{"id":1135,"date":"2011-10-26T19:48:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T19:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/testes\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2020-09-14T21:42:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T20:42:53","slug":"bonnie-prince-billy-centro-cultural-vila-flor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/?p=1135","title":{"rendered":"Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal – 23\/10\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trying to make Bolachas more like a \u201cwebzine\u201d and less like a deposit of free album downloads, mp3s and video embeds, I\u2019ve decided to start doing reports of live shows; we did some festivals in the past (Primavera Sound, Milh\u00f5es de Festa, Paredes de Coura) and some proper concerts (I remember writing about a Tindersticks concert at Estarreja, the first Roky Mountains Tour in Madrid with Magnolia Electric Co., John Doe & the Sadies and the Handsome Family\u2026) that unfortunately were lost on one of our countless, non-backuped server crashes and whatnot (except for that Milh\u00f5es de Festa massive preview+report last summer). This time, we went to Guimar\u00e3es\u2019 (European Cultural Capital in 2012) best venue \u2013 and certainly among the best in the whole country and, why not, the Iberian Peninsula) \u2013 Centro Cultural Vila Flor, a renewed congress hall who was once part of the Minho university to see one of the best songwriters alive, Will Oldham (AKA Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy). And this is how it went.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Having seen Oldham a little bit more than a year ago in a different city, I thought I would be presented with a similar show; not much changed in his sound between the last two proper records, The Wonder Show of the World<\/em> and the brand new Wolfroy Goes to Town<\/em> \u2013 except for the fact that the latter has better songs in it. I couldn\u2019t be more wrong.<\/p>\n

His live band is almost completely different \u2013 Shahzad Ismaily, who played bass guitar last year and produced Wolfroy Goes to Town<\/em> was missing, being replaced by a double bass player; Susanna Wallumr\u00f8d was replaced by Angel Olsen on backing vocals (a natural change, since she did the backing vocals on Wolfroy<\/em>). Emmett Kelly (or should I say The Cairo Gang) was still playing lead guitar and the live band was completed by a keyboardist (Ben Boye) who also played the harmonium. Although I absolutely love Ismaily, I couldn\u2019t help but think this lineup was way more impressive; they almost sound like a Willie Nelson backing band or something. (If you don\u2019t like Willie Nelson and thought that was an insult, you probably don\u2019t like music at all. Just saying.) If we account for the fact that Oldham was wearing a suit instead of the spectacular orange trousers he wore last year, we could call this the Bourgeois Bonny Band or something along those lines. Playing bourgeoisie-infused covers of Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy\u2019s own songs. And no, no, again, that\u2019s not an insult.<\/p>\n

Although some versions felt a bit wacky at first (\u201cI Don\u2019t Belong to Anyone\u201d and \u201cI See a Darkness\u201c, for example) they weren\u2019t exactly bad; just too different from what someone who listened to those songs countless times was used to. My other concern was that poor little Angel Olsen (what a great voice!) had nothing to do but dance\u00a0during most of the show. Other than that, there\u2019s not a single complaint one could do about this band and the concert. A thousand kudos for the chosen set list. They started with \u201cNo Match\u201d, the perfect starter from Wolfroy<\/em>; the next-to-last song of the main set was the other<\/em> best song from the new album: \u201cBlack Captain\u201d, a long, slow number, among the best work Oldham came up with in the last five years or so. But there was more to it: Oldham revisited his Palace years more than one would expect (\u201cNo Gold Digger\u201d, \u201cPushkin\u201d and the fantastic \u201cNew Partner\u201d, just before the encore), went through a myriad of recent and not-so-recent albums to rediscover gems like \u201cBeast for Thee\u201d, \u201cLove Comes to Me\u201d or \u201cI See a Darkness\u201d, but it wasn\u2019t until he played fan (read: \u201cmy\u201d) favorite \u201cYou Win\u201d, a B-side from a 7\u201d released last year (along with The Wonder Show of the World<\/em>) that yours truly<\/em> was sure that this would be an unforgettable evening and not just another good show by someone who can do no wrong.\u00a0Olsen was finally given a chance to shine during \u201cQuail and Dumplings\u201d, Wolfroy Goes to Town<\/em>\u2019s first single, but it wasn\u2019t until the encore (when Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d returned with a salmon pink shirt and a cap, something that resembled the good ol\u2019 Bonny I saw last year) that she had her biggest opportunity to show her voice\u2019s worth, singing a magnificent duet with Oldham, \u201cYou Want That Picture\u201d, the only time they visited Lie Down in the Light<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But hey: there\u2019s still no match<\/a> for good ol\u2019 Bonny, so let him be<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Setlist:
\nNo Match
\nLove Comes to Me
\nI Don\u2019t Belong to Anyone
\nBeast for Thee
\nWhere Wind Blows
\nNo Gold Digger
\nIsland Brothers
\nQuail and Dumplings
\nTime to Be Clear
\nI See a Darkness
\nTeach Me to Bear You
\nAfter I Made Love to You
\nYou Win
\nPushkin
\nSomeone Coming Through
\nWe Are Unhappy
\nPack Up Your Sorrows (cover)
\nBlack Captain
\nNew Partner
\n\u2014
\nYou Want That Picture<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying to make Bolachas more like a \u201cwebzine\u201d and less like a deposit of free album downloads, mp3s and video embeds, I\u2019ve decided to start doing reports of live shows; we did some festivals in the past (Primavera Sound, Milh\u00f5es de Festa, Paredes de Coura) and some proper concerts (I remember writing about a Tindersticks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bolachas.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}