Flashes of Panic

Friday night, I headed over to the Paradise for the first time to see Sarah Harmer. I first saw Harmer at the Iron Horse two years ago, and it was a great show; since then, she hasn’t really come nearby, so I was excited for a new CD and another U.S. tour. A was at a track meet all day—not even home when I left for the show—so I went by myself. (Probably should’ve asked here if anyone wanted to come.)

The Paradise isn’t at all like the Horse: a basketball-court sized floor with folding chairs for the “early arrivers” (and, at five minutes to nine, I turned out to be “early,”) and two ranks of risers (with counters) around the outside which, I think, constituted some kind of standing room. I thought I had grabbed one of the last chairs, but as it happened nearly as many (or more) people came in after me and stood, either behind us or around the risers.

The Shiftless Rounders were the openers, two guys playing very rootsy bluegrass tunes: dobro and guitar or banjo, and two-part harmony about drinkin’, gettin’ out of jail in Memphis, fishin’ with homeless men, and the show in Colorado where nobody showed up, “but we played our hearts out anyway.” Unfortunately, much of the crowd at the bar continued to talk through their songs; it wasn’t until Harmer came on stage that there was a lot of attention paid to the music.

Harmer has also taken a turn towards bluegrass with “I’m a Mountain,” which she played almost all of. Her band has changed a bit, with upright bass, mandolin/guitar, fiddle, clarinet, and piano; there was a drum kit which saw (almost) no use until the “last” song. In addition to practically everything from “I’m a Mountain,” they dipped into Harmer’s back catalog for some good stuff, which (of course) all sounded a bit different with this band. Harmer played a few by herself, including “Basement Apartment,” which dates back to her Weeping Tile days, and which she introduced by saying, “You know how you over-dramatize everything that happens to you in your twenties?” They also played The Shins’ “Young Pilgrims” (I think,) and a few other covers; Dolly Parton’s “Will He Be Waiting For Me,” of all songs, is on “I’m a Mountain.”

The crowd, which Harmer called the biggest she’d seen in Boston, was in to this show, cheering enthusiastically and recognizing a lot of the older songs (“Almost” and “Greeting Card Aisle” from “All of Our Names” in particular.) I got the idea that most of them knew her already; she did have a brief exchange with one man, asking how he’d come to be there, then saying, “Your wife brought you? I’m beginning to see the uses of wives.” Finally, on “Lodestar,” Harmer put down her guitar towards the end and ran back to sit at the drums for the outro, which also drew screams.

They came back for a planned encore (“I’m a Mountain” and “How Deep in the Valley,” I think,) but then enough enthusiastic fans kept hollering to drag Harmer back out one more time. She played “Dogs and Thunder,” also an old Weeping Tile track but an interesting connection between Tile and her current sound.

On my way out, I picked up my copy of “I’m a Mountain,” a Shiftless Rounders disk (see below,) and a few Weeping Tile discs which are pretty near impossible to find in the U.S. otherwise. I prefer buying my music at shows when I can, because more of the price is likely to go right to the musicians than if (for example) I buy online. There’s a lot to be said for supporting local music shops, of course, but I haven’t really found one nearby here yet.

Now Playing: Fists In My Pockets from (Places) by The Shiftless Rounders