Great Lake Swimmers

Young girl just outside the line for the show

Saturday Night was the Great Lake Swimmers at the Ark in Ann Arbor. What a great, intimate, acoustic venue to hear world class musicians. It's been a very long time since I've been to the Ark, and I will be looking for more shows out of there in short order, it's just a great place to see artists perform up close.

The Great Lake Swimmers are a relatively new band to hit the national spotlight, and they reminded me a lot of the Fleet Foxes, with less harmony and more banjo. The GLS has that new sound that seems to be emerging as the rocky edgy whiny folky music. Some of their stuff I really enjoyed, and some of it left me flat, not really soaring or evoking a strong feel either way. The first set was very mellow, which left me with an initial impression of disappointment.

Tony Dekker opened the second set with three solo acoustic pieces which was the highlight of the night for me, that seemed to create a very intimate connection to the audience. The rest of the band came out for the second half of the set and the tempo was noticeably more upbeat, with a couple of songs off some of their older albums.

I really enjoyed the nights performance, but did not love it. They seemed to have a few moments of brilliance, with a lot of music in the middle that sounded alike, and just not moving enough to say it was great.

A very moody, mellow, even melancholy sound out of the boys from Toronto. They've really been getting a lot of buzz lately, I'll be interested in following their ascent. I don't see their sound appealing to the masses, but I do see a niche 'Neil Young' type crowd that would really connect to their music. Some really strong messages in their lyrics, delivered in a very subtle tone.

Tonight I was able to smuggle a camera into the show, with the bands permission, which gave me a chance to try out a new 35mm lens I just picked up for this very purpose.