Rogue Wave
Landlocked Records
Bloomington, Indiana, 24 June 2006
Just a day before their stop at the Desdemona Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rogue Wave treated a sizeable, and diverse audience in Bloomington to an intimate and enjoyable acoustic performance.
The band invited the audience to sit and relax, creating a mellow, story-time atmosphere that lent itself tremendously to the band’s sound – which rests somewhere between Simon and Garfunkel, The Shins, Neutral Milk Hotel and Sufjan Stevens. Ranging in age from six and 3/7 (the band asked) to around 40, the audience called out their favorites from Out Of The Shadows, Descend Like Vultures, and laughed at the band’s humorous banter.
The band consisted of instrumentalists Gram LeBron, Pat Spurgeon, and Evan Farrell, but most eyes were fixed to fair haired singer Zach “Rogue” Schwartz, as he sweetly sang his delicate pop songs from behind an acoustic guitar. A few songs into their set, the band played Descend Like Vultures‘ “Publish My Love” and “Bird On A Wire” to several members’ of the crowd’s very vocal approval. When the songs finished, Zach Rogue invited members of the crowd to call out their favorites – among them were “Eyes” and “Medicine Ball.”
The band also played Out Of The Shadows‘ “Nourishment Nation, “Perfect” and a new one, “Ghost,” which was one of the show’s many highlights. Zach Rogue was careful to explain the respective contexts of each tune adding a “Rogue Wave Unplugged”-like charm and a palpable intimacy to the entire performance. The crystal clear and seamless harmonies provided by the band were also highlights of this affair. Midway through the set, the band treated us to The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping,” with bassist Evan Farrell providing an improptu history lesson on Revolver in his best imitation English accent following the song.
During another song, Zach Rogue worked the chorus of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” into the mix. He followed the song with a disparaging comment about the movie “10 Things I Hate About You,” in which the song was covered by Letters To Cleo. His comments quickly turned into self-deprecating humor when he said, “My sisters made me watch it….when they weren’t around.” The hour and a half long set was closed out by the stunning “California.”
All in all, this show was a real treat by a band that is every bit as likeable as they are talented.