6A — Monday, February 2, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Amos Lee stuns at
day two of Folk Fest
By ADAM THEISEN
Senior Arts Editor
The Ark prides itself on stretch-
ing the definition of “folk music.”
While the Ann Arbor institution is
primarily known as a “folk” venue,
in reality, it loves to accommodate
all kinds of genre-breaking artists.
In The Ark’s eyes, it seems, folk
isn’t always just a guy standing
alone on stage with a guitar, but
rather a guiding set of principles
for making art.
That philosophy couldn’t have
been more apparent on Saturday
night at Day 2 of the 38th Annual
Ann Arbor Folk Festival. The
seven-artist, five-hour show was
like a sampler pack of everything
The Ark has to offer year-round.
While the show’s headliner was, in
fact, a man by himself singing with
an acoustic guitar, the journey to
Amos Lee covered confessional
singer-songwriters,
old-school
blues and even a true depression-
era big-band throwback.
The night began with Ann
Arbor native Laith Al-Saadi, who
played with what he called the
cheapest and most-traveled gui-
tar of the night. Bearing at least a
slight resemblance to Jerry Garcia
with his long beard and glasses, Al-
Saadi got a great response from the
crowd, especially when he added
riffs from Led Zeppelin songs to
his virtuosic guitar solos. He capti-
vated the audience, and he clearly
had a very special relationship
with his instrument.
Following Al-Saadi was the
young Seattle-born Noah Gunder-
sen, who played acoustic guitar
and sang while his sister played
violin and provided back-up vocals.
His songs were more elegiac, more
delicate, with slow-building, pow-
erful vocals. After the Gundersens
left the stage, they were replaced
by
the
eight-piece
Dustbowl
Revival, a group that was a com-
plete throwback to depression-era
hoedowns. Opening with a spir-
ited rendition of “John the Revela-
tor,” the horns livened the crowd
and the five-part harmonies were
quite impressive. The band even
included
a
vaudeville-inspired
number in its set, and it was a bit of
a shame that everyone in the rever-
ent audience was sitting down and
not dancing.
Between the sets, while the
stage crew was switching out
instruments, New England folk
singer Cheryl Wheeler kept the
crowd entertained. Self-depre-
cating, upbeat and off-the-cuff,
she seemed to talk about what-
ever popped into her head, includ-
ing stories from seventh grade
or tales about her dogs. She sang
short songs that were goofy, like
her song about potatoes set to the
“Mexican Hat Dance” melody, and
heartfelt, like her ode to her wife.
Wheeler was especially proud
to introduce the legendary Buffy
Saint-Marie, a singer-songwriter
of Canadian Cree decent who has
been around since the ’60s. The
oft-covered
Saint-Marie
yelled
her way through rock ‘n’ roll pro-
test songs with environmentalist
lyrics, alternating those numbers
with
softer,
prettier
acoustic
tracks, including the classics “Uni-
versal Soldier” and the Academy
Award Best Original Song winner
“Up Where We Belong.” Saint-
Marie was clearly a crowd favorite.
After an intermission, Holly
Williams, granddaughter of coun-
try legend Hank Williams, took
the stage. Dressed like a cowgirl
with hat, boots, jeans and long
blonde hair and singing with a
southern twang, Williams played
a very personal, confessional style
of folk music. She sang about her
grandparents in Louisiana and a
cemetery where five generations
of her family lay.
Then it was time for the night’s
two headliners. Ani DiFranco
announced, while she usually tries
to mix up her setlists, tonight she
would only play new songs. With
two backing musicians (percus-
sion and bass), DiFranco played
tracks from her most recent album
as well as songs she had just writ-
ten. The music was mostly open
arrangements played at slow,
relaxing tempos, and though most
of it was unfamiliar to the audi-
ence, DiFranco did relent and close
her set by playing 1998’s “Swan-
dive.”
Finally, after over four hours of
music, Amos Lee arrived. Standing
tall with glasses and a beard, Lee
took control of the crowd, singing
like a folk Otis Redding with tons
of charisma in his rough soulful
voice. He was one of the poppiest
musicians of the lineup, and even
though he was performing solo
with just his guitar, his songs felt
fully developed. He garnered tons
of “Whoo!”s from his fans when
he moved all across his vocal reg-
ister. Lee told plenty of stories,
introducing his classic “Sweet
Pea” by telling the festival attend-
ees about a time when he made an
elderly woman in a hospice with a
reputation for being difficult dance
when he played this “little ditty”
for her. He expressed admiration
for the city of Ann Arbor, for the
fans who sat through a marathon
night of music and for the other
performers. He backed up that
last comment when he brought out
every other artist who had per-
formed throughout the night, all
of them harmonizing together on
“Angel from Montgomery.” After
50 years of music and 38 years of a
folk festival that still sells out both
nights, the sense of the community
between musicians and audience
at The Ark feels stronger than ever.
EVENT REVIEW
Sexy ballet delights
By COSMO PAPPAS
Daily Arts Writer
Before you see their per-
formances, there are many
things about Compagnie Marie
Chouinard that cry out for a
furrow-browed contemplation
punctuated only by cultivated
“ahs” and “hms.” An avant-
garde dance company from
Montreal, the group bears many
of the markers of high preten-
tiousness in the American cul-
tural imagination – abstract
dance, 20th-century classical
music, nudity. And did I mention
they’re French (-speaking)?
The Statue of Liberty must
have been the last moment of
genuine
cultural
camarade-
rie between the U.S. and the
Francophone world, since in
response to the stereotypes
of French-language media we
as Americans carry with us
– disaffected, independently
wealthy
faux-radical
youth
smoking hand-rolled cigarettes
in a seedy bar – we typically
give little more than an irritat-
ed sigh.
When
Compagnie
Marie
Chouinard came to Ann Arbor
on Jan. 23, they performed
two different works. The first,
entitled Gymnopédies, was built
around Erik Satie’s canoni-
cal series of compositions for
the piano of the same name.
Beginning with the company’s
11 dancers silently walking
through a yonic curtain rigging
in pairs, suggesting creation
or birth or a reverse birth, I
expected an uninhibited, self-
indulgent
performance.
But
Compagnie Marie Chouinard is
a lot smarter than its audience.
The next scene, a formation
of about five to seven dancers
donned in clown noses comes
out bunny-hopping across the
stage. A few audience members,
including myself and the per-
son I went with, laughed a bit.
“Is it supposed to be funny?,” we
sheepishly wonder, as we try to
suppress our laughter because
it seems like we’re supposed to
strain for its commentary on
the human condition with an
expressively unexpressive face.
It becomes obvious that there’s
something more at play when a
second group, similarly garbed
in red noses, enters stage right
hopping in the same way toward
the first group. And then some-
thing extraordinary happened:
everybody laughed!
Stunt after stunt, the com-
pany brilliantly played on its
audience’s
expectations
by
foregrounding the silly and the
goofy amid the gorgeous cho-
reography. Compagnie Marie
Chouinard does not eschew
expertise
and
technique
in
refusing
ballet-as-serious-art
and its attendant stuffiness. But
perhaps even more importantly,
this dance company is interested
in sex. And yet, the depiction of
sex is no less awkward or goofy
than the rest of the show. This
aspect is part of the company’s
great success.
Compagnie
Marie
Choui-
nard’s thoughtful and inclusive
sex-positivity
consists
iofits
interest in the unsure, early
erotic encounters that often
fall outside heteronormative
conceptions of sex. There is no
shame or guilt or pretentious-
ness; and rather only a sense of
goofy, playful, tender and mer-
rily raunchy unknowingness in
their representations of sex: gay
and lesbian and hetero.
The second half of the show,
titled Henri Michaux: Mouve-
ments, is an engaging explo-
ration of the representational
capacity of ballet as each danc-
er, dressed in a black body suit,
mimics the monochromatic ink
drawings of the Belgian poet
and painter of the title. Once
again, Compagnie Marie Choui-
nard averts the risk of coming
off as uncavalierly pretentious
with the choice of music – abra-
sive, fast-paced metal. This
choice cements the company’s
commitment to poking fun at
its audience by saying, We’re
not stuffy, so why do you watch
it that way? Their delight is in
subverting the typical condi-
tions of the reception of ballet
and high culture by producing
an intelligent and simultane-
ously very funny show.
CONCERT RECAP
Ann Arbor Folk
Festival returns
Brandi Carlile
headlines 38th
annual show
By AMELIA ZAK
Daily Music Editor
The first night of the 38th annu-
al Ann Arbor Folk Festival was in
full swing this past Friday, Jan. 30.
With a stacked lineup and the silly
wit of the night’s MC, Steve Poltz,
a singer-songwriter, the festival
explored the expansive genre of
folk music. The night began with
the smooth, simpler sounds of ris-
ing folk bands. Billy Strings and
Jon Dulin, a Michigan duo, had
the audience begin its night with
some bluegrass samples. “Walk On
Boy” was the highlight of the duo’s
set, giving everyone old-school
bluegrass with a jolt of energy
from modern day music. Mandolin
Orange, a North Carolina-based
group, followed these boys with a
softer variety of folk. Performing
simple songs made large by one
acoustic guitar, one electric guitar
and a mandolin, Emily Frantz and
Andrew Marlin were another duo
who, although currently of only
mild acclaim, will undoubtedly
expand their sound and popularity
before the year’s end.
With a strong bass and bluesy
electric guitar, the Bahamas were
the self-declared “odd ducks”
of the night. Throughout their
30-minute set, the group held the
intriguingly juxtaposed moments
of heavy instrumental and vocal
intensity followed by short bouts
of calm silence. Afie Jurvanen, the
band’s lead singer, led the show
with his dark humor and booming
voice through their well known
hits like “Never Let You Go” and
the highly acclaimed “Lost In The
Light.” The Bahamas reiterated
the intention behind The Ark’s
chosen lineup: finding folk art-
ists who reform the genre’s clas-
sic sounds with individuality and
personal taste. Here, the personal
taste was laced with a bluesy elec-
tric guitar and ethereal vocals.
Yonder Mountain String Band
jumpstarted its set by declaring,
“we’re not going to say much
after this – we’re just going to
play.” The 30-minute set held
no breaks, nor any perception of
fingers. Each member’s hands,
fingers and movements were so
quick and so dedicated to the
high intensity bluegrass jam
session they began that both
audience and artists had lost
themselves in the art they creat-
ed. The band’s fiddler and banjo
player added some of the set’s
most notable solos. Following
this fierce five-person jam ses-
sion were the fierce folk sisters
of the Swedish band Baskery.
Aware of the power of Hill Audi-
torium, these three sisters began
their set with a short, eery and
ethereal a capella number before
drastically
transitioning
into
some crowd-clapping, physical
folk rock numbers. Songs like
“Catslap” and “The Shadow”
were slathered in electric banjo
slides and harsher acoustic rock
sounds, all with an underlying
lyrical emphasis on feminism.
With heads cocked and hair
pushed to the side, these three
sisters confidently introduced
their sound to the older folks of
Hill Auditorium.
The top acts of the night, criti-
cally acclaimed Alabama native
Jason Isbell and folk-rock power-
house Brandi Carlile, refused to
disappoint. Isbell glided on stage
smoothly with wife and violinist
Amanda Shires to deliver a sad and
at times darkly humorous perfor-
mance. Songs like “Live Oak” and
“Cover Me Up” left some audi-
ence members a bit teary-eyed as
Isbell and his wife told the stories
beneath their detailed storytell-
ing lyrics. The couple finished the
set with a quietly beautiful War-
ren Zevon cover before exiting the
stage, holding the same intense eye
contact they held for most of the
loving performance.
Brandi Carlile finished the
night
with
alternative
folk
finesse filled with her powerful
attitude and vocals. With a tat-
tered leather jacket and wide-
rimmed hat, Carlile and her band
coolly floated on stage and ripped
into her set. Her signature voice
painted each song, making the
instruments always fall second
to the first-place performance
she and her twinning band-
mates provided for an adoring
crowd. Time, age and experience
have deepened her apprecia-
tion for her career and allowed
for more confidence in her per-
formances. She experimented
with the crowd and venue, at one
point using the amazing acous-
tics of Hill Auditorium to sing
unamplified to her adoring audi-
ence. Whether amplified or not,
Brandi’s throaty, crescendoing
voice expanded throughout the
auditorium in song and word as
she told stories of inspiration and
growth. She finished the night
with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s
“The Chain.” As she twirled and
danced across the stage, Carl-
isle made herself worthy of any
possible Stevie Nicks compari-
son as “we must never break the
chainnn ….” echoed throughout
the adoring Hill Auditorium.
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Folkin’ awesome, man.
CONCERT RECAP