Staff Writer

There are few experiences more breathtaking than being so close to an artist, that if you wanted to, you could reach out and touch him or her. And while the thought did occur to me, I managed to restrain myself during the rather epic Bowerbird concert this past Friday, Feb. 5, at the House of Blues.

First off, I would like to begin with the statement that if you ever get the chance to see one of your favorite artists in the Cambridge Room at the House of Blues, you need to take up that opportunity. Although the room itself is tiny, the concert experience is actually incredibly personal and memorable.

The Bowerbirds had two opening acts: local band The Fox and The Bird and Canadian indie darling Julie Doiron. Probably my favorite part of the concert, aside from the Bowerbirds performance of “In Our Talons”, my favorite song by them, was how well each of the bands flowed together. Each presented a unique and different approach to the genre of modern folk music.

 The Fox and The Bird was nice enough to give out a free demo, which featured one of their songs along with a complementary concert poster. While the merchandise table, as always, was a source of confusion, the bands handled themselves well on and off stage and seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company, as shown by their collaborative group performance at the end of the night.

The Fox and The Bird is a band made up of seven members all of which seemed musically fluent as presented through the switching of instruments that occurred between several songs. The band’s instruments included: a drum set, stand-up bass, violin, accordion, xylophone, banjo, acoustic guitars and a melodica. The lyrics were mainly compromised of your typical folksy nonentities coupled with thoughtful and unexpected verses, which was a great contrast to the musical prowess of Julie Doiron, the second act.

Julie Doiron has been performing since the early ‘90s with her first band, Eric’s Trip, but has been solo since 1996. Her newest album, which I purchased shortly after leaving the concert, entitled I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day is almost biographic in the sense that listeners know exactly what is on Julie Doiron’s mind. With honest and poignant lyrics coupled with electric guitar solos and an electric pop feel, Julie Doiron truly stole my heart.

This is not to say that I was at all too star struck to notice the absolutely fantastic performance the Bowerbirds presented Dallas with Friday night. While a majority of their set list was off of their newest album, Upper Air, they did play a few of the crowd’s favorites from their first album, Hymns for a Dark Horse.

During the performance, I was, as before mentioned, astonishingly close to the beautiful threesome, which was an experience I’m not sure I have words for. The impact musicians have on our lives is queer – we spend so much time listening to their music that the moment we get to see them in person we are reminded of how fantastically talented some people are. Because unlike many of today’s popular performers, the Bowerbirds sounded almost exactly the same live as they do on their recordings.

In many ways, this concert was my favorite out of any that I have been to previously attended in my life. The intimacy of the Cambridge Room coupled with the fantastic music and set lists led to a rather mind blowing experience that I was glad to have given up $18 for.