Recap: Low at Epiphany Episcopal Church
Photo: David Wolinsky
Over the past dozen years or so, I’ve seen Low play in smoky clubs, classy theaters, a basement coffeehouse, even a church once or twice. But last night’s show at the Epiphany Episcopal Church on the near West Side provided pretty much the perfect venue for the band’s quietly powerful music. It was the first show at the church, a slightly dilapidated but gorgeous old building on the corner of Ashland and Adams, just a stone’s throw from Union Park. The folks behind The Empty Bottle already have a bunch more shows lined up, including Jenny Lewis on Friday and the Baltimore Round Robin Tour (headed by Dan Deacon) next month. (Beer is even available, if that’s a concern.)
But onto last night’s show, billed as “an evening with Low.” The Minnesota band stopped on their way to upstate New York, where they’ll be playing the My Bloody Valentine-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, and they played for about two hours, interrupted only by an intermission. The first half relied heavily on material from recent years, performed—as was fitting for the setting—on acoustic (though amplified) instruments. They opened with the stunning “Murderer,” appropriate considering it’s a pretty direct conversation with God, perhaps inappropriate considering it’s offering the singer’s service as a killer.
But that’s the beauty in Low’s recent material: Yes, the band (or at least husband-and-wife singers Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker) are Mormons, but some of their strongest songs are about questioning faith, not blindly worshipping. And it’s not like they’re humorless: A new-ish Christmas song (which will be released in November as a seven-inch) called “Santa’s Coming Over” is simultaneously hilarious and scary.
The longer second set reached back deeper into Low’s long, excellent catalog, and the setting—a statue of Jesus standing near Sparhawk, stained glass windows, a monumental ceiling—made “Lion/Lamb,” “Lust,” and “A Little Argument With Myself” even more resonant.
But onto last night’s show, billed as “an evening with Low.” The Minnesota band stopped on their way to upstate New York, where they’ll be playing the My Bloody Valentine-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, and they played for about two hours, interrupted only by an intermission. The first half relied heavily on material from recent years, performed—as was fitting for the setting—on acoustic (though amplified) instruments. They opened with the stunning “Murderer,” appropriate considering it’s a pretty direct conversation with God, perhaps inappropriate considering it’s offering the singer’s service as a killer.
But that’s the beauty in Low’s recent material: Yes, the band (or at least husband-and-wife singers Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker) are Mormons, but some of their strongest songs are about questioning faith, not blindly worshipping. And it’s not like they’re humorless: A new-ish Christmas song (which will be released in November as a seven-inch) called “Santa’s Coming Over” is simultaneously hilarious and scary.
The longer second set reached back deeper into Low’s long, excellent catalog, and the setting—a statue of Jesus standing near Sparhawk, stained glass windows, a monumental ceiling—made “Lion/Lamb,” “Lust,” and “A Little Argument With Myself” even more resonant.
