Live at Crystal Ballroom
April 8, 2014 | Portland, OR
Photos by Jason Charme | Written by Walter McCorkle
Over the past 6 months, it has become abundantly clear that both the Rose City and the Pacific Northwest are no strangers to the Appalachian string music called bluegrass. Harboring in acts on a regular basis and producing several of their own hometown, bluegrass-inspired bands (check out Fruition), Portland has more than hollowed out a niche for grassheads. All months of the year, you can expect to find a great act either in the darker corners of the city (The Goodfoot, Wonder Ballroom) or the bright lights of downtown (Crystal Ballroom, The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall). This past Wednesday night was no exception with Yonder Mountain String Band bringing in a full house to the Crystal Ballroom, returning to Portland for the first time since 2010.
I do not often harp on the crowd that any particular band, city, or venue tends to bring in, but this particular evening the personage was outstanding. Their was an aura of positivity floating about the ballroom and an overall kinship that could be felt throughout the crowded dance floor. I’m still not sure what caused this feeling, but I am going to go ahead and give the credit to YMSB because they hands-down rocked the house. The band opened up the night with a fast paced “High on a Hilltop,” chronicling a long lost lover. After setting up and settling in, they fired off a few bumpin’ songs in a row “Criminal”, “Maid of the Canyon” and “Left Me in a Hole”. These songs lead to the major turning point of the show where the band really got steaming.
Yonder Mountain Invited Philip Brezina of the opening band The Brothers Comatose to sit in on fiddle. Yonder buckled down and started showcasing their amazing talent with the addition of the fiddle for a stellar jammed out “No Expectations.” Next up after Philip left the stage was “Loved You Enough” that featured a more banjo-driven jam (Dave Johnston). This is a good time to mention that Yonder Mountain utilizes each band member with utmost respect. After seeing them a few times in the South and again on this night in Portland, it finally hit me that there isn’t just one front man for this band although some might say it is Jeff Austin. Each member is uniquely talented on both their instruments and their stage presence with each musician offering leading vocals throughout the show. With that said, it was singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist Adam Aijala who serenaded the crowd with a “Lonesome Letter” that beckoned more toward the country side of bluegrass. The band heated things back up with a cover of “My Walking Shoes Don’t Fit Me Anymore” that epitomized hill country grass. For the final push to the end of the first set, the band invited one more guest to the stage. The newly “local” transplant to Portland, Allie Kral of the band Cornmeal, graced the stage with her fierce fiddle sawing. She joined the band for one heck of a hoedown that took the form of “Raleigh & Spencer > Funtime > Game of Thrones > Raleigh & Spencer.” In this transformative set of songs and segues, there were moments of speed and agility, points of sleepy melodies, plenty of foot stomping, and a whole lot of fiddle shredding. The immensity of energy that the band closed out the first set with had my legs turned to jello, but my body begging for more.
During set break at the Crystal Ballroom, you can always count on the masses trekking back down from the third floor to head outside for a breath of fresh air. As I joined the crowd to head down, we were met on the second floor lobby by an impromptu fully acoustic set by the Brothers Comatose. Such a pleasant surprise to keep folks occupied and in the mood. I stood and enjoyed a tune or two, and soon enough the word had spread and the second floor was swarming with curious fans. The fun lasted for a while, but unfortunately due to the inability to move through the stairwell any longer, the brothers packed it up and business went back to usual.
After I snaked my way up a little closer to the stage during the break, the lights dimmed and Yonder took the stage again and opened up the second set with “Only a Northern Song.” This Beatles cover takes on a unique personality when repurposed into a bluegrass tune. Next up, the band dug back into the archives and pulled out a tune from their earlier album Elevation called “Half Moon Rising.” Not only is this a great piece of music, it also served as a great connection to my Southern heritage with such lyrics as “There’s a half moon rising in the southeastern skies tonight.” As we eased into the second set, the crowd was still yearning for a little more energy that they were left with at the end of the first set. And YMSB delivered with a fiery “My Gal” that revealed the honky tonkin’ foot stompers in the crowd. Jeff Austin was feeling the energy too, as he was rockin’ and reelin’ a jaw-dropping mandolin jam. After the crowd settled, so did the band as they cranked out a few more even paced and downtempo songs (“Polly Put the Kettle On, Pass This Way, To See You Coming ‘Round the Bend”). By no means does this imply that these songs were not good, but they became overshadowed by the unreal end to this set and show.
Yonder got the crowd boiling again with the popular “Steep Grade, Sharp Curves” that offered a glimpse of each musicians’ instrument as the band switched off between each other during the jam. And now for the pièce de résistance, fiddle virtuoso Allie Kral rejoined YMSB for the closing double decker “King Ebeneezer” sandwich that translates to “On the Run > Angel > King Ebeneezer > Angel > On the Run.” My, oh, my. It’s hard to describe in words the epicness of this segue of songs, let alone just one of the songs alone. There were tastes of solos from each musician, fiddle and mandolin duels, slow lulls and quick expansions, lights abound, and sustained crowd enthusiasm. I think the best way to highlight the brightest moment of this closing jam is to directly quote my notes from the show, “Unfuckingbelievable fiddle solo and the music just doesn’t stop!”
Needless to say, the show up to this point was already climbing up my top shows list, and Yonder Mountain still hadn’t encored. The boys took the stage again, and addressed the crowd with a heartfelt dedication to friend and fellow musician from the band Brown Bird, David Lamb, who recently passed after a lengthy battle with leukemia. Clearly sensing the crowd’s love for the fiddle invited Philip Brezina back on the stage to perform “Crazy” which ran smoothly into “Boatman.” The interesting transition here was when Allie Kral (who partially stole the show) took up her fiddle for “Boatman.” Allie Kral obviously made her mark on the band as well because they invited her to join them for Yonder’s next show in Eugene, OR. This night in Portland has gone down in my books as one of the great shows I have been lucky enough to witness, and has Yonder Mountain String Band back on my radar. I think it is safe to say that the other patrons on this night were itching for more bluegrass, and the tone was set for the upcoming Northwest String Summit this summer. I will be doing my best to see these guys any time they are around, and I will be keeping my ears open for any notion of Allie Kral’s fiddle back on the stage.
Yonder Mountain String Band
04/08/14 (Tue) Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
Set 1: High On A Hilltop, Criminal, Maid Of The Canyon, Left Me In A Hole, No Expectations^, Loved You Enough, Lonesome Letter, Walking Shoes, Raleigh & Spencer*> Funtime*> Game Of Thrones*> Raleigh & Spencer*
Set 2: Only A Northern Song, Half Moon Rising, My Gal, Polly Put The Kettle On, Pass This Way, To See You Coming Round The Bend, Steep Grade Sharp Curves, On The Run*> Angel*> King Ebeneezer*> Angel*> On The Run* E: Crazy^> Boatman*
Notes: (1) ^ = Philip Brezina from the Brothers Comatose on Fiddle
(2) * = Allie Kral (of Cornmeal) on Fiddle