[Photos courtesy of JC McIlwaine.  Check out his photography page here.  More of his Fruit Bats concert photos, and a review of the show, are available at Bowery Ballroom’s “House List” site here]

It’s hard to have a truly great time at a concert without a headliner that kills it.  But an almost-equal treat is catching an opener that you haven’t seen on tour before, whose music you don’t really know, and who equals or even surpasses the headliner.  Such was the case with this nearly co-headlining (in terms of length) set by the San Francisco band Vetiver, who opened the Bowery Ballroom for the Fruit Bats (that recording here). In fairness, the bands aren’t entirely separate entities; Fruit Bats frontman Eric Johnson has also played in Vetiver, and joined them during this show for “I Must Be In A Good Place Now.”  But despite the range of collaborators (which also include Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newson, Hope Sandoval and Johnson), Vetiver is first and foremost the brainchild of songwriter Andy Cabic, who has been performing with this band since 2004. Utilizing elements of the breezy, 60s-inspired sound big these days among the likes of Kurt Vile and the War on Drugs (and tagged, like anything even vaguely so, with the prefix “psych-“), and more traditional Americana and roots music (“Wishing Well” could just about be the Grateful Dead), Cabic’s songs are well-crafted and timeless in the best of ways. “Can’t You Tell”, from the band’s latest, The Errant Charm, is beautifully paced, riding a bouncy organ riff and head-bobbing backbeat.  I was also instantly charmed by “It’s Beyond Me”, another track from the new record, a slow-burner that manages to have a deliciously anthemic feel despite never cranking the volume to 11.  You can imagine Vetiver fitting in well in a lot of different settings – with various permutations of the indie set, with the folk crowd, with the Wilco fans – but this combo with the Fruit Bats was a particularly strong one, making for a perfect night of music.  The Fruit Bats closed it out strong, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Vetiver.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and the DPA microphones, and the resulting pull is even better than the Fruit Bats recording. Enjoy!

Stream “It’s Beyond Me”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/V0913Vetiver0211/vetiver2011-09-13bowery_acidjack-07.mp3]

Stream “Can’t You Tell”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/V0913Vetiver0211/vetiver2011-09-13bowery_acidjack-13.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct download of the FLAC files [HERE]

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Vetiver
2011-09-13
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Soundboard + DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (EQ, effects, mixdown, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample to 44.1kHz)>Audacity (tracking)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Wonder Why
02 Streets of Your Town [Go-Betweens]
03 Strictly Rule
04 Hard to Break
05 Right Away
06 Everyday
07 It’s Beyond Me
08 You May Be Blue
09 I Must Be In A Good Place Now*
10 [banter]
11 Rolling Sea
12 Wishing Well
13 Can’t You Tell
14 More of This

* w/ Eric Johnson from Fruit Bats

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Vetiver, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Sub Pop Records at its online store [HERE]