Antje Duvekot and Peter Bradley Adams
Iron Horse Music Hall, October 18, 2009
On Sunday October 18, Peter Bradley Adams and Antje Duvekot treated a medium-sized crowd at Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall to a warm and intimate show.
Adams opened the evening with a passel of earnest songs, including selections from his soon-to-be-released Traces. His is a light soothing voice in the tradition of David Wilcox, of whom he is vaguely reminiscent. Listening to Adams is like leisurely enjoying a hot butterscotch sundae. That’s both the good news and the bad. In a world of noise and chaos, Adams is understated and calm—a bit too much so, in fact. One would think that after four albums Adams would have more showmanship, but he was content to play the sensitive young artist on a musical road with neither dips nor peaks. His 45-minute set felt monochromatic until he moved over to keyboards and Duvekot joined him for a few harmonies that added musical edge.
Duvekot’s set was much more dynamic, and her is one glorious set of pipes. Her voice has the light qualities of Nanci Griffith, the reedy tones of Kate Rusby, and the occasional nasality of Natalie Merchant. She sports a repertoire of honest and raw emotions set amidst poetic imagery. The song themes are often dark; so much so that she joked that she’s had trouble writing now that she’s in a happy relationship. Much of her concert material came from her superb new CD, The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer (see “Acoustic Favorites,” 10/12/09) and she did especially lovely versions of “Lighthouse” and “Long Way,” the latter one of the year’s finest new songs. She selectively mined songs from her previous four albums as well, checking with particularly affecting takes on back material such as the lovely “Reasonland,” the dangerous “sexbandaid,” and the revenge song “Dandelion.”
Iron Horse Music Hall, October 18, 2009
On Sunday October 18, Peter Bradley Adams and Antje Duvekot treated a medium-sized crowd at Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall to a warm and intimate show.
Adams opened the evening with a passel of earnest songs, including selections from his soon-to-be-released Traces. His is a light soothing voice in the tradition of David Wilcox, of whom he is vaguely reminiscent. Listening to Adams is like leisurely enjoying a hot butterscotch sundae. That’s both the good news and the bad. In a world of noise and chaos, Adams is understated and calm—a bit too much so, in fact. One would think that after four albums Adams would have more showmanship, but he was content to play the sensitive young artist on a musical road with neither dips nor peaks. His 45-minute set felt monochromatic until he moved over to keyboards and Duvekot joined him for a few harmonies that added musical edge.
Duvekot’s set was much more dynamic, and her is one glorious set of pipes. Her voice has the light qualities of Nanci Griffith, the reedy tones of Kate Rusby, and the occasional nasality of Natalie Merchant. She sports a repertoire of honest and raw emotions set amidst poetic imagery. The song themes are often dark; so much so that she joked that she’s had trouble writing now that she’s in a happy relationship. Much of her concert material came from her superb new CD, The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer (see “Acoustic Favorites,” 10/12/09) and she did especially lovely versions of “Lighthouse” and “Long Way,” the latter one of the year’s finest new songs. She selectively mined songs from her previous four albums as well, checking with particularly affecting takes on back material such as the lovely “Reasonland,” the dangerous “sexbandaid,” and the revenge song “Dandelion.”
Many acoustic music fans have wondered whether Dukevot’s live show measures up to the new album, which was so superbly crafted by Richard Shindell. The answer is “no.” She’s simply not a good enough instrumentalist to jump the bar Shindell set. When you capo down eight to ten frets, as she routinely does, there’s not a lot of guitar neck left for fancy fingering, nor does the instrument have enough volume and contrast to dazzle. She too was stronger when working with Adams as a duo. That said, Duvekot gave a very satisfying show and there is absolutely no faulting her engaging voice, quirky personality, and top-drawer songwriting. We don’t always need a raging fire to come away feeling satisfied. Chalk one up for a warm glow.
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