The first show of their tour was at the Crepe Place in Seabright-Santa Cruz, and I bought a pair of tickets immediately. Cory Chisel at a bar in Seabright?! That little bar can hold maybe 60 or so people when packed shoulder tight. We showed up about an hour early and the place was just starting to fill. Cory, Adriel, and the Wandering Sons were sitting at the only table in the bar and I couldn't help but walk up and say hello. Cory asked what I wanted to hear... " So Wrong For Me", "Tennessee" and, "Lovers & Friends". We talked about life, touring, and Greg Brown. “Nobody writes a breakup album like Greg Brown”, Cory said. I learned that Brown's father was a Pentecostal preacher and I'm sure Cory could relate to that. Everybody seemed in a good mood, and exited to see each other play for the first time.
Jason Boesel was up first and the place was pretty well packed. I had never heard of him before, but I figure if Dawes wants to be your backing band then you are probably solid. Turns out he played drums for Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, and now he sings and plays guitar on a record of his own. The songs were really good with strong hooks and a bit of that Dawes harmony squeezing your tear ducts on nearly all the songs. His voice reminds me of a relaxed, slightly goofier Jim James. There is no stage, and the loudspeakers are sitting on small tables pointed at our faces. This was a loud, hot bar gig and the band was flexing some muscle. I honestly didn't expect the show to rock this hard. The room smelled like either farts or eggs the whole night and we never did figure out which.
We had to go outside after the first set. Not only did we need a bit of a cool off, I was hoping the vibe might cool a bit. How the heck are any of Cory's ballads going to work in that room with all the drunk people hollering and shit. I started to realize that most people were here to see Dawes, and the bartenders and crew were definitely into Dawes. Cory took the stage and asked if we had all eaten a bunch of crepes. The band played admirably and rocked through “Angel of Mine” and “What Do You Need”. Before they played, “So Wrong For Me” he says, “I don't know how this is gonna go over, but here we go...”. That song is just so damn intimate and delicate that it felt like the band was barely keeping it's head above those boiling ocean waves. My wife and others failed to hush the drunk girls yakking away through the whole song. They played a great, “My Heart Would Be There”, and “Lovers & Friends”. I just love that touch of surf in some of the songs. Then came, “Born Again”, and you could feel the crowd get really sold. The keyboards were way too quiet though. Cory asked the crew how much time he had and they said, “two songs”. Wow that was short. What the hell? Cory turns to the audience and says, “we're gonna play ten, er... two more songs”. Then he starts heckling this fool who was crazy dancing in the front row. He announces that the next song is going to, “Melt your faces” and finishes a kick ass set.
Now I love the Dawes record, “North Hills” a lot. I can't listen to it a lot though because the vocal harmonies get to be overwhelming, and start to remind me of Alabama. In this bar however, these guys just rocked way, way harder than the record and the harmonies were more subdued. I could look around the room at any point and see plenty of people mouthing all the words. By the time they played, “When My Time Comes”, people where jumping and singing along at the top of their lungs. We had to retreat to the back and hang with the merch folks. The last track they played was the last track on the record and my favorite, “Peaceful Valley”. David Rawlings showed up and joined them on the song wearing a white cowboy hat while Gillian Welch watched in the wings. Damn... my face is now officially melted and it wasn't just those brownies. I f#cking love Santa Cruz.
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