Langhorne Slim, with abandon

We went and saw Langhorne Slim at the Ottobar last night. I'd heard a couple of his songs a few times and vaguely liked them, but went mainly because of the rave reviews of his First Thursday show last week. "Don't miss this guy!" was the message. Good thing I listened.

He and his band, the War Eagles, get more sound out of an acoustic guitar, an upright bass, and a drumkit than most other groups can manage with multiple instruments - case in point, this show rivaled Friday's Justin Jones show, which had acoustic and lead guitar, bass, trombone and sax, pedal steel, drums and a backup singer. With a cute, Bob Dylan-esque hat that may or may not have had a feather in the brim, and what my friend called an 'effeminate yet sexy' butt wiggle/strut thrown in for good measure, Langhorne brought down the house, strumming complex chord changes and singing like it was his last night on earth. His voice is a little high, but strong and confident, with just a bit of the Dylan whine.

Wikipedia tells me that he went to music school, which makes a lot of sense, and would also explain why his bassist, Paul Defiglia, and the drummer, Malachi DeLorenzo, are so talented.

The opening bands, Scruggs (think very early Uncle Tupelo) and The Red Vines (Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles) were also excellent. The Red Vines had a guy on keys and trombone who, let's be honest, was most responsible for their awesomeness. Poppy, melodic, with a smattering of psychadelic organ, the only thing missing was a tambourine for the female singer to smack against her thigh. Both are from Baltimore so I'm sure I'll be seeing them again soon.