David Wax Museum ~ 2018 May 31 ~ The Spire ~ Plymouth, MA
Review
This was my first time seeing innovative Mex-Americana band David Wax Museum, and I was quite impressed. They reminded me strongly of Parsonsfield, a favorite band of mine. They have a similar energy, eclecticism, and range of exotic instruments.
The band is fronted by David Wax, lead vocalist, who played acoustic guitar and a trebly Mexican instrument called the jarana, that to the uninitiated seems a little like a larger-than-usual ukulele that stays in tune. He pranced around the stage, making little leaps of joy, smiling, and having a fine old time. In this he reminded me of Parsonsfield's Chris Freeman. He is the founder and principal songwriter of the band.
David's accomplice is his wife, Suz Slezak, who sings harmony and occasional lead vocals, and, like the Slambovian Circus of Dream's Tink Lloyd, plays a dizzying variety of instruments, and plays them skillfully. During this concert she played accordion, keyboards, fiddle, and a Mexican percussion instrument called the quijada, made from a donkey's jawbone. Just as Parsonsfield uses a saw as a symbol of the band, DWM uses this donkey jawbone as a symbol. They even had donkey jawbone jewelry for sale at the merch table.
The band was rounded out by electric guitar, full rock drum kit, and electric bass. All five musicians were attractively dressed in white; Suz explained that she had requested this since she and David were sporting colorful matching vests made for them by a fan. Suz was also barefoot, which I thought at first might be her trademark, but she explained that it was only because she had left her stage shoes in her car.
A unique highlight of the show was one song performed "in the blind." David and Suz performed a brief acoustic set of a few songs with the rest of the band offstage, and to end this set David requested that the audience close their eyes for the next song. As we complied, David and Suz walked around the room with their instruments, singing and playing. As the song progressed, some of the rest of the band returned to the stage. The effect was that of deep surround sound. It was eerie and fun! One could hear Suz off to the right, singing and playing, while David was behind you, or right in front of you. The music was coming at you from all directions. After we opened our eyes for the rest of the show, David informed us that the band plays entire concerts "in the blind" by supplying blindfolds to the audience. I am not sure I'd enjoy an entire concert like this, but for the one song, it was a memorable and fascinating addition to the concert experience.
I enjoyed the songs that were played, and was happy that only a few were of obvious Mexican influence. As much as the south of the border sound is very influential for this band, it's not my absolute favorite thing and it worked well that it was mixed in judiciously with a more mainstream alt-rock/Americana vibe. Concert Going Partner and I took home two of their CDs with the thought that we'll probably be seeing them again.
The show was opened by a half hour set from singer-songwriter Matt York who played a variety of mostly sad songs on an acoustic guitar that had his name on it. Matt is a skillful singer and guitarist who is a graduate of open mike night at the Spire.
The Spire is quickly becoming, if not my absolute favorite venue, certainly high on the list. The stage is high enough for folks even in the back to see pretty well. The church pews are padded and comfortable. The churchy looking backdrop is attractive in pictures. There is no food, but there is a full bar, and there is no shortage of places to eat in the neighborhood before the show. We'll definitely be going there again soon.
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