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• Thursday night's Gone Primitive tour finds John Vanderslice and John Darnielle captivating storytellers

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John Vanderslice performs at the Courtyard Cafe on April 2, 2009. Photo by Wallo Villacorta.

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Courtyard Cafe - Illini Union »
Address: 1401 W. Green St. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 333-3660
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• The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle and John Vanderslice play courtyard show

After roughly a decade of recording and playing music, John Vanderslice has perfected the art of the on-stage banter. Whereas many artists tend to fluctuate between awkward and forced interaction with the crowd and a complete lack of communication, allowing the music to speak where they won’t, Vanderslice’s interaction comes across as an extension of his storytelling nature. Speaking highly of his tour mate and their granola-infested van, Vanderslice slipped tales between nearly an hour of tracks spanning the length of his recording career. Stripped down to the comfort and familiarity of a small, acoustic tour like “Gone Primitive,” Vanderslice shined on tracks like “Keep The Dream Alive,” and “Pale Horse.” While I would have loved to see the singer in a more full-band setting, backed by the more orchestral feel of the recorded tracks, the charisma of the singer-songwriter won me over from the start and seemingly captivated an attentive, polite audience.

John Vanderslice

New Song
Keep The Dream Alive
Time To Go
White Dove
Fiend In A Cloud
White Plains
Too Much Time
Lucifer Rising
Trace Manual
Pale Horse

The Mountain Goats’ last visit to town found John Darnielle at the Canopy Club, playing to an audience about rivaled in size to that which was found at the Courtyard Café on Thursday evening. However, the size of the Courtyard Café changed the atmosphere of the show, placing the crowd not only physically closer to Darnielle, but making interaction more natural and relevant. Despite mentioning a briefer set list due to issues with his throat/voice, Darnielle powered through 16 songs, his tone fluctuating between a near-whisper and the passionate pleas of “No Children,” (which seemed to act as an appropriate break for the singer as he allowed the audience to take the reigns on most of the song). Like Vanderslice, Darnielle is a well-mannered performer, realistic and honest with the audience about his intentions. Ending with a track from the series of “Standard Bitter Love Songs,” Darnielle’s performance was on par to prior experiences (particularly for one slightly under the weather), and even the interruption to find a “lost” audience member help returning home couldn’t break the spell of the evening.

John Darnielle

Freefallin’ (Cover)
Going To Bolivia
Deianara Crush
Downtown Seoul
Cobscook Bay
Send Me An Angel
Whole Wide World
Weekend In Western Illinois
Cotton
Ice Cream, Cobra Man
Song For Dennis Brown
This Magic Moment (Cover)
Shadow Song
No Children
Standard Bitter Love Song #1