Report: Wye Oak Live in Pittsburgh

At Club Café on August 2, Jenn and Andy celebrated happiness.

BY MIKE SHANLEY

Andy Stack must have the urge to rock out once in a while. During a Wye Oak performance, many opportunities arise that are ripe for a Keith Moon-style drum fill or #something# that matches the intensity of guitarist/vocalist Jenn Wasner's power chords.

Yet, Stack resists. He plays drums with his right hand, often alternating between the floor tom and the snare on the odd and even beats, respectively. His left hand is married to his keyboard, which fills out the chordal parts of the music and probably has something to do with the phantom bass notes. Most of the time, his hi-hat is dancing wildly too. So it's possible that Stack is so busy doing the work of a two-piece rhythm section, and maintaining a steady tempo for about an hour, that he's too occupied to think about rocking any harder.

On the first show of a tour jaunt that Wasner admitted will keep them on the road until around Christmas, Wye Oak played a set that put their instrumentation in a strong light. What played with a bit of atmospheric production on this spring's #Civilian# kicked hard and loud in person and didn't let up. If Stack and Wasner became a more standard live act by adding another guitar and a bass, they'd sound more like any other band. Perhaps that's oversimplifying it, but you get the idea. This presentation brings out the best in their songs. And the standing room only crowd at the intimate Club Café seemed to agree.

The 150-seat room, with its glass bar on one side of the room and black blanket of lights that cover the back of the stage, more often hosts singer-songwriters and draws more of the sit-down-with-cocktails clientele than Merge crowd. But it also employs empathetic soundmen and in the past has presented Mission of Burma, so it was a given that Wye Oak's work would come across clearly.

 "The Alter" started the set with strong statement of purpose. Wasner's blend of power chords and upper register riffing - another unique element that might get lost with more instruments - bit harder than the album version, complete with a delay pedal twittering that finished the solo right before she jumped back to the microphone. Her voice sounded a little deeper than expected, but she later admitted to being under the weather, and spoke with a rasp that otherwise wasn't there during the set.

"Holy Holy" blasted out with more of a Who-like intro and "Hot As Day" gave Stack a chance to put forth an urgency that felt like Sonic Youth, which was especially powerful since the song switched back and forth from 5/4 to standard 4/4. "Plains" also had a little more urgency when shifting from its two-chord groove to its near breakdown in the chorus. The rest of set leaned heavily on tracks from #Civilian# as well, although they did pull out a couple from its predecessor #The Knot# and premiered one new, as of yet unreleased song ("Pardon" according to the set list) full of staccato keyboards and jerky drumming.

To keep momentum going between songs, and during frequent guitar changes, a phantom keyboard droned away just below the surface.  Wasner bantered with the crowd throughout the set too. She sent out "Fish" to a couple who were recently engaged, saying, "We're dedicating a sad song to celebrate your happiness," she said. Later she apologized for the fact that she needed to rest her voice backstage instead of hanging out and talking to people at the end of the night. With such an immense touring schedule lined up, everyone understood. 

[Photo Credit: Scott Dudelson]