Okkervil River LIVE @ Islington Assembly Hall 27.11.13

Formed in 1998 in Austin, Texas, Okkervil River has largely remained a cult act. Their sound takes indie rock and injects a healthy dose of folk rock, with lyrics that tell stories with heavy use of tragedy and irony. On Wednesday, they played to a sold out audience at the historic Islington Assembly Hall.¨

Originally built in the 1930’s, Islington Assembly Hall is easily one of the most unique venues in the country, with its grand stage size, high ceilings, and beautiful Art Deco styling. The upstairs balcony has authentic theatre style seating decked out in bright red material with the original ashtrays built into the seats.  It is beyond belief to me that the place was just a storage room up until 2010 when it was refurbished. The sound of the venue is brilliant; everything from bright tones of piano and guitar to the low sounds of the bass can be heard with absolute clarity. If you ever get a chance to see a show there do not hesitate.

Front man Will Sheff, who bears a strong resemblance to Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker with his thick framed glasses, arrives on stage and grabs his acoustic guitar, which he immediately throws around his back as the band launch in “It Was My Season” .From the opening notes of the keyboards you are blown away by the acoustics of the room as the sound of band resonates brilliantly.  Sheff commands attention with his theatrics and confidence. His banter in between in between song included charming and humorous comments about vinyl records, the subject of songs, and how it feels to make references the audience might not get among others.

The band played mostly from their last record, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful The Silver Gymnasium.  Through country folk jangle of “Pink Slip” the band is completely in their element, with Sheff’s eccentric theatrics taking center stage and some masterful guitar work  from Lauren Gurgiolo. The performances of a “White” and “On a Balcony” also were notable highlights of the show. While you can’t really expect a band like Okkervil River to make you jump around, “Stay Young” and “Deep Down the Deep River” turned the energy up of what was a bit of a calm concert.

Halfway through the concert the lights went off, and the rest of the band walked off the stage while Sheff stayed behind to play solo, accompanied by only his own guitar playing. It made the grandiose stage seem small and the performance felt intimate. Some parts of songs Sheff elected to sing in acapella, making for real powerful stuff.

After a few solo songs by Sheff, the lights came back on the rest of the band came onto the stage and the band played material spanning their entire discography.  It was here where the real highpoint of the show was when the band did an absolutely gorgeous version of “Kansas City” from their full length debut. Guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo played a lap steel guitar, which reverberated the magnificently throughout the room. Out of all the songs they played it was the one with the bleakest lyrics, which is saying a lot since other songs played had tales of “a man waking up one morning and jumping off a bridge”, being broke, and loneliness. However despite the dark lyrics, they aren’t a depressing band as they deliver their tunes passionately and with a lot of energy.