Walking through a quiet neighborhood in Portland, my friend and I come across our destination, a nondescript house — seemingly empty. A few folks nearby on the sidewalk encourage us.
“Just go on in,” they offer. We accept. Approaching the porch, I see a sign on the door with two words: “David Bazan.” Bazan, the former frontman of Pedro the Lion, has arrived here as part of an intimate nationwide tour.
As we sit on the couch, it occurs to me that there is no PA system. There is no bar, no doorman — we are at someone’s home.
“I didn’t want to use a PA,” Bazan says of this tour. “There’s something really rare about no electronics being included in the experience.”
Immediately, the intimacy of sitting in a living room listening to music surrounds the whole crowd; for as packed as forty people can get in a room, it’s very quiet. All eyes are on performers Peter Broderick and his sister, opening the show with beautifully harmonized songs featuring guitars, violin, and a mandolin.
The crowd applauds and the performers turn things over to Bazan, who has been hanging out in the kitchen watching with the rest of us.
Throughout the spring, Bazan will be appearing at homes from Washington to Brooklyn, usually playing to between 30 and 50 people. The deceptively simple plan arose after Bazan was asked by new label Barsuk not to tour for a while.
“I didn’t want to use a PA,” Bazan says of this nationwide house tour. “There’s something really rare about no electronics being included in the experience.”
“The label wanted me to lay low until the new album came out,” he says. “But that left me with months without any way to make a living. I was batting around ideas with Bob (Bazan’s manager). I thought, ‘There’s gotta be some way I can go out. I wouldn’t even care if it was just all house shows.’ We both kind of paused and said, ‘Aah.’ It’s been unbelievable.”
Averaging about 100 shows a year for the past ten years, Bazan is a consummate road musician. He has achieved success through rigorous work ethic and increasingly focused and heartbreaking songs.
Always intimate and engaging, Bazan really comes through in such an up-close and personal setting. This house show finds Bazan’s humble and ingratiating attitudes in tune with his brilliantly delivered music.
As Bazan sets up his spot in the corner of the house, we move over to better center the man in our sights. The crowd sits on the hardwood floors at his feet, looking up from couches and chairs, completely in the moment.
In his trademark black tee and bearded frame, Bazan opens with “Priests and Paramedics,” a classic track from 2002 full-length album Control. “Paramedics brave and strong…” he starts, and the crowd is hooked.
Throughout the set, Bazan treats the audience to old favorites between brand new, unreleased tracks from his upcoming album, Curse Your Branches. During the performance, he asks the audience if they have questions or comments about the show. Before long, it’s a room of forty friends, all at ease and comfort, heralded by Bazan’s performance.
His songs sound amazing coming out, helped in part by the room’s perfect acoustics, in part by Bazan’s emotional swells and resonating voice. The man can belt them out.
The real reward of the night, besides hearing what will be Bazan’s new album before it comes out, scheduled for late summer, is simply being in the room and experiencing the songwriter’s power so intimately. After more than a dozen performances attended, I still marvel at Bazan’s heart, his openness, and most of all, his honesty.
– Charlie Swanson
David Bazan in a house show? That’s the songwriting prowess of Ben Gibbard and the emotional power of Bruce Springsteen in a precariously closed plastic easter egg. You really captured the excitement and rarity of the show in this review. Now I’m off to listen to some of his music. Thanks!