Shakey Graves and his haunted guitar live at the Fremont
The skeletal frame of scaffolding covering the Fremont Theater sheltered concertgoers on Oct. 18, as they lined up for a sold-out Sunday evening with Shakey Graves.
The show marked the fourth stop on the Austin-based musician’s “Fondness, Etc.” tour. The album released in May explores themes of loss, change and hope.
Shakey Graves, whose real name is Alejandro Rose-Garcia, emerged on stage to the opening theme of “Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood” following an opening set from New York rock band Wild Pink.
Rose-Garcia raised a red solo cup to the crowd. “Hello neighbors,” he said, picking up his guitar and launching into a lesser-known bluesy B-side called “Nobody’s Fool.”
The somber track set the mood for an evening that balanced humorous storytelling with poignant, soulful songwriting.
For the first few songs, Rose-Garcia played alone with his signature one-man-band setup. Using a vintage suitcase that was modified to contain a kick drum and a tambourine stand, he kept perfect time while simultaneously playing guitar and singing.
His band joined him for “When the Love is New,” the first single off of “Fondness, Etc.”
Though Rose-Garcia’s music has always blurred the lines between rambling blues, plucky folk and punchy rock, his latest album is more sonically and emotionally raw than previous releases. Between songs, he said the record was inspired by major changes in his life, including the deaths of friends and family members as well as the birth of his daughter.
“Whatever your family is, cheers to you,” Rose-Garcia said, raising his red solo cup once again.
As the band played on, Rose-Garcia’s rasping voice carried with it the pain and the fight of grief, as though evoking the ghosts of lost loved ones to join him on stage.
The death of Rose-Garcia’s high school friend, Brian, was one loss that influenced the sound of the record. Aside from being his favorite weed dealer, Rose-Garcia said that Brian believed in Anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy that views the afterlife as a journey to purify one’s soul between death and rebirth.
“Fondness, Etc.” maps a similar trajectory, as the album follows Rose-Garcia’s own reckoning with death while celebrating the new life of his daughter.
His inspiration was especially present on stage, making his concert feel less like a show and more like a shared experience between artist and audience exploring life, death and afterlife as one.
Rose-Garcia said souls in the Anthroposophical afterlife can still receive genuine thoughts of love from the material world, so he dedicated the song “Counting Sheep” to Brian.
Another big change for Rose-Garcia was the choice to embark on this tour without longtime friend and collaborator Patrick O’Connor.
“He had a baby too, so I fired him,” Rose-Garcia said, jokingly.
O’Connor and Rose-Garcia came up in the music world together, and Rose-Garcia fondly remembered sleeping on the little couch in his apartment in Los Angeles. Nights with O’Connor inspired his song “Chinatown.”
Despite the change in lineup, the Shakey Graves band rocked on through a set that spanned Rose-Garcia’s greatest hits, including “Ready or Not” and “Dearly Departed.”
The band eventually left the stage again and Rose-Garcia sat down to play more of his acoustic tracks.
Although Rose-Garcia was the only person on stage for this part of the show, he was not alone. He was joined by the ghost that possesses his 1932 Gibson L-7 guitar.
This guitar, which originally belonged to a World War II veteran named Jay Manley, was bestowed upon Rose-Garcia by a friend of a friend during a mushroom trip. Rose-Garcia tried to play the guitar, but realized that it wouldn’t tune. Eventually, he surrendered to the guitar and began playing it in whatever mysterious tuning it wanted to use.
Rose-Garcia wrote many of his sound-defining songs from his debut album “Roll The Bones” on the guitar, which he said is still haunted by the ghost of Jay Manley. “The Haunted Guitar (Interlude)” tells the full story.
He continued the acoustic set with “Tomorrow,” a song he wrote when he was “a 19-year-old butthole.” He originally wanted to write a traditional love song, but there was one problem: Rose-Garcia had never really been in love. The track morphed into an exploration of the terrifying possibility of love and the overwhelming responsibilities that come with it.
Rose-Garcia likened this feeling to his experience as a father, dedicating the tune to his daughter as a promise to always show up.
Walking into the crisp air of early fall after the show, it was clear that the message of “Fondness, Etc.” resonated with the audience. Old and young, everyone at the show was likely dealing with the complexities of change that come built into the human experience.
Even the Fremont Theater itself, seemingly stuck in the process of being repaired and rebuilt, echoed this sentiment.
The “Fondness, Etc.” tour will continue throughout North America until December. Die-hard fans, however, know that Rose-Garcia will likely return to Austin in February for the city’s annual celebration of “Shakey Graves Day.”
The Mayor of Austin proclaimed the holiday on February 9, 2012. Since then, the city has hosted yearly concerts featuring local bands and performers, with Rose-Garcia typically performing among them.
For Shakey Graves Day (and the two days after), Shakey Graves’ entire discography, including unreleased albums, is available on bandcamp for pay-what-you-want prices.
