Noah and the Whale at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (10/08/13) concert review

Set List

Tour Dates

 

Dare I say it? Ok… a “whale of a good time” was had as Twickenham, London-based quintet Noah and the Whale played the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The nattily-clad band (Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Tom Hobden (Violin/keys), Matt Owens (bass), Fred Abbott (guitar/keys), and Michael Petulla (drums) came to town in support of their 4th and newest full-length, Heart of Nowhere (Caroline Records), for a spirited 85 min. set that had toes tapping… as well as a winter-like finish.

After tour opener, LA-based singer LP, had to pull out due to a meniscus knee injury, locals Farewell Milwaukee ably filled in with a 30 min. set of pleasant Americana rock, highlighting tracks from their just-released third album Can’t Please You, Can’t Please Me.

Then, after a short intermission, lights dimmed, intro music cued (a lounge-y version of ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’, AKA the 2001 theme) and the reserved, yet relaxed headliner started with the perfect opening song- ‘Tonight’s the Kind of Night’, then followed it with the title track of the new record.

The band, which once boasted fellow UK-folkie Laura Marling as a member, grew out of the same indie-folk scene as Mumford and Sons, Johnny Flynn, and others, and their sound has continued to evolve through its four releases, sounding more American to these ears.

Vocalist Charlie Fink must have been excited to play as well, as he inadvertently skipped ahead on the setlist to play ‘Give It All Back’ earlier than the rest of the band expected, though caught his mistake after its performance, “I just thought the mood was right for it,” Fink mused. A bouncy ‘“L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.,” (abbreviated as ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.B.O.N.G.’ on the setlist) was an early highlight, Hobden’s violin keeping the heads nodding and feet shuffling in the crowd.

‘Old Joy’ became a crowd chorus sing-a-long “with that Dinkytown soul” which the crowd responded well to, Fink declaring it “the most musical version” heard so far on the tour. A request from a concertgoer in Portland kept ‘2 Atoms in a Molecule’ in the setlist for here as well, and Fink also called out a member in the audience they had met earlier in the day, who coincidentally also happened to be named Noah.

 

 

The evening’s highlight came late—instead of the Daft Punk cover they’ve been performing at other shows, the band took full advantage of where they were geographically, and dug out a passionate cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘The Man in Me’, from 1970’s “New Morning”, complete with guitar duel soloing, Abbott looking like a Journeyman-era Clapton on guitar. The main set ended with the uplifting ‘5 Years’ Time (Sun Sun Sun)’ and the band would return for the slower but building harmonies of ‘First Days of Spring’, which ended the show inexplicably with the snow machine showering the front of the crowd (when most seemed in no hurry to see any real snow around here).

But, the party wasn’t over yet- the band teased they might head around the corner, to the neighboring Kitty Kat Club to continue on, under the guise of either band name ‘No Underwear’ (a nameplay on their own band’s name as a result of Customs not understanding their UK accent when communicating) or ‘Bullshark’ (named after bassist Owens’ new cowboy boots). A ‘whale of a time’ that kept going into the early hours of the night.