Big Head Todd bids '08 Square series goodbye
Come Sept. 1, some depressing thoughts start creeping in my head — the days are getting shorter; I’d better start saving so I can afford my gas bill this winter; a new season of “Dancing with the Stars” starts Sept. 22.
And Thursday night, it was time to add another bummer to the list — the final show of this year’s Thursday at the Square series. Luckily for those in attendance, the double bill of Big Head Todd & The Monsters and Indigenous was a bluesy, jam-heavy blast, the perfect backdrop for a gorgeous late-summer evening.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters with Indigenous, Thursday night at Lafayette Square
Indigenous got things started with an absolutely torrid set of straight-ahead blues/rock, led by singer/ songwriter/guitarist Mato Nanji. The quintet spent their hourlong set alternating between up-tempo, Stevie Ray/Jimi-summoning scorchers and epic blues ballads, the latter making for the most spine-tingling moments. On “Place I Know,” a track off the band’s new album “Broken Lands,” Nanji sang poignantly about his experiences growing up on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. But while the lyrics were stark, the groove was slow and sensual — a fitting way to greet the coming dusk.
And while his band is great, Nanji’s playing is the main attraction. Full of nuanced, hammer-on-laden runs that build up to some full-on shredding, his solos had the tendency to blow the mind.
As a result, the Square crowd was in awfully good spirits by the time the headliner took the stage. One of the ultimate “everyday guy” college bands of the early ’90s, Big Head Todd & The Monsters has also been one of the most dedicated touring acts in rock. Since forming at the University of Colorado in the late ’80s, this has been the kind of band that expands their fan base from the stage first and the recording studio second. If you listen to one of their records right before seeing them live, as I did Thursday, the difference is remarkable.
So as the quartet — singer/ songwriter/guitarist Todd Park Mohr, bassist Rob Squires, drummer (and Buffalo native) Brian Nevin and keyboardist/pedal steel player Jeremy Lawton — played the first notes of the last Square set of 2008, we were in more-than-capable hands.
From the beginning, it was clear that Big Head Todd & The Monsters is purely a live animal. Opening with “Cash Box,” a tough, sinewy blues tune off the band’s 2007 disc “All the Love You Need,” Mohr & Co. sounded loose, confident and energized. Backed by Lawton’s smart pedal steel accents, the song was simple, loud and full of sexual innuendo.
And as the second song of the night proved, these players (and Mohr’s songs) are more versatile than they get credit for. Sure, the verse to “Ellis Island” featured the kind of slightly ragged roots-rock groove that Big Head Todd is known for. But then came the chorus — a soaring, aching thing that could’ve come from Radiohead’s “The Bends” album. The contrast was striking.
For the rest of their self-assured, completely entertaining set, these guys made playing rock songs look easy, dipping into older favorites like “Broken-Hearted Savior” and “Bittersweet” as well as brand new material — the latter being the true test of a great live band. And sure enough, when they announced they were going to play some of the latter, nary a groan was heard.
