Cass McCombs band and White Magic swung through Seattle with a stop at Ballard’s Tractor Tavern last night. White Magic aka Mira Billotte opened to a half full tractor that was easily one of the quietest crowds of all time. But that was a good thing, as Billotte herself noted, because her performance was essentially herself, a voice, and more more than one instrument at a time. Her set ranged from acapella songs to minimalist accompaniments with auxiliary percussion and piano. And hats off to Billotte for an incredibly solid solo performance that never left us audience members feeling awkward or bored with a quieter solo set. The nuances of her minimalist music were well received in the intimate Tractor Tavern.

Interestingly enough, for as quiet as the crowd was for White Magic, they seemed to do a 180 degree turn after several shots of sasparilla between the sets. Most notably, three drunk loudmouths were able to detract Cass & Co’s detention and warrant not 1…2…3… but 4 direct call outs from Cass, with the lattermost even including a “Jesus Christ, you guys”. Fortunately, the band was able to work past this and deliver a hell of a set. It’s interesting to see Cass translate his quieter, space filled material to the live stage. As much of his work is vocal-centric, the beginning suffered from too quiet of vox. But Cass, assumedly well-experience with that problem, was quick to ask for a better mix on the speakers and voila, the Universe was in order again. On another note, I feel foolish for not including “band” when referring to the Cass McCombs band because his backing bandmates did a remarkable job. The drummer was incredibly tight and managed to pack a ton of punch into his limited usage of the kit. He could easily play in a louder RAWK band, but did a stellar job restraining his beats. “Restraint” could’ve been a keyword for Cass & Co’s night, both in dealing with the drunk hooligans and in their performance. They’ve done an amazing job of perfecting a minimalist brand of music with each small part honed in to a T. From Cass’ falsetto vocals to the bassists’ understated rhytmns to the backup guitarists’ sultry slide guitar, they’ve each mastered cogs in a beautiful wheel of music that’s able to accomplish more with less.

Check out a video of “County Line” (which was restarted due to the loudmouths) plus Cass’ upcoming tour dates below.

 

Cass McCombs – Humor Risk by DominoRecordCo

Tour Dates

12-08 Portland, OR – Doug Fir ^
12-09 Eugene, OR – Cozmic ^
01-12 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom *
01-13 Marfa, TX – Padre’s *
01-14 Austin, TX – Stubb’s BBQ (Indoor Stage) *
01-15 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s *
01-16 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks *
01-18 Nashville, TN – Foobar *
01-19 Atlanta, GA – The Earl *
01-20 Saxaphaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom *
01-21 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
01-22 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie *
01-25 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
01-26 Montreal, Quebec – Il Motore *
01-27 Toronto, Ontario – The Garrison *
01-28 Detroit, MI – Pike Room *
01-29 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall *
01-30 Madison, WI – High Noon *
02-01 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry *
02-02 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room *
02-03 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive *
02-04 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court *
03-05 Manchester, England – Band on the Wall
03-07 Liverpool, England – Leaf Cafe Bold St.
03-09 London, England – Union Chapel

^ with White Magic
* with Frank Fairfield