On a rainy Wednesday night venturing across the bridge to north Tampa, was only accomplished with the motivation of one of my favorite bands who is also one of the best bands to rock a stage. I saw them back in 2007 and was blown away, so their return to the studio and the crowded funded tour they are currently on could not be missed. Nils folk band Faun Fables had already taken the stage when we got there. They have made it a family act as Nil's two daughters were dressed like they were part of a hippie cult as they sang in unison with synchronized dance routines in motion. They were followed by two bands from Orlando, one was clearly a Primus tribute band that was trying to write their own songs, and The other was a riff machine band that executed well, but the moving pieces of their sound were less than original and there was not where for them to go. Not sure why a band would want to open for Sleepytime as they are always going to blow the other bands away.
Sleepytime took the stage and after a false start due to some technical issues hit the audience with a stunning version of "Freedom Club".While they have not toured in over a decade, they do not have much in the way of rust to brush off and fall back into what they do with fluid grace. Odd time signatures that King Crimson is surely jealous of flowed. They have an intense charm onstage. Playing five songs from the new album, went overall and is a testament to how well it stands up against their body of work. "Burn into Light" showed their more melodic side. To say Nils stays in character for the entirety of the set makes the lines blurry as to who he really is as his persona in Sleepytime feels authentic to who he is.
I think the five new songs that took the dominant role in their set, showed how in the making of the new album the rest of the band has played a more active hand in contributing. Micheal Mellender seemed to play more guitar this time and also sang more than I remembered seeing him do when I saw them previously. He also pulled out a trumpet at one point,. Carla's violin came across as a more crucial bringer of the song's melodic currents, and her vocals were really stellar on this evening. Nils also proved capable of getting up into his falsetto, though on the version of "Hymn to the Morning Star" reworked here he sang a more bluesy version of the song over the intro to "Sleep is Wrong" which was the encore.
Another highlight for me was getting to hold Dan's microphone stand for him for the duration of "Old Grey Heron" b because it was not strong enough to hold up the recorder he tried hanging from it. He was not pleased with the overall sound of the night. At the start of the set Nil's explained that they met due to the fact Dan was the maintenance man for the co-op they lived in. So as the man who keeps their live show bolted together, it is understandable that he likes everything fully operational. His vocals were also more noticeable for this show and playing flawlessly as ever despite his qualms with the sound. They had a long drive to New Orleans ahead of them so I did not stick around to chat afterward, but if you have never seen them live you must find yourself at one of their shows the next chance you get as they continue to be one of the most compelling live bands ever.
pst151
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