Live Review: Calexico, Andrew Tuttle

Monday night gigs and Brisbane live music fans haven’t always been the most comfortable of bedfellows, so it’s nice to see a solid crowd turn out early to watch local instrumentalist Andrew Tuttle open proceedings with a subtle set of engrossing folk-electronica. He sets up in the middle of the stage – seated for the duration armed with laptop, keys and his trademark banjo – and after a quick introductory chat lets his music do the talking for the next 40 minutes, his soothing blend of digital and analogue sounds quickly enveloping the room. Gentle melodies ebb and flow while Tuttle’s nimble fingerpicking brings a welcome sense of adventure, the pieces long and meandering and amorphous, disparate sections fading in and out as they’re deftly united into one long suite. He introduces a genuine and atmospheric country vibe towards the set’s end, leaning towards the bluegrass end of the spectrum with both hands working like a dervish – a first-class display of endurance as well as musicality – and while Tuttle receives a warm and genuine ovation as he wraps things up, judging from onstage comments later in the evening it’s our international guests who’ve enjoyed this unconventional performance as much as anyone.

Soon enough these foreign interlopers themselves take their positions in the now-darkened hangar, the seven-piece incarnation of Calexico all clad in black in complete contravention of their usual more colourful western attire. They kick off with brooding rocker Dead In The Water from the new album that they’re ostensibly promoting, The Thread That Keeps Us, eventually opening with a trio of new songs as they add the smooth Voices In The Field and the sassy, upbeat Under The Wheels into the mix. The band’s trademark versatility is on display from the get-go, the anchors of frontman Joey Burns and metronomic drummer John Convertino surrounded by an ever-changing array of instrumentation that allows them to flit between moods, Americana giving way to Tex-Mex stylings which relinquish to Spanish-flavoured instrumentals with intuitive ease. The trumpets of Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela stab in and out of the arrangements in joyous reverie, Valenzuela yelping in delight to introduce old chestnut Across The Wire before the restrained The Town & Miss Lorraine drags things back a notch. The gorgeously exotic Cumbia De Donde segues into the languid rhythms of Stray – which features an all-too-rare upright bass solo from Scott Colberg – before they move effortlessly onto the socially aware Corona and then to the traditional rock beat of the lyrically foreboding End Of The World With You.

At this stage there’s some gear trouble on stage and Burns takes the opportunity to throw in a beautiful rendition of Gillian Welch’s eternal Look At Miss Ohio, before announcing that they’ll be honouring the recent 20-year anniversary of Calexico’s second album The Black Light, which they proceed to do with a spirited rendition of Minas De Cobre. Valenzuela takes the reins for the ever-festive Inspiracion and the mood stays buoyant for Victor Jara’s Hands, Calexico summoning an almost otherworldly sense of acceptance and community as the crowd lets the music drift them away. The sound in The Triffid is (as usual) clear and pristine and it suits these ebullient songs like Music Box and Flores Y Tamales perfectly, the crowd clapping fervently in unison during the cover of Love’s Alone Again Or before the band finish with the perennially gorgeous Crystal Frontier and take their leave.

Both the band and their fans seem to be on the same page that this has been a wildly successful Monday night enterprise so an encore is a given, the band returning triumphantly and finishing with Another Space and Guero Canelo, marking another memorable performance from this most unique and genre-defying of bands. Long may they spread their inimitable and welcoming gospel.