Silver Jews @ Webster Hall, 3/17/06

No I didn't really want to die/
I only want to die in your eyes

There was a period some moons ago when I was physically incapable of choosing a journal entry title that wasn't a Silver Jews quote. Keep in mind that during some of these moon-phases, "journal entry title" was more or less interchangeable with "sole method of interpersonal communication." I've been getting better; the ratio of Silver Jews quotes to other speech has slowly been approaching equilibrium. Well, along comes Dave Berman last night with his band, and his dorky "first tour ever" shtick, and transcendental performance, and now my streak is blown. Thanks a lot, Berman. That's another 15 minutes a day spent Google-bombing the phrase "horseleg swastikas" so that I don't misplace the enjambments. Yeah. That's right, it's psychotic. I will be institutionalized by well-meaning Rotarians, thanks to the euphoric effects of your show last night.

Well, it's a hell of a lot easier talking about a band than about spending a week abroad, anyway. Though really it shouldn't be. Anyway it's not a deliberate attempt at contrary behavior, rambling ad nauseam about a 1.5-hour performance and noticeably eliding the topic of my first trip to London and Dublin. I never did get into that whole 18th century travel narrative aesthetic. In any case - I'm also rambling for mnemonic reasons. I can't remember any other show ever having such a literal impact on me. I mean, I get the usual accounts from scenesters equating these sorts of experiences with drug use, but I'd never actually felt that incredible contact high myself. There was a part during "There Is a Place" when my cardiovascular systems were surely being altered with godly machinery. A St. Augustine moment, if you prefer the metaphysical cliché to the biochemical one. But, then, recalling the rather odd and terrifying point when a big section of guys in the audience started chanting "Jews!" during the encore call... did he finally succumb out of fear?

I wonder if I didn't have a dramatically different experience than that of other attendees. Dave kind of looked a wreck, as I'm guessing everyone expected, reading his lyrics off a music stand and losing his contacts and other accoutrements at a few points. Still, it all had the poignancy of a veteran musician who was somehow more or less uninvested in the language of showmanship, as opposed to your typical master performer wearing his ironic relationship with convention across his forehead like a racquetball headband. Yeah, I got really into it. For a solid hour and a half, I believed in the importance of that distinction.

Clips may or may not be up during the week. Meanwhile, look or don't look at the handful of photos I managed to cease my pogoing for long enough to take. And listen to these songs and, ultimately, the larger groups of songs they're arranged in:

Silver Jews - Pan-American Blues
Silver Jews - There Is a Place
Silver Jews - Horseleg Swastikas