Quiet is the New Loud- Vetiver at the Media Club

I don't want to resort to cliche and tell you I was transported back to the San Francisco circa Sixties at the height of the folk scene, because the present was very present. A fact highligthed when I gave my brother a Palestinian Intifada pin before the show. But there are parallels between the extreme political climate of that era, and that of today's. But where folk music was itself protest, I think today it is more of a relief from the hyper capitalist melee of the 24/7 wired world. Last night that generation gap was bridged as folk legend Michale Hurley made his first trip to Vancouver. It was quite special to see him still going, not capitulating to the forces of baby boom economics. He has a style of guitar playing all of his own; percussive and muted as do all great folk legends like Bert Jansch, Leo Kottke and John Fahey. His voice like Dylan or Willie Nelson maybe. His little outfit that he handmade. So cute.

The first band was Currituck County and they were nice, but not memorable.

When Vetiver came on, people were sitting down, and that's nice. But i can't do it. I had to go up front. I don't want to feel like I need to be entertained. I dunno, if the band has to stand, then I should too. So, sorry if I wrecked everyone's view. They started off with a slow version of Oh Papa. I closed my eyes.

They played a few from their upcoming album, a little more rock. They got the dude from Curritcuk County to come up and play something called a Shruimi (sp?), an ancient mystical hindu meditation drone box. Rad. Kind of like the drone of a bag pipe, but more eastern sounding. Much less Scottish. (More Shruimi in the monitors!) They brought up Michael Hurley again to sing a cover song, by the Banana Bunch I believe. Not sure on that one, since a google search proved fruitless. Ha ha, get it? Banana Bunch search was fruitless! Anyways...

At one point Andy turned to his bandmates and said he wanted to do a more country rock set, and less space jam. At which point a decided to shout SPACE JAM! Its funny, because every show I go to I yell out SPACE JAM! Seriously.

Man, Andy's voice is really calming. There is enough of earnestness and emotion to set him apart from typical folk singers without being weird for the sake of being weird. Yet there is an undeniable darkness to his timbre that cuts through the room and quivers in the back of your mind. Vetiver and Michael Hurley prove that this freak folk fad isn't temporary, and that indeed it never left. With the amount of stimuli that invades our psyches everyday we will always need to take a moment to reflect.

Thank you Vetiver.