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Although many a band has
looked at their CD’s track listing and said,
“Yeah, let’s use this for our set
list,” they would never admit it. Not the
Widowers. At the beginning of
the release party its self-titled debut, Mike
Marchant put it right out there, “We’re
going to play our new album for you from beginning
to end.”
That’s one of the many
wonders of the Widowers; the honestly that comes
through its music and from its member’s
mouths.
As opposed to a movie where
your friend accidentally tells you that the
hero dies in the end, giving away the surprise,
actually knowing what was coming next was almost
more exciting. You knew that the beautiful flow
of “Stalwart Ships” would begin
the night, and within 10 or so minutes from
that, the jangle and sleepy tones of “Bone
Collecting Ghost” would fill the Larimer
Lounge with melodic harmony and grace.
But in a live setting, the
boys really let go, amping up the energy of
some of their more sedate tunes and really going
off when the faster songs came about. Mark
Shusterman (rhodes piano, synth vocals)
was juggling the keys while waving down a semi
with his tambourine as the Christmas colored
lights danced behind him. Marchant and Davey
Hart (guitar) were taking turns twisting
and writhing to the pseudo post punkness of
“Pistol,” coming together at times
to clash with the titans.
Meanwhile, Cory Brown
(drums, percussion, programming, synth) was
killing it on the psychedelic summer track,
“Blackout Bastard Sons,” as did
bassist Mark Weaver, working
his 2' x 2' space on the stage.
In the end, they left the
stage for only a moment to catch their breath
in Larimer’s patio, returning within less
than a minute later to perform the last songs
on the album, stating that they weren’t
going to make us wait. But I’m sure no
one, in this scenario, would have minded.
If you missed this stellar
performance, Widowers play this Saturday,
May 3 at Bluebird with Cat-A-Tac, Light
Travels Faster, 3 Cheers Faraday, which may
give them even more room to spread their musical
wings.
www.myspace.com/widowersmusic
-Kim Owens, April 29,
2008
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