Shakey Graves haven’t stripped anything back for their session in the intimate environs of the Pumphouse on Pendarvis Farm, Portland. Watching it first on Gigwise below, you can see the passion and energy thrown as much to this as if they were live in front of 20,000 people.
The track they’re performing – ‘Mansion Door’ (taken from new album Can’t Wake Up) feels like a true catharsis and the stage presence of frontman Alejandro Rose-Garcia is undeniably strong. There’s a simmering darkness to proceedings that brings about comparisons to sweeping cinematic melodicism and gritty guitar work of Canada's Wintersleep and the tight-locking locking harmonies bring about a Lennon/McCartney feel. Of course if you strip back all the electric guitar there’s a tenderness and great pop structure that would make this song still stand tall when exposed to its foundations.
Turn back the clock just a few months, even speaking of Shakey Graves in this context – having a backing band – was unthinkable. Shakey Graves made its name as the one-man band and even opened for Edward Sharpe and Mumford & Sons on their tour as an official busker. But for Rose-Garcia bringing in backing musicians appears to be a great move forward. You can feel he lives it, loves it, and is able to articulate his message to a fuller extent than ever.
For the uninitiated, the Gigwise x Pickathon sessions are part of a series filmed at last year’s Pickathon festival where Broken Social Scene and Ezra Furman were among the big acts. Pickathon manages to keep its attendance down to 3,500 people to keep its integrity as a small festival in a beautiful place making minimal environmental impact. The sessions help the bands, who are often used to a bigger attendance, still reach their fans whilst playing at the farm.
Pickathon 2019 is held 2 - 4 August and we can't imagine a more beautiful festival site if your idea of a good festival is one held deep in a North American rainforest with impeccable live curation.
