Double Door-Chicago, IL
October 23, 2009
By Anthony Kuzminski
{Photo Credit}
Over the last decade no artist has delivered more inspiring records and paired them with roof-raising live shows like Will Hoge. His everyman work ethic is on full display in concert where he tears through his catalog of songs not because he has to, but because he needs to. Hoge did a small acoustic show at Schubas in April on a mini tour, but this is his first plugged-in full band show in Chicago in nearly a year-and-a-half. Arriving on-stage in a shirt, tie and a vest looking like a consummate professional, Hoge and his band shred through a 100-minute set that elated the Chicago crowd. It also served as notice, that despite an accident that derailed him in 2008, he hasn’t missed a step. Opening with “Just Like Me” from his most recent album, The Wreckage the show teetered between the past and the present with delicate meticulousness as he found a way to weave his songs and their personal themes into the very fabric of his live concert. “Secondhand Heart”, “She Don’t Care” and “Hard To Love” followed in quick succession and swished with vitality despite being performed on a constant basis. Hoge ventured out on a tour this past spring that found him sitting for most of the show performing his songs in an intimate acoustic manner, but the Double Door gig was a return to the ferocious and fierce bluesy live show he is known for. This time around, the band is a four-piece. A piano in on stage for certain songs but largely went unused as the band focused on a splintering garage rock architecture that was towering and every bit as action-packed as you could imagine.
The twenty-song set, while high on bravado, featured some of the same intimacy that his club shows featured this past spring. “Baby Girl” and “The Wreckage” were alluring as they were lucid. This led up to a reworked version of “Woman Be Strong” from his 2006 masterwork, The Man Who Killed Love. Normally a full-fledged soulful revue, this time around, the performance was more plaintive amidst bare instrumentation. This was a bold move on Hoge’s part to replace the soul with starkness. Before the song’s conclusion, Hoge switched out his acoustic for an electric guitar that found him wailing like a lost bluesman. The six-string pyrotechnics dripped over into “Sweet Magdeline”, where his playing stirred the soul of Duane Allman. The double dose of “Dirty Little War” and “When I Can Afford To Lose” showed the more discreet side of Hoge, as he pensively delivered his soul-baring lyrics that elicit an avalanche of emotions. Draw the Curtains may be Hoge’s tour de force masterpiece. His passionate renderings of those ten songs seep themselves into you and you can feel the fire from within brim to the surface. Hoge steers his audience through thorny pastures, but they follow without question because the music and the emotions go hand in hand shining forth with believability. “The Highway’s Home” may be one of the greatest road stories ever told and every performance of the song is a beautifying glimpse into his soul. No artist has his pulse on the American mindset better than Hoge. While the struggles and dreams share a universal theme, the dirt roads, broken homes and bourbon fueled blues-rock is infused by what he knows. His lyrics drip with rich poignant details full of shocking realities that cut close to the bone.
In all, the show featured seven of the eleven songs from The Wreckage, but a bigger surprise was that seven songs were included from Blackbird On A Lonely Wire, the John Shanks produced album from earlier this decade. Watching these songs in concert is always a revelation. New arrangements are tried out and often burst to life in concert. “Not That Cool” and “Better Off Now” were pure rock theater with the band vociferously playing out of their skins. Drummer Sigurdur Birkis swirled his drum sticks like they were an anvil pounding barriers of steel. Bassist Adam Beard complimented Birkis in keeping with the grooves while guitarist Devin Malone had a firm directness in his playing that compliments but never overwhelms the songs. Their combined efforts are devastating because of the vice-like grip they have on this material. The enthusiasm oozes off the concert stage infecting the crowd. The blasting “All Night Long” sounds like a lost Rolling Stones outtake from the 1970’s while “It’s A Shame” was larger-than-life in its resolute drive with a sterling and seducing performance. “It’s A Shame” is the type of song that could turn a cynic into a believer. The two most poignant tracks from The Wreckage “Highway Wings” and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” found the crowd feverishly singing to every word. Hoge didn’t even need to sing either song as the crowd latched onto these songs and strained their vocal chords as their voices soared to the sky towards redemption. These two songs, more than anything Hoge has written, “Highway Wings” and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” are the stuff of dreams; two mere examples of the translucent influence of rock n’ roll and its aptitude to elevate hearts and minds. At its best rock n’ roll finds a way to comfort and heal the soul and instills one with purpose.
No two concerts by Will Hoge are ever the same as he continually reinvent and delves into his catalog featuring an array of ever evolving arrangements. Will Hoge and his band perform every show like it’s their last. They don’t live in a world where FM airplay is in the cards so they do the only thing they can; hit the road and win people over, one show, one song and ultimately one person at a time. The Chicago show featured a avid crowd who knew his songs inside and out. Hoge is as vitalizing as any performer on the road today and his show is crammed with more authenticity than any other act I can think of. Hoge is like an invigorating preacher; no two sermons are ever the same and the pulpit from which he preaches his creed is the stage. He’s part Springsteen, Dylan, Little Richard and Cobain…yet at the same time, he’s none of them; Will Hoge’s voice and mission is singular and pays homage to the very roots of rock n’ roll while taking us along for the ride and let me tell you, it’s a thrilling and ever changing one that you should jump on.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
