I had been looking forward to the Denver appearance of Shearwater every since my return from Georgia, but was completely unprepared for the quality of opening acts they brought along to the Hi-Dive Sunday night. Minus Story frontman Jordan Geiger is currently touring with the band (keys and trumpet), and he took the opportunity to start off Sunday night with a set by his newest project, Hospital Ships.
For me, the fragility in Jordan’s voice conjures images of Julian Koster or Daniel Johnston sitting alone in a bedroom. Granted, my association with these two artists was probably brought on by:
a) several soundcheck references to “Walking the Cow”, and
b) seeing The Music Tapes two weeks ago
When played back-to-back, the simple melodies and deeply personal lyrics of these songs seem to tell the story of a relationship where both participants are struggling to find order and meaning in their lives:
“So give me something to breathe. Give me something so as I feel unique. On and on I always said, that I live and die on the inside of my head. But I wanted to get out. I wanted to get knocked out.”
“You are still so young. Your heart is still undone. And you were mine to want, and mine to overlook…”
The debut Hospital Ships album “Oh, Ramona” is due out October on Graveface, and available now for pre-order. Go reserve your copy. In the meantime, put on this live performance and rock yourself to sleep. :)
Hospital Ships
8.31.2008
The Hi-Dive, Denver, CO
Source:Â Microtch Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 >
WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave > Flac16
Taped by:Â Lance Stack (inthistube [at] gmail.com)
Setlist:
1. Girls *
2. I Do Not Understand *
3. Mockingbird *
4. Sink Your Teeth Into Me *
5. Baby For J *
6. unknown
7. Paul’s Letter to St. Job (Drakkar Sauna cover)
8. I Want It To Get Out
9. Oh, Ramona
10. unknown
Notes:
* = with Kimberly Burke of Shearwater
(A zipfile of the entire set is available here.)
