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Thursday June 9, 2022Doors: 7 PM
Show: 8 PM
21+
GA Floor: $25 Advance | $30 Day of Show
GA Bleachers: $35 Advance | $40 Day of Show
General On Sale: Friday 3/25 @ Noon MST
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COVID ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Please note this performance is requiring all attendees to provide proof of vaccination OR negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event for entry. [At-home covid tests not accepted.] Masks are highly encouraged.
All attendees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination [either the original, or a digital / printed copy of the vaccination card] OR have received a negative COVID-19 diagnostic test within 72-hours before entry to the facility and provide printed proof of a negative result prior to entering the venue.
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KISHI BASHI
They say that you spend your entire life writing your first album, piecing every formative moment, scribbled turn of phrase, and thematic epiphany into a fantastical collage. Multi-instrumentalist K. Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) disproves that old adage. The title of Kishi Bashi’s 2011 debut album, 151a, is a riff on the Japanese phrase “ichi-go ichi-e,” roughly translating to “one time, one place.” That’s exactly what this debut is: A singular time, an inimitable place, a launchpad for bigger and better things to come.
“It’s a play on words that translates as a performance aesthetic of having a unique performance in time, with imperfections, and enjoying it while you can,” Ishibashi told NPR at the time of the album’s release. “The saying reminds me to embrace my mistakes and move forward.”
Produced and performed exclusively by Kishi Bashi, 151a is a showcase of singular talent and ambition— and it didn’t go unnoticed by fans or peers. Along with launching Kishi Bashi’s career as a soloist, this earnest debut made him one of indie music’s most in-demand violinists. He was no longer relegated to side stage as a collaborator of Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, of Montreal, and more—the Kishi Bashi name could endure with its own merit.
As deeply personal as 151a undoubtedly is, the record was animated by a deep and enduring partnership. Following Kishi Bashi’s collaboration with of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes for the watershed art-pop album Paralytic Stalks, his worldview and artistic approach was transformed for the better. Strict habits hung loose, sonic palettes bled and broadened, and a one-man orchestra sprouted from a foundation of string loops.
From the deconstructed Beach Boys-esque doo-wop of “Wonder Woman” to the menacing marriage of Eastern Hues and Western operatics of “Beat the Bright out of Me,” 151a a mediation between opposing drives, offering possible reconciliation but never promising it. The album’s emotional wellspring, “I Am The Antichrist To You” was reimagined in 2021 when it was featured on the animated sci-fi sitcom Rick and Morty, introducing Kishi Bashi to a new generation of awestruck fans.
Kishi Bashi also uses 151a as a vehicle to explore his cultural background. Using Japanese refrains as a compositional and textural device (the polyrhythmic grandeur of “Bright Whites”; the gleeful surrealism of “It All Began With a Burst”), Kishi Bashi celebrates his heritage with earnestness. Japanese phrases and couplets are sung as the response to Kishi Bashi’s resplendent calls, offering listeners a conversation that dovetails with the album’s themes of love, sentimentality, and self-discovery.
Today, the “one time” and “one place” that 151a inhabited seems further than ever, almost broaching celestial realms of time and space. But, rest assured, with each listen, the world that Kishi Bashi built springs back to life. The world of 151a never left—it was just waiting to be rediscovered.
TALL TALL TREES
Tall Tall Trees is the pseudonym of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mike Savino. Moving to New York in the early aughts with aspirations of being a bassist in the city’s vibrant jazz and experimental music scene, Savino soon switched his focus to banjo and writing songs, resulting in the eponymous 2009 debut, Tall Tall Trees. In the decade since, Savino has toured non-stop, pioneering a world of psychedelic electric banjo music, captivating audiences with his loop-based one man shows, as well as alongside frequent collaborator, Kishi Bashi.
A Wave of Golden Things, his fourth studio album, opens with the distant crow of a rooster and takes off in a dust cloud of swirling banjo, drums and bass. The lead off track, “The Wind, She Whispers,” quickly evolves from a droning mountain melody into full-blown banjo funk, setting the precedent for an album of unexpected turns. Though the banjo is heavily featured, the influence of Pink Floyd, and Cat Stevens can be felt as much as banjo mavericks Earl Scruggs, and Bela Fleck.
Savino, who self-records and produces his music, abandoned the heavily-layered textures of 2017’s Freedays for a more organic, stripped-down approach, leaving his distinct voice and thoughtful lyrics as the centerpiece. Despite the sparse arrangements, Savino still manages to evoke the sonic imagery and pastoral landscapes that have often been hallmarks of Tall Tall Trees albums. Each of the eight songs that make up A Wave of Golden Things suggest a world unto itself, from the cosmic country-tinged, “Ask Me Again,” to the sprawling underwater lullaby “Deep Feels.”
Opting for an immersive experience over a traditional studio, Savino set up residence and a mobile recording rig on a hemp farm in the Appalachian mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina, where he now resides. Recorded in just under three weeks, with much of it arranged on the spot, the album maintains a sense of immediacy, celebrating raw performance over perfection. “I’m giving up on my expectations, let them go and see where it takes us,” Savino sings on “Expectations,” almost seeming to revel in this experimental process.
Savino’s voice, left unadorned, can be simultaneously gentle and strong, at times sage-like in delivery. On the album’s closing title track “A Wave of Golden Things,” his soft spoken meditations on mental health reflect a new maturity in his song craft and singing. As the song develops, Savino’s voice gains confidence and his whisper becomes a fragile cry, neither full-throated nor fully secure, but at home in a warm bed of upright piano and echoing tape delay. “We all need a little peace and love right now,” he sings as if he’s at the end of his breath.
Reflective of the dark and challenging times of today, Savino’s message is ultimately one of hope and finding peace of mind in the chatter of the modern world. The last chorus reaches towards a transcendent beauty in the darkness, and makes a promise: “a wave of golden things, it waits for you.”
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Support acts are subject to change. No refunds.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
308 N. 2nd Ave Phoenix AZ 85003, Phoenix, United States
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