The benefit of the bar show is often the intimacy. The downside is that it's a bar--and a good portion of the people are there to drink and socialize, introducing a distracting chatter to the music.
At David Karsten Daniel's sort-of homecoming show at a packed Local 506 Jan. 24, this was the case. Following openers Bright Young Things and the Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby, DKD and a percussionist took the stage. What is immediately striking every time I see him is his appearance, at once sickly and full of life. Thin and bald, his relationship with the guitar seems unnatural--only in the way he holds it--but necessary to his expression. He is one of those artists whose live performance adds new layers to the music, connecting the audience to it and getting in touch with the man.
But DKD himself still remains a bit of a mystery. His set included a mix of material from his career with a focus on better-known Fear of Flying and Sharp Teeth. Occasionally interspersing anecdotes about coming back to the place he lived, his new home in Ashland, OR and Chapel Hill's wealth of burrito joints, he certainly comes across as friendly. But there is also a sadness that comes over him. DKD would tease the audience by kicking up the tempo with tracks like "Martha Ann," but these were short bursts that gave way to the show's more subdued tone.
What was most striking was his eyes. At points, he seemed overcome by the music, so in it he was almost hypnotized. At many of these moments, he seemed to be singing to someone. An especially noteworthy moment came during an extended version of "Jesus and the Devil." But it could also have been a poisonous glare at the chatty bar-goers.
Regardless of what the man is actually like, it was a solid show from an ex-pat of the local scene. Even without an encore, his music was worth the cover charge.
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