Kirstiecat | Blog

Wicker Park Street Festival in Chicago
Day One 7/22/6
Subterranean 7/21/6

It’s almost difficult to write about Devotchka, as if mere words will spoil it. I saw them play at the Subterranean on Friday night and then again headlining the Wicker Park Street Festival. Believe me when I say I would see them every night of the week if I could. Of all of the bands I’ve ever seen, Nick Urata’s voice is the loveliest and it holds up perfectly live. The range and power behind that voice is something I would assign to very few, perhaps Tim Buckley, although stylistically Devotchka has a much different sort of sound. Lead vocalist Nick Urata is, according to his bio, the grandson of a Sicilian and Gypsy. The music is enchanting and all at once despairing as when Nick sings in “Such a Lovely Thing”: “You only love me when I’m leaving.” It’s a desperation very few can match combined with a talent that leaves you speechless. Nick Urata has such a gifted voice that even God’s own sparrows cannot match. I am convinced there is no one on Earth like him.

But that’s not all because in addition to being a talented vocalist, he’s also an amazing instrumentalist. Nick Urata plays theremin, and various guitars on stage while Tom Hagerman plays the violin and accordion. They are joined by Shawn King on percussion and trumpet as well as Jeannie Schroder on sousaphone, upright bass, and backup vocals. I doubt that there’s anything quite like them and it was such a joy to see them play beneath an open sky whilst imagining stars.

The setlist at the Subterranean on Friday night was longer due to the quiet ordinance in effect Saturday. Devotchka clearly had more songs to play at the Wicker Park Street Festival but was told they had to stop playing. Devotchka focused on playing mainly songs off of 2004’s brilliant concept album How it Ends and 2006’s Curse Your Little Heart.Highlights included “Such a Lovely Thing,” their “Venus in Furs” cover (which is even more intense live than on their most recent release Curse Your Little Heart), and “Twenty-Six Temptations.” As an extra treat, at the Subterranean Friday night they played “You Already Know” and the crowd swayed back and forth singing and making “You already know how this will end” our own personal anthem.

Do not miss Devotchka if they play here again or (if you are living outside of Chicago) in your city. It will make you fall in love with music even more, convincing you that when you’re lonely or depressed or when you wish you could be a better person, you at least have the music. Let’s hope there will always be Devotchka.

Listen to their songs on myspace

Look for their sountrack to the newly released film Little Miss Sunshine

Click to see more pictures. (There’s a direct relationship between the number of pictures I take of a band and how much I love their music. These are my favorites out of about 300 pictures.)

This entry was posted on Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 5:28 pm and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.