Andy McKee at Majestic Theatre
Wednesday night at the Majestic Theatre, fingerstyle guitar-whiz Andy McKee seemed unaware of his virtuosic celebrity. There were no windmill riffs, medallion necklaces, or grandiose solos, just a modest display of skill in the form of lush, textured pop songwriting. With his black shirt tucked deep into baggy jeans, McKee kicked his set off with “Art Of Motion” an up-tempo track that brilliantly showcased his ability to add rhythm to his one-man pop tunes by thumping away at muted strings between fluid chord progressions and dizzying melodies.
“This next song is about my obsession with flying cars, it’s called ‘Keys To The Hovercraft,’” McKee said as he tuned one of his custom-made acoustic guitars. Throughout the performance, each tune was accompanied by a story. “She” was written for McKee’s wife (she runs his merch table on table), while his classical arrangement of Toto’s “Africa” paid homage to ’80s pop music. When he started playing “Drifting,” which has received more than 19 million views on YouTube, the audience responded with roaring applause. McKee sounded shocked: “Uh, that one is called ‘Drifting’, obviously.”
For “Into The Ocean” and “The Friend I Never Met” (a tribute to late guitarist Michael Hedges) McKee took his batshit coordination to new heights using a harp guitar, which was built by a dentist named Ron Spillers. This acoustic monstrosity, which McKee seemed to be holding up without a strap, had the standard six strings of a regular acoustic guitar, with an additional six harp strings mounted above. His acrobatic finger-picking created exuberant soundscapes, while his dynamic tone swelled in and out like crashing waves. The set spread across 2007’s Gates Of Gnomeria, 2005’s Art Of Motion, and 2001’s Dreamcatcher, as well as a funk-fueled cover of Don Ross’ “Tight Trite Night.” After McKee closed his set with more traditional-sounding folk number “Common Ground,” the audience got up from its remarkably uncomfortable, ass-crunching seats and gave the earnest Kansas-born songwriter one last roar of applause. “Standing ovation! Wowzers!” McKee said, endearingly dorky. “Jesus, thanks, YouTube.”
