It’s a good thing Eugene isn’t too remote of a tour destination for Blitzen Trapper.
A few minutes into the Portland-based folk-rock ensemble’s set, frontman Eric Earley told the audience at the Hifi Music Hall that bassist Michael Van Pelt is a University of Oregon alumnus. Earley, himself, mentioned that he used to work at a saw-mill outside town; he was wearing cut-off flannel shirt as he said this. Everyone took his word for it.
This brief grounding to Eugene segued carefully into “Cadillac Road,” and Earley begins, fittingly enough, “When the mill shut down they tore down the town.” Inevitable Bruce Springsteen comparisons abound, as the group speaks of Oregon in the same, allegorical way that the Boss refers to Jersey.
The quintet held a major stronghold within HiFi (44 E 7th Ave) on the night of Monday, Nov. 9. In a week filled with a diverse variety of shows, from alt hip-hop paragons Tyler the Creator and A$AP Rocky, to alt-country star Sturgill Simpson, to local alt-favorite Pluto the Planet, Blitzen Trapper delivered a set that was pretty much perfect, and sonically unparalleled.
If you’re reading this – which you are – it’s too late. Blitzen Trapper has already left town, and it took its phenomenal live act.
They opened with “Rock and Roll (Was Made For You),” a generic-sounding name for an exceptional-sounding cut from the band’s newest release from last month, All Across This Land.
The new album is a distinctive, if predictable, release for the band. It’s no matter that its sound hasn’t evolved significantly since the 2003 self-titled release, because nothing breathes oxygen into a studio album like a good live performance, and no one exemplifies this better than Blitzen Trapper.
This was followed by the jamboree-ready “Big Black Bird” off the band’s 2009 EP Black River Killer. The sound mixing was immaculate; with five different musicians on stage, one never upstaged nor overpowered another.
The main point: Blitzen Trapper is an all-too-fitting band for the venue and its namesake, (or maybe it’s the other way around).
Following a fantastic rendition of “Love Grow Cold” and an extended session of “Thirsty Man,” the band detoured into atmospheric prog-rock territory before an ascending bass line swerved into a cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” Only a small number of bands can justifiably cover The Beatles, and Blitzen Trapper is certainly worthy.
The set continued with “Love The Way You Walk Away,” “Lonesome Angel,” “I’m An Astronaut,” as well as “Black River Killer” and “God and Suicide” off the masterful 2008 LP Furr. The band closed with the All Across This Land title track – a potent, vital cut with phenomenal guitar hooks.
During the show’s encore, keyboardist Erik Menteer returned with a Deerstalker cap and a t-shirt that displayed a simple diagram of a cow’s insides. Then the band busted out the big guns with “Furr” and “Don’t Be a Stranger.” With a fond farewell, Earley resonated with the audience’s sentiment for the band, “If you love me, don’t be a stranger.”
Listen to Blitzen Trapper’s “All Across this Land” below.