Hey Marseilles celebrated the vinyl re-release of To Trunks & Travels at a sold-out Tractor Tavern on Saturday night, and the crowd was ready. We met some fans outside who told of siblings and friends traveling from Spokane and Boise just to see the show. I was a first-timer for Hey Marseilles but have been regaled with nothing but positive outpourings from friends for several months. The rumors were true, it was indeed a great live show. With seven band members in total, the unassuming young group masterfully performed their brand of orchestral folk with the precision and ease that can only come from the volume of shows they’ve been performing lately.
I really enjoyed the warmup set by The Head & The Heart. I’d never heard of the band before but was pleased with their set. There were six kids up on stage, with all manner of instruments: tambourine, drum, fiddle and so on. Lots of beards and knit caps as well. I kind of dismissed them as a bunch of hippies at first, but the musical quality was definitely there. Nice, strong vocals, including a solitary female voice that lent itself well to the multi-part harmonies. Overall I found it to be nice, comforting Okie music; think John Denver meets Gillian Welch. The crowd response was a bit lukewarm, but I think the band will develop a decent following over time. They should totally play the No Depression festival this year.
During Hey Marseilles set I was often reminded of early Decemberists, as the band turned out a variety of sea shanties, and Irish and gypsy folk tunes. When you’ve got a viola, accordion and cello combined with a yearning tenor, can you think of anything else? Honestly though, the band really does make the music their ow and it’s not as self indulgent as I find the Decemberists. Hey Marseilles seems to have a lot more heart than Colin Meloy’s band and a lot more instruments too. Every band member seems versed in at least three instruments, if not more. Besides the requisite guitars and aforementioned pirate accouterments, I counted a trumpet, several different drums, keyboards, tambourine, sleigh bells and a melodica in their arsenal onstage.
The album’s title track is a classic example of this style of music, and Hey Marseilles performed it with a bursting fervor that swept through the crowd in it’s first notes. The strings were particularly arresting and full on this song and the audience really got swept away singing along with the lyrics and swaying in time to the underlying drum.
The high energy “Hold the Morning” was captivating and made tremendous use of all those damned instruments, as well as showing the band’s variation in style. I like the rising and falling action of the song. Lots of audience interaction on that one as well. People sure do like to clap along, when there’s clapping to be done. What fun.
Another huge audience clap-a-thon came on the encore of “Rio” which is just a fun, heart-swelling tune that I challenge anyone to find fault with. Matt Bishop really does have some great pipes. How could anyone not like this music? As a European Whitey, I find it empirically pleasant.
It seemed that every instrument they had was featured on this song, and the band’s energy matched the pace of the song well. They seemed like they were having a really good time up there. I can see why Hey Marseilles has such a loyal following, it seemed like at any moment, everyone was going to lock arms and start swaying and singing along like in some old Corsican bar. Oh wait, they did.
*** Photo of Hey Marseilles’ Matt Bishop during Capitol Hill Block Party 2009 by Alex Crick
