Patrick Watson Embraces, Entrances
By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on May 19, 2010 4:40PM
Photo by Kim Bellware
Before rolling into town Monday night, Patrick Watson—lauded in his native Canada—had never played Chicago; his most recent effort, Wooden Arms, largely flew under the radar since its release in early 2009.
We were pleasantly surprised, then, to see just how quickly Watson entranced the solidly packed house at Schubas. Perhaps concertgoers were already hip to Watson’s magic, or maybe the shaggy Canuck was just a master at winning new fans. Either way, with an audience more rapt and excited than any we’ve seen in a while, a crackling energy ran all the way through the sprawling, ambitious set that saw fans swaying, clapping, singing and fully re-arranging the room (twice).
Opening on a completely darkened stage, Watson and his band wove an intricate sound allowing plenty of space between the waifish, antique-y vocals and the drifting scores adorned with everything from strings and harmonium to bullhorns and pots and pans. The individual songs don’t amount to much where deep meaning or smart lyrics are concerned, but each track—and even more in sum—fleshed out a colorful narration that evoked feelings of motion, joy and melancholy. And despite the clutter of instruments (and some bands do make a clutter out of it), the effect was room-filling rather than filler.
During the drum-driven “Beijing,” Dolly Parton inspired “Big Bird In a Small Cage,” and waltzing “Traveling Salesman” Watson spread his kitchen sink approach before the crowd, nabbing cues from a gentle ballad here, an icy, echoing interlude there or an effect that can best be described as funhouse-music-meets-ragtime. Watson and company kept things loose without letting it all come apart, and roughened any neat edges on their music with a well-placed jolt of piano or shattering guitar feedback.
The combined effects had us on the verge of feeling overwhelmed as Watson strapped a multi-megaphone contraption to his back (think Spiderman’s Doc Ock) and took to the center of the room for the encore. It was a bit over-the-top, but in Watson’s dreamy story land, also a fitting end.