Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power @ The Jackpot Saloon, 11/21/08

The final night of singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt's tour with fellow Athenians and current collaborators Elf Power brought them to the Jackpot last Friday for a calm night of unabashedly quality music. Elf Power's set was surprisingly great. I've never listened to them a lot, but they kind of rule. All of their lyrics are really hallucinogenic and visual, unfolding with a very stream-of-consciousness logic. Musically, they came across as a bit more straight-forward and less psyched-out than their albums, but their lyrical delivery was spot-on. They played mostly songs from their newest record. The highlight was probably the older power-pop jam "Temporary Arm," which somebody requested (It was my favorite response to an obnoxious song-shouter ever: (off-mic) "Oh god. Let's just play it.")

Vic Chesnutt's set was intimate and low-key with lots of interaction with the audience, like something that would be billed as "An Evening With..." With very competent but never intrusive backing from Elf Power, he played through every song on their collaboration Dark Developments except one, in order. Which was great, because every song on that record is fantastic. Especially "Little F*cker" (which is about Chesnutt, apparently), "Teddy Bear" (which is "about f*cking") and "Bilocating Dog" (which is about a bilocating dog). He saved the heavy-hitters for his encore, though. He closed with a couple long, heavy tunes - the totally beautiful "Old Hotel" and an impossibly emotional rendition of "Independence Day." There's no way people weren't crying. Also: I had no idea dude was in Sling Blade. Gonna have to break into the VHS collection.

Setlist
Mystery
Little Fucker
And How
Teddy Bear
We Are Mean
Stop the Horse
Bilocating Dog
Phil the Fiddler
(encore)
Old Hotel
Independence Day

[Daniel Giordano]