By Oscar Medina
Modern folk luminary Devendra Banhart descended on the SF Moma last night with a musical performance to celebrate the opening of his joint art exhibit with Paul Klee. Devendra’s rise to fame is an unusual one; a young SF art student lives off of pennies, the sympathetic couches of friends and local odd jobs to later be discovered by Michael Gira of the Swans. Gira releases Devendra’s first record on his own Young God imprint, and within months he receives critical acclaim for his wiry, psychedelic, brand of folk-pop. His presence cuts an odd figure which just furthers his fame; a son of Venezuelan parents with a unique vibrato voice and the tendencies of a musical gypsy who writes 60’s styled folk songs that somehow turn the music landscape on it’s head, inspires droves of imitators, a style which the critics brand “freak- folk”, and a movement is born.
Last night’s sold out show at the MOMA marked a triumphant return for Devendra Banhart whose obscure beginnings as a street-folk artist who used to roam the streets of San Francisco has now become the stuff of legend.
Clad in a slim velvet suit, red bow-tie and cowboy boots, Devendra graced the stage with a 5 piece backing band (drums, guitar, bass, keys, congas) that started off the set with a Brazilian styled piece that laid the groundwork for the rest of the night. A performance that lasted over 90 minutes and culled many tracks over his latest release Smokey Rolls Over Thunder Canyon, Devendra ran the gamut from introspective love songs, to full on carnivalesque Brazilian psych, to flashes of Flamenco inspired Spanish folk.
In between songs Devendra was affable and self-deprecating, keeping the audience engaged through banter and jokes, and at one point invited anyone who wanted to play a song to come on stage. Silence ensued. Within seconds a young man was met by the encouragement of the crowd, to come on stage and deliver a surprisingly excellent rendition of a folk rock song that sounded like a cover of early Neil Young.
Many of the more subdued and flamenco-Brazilian flavored songs he played last night benefited from the stellar acoustics in the auditorium. You could hear a pin drop in that place, and when the more complex guitar passages became prevalent, which where played beautifully by Noah Georgeson and Andy Cabic, you were grateful that the sound engineer had brought his top shelf game.
Some highlights of the show included his performance of “Quedate Luna, Freely, Samba Vexillographica and his inspiring jaw-dropping rendition of “Bad Girl”, a disconsolate paean to the perils of love lost taken straight from the George Harrison sketchbook of classic songwriting. The encore was a two song session that was received with effusiveness as people got out of their seats and danced to “Carmensita”; a full on Latin-rock jam that wouldn’t be out of place on Santana’s Abraxas, and then closed the show with a plaintive folk number that gracefully ended the night and proved that Devendra is here to stay.
SF Weekly
January 18th, 2008
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