Of Coffee, Smoothies, Scotch & Chocolate: Nickel Creek Live at the Wiltern, 12.17.05 Dec 18 '05 (Updated Mar 17 '06)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Only a brilliantly talented band like Nickel Creek could bring along a mad genius like Andrew Bird without worrying about getting upstaged. Date: Saturday, December 17, 2005 Performers: Nickel Creek with Andrew Bird Venue: Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, California Ticket Price: $35 (Floor Area) So, the last time I wrote up a review of a Nickel Creek show, I went on and on about how it was the BEST. CONCERT. EVER. Anyone remember that? Well, forget that. This was the BEST. CONCERT. EVER. It's hard not to talk in constant superlatives when talking about a band like Nickel Creek. Having more or less abandoned the traditional bluegrass roots that originally brought them notoriety, the trio continues to amaze with their deft picking, strumming, and fiddling that adapts well to a variety of styles, moods, tempos, and even genres. While their recorded output lately tends to focus more on songwriting and setting a certain mood than it does on flashy soloing, their live shows blow the roof off of any expectations that one might have from listening to their CD's. Here, one can witness not only their ridiculously fast, tuneful, and even experimental finger work, but also the synergy and personality that makes the threesome of Sara Watkins, Chris Thile, and Sean Watkins (along with their beloved touring bass player Mark Schatz) something truly special. It's not just about showing off with Nickel Creek (though there is plenty of that) - it's about the personality, the youthful exuberance that comes across even in their darkest and strangest moments. I'm Not Scared of Being Alone I had some tough decisions to make regarding this concert. Having just gotten married this year, I didn't have a lot of spare cash for concert tickets - a hobby I've enjoyed liberally in past years becomes tough to justify when you're talking $40 a pop for an evening of enjoying music that you could just sit at home and enjoy on CD. (I missed out on U2, Switchfoot and several other high-profile concerts that I wanted to attend this year due to a strained budget.) The wife chose to sit this one out because of that - not that she doesn't enjoy the Creek, but she's not as obsessive about them as I am. As luck would have it, I got my ticket without realizing that we had the wedding of two good friends to attend that day, so once I was reminded of that, the deal had been done and I realized that I'd have to take off in the middle of the reception. (They were gracious about it.) I came close to just eating my $40 and saving myself the stress of having to rush from the wedding to the mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles (a hectic place to be at any time, let alone a Saturday night) in hopes of catching the opening act at 8 PM sharp. And I'd have to enjoy the show all alone, too. But that opening act was Andrew Bird, and by virtue of the fact that he was infinitely more interesting than Kathleen Edwards (who had opened for the group when I last saw them), there was a very good chance that this would be the best concert I had ever turned down. I decided not to take that chance, and you know what, I'm glad I did it. As luck would have it, I ran into a few friends there who had decided on a whim to get tickets that day. Music is much more enjoyable when that enjoyment is shared with people you know, I think. I Was Getting Ready to Threaten to Be a Threat It didn't take long for Andrew Bird to captivate the audience. Stepping out into the stage with lone drummer Kevin O'Donnell as accompaniment and no introduction whatsoever, he immediately began picking on his violin, setting up an interesting rhythm which he used a device on the floor to record and play back, allowing him to play a duet with himself. The duet became a trio, and then possibly a quartet, as he began to vary the notes being picked and he eventually drew a bow to coax some interesting melodies out of it, while Kevin energetically brushed the skins to keep time. Just as we were thinking, "Wow, this guy's pretty amazing", he began to produce these eerie, ringing notes by simultaneously whistling and hitting notes on a xylophone. And as if that wasn't enough, he then picked up a guitar and played it atop all of the previously recorded organized chaos. By the end of that opening instrumental, we were all eating out of the palm of his hand. If this had been my first time attending a Nickel Creek show, I would have been convinced that they were in big trouble at this point, due to an opening act certain to upstage them! Now I had heard Andrew Bird on CD before this, and while I was a bit baffled by the dryness of some of the songs that worked against Bird's wit and instrumental skill, I was fully prepared for those songs to be fun in a live setting. Man, I had no idea! As soon as this technique of record-and-playback was applied to the swaying, nonsensical song "Sovay", I could tell that we were in for a threat. As if being able to sing and write truly confounding lyrics on top of all of that instrumental skill wasn't enough, Bird's personality had plenty of endearing quirks, as he rambled through - and sometimes perhaps intentionally forgot - his lyrics as if he were a cross between Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Bill Nye, The Science Guy. From his musings on selfish science on the Sesame Street-inspired "Capital I" to the humorously times pauses and neck spasms appropriate to the title of "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" to the tricky, jumpy rhythm of string plucking that became the foundation for a lively rendition of "Skin Is, My", this guy had us captivated at every note. In addition to my personal favorites from The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Bird found time to introduce a similarly-layered new song called "Plasticities", which was apparently inspired by the usage of songs such as "Chim-Chimminy-Chim-Chim-Cha-Ree" as background music in a restaurant. This is a guy who finds oddball subjects to write songs about, poking fun at the very thread of human existence as he plucks at the loose threads in his attempt to figure answer the grand question of "Why?" Speaking of "Why?", that was the title of Bird's show stealing song, during which Kevin took a break and he recorded a slow, eerie, start-stop violin rhythm over which he began to play some rather out-there solos on his instrument. Texture seems to be as important as melody to Bird, and this made for a really spine-tingling moment as he then began to ramble, "Why'd you go and do that?" towards somebody who had offended him in some undefined way. This resolved into a humorously poppy melody as he came to the conclusion, "Damn you for being so easygoing". The ability to create such a memorable song out of a lone voice and instrument (plus his remarkable ability to whistle with vibrato), amazing us even when we thought we'd seen all of his tricks already employed within the first few songs, made it clear to me that Bird was an artist whose live shows I should try to catch at all costs in the future. It was only on the songs "Fake Palindromes" and the closing "Tables and Chairs" that Bird seemed to take the easy way out, settling for a bit too much rambling during the verses of the former and using a pre-recorded part for the song's swooping violin melody (though the song still rocked with its focus being on the drums and guitar), and perhaps becoming a bit too sleepy and predictable with the latter (though I will always be amused by his declaration that at the end of the world, and I quote, "I swear to you, there will be snacks!") Those are extremely minor trifles in what was otherwise a fabulous set - Bird's 45 minutes seemed to be up a lot more quickly than they should have been. Kudos to whichever of the Nickel Creek wunderkinds stumbled across this guy! Setlist: (unnamed instrumental) Sovay Capital I A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left Plasticities Why? Fake Palindromes Skin Is, My Tables and Chairs Where Can a Sick Man Go? When the lights went down and Nickel Creek took the stage at around 9 PM, I had to admit that they didn't get off to as solid of a start as they had the last time I had seen them. The opener, "When in Rome", was more of a predictable choice, since it's the lead track on their latest album, Why Should the Fire Die? And the band (especially Sean) seemed surprisingly wooden during the performance of that and the following song, "Reasons Why", which was also problematic because Sara sounded a bit hoarse, having trouble hitting some of her notes. I was wondering at this point if Sara had fallen ill, and if this being the end of the tour meant that they were all a bit tuckered out, and this would be a lesser performance than their usual. Thankfully, the rocky start was quickly redeemed with the crowd favorite "This Side" (a rare lead vocal for Sean) and Chris suddenly turning from mopey to peppy (and staying that way for the rest of the night) as he introduced the instrumental "Stumptown" as being "entirely about coffee" and shared with the audience about coffee being a wonderful and easily satisfied desire, and that those of us who had gone with the trend of quitting coffee in favor of tea were "shady at best". He joked that the night would be all about a symbiotic relationship of trust between the band and the audience, and this ongoing theme of the band's banter was refreshing; it made me not mind for once that a band talked a lot in between songs, because it was genuinely amusing and showed us the band's irresistibly likeable personalities. You Were Playing for Fun, I Was Playing for Keeps The band proceeded to play the vast majority of the songs from Why Should the Fire Die?, including my oddball favorite "Best of Luck" (which was the point where I realized that Sara's voice was sounding a little better), the more reflective number "Jealous of the Moon", and the hauntingly beautiful "First and Last Waltz", which led quite nicely into the two-timer's anthem "Helena" (just as it does on the album). "Helena" starts off with just Chris and his mandolin, and I was wondering how the band would manage to give it the same intensity as it had on the album, not having a drummer and all. Much to my surprise, Kevin O'Donnell had relocated his kit to the dark area in back of the stage, with the lights suddenly shining on him as he began to bang away at the end of the song. I love it when a band can find useful ways to work their opening acts into the set! Bird himself even showed up briefly, as the guys were huddled around a ukulele-playing Sara during the playfully sad "Anthony", leaning in to offer a few brief bits of whistling before nonchalantly leaving the stage while the band finished the song. It was quite the comical cameo. While the band's slower numbers tend to be the more lyrical pieces, focusing more on mood and quirkiness than fast finger work, they also threw in a number of rousing upbeat songs replete with generous solos. The ever popular "Smoothie Song" (which Chris wisecracked about having the most feminine title for a song written by a man, next to the other nominee "Ode to a Butterfly", which sadly wasn't played) had plenty of dizzying moments from all three band members -being at the front of the stage, we had plenty of opportunities to stare and exclaim, "Holy crap!" when watching Chris and Sara's fingers fly across the fretboards, while Sean was farther away in a darker corner of the stage, but just as impressive on his acoustic guitar, perhaps garnering the most applause as if the audience knew he was the shyest member of the group. That one evolved into an extended bridge not heard on the album version, where the band toyed around with some atonal chords and non-standard rhythms - I don't know how much of that is planned versus spontaneous, and they seemed to nod to Mark Schatz at times as if telepathically communicating where to go next. The Lord of the Rings-inspired "House of Tom Bombadil" was also an instrumental highlight, with Chris and Sara facing off at the front of the stage, stomping out an irregular rhythm as if to tune out the audience's clapping, which would have surely thrown off lesser instrumentalists. That one included a humorous, if somewhat awkward segue, into a cover of a Randy Newman song about "Short People", in which Sara played the role of a bigot protesting against the vertically challenged, while Sean and Chris huddled together to plea for understanding on their behalf. Chris is normally the one who gets to mug for all the laughs, but the hilarious memory that will truly stick with me is Sara's lovely, smiling face as she exuberantly breathed the words, "You've got to pick them up just to say hello". Too High, Can't Come Down Speaking of hilarious cover songs, anyone who's been to a Nickel Creek show should know that there's never a shortage of these. Early in the set, they surprised me with a relentless and strangely familiar-sounding descending riff in 3/4 time, which got a few cheers from the balcony as Sara started to sing lyrics of rejection from those who claimed to love her. I didn't catch on until they got to the chorus, which simply repeated" Nice dream, nice dream, nice dream..." And at that point I laughed out loud, realizing they were covering Radiohead again (they seem to like The Bends, since they've also covered "Just" in previous shows). I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've seen Chris Thile flailing on his mandolin in an attempt to mimic the whacked-out guitar playing of one Jonny Greenwood. Sean left the stage to change instruments after this one, inspiring Chris to comment that Sean must have been p!ssed about having to play a Radiohead song, and advising Sean to save his bitterness for about six songs later (which turned out to be another of my favorites, the Watkins-penned breakup song "Somebody More Like You"). But the most ingenious moment of the night came when, with little warning, Chris and Sara teamed up to recreate the infectious string part from the recent Britney Spears hit, "Toxic". As usual, they decided to gender-bend with their choice of a lead singer on this one, having Chris take the mic with his unforgettable falsetto impression of Brit's higher range. Sara joined in for some sweet "ooh"s during the bridge, and Chris made a few attempts at busting a dance move before deciding the better of it. Mark and Sean played along with eager grins on their faces, and at one point the band even used a recorded beatbox sample, which would have been cheating if it hadn't been so humorous. It's become common these days for rock/punk bands to do teen pop covers for camp value, but from what I've seen, a lot of NC fans (and the group themselves) seem to agree that the Britney song is actually pretty good in and of itself. In any case, brilliant cover choice on that one. Time Out of Mind Must Be Heavenly The band wound their main set down with a handful of older songs. The only other appearance from This Side (my favorite Nickel Creek album, which was underrepresented at this show, but since most of it was covered at the last show, I can't be picky) was "House Carpenter", a traditional English number that was never one of my favorite, but the group managed to breathe a lot more life into it with some strong vocal work and more of an intense instrumental approach. Still, it did run a bit long with its nine or ten verses. The older favorite "Out of the Woods" was a nice addition (that and "When You Come Back Down" were highlights of their self-titled album that I'd never heard them play live before), with Sara's more hushed vocal making the song a yearning counterpoint to the more jaded songs from their latest album. The band is aware that some people have been a bit disturbed by the darker tones of Fire, and Chris humorously addressed this by saying that they were going to play an older song from their happy first album, one that was about suicide. This, of course, was their first big hit "The Lighthouse's Tale", a more faithful rendition than the one they did last time I saw them (that one including snippets of other songs), but it also ran a mite long with its extensive soloing. Revisiting these older favorites was refreshing - I don't listen to the self-titled album as much as the other two, so I often forget how good some of those songs are. Wrapping up their main set was the last of the three instrumentals from Fire, which they claimed to be about the two substances that fueled the making of the album (other than coffee, of course) - "Scotch & Chocolate". This was played entirely faithfully to its structure on the album, but the sudden pickup in speed and the tumbling, angular chord progressions were a thrill to watch the band play live. Before I Leave This Town-O Of course, there had to be an encore. When Chris came out holding his own acoustic guitar (he remarked that with two acoustic guitars, they were now like all the other cool bands), I was honestly expecting "Can't Complain", a fan favorite which many people were clamoring for. Instead, they pleasantly surprised me with "Doubting Thomas", a song about faith and the struggle to keep it that has become something of a personal anthem for me in the past few months. I was delighted at the audience response that this one got - sounds like a lot of folks love it, but nobody expected it. They quickly change up the mood after that sublime bit of beauty, launching into the ever-popular folk tune "The Fox", which saw the clogging floor finally get some use as Mark Schatz stepped over and wowed us once again with some fine footwork (Chris even joined him for a tandem routine at one point). Everyone in the audience was clapping to provide a beat, and man, what I wouldn't have given to have the wife there for a little arm-in-arm square dancing at that moment! In the middle of "The Fox" came another odd segue into a slower song, this one being "The Weight" by a group known as The Band - I wasn't familiar with it, and the lyrics about taking a load off didn't seem to fit, but whatever. Mark Schatz bid the audience farewell when "The Fox" was over, leaving the three youngsters alone on stage, to huddle around a single mic and bid us farewell with the title track, "Why Should the Fire Die?", a predictable but warm closing number, with all three singing the lyrics together. Not as captivating of a closer as "Be Thou My Vision", I guess, but still an appropriate note to end on. Setlist: When in Rome Reasons Why This Side Stumptown Best of Luck Jealous of the Moon Smoothie Song Nice Dream (Radiohead cover) When You Come Back Down First and Last Waltz Helena (featuring Kevin O'Donnell) Anthony (featuring Andrew Bird) Toxic (Britney Spears cover) In the House of Tom Bombadil/Short People (Randy Newman cover) Somebody More Like You House Carpenter Ferdinand the Bull Out of the Woods The Lighthouse's Tale Scotch & Chocolate Encore: Doubting Thomas The Fox (featuring clogging by Mark Schatz and Chris Thile)/The Weight (The Band cover) Why Should the Fire Die? I Can't Complain So, what made this concert better than the last one (aside from the opening act) if they skipped most of their best album and some of the songs were too long or transitioned into other songs awkwardly? Well, for one thing, as entertained as I was by the plethora of new material at the last show (one of those songs being "Can't Complain", now a highlight of the new album, but strangely absent from the set this time around), I think I preferred the mode of showcasing the new album with some interesting choices of older material in this show's setlist. The Radiohead and Spears covers were delightful surprises (I'd heard a bootleg of "Toxic", actually, but figured that was a one-time gag, so it still came as a partial surprise), and the amount of energy and heart that they put into it (first few songs notwithstanding) seemed to surpass the previous show, convincing me that that one wasn't a fluke. It was just an evening chock full of songs that I loved, with a few new ones that I took an immediate liking to (maybe with one or two exceptions). Great songs played brilliantly, along with enjoyable stage personas that aren't used just to needlessly kill time, are probably the two greatest elements of a concert for me, and this one had them in spades. Oh, and it didn't hurt that Sara Watkins, with her lovely hairdo, sparkly makeup, black top, green skirt, and sexy boots, and a smile that could melt a guy in two seconds flat, was absolutely radiant and standing about ten feet away from me for most of the evening. (I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud...) My Ratings: Nickel Creek: 5 stars Andrew Bird: 4.5 stars Show Overall: 5 stars Band Members: Sara Watkins: Violin, ukulele, stomps, vocals Sean Watkins: Acoustic guitar, vocals Chris Thile: Mandolin, bouzouki, acoustic guitar, clogging, stomps, vocals Mark Schatz: Upright bass, clogging (tour only) Websites: http://www.nickelcreek.com http://www.yellowcarmusic.com/markschatz/index.htm http://www.andrewbird.net

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