This Wednesday I had the pleasure of seeing Brett Dennen perform at the Capital Theater. Dennen is a folk singer from North Carolina with an surprisingly soulful voice. The audience was predominantly composed of families with small children, a few hundred high school girls, and a handful of drunk people who tried to keep the vibe informal despite the show’s taking place in the Overture.
The performance started at 7:30 (so the kids could get home for bedtime) with a set by Blind Pilot. This indie folk band has opened for groups like Counting Crows and the Decemberists, and proved that they were ready to be headliners with their spectacular performance at the Capital Theatre. They closed their set with a heart stirring acoustic rendition (they even had the PA system shut off) of their latest album’s eponymous “3 Rounds and a Sound.” The crowd was silent, and the song could be heard perfectly throughout the hall.
Dennen managed to win his show back, even after I had thought I liked Blind Pilot’s style more. Even if you don’t like light rock, Dennen’s blend of vocal talent, goofy dance moves, and charming stage presence would force you to love his show. He opened with a straightforward feel-good number, “Make You Fall in Love With Me” from his latest LP, Loverboy.
From then he experimented throughout the concert. At times the two synthesizer players joined to create darker sounds and give the songs a more electrocentric feel. Actually, I’m not sure if the sound had that effect or whether it was because one keyboardist looked like DJ Shadow and the other looked like Steve Aoki.
Dennen lifted his leg like a flamingo to the beat during a number of the songs. It was an endearing form a dancing I could tell won over the small number of audience members who had gone just to see Blind Pilot play.
He was so loveable, in fact, that when he dropped his pick halfway through playing “Must Be Losing My Mind,” a toddler who was dancing on stage walked up to hand it back. He took it back, said thank you, and gave the child a high five. Cheesy? Maybe. But you can’t buy warm fuzzies like that.
The show ended, and Dennen didn’t wait more than 30 seconds before returning to the stage with his acoustic guitar in hand. He played a couple of songs solo before the rest of the band joined him. They started playing “Blessed.” People who had been sitting for the entire concert began filtering into the aisles until nearly the entire ground level was dancing and singing along to the chorus, “I’m going to celebrate being alive. Blessed is this life. I’m going to celebrate being alive.”
Cheesy? Again, maybe, yes. But the warm fuzzies were great, and Dennen’s voice was as immaculate as the most heavily produced recording.
