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REVIEW: Derek Webb @ WOW Hall (Eugene, OR – 1/20/11)

22nd Jan 11 (Sat) 3 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

I’ve been a fan of Derek Webb ever since seeing him in Caedmon’s Call in the mid-90s. His voice and lyricism is something I connect with, regardless of my now-differing beliefs. He’s a genuine artist & thinker, and I think he’s a Christian that I think really “gets it”… or is at least trying to “get it” (we’re all a work in progress)…

His last two albums, 2009’s Stockholm Syndrome and 2010’s instrumental Feedback, have some of the best material he’s put out, in my opinion. Since I went into a long-ish discussion about my connection and thoughts about Webb & Christianity in my review of the Jennifer Knapp tour in the Spring 2010 and my thoughts about Feedback, I’ll keep this review shorter and sweeter…

We showed up a little after the early start time… I got a chuckle out of Derek’s tweet about it being a “Christian seated show” (with photo) and took in the last half of opener Anna Gilbert‘s set…

Anna is an Oregonian, went to the University of Oregon, lives in Portland, and has a handful of delightfully sonic pop albums. Her third CD, Your Love My Medicine, was produced by none other than knob-wizard Charlie Peacock (his wiki). Anna’s sound… poppy, singer-songwriter. Nice positive songs.

After a short break and a beer, Derek hit the stage at 8pm…

Great set, a mix of songs from his solo albums, a couple of Caedmon’s tunes… and one lonely cover song. Based on my prior experience with Derek, and his recent Democracy covers series (now heading into Volume 2), I figured he’d hit us with another cover or two.

The acoustic version of the mostly electronic Stockholm Syndrome songs worked well. “What Matters More” is a favorite, and while the studio version is full of electronics, the stripped down version still remained one of my favorites from the night. For other Derek fans (or Derek himself), have the Stockholm songs ever been played out live with keyboards and/or a full band (Joshua Moore, etc)? That would kick ass.

Setlist: about 90 mins

The End / The Very End
The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum
New Law
I Hate Everything (But You)
Freddie, Please
A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fears
I Love/Hate You
God’s Hometown [Caedmon’s Call]
I Just Don’t Want Coffee [Caedmon’s Call]
Wedding Dress
Heaven
What Matters More
She Must And Shall Go Free
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding [Nick Lowe]

“Spirit vs. Kick Drum,” “Love/Hate,” and the Caedmon’s “Coffee” were some other favorite selections from the night. His banter was charming as usual. I was surprised he didn’t talk about Shawn Colvin being on his flight to Eugene… alas, perhaps he was distracted by Delta not being as gentle with his guitar as he’d have liked… assuming his guitar makes it back to Nashville with him, he needs to get a few things checked out (loose screw or something).

more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

Derek Webb’s Site
Derek Webb’s Social Media Links (see below)
Anna Gilbert’s Site
Anna Gilbert’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
My Other Related Reviews~
- Aladdin Theater w/ Jennifer Knapp (Portland – April 2010)
WOW Hall’s Site / Facebook / Twitter