Review: The Civil Wars

The music of The Civil Wars is so good that it practically sells itself.  Released on an independent record label with minimal promotion last February, the duo's debut full-length studio album topped Billboard's Digital Album chart through a positive buzz generated largely by enthusiastic word-of-mouth.

The gothic-folk act's career momentum continued in its Kansas City debut Thursday at Crosstown Station.  Even with simultaneous nearby concerts by Elvis Costello and the Band Perry -- artists with whom it probably shares fans -- the Civil Wars drew a capacity audience of about 300.  The duo of John Paul White and Joy Williams captivated the crowd with memorable songs, spellbinding singing and minimal instrumentation.  For most of the 65-minute set only White's guitar accompanied the pair's rapturous harmonies.  

While the Nashville-based duo has much in common with the hushed folk-rock aesthetic of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, it's also squarely in the tradition of classic country duet partners George Jones and Tammy Wynette.  Unlike that pairing, Williams and White aren't romantically involved with each other.  Even so, their flirtatious interaction and obvious camaraderie, combined with their romantic material, seemed almost embarrassingly intimate Thursday.   They occasionally shared a microphone and stared into each other's eyes as they sang of love's travails. 

Williams invested so much passion into songs like the unadorned "Falling" that it seemed as if she might be on the verge of collapse.  The simmering sensuality of "Birds of a Feather" and "Poison & Wine" were similarly stunning.  The inclusion of three cover songs kept the duo's performance from seeming entirely otherworldly.  A rethinking of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" was a bit too precious but an almost unrecognizable rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm" was striking.  And Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" has probably never sounded so sultry.  

The noteworthy evening was another bittersweet reminder of the tremendous loss that faces Kansas City music fans if Crosstown Station is shuttered as scheduled this fall.   The venue's good sound and excellent sight lines often result in commendable audience behavior.  Even during the 40-minute opening set by Rayland Baxter, the hum of the venue's air conditioning and squeaks from a bathroom door were the room's most obtrusive ambient noises.  The unassuming performance of the Nashville-based singer-songwriter was thoroughly enjoyable, but it suffered in comparison to the evening's headliners.  The Civil Wars' artistic brilliance makes most of its contemporaries seem slight and inconsequential.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Comments

[Renoir]

Well, now we have a clear understanding of what type of stuff Bill Brownlee likes and it is not having a "good time, rock and roll", it is very very short sets of low energy "gothic-folk", (please leave the word rock out of it).

btw- only a 65 minute set and you can not manage a set list? You are slipping as a reviewer.

Bet BB cant wait for Peter Paul and Mary to do a comeback tour.

[JJ]

65 minutes is probably all you can expect for a group that has released only one cd!

[pellboy]

Maybe for Mr.Brownlee it's that chick more than the music. Smart of them to play up her hotness angle because I'm pretty much w/ Renoir on this one, that dreamy/floaty kind of music leaves me cold. Maybe it all translated better live, but the song in that posted video pretty much blows. To each his own, but I just can't get on this nouveau-folk bandwagon. Apologies for the negative commentary, I'll stick to more relateable sounds going forward.

[tim finn]

let's see, bill has reviewed motorhead, tech n9ne,metallica, the deftones .... and the list goes on. someone's understanding is pretty unclear.

[Clint]

Anyone review the Band Perry? P&L was fullest I have ever seen it (not really a good thing). I was really surprised how many people turned out

[TK]

Excellent show last night! Thanks for the review, Bill!! They definitely have a live chemistry that is hard to describe to people who didn't see it, and can understand how some people just wouldn't like it, especially if one's preference is still Motley Crue/Poison shows at Sprint Center or Rush for the umpteenth time. As pellboy correctly pointed out, "to each his own."

[Steve]

How dare the reviewer like something other than "good time rock&roll." For shame, Mr. Brownlee!

[Dan]

Great review. TK is right about their live performances. I like the recordings fine, but the magic of the Civil Wars is in the live performance.

[johnny]

I wouldn't expect a good review from any critic on this site unless the band plays banjo's and accordian's.

[cya]

""let's see, bill has reviewed motorhead, tech n9ne,metallica, the deftones .... and the list goes on. someone's understanding is pretty unclear.""

===============================
Dude,
There is no sense getting defensive about it, I am aware BB reviews a lot of different types of shows, I simply stated the obvious... his fav type of music is this pussy fest, accoustic folk duet BS mellow crap.

And that is OK, no big deal, it is juts good to know to never expect a good review of certain types of shows..... it has been that way for a while on this site.

Read the above review, and then go read his review last week of Motley Crue.

Compare the tone and words of each.... His cliches(filler bs review filler)regarding the Crue e.g. "not enough songs to fill 90 minutes"?? "Cartoonish"?? etc etc....

compared with his sickenlying sweet drivel here e.g. " The Civil Wars' artistic brilliance"....

It is no big deal. It is an opinion, and he, AND YOU, can like whatever you want.

I was simply making an obseravation.... and facts be known, it is probably good he (and you) like this mellow wimpy music because it it has become apparent that this is also type of music most the readers here like too.

As a rule of thumb,this is a site is mainly for fans of lame folk music and crappy places to hold shows.

There is nothing wrong with that, you all can do whatever you want, it is just good to understand how you all (reviewers and most readers here) feel. It is good to know what to expect. It is good to understand that it is a waste time reading/posting anything here regarding real rock and roll.

Hopefully at some point this folk music revival will go the way of disco, and rock will make a comeback... until then... have fun with your mellow fests, pussy music and accoustic duet BS.

I am not trolling, I was simply explaining my comments about BB.

Ya'll have fun, time to check out for a while..... cya

PS
I bet Elvis Costello is laughing his ass off about right now, thinking (as he looks out at the Pageant in St Louis) shaking his head, laughing at the dump he played last night.....

crossroadskc reflects poorly on KC, but it speaks the truth about most people here, most of you love it, you love the crap.... so be it.... have fun with that.

cya

[cheap customized jerseys]

btw- only a 65 minute set and you can not manage a set list? You are slipping as a reviewer.

Bet BB cant wait for Peter Paul and Mary to do a comeback tour.

[The rest of us]

Good LORD, does that troll have to hijack EVERY goddamn thread?? CYA/Johnny/Renoir (all the same loser) needs to find a job or at least get outside every once and awhile. What a negative, bitter, foul human being....and thanks for encouraging him, Pellboy.

[tim finn]

i'll speak for bill again. his favorite music(s) are jazz, hip-hop, metal, punk, indie rock, grunge, garage rock, country, delta blues ... check out his blogs, there stand the glass and plastic sax. a little homework goes a long way.

[TK]

At least we know 101 The Fox has a loyal listener, waiting for relevancy again.

[Tim S]

I was just talking with some friends LAST night about shows that I was disappointed I had missed. One of which was the Civil Wars show a few weeks back. I'm pretty sure they were actually on stage while I was sitting at home talking about missing their show. Fail. Sounds like it was as good as I would have hoped it would be. Nice write up.

[emily]

I don't understand the complaining about the review. It made me wish I was there. This is my sort of music.

[pellboy]

My bad, I didn't realize it was the same clown until later, but I still stand by my original comment, just not my cup of tea, no big deal. Chick is kind of hot though.

[LR]

Honestly this review is pretty lame. I was at the show and it was phenomenal. I'd heard all of one of their songs before going (boyfriend was the fan). I'm now officially a fan. The show felt nothing like gothic folk. Even they admit they have only one happy song but it didn't feel that way to me. The songs might be sad lyrically but they are still upbeat and somewhat peppy (i don't mean that as a dig). This was one of my favorite shows I've been to in KC (up there with Linkin Park at Sprint and Bright Eyes at Uptown). The show was phenomenal. And what I felt the review lacked was mentioning the feel for the show. On that one "happy" song, early some of the crowd started singing along and the guy off hand said "sing along if you know it" at which the entire crowd joined in. The two of them seemed genuinely surprised and tickled, as if this had never happened before. Seeing a band have a new experience along with the crowd was one of the best moments of the night (that repeated a couple times later). The review is lacking for no other reason than failing to talk about those aspects of the show.

[justin bieber shoes]

Super cute! My little man would look so stylin' in those!

[mulberry bags]

Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.