Neutral Milk Hotel started in the 1990s and released a full length album,\u00a0 On Avery Island,<\/em> in 1994.\u00a0 The band released its second full album in 1998, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea<\/em>, to high acclaim for Mangum’s creative lyrics and the unique instrumentation.\u00a0 Throughout the album the character of Anne Frank is present along with provocative characters such as the Two-Headed Boy matched with equally provocative lyrics.\u00a0 After the release of the album and the subsequent touring, Neutral Milk Hotel started turning down show opportunities and officially went on an indefinite hiatus in 1999.\u00a0 Mangum began playing solo shows again in 2010 and scheduled touring dates in 2011.\u00a0 I was reluctant to see him the first time he came my way.\u00a0 I loved Aeroplane’s<\/em> unique sound of horns and woodwinds, I was afraid an acoustic set would make his stories flat.<\/p>\n I have never been so happy to be wrong. Around 9pm Jeff Mangum walked on stage.\u00a0 He was wearing a red wool sweater, cords, and an army cap.\u00a0 Honestly he could have been sitting next to you in this crowd and, without a second look, you wouldn’t have realized who he was.\u00a0 Also he had an epic beard.\u00a0 (It has been growing it since May, he said)<\/p>\n He sat down on a plush beat-up chair, picked up a guitar, strummed a note and started playing the first chords of “Oh Comely”\u00a0 When he sang the first note it was like being pulled under by a wave.\u00a0 It was loud, it was powerful, it was raw, it was beautiful, it was real.\u00a0 The sheer volume he produced with his voice just rolled through the crowd and everyone sat in stunned silence.\u00a0 His nasally pitched singing sounded better than on the recordings.<\/p>\n After, the crowd burst into cheers and applause and he began to play “Two-Headed Boy Pt 1.”\u00a0 It was quieter, more restrained, but still so powerful.\u00a0 With a quick “thanks” and a “This is called ‘Gardenhead’,” he continued.\u00a0 There was this impression of shyness melting away with every song, every note.\u00a0 Everyone in that room loved him and it was as if he was making sure of that before he engaged directly with us.\u00a0 After “Ferris Wheel on Fire” and a cover of Rocky Erickson’s “I Love the Living You”\u00a0 he encouraged the crowd to sing along because he could “tell you want to.”\u00a0 And with that he went into “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One”, followed by part two and three.\u00a0 As the room echoed with a thousand mouths proclaiming “i love you Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ I love you,” it was absolute magic.<\/p>\n “Holland 1945” and “Oh Sister” followed.\u00a0 I have to say “Oh Sister” is much more disturbing when played live.\u00a0 He followed with “Two-Headed Boy Pt Two,” “Song Against Sex,” and “Ghost”.\u00a0 During “Ghost” the whole crowd flocked to the front of the theatre (we had been sitting in seats)\u00a0 and sang with him.\u00a0 It was beautiful.<\/p>\n However the enthusiasm was nothing compared to the whole crowd singing along to “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” as his encore.<\/p>\n This show was filled with emotion. You could feel the love from the crowd for Jeff and his music, his lyrics and his voice, his poetry.\u00a0 I was told it would be awkward, watching someone who doesn’t want to perform play live.\u00a0 It was anything but.\u00a0 He was personable, he bantered with the crowd and told some short anecdotes.\u00a0 He was reserved but he didn’t come off like an asshole, just someone who is really shy.\u00a0 Irregardless of his persona on stage, he is one of the most amazing musicians\u00a0 I have seen.\u00a0 The power in his voice and the feeling he projects into the lyrics make the characters in his songs come to life and gives you chills to be present in the wake of it all.<\/p>\n As we know from Oh Comely “soft, silly music is meaningful, magical”\u00a0 and that was never more true than at this show.<\/p>\n Link to Neutral Milk Hotel’s website:<\/p>\n http:\/\/walkingwallofwords.com\/<\/p>\n Tall Firs:<\/p>\n http:\/\/tallfirs.org\/<\/p>\n Here are some links to photos of the show:<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/rpm164\/status\/299513215451271168\/photo\/1<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDan and I walked into the Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center in York and could immediately feel the static of excitement in the room (or maybe it was from the crazy amount of beards, flannel, and wool on my fellow concert goers.)\u00a0 The opening act Tall Firs was decent and I have to give it to them.\u00a0 They knew no one was there to see them, still they put on a great set.\u00a0 Their music was very soothing, kind of like if whales and Mogwai produced an offspring and peppered it with Peter and the Wolf.\u00a0 I would check them out if you have insomnia.<\/p>\n
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