David Bazan at The Annex
Most Madisonians know that The Annex is heavily haunted by the ghosts of nu-metal’s past, so we can safely assume that the horrifying psychic remains of the band Dope’s last visit were causing all of David Bazan’s electronics to go haywire Tuesday night. “Our robots are working against each other,” Bazan complained after his presumably possessed synthesizers slid out of key during “How I Remember” from 2007’s Fewer Moving Parts EP. He continued, “The synthesizer is off by a minor 6th; that’s impressive. MIDI is not your friend.” But despite the incompatible vibe of The Annex (there’s something weird about seeing Bazan’s grizzly bear profile between two giant Jägermeister banners), Bazan—with the help of drummer Alex Westcoat and bassist Andy Fitts—cranked out a set of tunes pulled largely from the brand new album Strange Negotiations.
“Anyone have any questions?” Bazan asked, only to have a request for “Big Trucks” screamed at him. He replied, “Big N-O, or as my son says—who turned 2 today; I know, it’s awesome—‘I don’t wanna!’” But a few songs later, Bazan would not only play “Big Trucks,” but a handful of other Pedro The Lion tunes, like “Magazine,” “Transcontinental,” and “Of Up And Coming Monarchs,” to the crowd’s delight. For most of the set, Bazan’s drowsy crooning tip-toed cautiously over the clattering chords he plucked from his Telecaster, but he did climb his way into falsetto territory on “Cold Beer And Cigarettes.” He appropriately punctuated the aforementioned tune with big sips from a bottle of Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale. “Goddamn, that Two-Hearted is so good,” spouted the ex-evangelist.
Even before Bazan—formerly considered a Christian artist under the Pedro The Lion guise—publicly denounced his faith and dropped his moniker, he was always heavily critical of capitalism (“Indian Summer”), politicians (“Winners Never Quit”), and particularly other Christians (“Foregone Conclusions”). Of course, this remains unchanged. “I don’t care about shoes, clothes, or cars,” Bazan declared calmly. “Besides, everyone knows that a minivan is the best vehicle money can buy.” Appropriately, Bazan followed these sentiments with a rendition of Pedro The Lion anti-fashion anthem “When They Really Get To Know You, They Will Run” from 1998’s It’s Hard To Find A Friend. The trio bowed out with a chilling rendition of the crawling “Strange Negotiations,” unsurprisingly skipping out on the whole fake encore bit—a gesture that truly matches the raw honesty that drew Bazan’s audience toward him in the first place.
