Last Wednesday night was the most satisfying show I think I've ever played. We took part in a tribute event called "Uncle Tupelo vs Neutral Milk Hotel" at The Tractor in Ballard. Each band played three songs from either UT or NMH in a sort of Battle of the Defunct Bands. These two bands have more differences than similarities, but it made for an interesting, eclectic evening. It seemed like most of the UT fans didn't know any NMH songs and vice versa. To my (and many others) surprise, there were six bands playing UT and only three playing NMH. We did our part to fight on behalf of Neutral Milk against a ratio that even Custer would balk at by playing "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1", "You've Passed", and "Oh, Comely".
"Oh, Comely" is an epic 8+ min song from "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". The album track is 90% solo acoustic guitar and voice and was recorded in one take on the first take. It's one of the most inspirational recordings I've ever heard and daunting to say the least when attempting to cover it. To further complicate things, I arranged the whole song for cello and violin. I used many motifs taken from the vocal melody and weaved them in and out, varying them to fit each section.
I'm very happy with the arrangement and even more pleased that we pulled it off live. The response from the crowd was thrilling and even now I get chills when I remember how that moment felt. It was an important performance for me as I've been through a lot of frustrating ups and downs and illnesses over the last couple years and now I feel totally reinvigorated. The next step is to get that reaction to my own material.
Many thanks to the NMH fans in attendence. I know some of you came from as far away as Everett to see the show. Thanks to Andrew Blakehall for organizing the event and to John and Ben for an amazing performance. Also, be sure to check out
The Thoughts who played smashing renditions of "Two Headed Boy", "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" and "Three Peaches".
Here's a video of "Oh Comely". Enjoy!