I was lucky enough to catch Vic Chesnutt with Elf Power down in Santa Fe on Wednesday, as they make their way west.  This tour is in support of their joint collaboration, Dark Developments, just released last week.

Elf Power opened the show with a set of their own music.  After a short break, Vic joined the band on stage to perform most of the Developments material, followed by a pair of moving tunes from earlier albums.  To close out the show, Vic returned to the stage and wowed the crowd with a solo rendition of “See You Around”, from 1996’s About to Choke.

Vic and Elf Power will be in Denver on 11/19 at the Hi-Dive, and I hope to see some of you there.  Until then, here are the Santa Fe performances to hold you over.

Vic Chesnutt (with Elf Power)
11.05.2008
Santa Fe Brewing Company, Santa Fe, NM

Source:  Microtch Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 >
Firewire > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. (intro)
2. Mystery
3. Little Fucker
4. And How
5. Teddy Bear
6. We Are Mean
7. (banter)
8. Stop the Horse
9. (tuning/banter)
10. Bilocating Dog
11. Phil the Fiddler
12. Old Hotel
13. Independence Day
(Encore)
14. (banter)
15. See You Around

Elf Power
11.05.2008
Santa Fe Brewing Company, Santa Fe, NM

Source:  Microtch Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 >
Firewire > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. Owl Cut (White Flowers in the Sky)
2. Spiral Stairs
3. Fried Out
4. unknown
5. The Arrow Flies Close
6. Dream in Sound
7. Hole In My Shoe
8. The New Mythology
9. Paralyzed
10. Quiver and Quake
11. An Old Familiar Scene
12. Nothing’s Going To Happen

Notes:
Various flaws and level changes in first Elf Power song, as I was still setting up gear.
The Vic set is ridden with wind noise (especially in the quiet parts), but is still quite listenable.

Here are zipfiles of both acts:
Elf Power
Vic Chesnutt with Elf Power

Here’s another show from Ruby Isle, this time back on my home turf.  The Denver setlist was very similar to the one from Athens, but is highlighted by the addition of two songs from their elbo.ws cover project: “Shadow Falls” (Hello Blue Roses) and “Aly, Walk With Me” (The Raveonettes).

Ruby Isle
10.02.2008
Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Source:  Microtch Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 >
Firewire > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave > Flac16
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. intro/Hey Hey Hey (aborted)
2. So Damn High
3. Blow Up
4. Shadow Falls *
5. How It Hurts
6. Night Shot
7. Aly, Walk With Me
8. Into The Black

Notes:
* = first time played

Davey Wrathgaber has been on tour with The Visitations this month, and he stopped by Denver for a fun show with local favorites Fissure Mystic, The Pseudo Dates, and Mike Marchant at the Lion’s Lair.  This tour was supposed to be in support of their new CD, “The Conundrum Tree”, but the release date was pushed back to 10/14/08.  You can pre-order the album from Orange Twin, and check out this live show while you’re waiting for it to arrive!

The Visitations
9.05.2008
Lion’s Lair, Denver, CO

Source:  DPA 4060s (Core-Sound HEBs) > battery box > M-Audio Microtrack 2 >
CF > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave > Flac16
Taped by:  Lance Stack (inthistube [at] gmail.com)

Setlist:
1. Bony Maurine
2. The Conundrum Tree
3. Fresh Dog
4. There Was Sunshine
5. The Disappointing Pugilist
6. You Can Sing A Silly Song
7. The Brown Clown
8. Jonathan Asshole
9. Ms. Brown’s Robot
10. Television

(Here’s the full show as a single zipfile.)