Live: Bowerbirds (100Bands #57)
What’s Left: 89 Days. 43 Bands.
Band: Bowerbirds
When/Where: Sunday, June 5, 2011, Motorco Music Hall, Durham, NC
Expectations: I came out to see Mt. Moriah, the opener, more so than Bowerbirds, but I’m excited to see what kind of show they put on.
Concert: I knew I was in for a treat when I saw how many instruments Bowerbirds brought out with them. Included in their set was an acoustic guitar, keys, drums, some sort of floating marimba, an accordion, two sets of drums, a violin, and some small shaker instruments that I don’t even know the name of. It might be fair to say they had me at hello.
They opened their set with a song that features main singer Phil Moore singing and plucking his acoustic guitar, with light music in the background. It was a great way to start the show off by isolating the beauty of his voice before integrating their wide range of instruments and musical talents. The thing that impressed me most about both this show and the band in general was the diverse musical knowledge among all of the band members. Four of the five artists were singing on microphones over the course of the night, and nearly everybody got up and switched instruments at some point in the set. It was an incredibly impressive display of talent.
Being a local band, they kept the show very personal and intimate, despite the amount of people in the room. Something about their friendly demeanor tells me that they would continue to do this even if they were performing on a stage as large as one at Coachella, which is a major plus. They played one song where Phil Moore continuously sang the words “There is no one more beautiful than you,” and it felt as though he could have been speaking to me directly. I’m sure every girl in the room felt the same way, but the ability to make the music not only heard but felt is a feat that not many bands accomplish with me at first try. Rumor has it, though, lead singer Phil Moore and wingwoman Beth Tacular are in a relationship. Whatever type of relationship it may be, some sort of passion was obvious when Beth got a chance to take the lead mic and Phil stepped back, watched Beth sing, and smiled. It nearly gave me the chills, which again says a lot about how personal their performance was.
Bowerbirds seem to be reminiscent of both Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Balmorhea, if the two bands made tender love and produced offspring in the form of a 5-person band. As the set went on, their music became faster and louder, to the point where all the sudden a large chunk of the room was singing and dancing along.
Concert Afterglow: Perhaps the one thing that struck me most about Bowerbirds is their ability to marry the instrumentals the vocals/lyrics perfectly. At times they had me wondering if their music was about one more than the other, because of its strength in nature, but my wavering opinion made me believe that they truly have mastered the art of both.
Song: MP3: “House of Diamonds” – Bowerbirds
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