Lost In The Trees, The Earl, Atlanta, May 1, 2014

And the hits keep on coming, as they say.  Last night marked the third weeknight of live music in a row, this time the wonderful Lost In The Trees at The Earl.

Opening was Houston's Wild Moccasins, a poppier band than Lost In The Trees to be sure, but a lot of fun.  Rumor has it they'll be coming back to Atlanta on June 20 to play 529.

Last year's Lost In The Trees show at The Earl was one of the best of the year, so my expectations were pretty high for last night. Since last year, frontman Ari Picker has restructured the band, doing away with the strings for a leaner, more rock sound, but still characterized by his heart-felt lyrics and captivating harmonics. The expectations were high but, man, did they deliver, putting on what will have to be one of the better shows of 2014. 

They primarily played songs from their fine new album, Past Life, as well as older favorites, including Ari Picker solo renditions on Walk Around The Lake and Song For The Painter (encore).  The small audience (where was everybody?) clearly loved the band and were familiar with their oevure, and the frequently noisy Earl was uncharacteristically quiet and attentive between songs.  

Putting my money where my mouth is, I bought a clear vinyl copy of Past Life from singer/keyboardist Emma Nadeau after the show, and have been enjoying it (and its CD companion) all day today.

Lost In The Trees

Lost in the Trees will be playing at The Earl on Thursday, May 1.

Lost In The Trees Perform with Full Orchestra

Lost In The Trees at The Earl, November 3, 2012

North Carolina's Lost In The Trees recently teamed up with Duke University's Chamber Orchestra for a one-time-only performance and the video for Garden was posted to Brooklyn Vegan (below).

We last saw Lost In The Trees last November 3, when they officially closed out Rocktober 2012 at The Earl.

Lonesome Leash

Walt McClements with Dark Dark Dark at 529, Oct. 17, 2012

Walt McClements of the band Dark Dark Dark now has his solo thing going called Lonesome Leash, and he's bringing it to Atlanta on January 10 at a venue to be named later.  We last saw McClements and Dark Dark Dark at the 529 back during Rocktober, with Christ, Lord and Emily Wells opening.  Based on the sound of his new material - listen to Ghosts, below - it would be fitting for Christ, Lord to open for him again, as they sound as it they're both cut from the same gypsy soul.

I'm not so sure that the face tattoo is such a good idea, though (rarely is).

In any event, January 10 may be the first concert night of the new year, and the first break in the great Winter Doldrums since Of Monsters and Men back on November 29 (which itself was the only break since Lost In the Trees back on November 3).  

A few more shots of McClements from back in October and another Lonesome Leash song:

Lost In The Trees

Somehow, between the technical problems over at the LiveJournal site and the crash of my computer, I forgot to post the pictures of Lost In The Trees performance at The Earl back on November 3 - which is a shame, because it was a really terrific show. It wasn't until I stumbled across their Morning Becomes Eclectic set over at KCRW that I remembered that I had forgotten.

  

The opening act was Atlanta's Oryx and Crake, a fine orchestral pop outfit worthy of wider attention.

Touring with Lost In The Trees were North Carolina's Midtown Dickens, who played a spirited set of Appalachia-influenced Americana.

Headliners Lost In The Trees played a magnificent set, mainly performing songs from their latest album A Church To Fit Our Needs, a cycle of songs frontman Ari Picker wrote about the passing away of his mother, but also including some older songs, such as Walk Around The Lake.

In addition to violin, cello, and even french horn accompaniment, Picker had Midtown Dickens join them on stage late in the set to provide even more strings and, yes, that's a bowed saw being played behind him.

For the end-of-the-set finale, Picker and company left the stage to perform an acoustic and unamplified version of Song for the Painter, one of my favorite of their songs.  An encore after that touching and intimate performance would have been superfluous.

I'm just now realizing that I haven't been to The Earl since that November 3 set - maybe not a record for me, but certainly an exception to my usual behavior.