As hard to believe as it is, the Park Tavern in Atlanta's Piedmont Park has actually put together a fine series of free Sunday evening shows. The challenge to belief is based on the shows being free. Nothing's ever free here in Atlanta. In any event, earlier this summer we saw Seattle's Ivan & Alyosha in a free show here, and last night, it was Athens' own Kishi Bashi.
Andre of Book of Colors opened with a solo set. Frankly, it was difficult to hear him at times over the noise of the crowd, most of whom were seated at tables eating and drinking and seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was a musician on stage. But Andre managed to stay serene and focused, and in the audience I saw, in addition to the Jeffrey Bützer, the next musician up, Book Club's Robbie and Brock Scott of Little Tybee.
Bützer took the stage next with his band, The Bicycle Eaters. Bützer fills an odd but endearing niche in the Atlanta music scene, and is probably most famous for his annual Christmas show at The Earl where he performs Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas. The rest of the year, he performs his idiosyncratic music at the usual venues, lately utilizing singer Cassi Costoulas, who sings half the songs in French for some reason, including a lovely reworking of Bützer's Theme For A Tailor.
The crowd was still pretty noisy (honestly, this place is worse than Park for talkative audiences) and there's a YouTube clip somebody posted of last night's show that I refuse to even post here 'cause the audience is so loud and disrespectful.
The area in front of the stage became more crowded and the audience a little more attentive when Kishi Bashi took the stage. Mr. Ishibashi has been working on a new album, and while that's in progress, he played a small mini-tour of local towns (Macon, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and last night, Atlanta). He played the usual songs from his two fine albums, 151a and Lighght, opening with Atticus In the Desert and audience favorite Bright Whites, both from 151a, before covering most of the songs from Lighght, and closing with Mr. Steak, Philosophize In It! Chemicalize In It! and It All Began With A Burst.
For his encore, he did a solo improvisation for a while, and then closed with Manchester.
Not to complain, but it was a sloppier set than I've seen them play before, with Kishi Bashi having to stop and start several of his loops over during one song or another. However, this gave the set a more spontaneous and intimate feel, and I don't think anybody was disappointed. Especially for a free show.
Next week, Park Tavern presents The Secret Sisters, and then, truly incredibly, they close out their so-called Sunset Series with The Joy Formidable.
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