, Burns quickly followed up with several questions and we talked about past shows
I have attended, that he played soccer and a little bit about the other band members. I was looking for about 30 seconds and I got way more than that. I don’t go out of my way to meet musicians or athletes, but it is cool when you meet someone that you are a big fan of and they don’t disappoint.
It is pretty safe to say that I am looking forward to the new album and hopefully catching them live soon.
Trail and Music 