Concert review: Belle and Sebastian at the Calvin Theater, Northampton, MA

The music of Belle and Sebastian, like Steely Dan, is difficult to categorize. It's Welsh-folk-pop with a smidge of flutes, horns, cellos and violins. They run the gamut from upbeat foot-tapping songs to a bone-slow ballads. Thus, in their Northampton concert the Smith and Hampshire College kids weren't sure how to react from song to song. The result was a tentative audience that wasn't sure whether to mosh or groove.

But it was all good: Belle and Sebastian is a remarkably talented group (they're not a duo - the name comes from a French children's book) playing multi-layered tunes with a multitude of instruments. The lead's vocals were clean, if distorted by a heavy UK accent. I was most pleased when they played an upbeat song and invited some locals onto the stage to dance in the shadows. After the "dance" song, one of the locals suggested another danceable song and Belle and Sebastian did a quick regroup to perform the song that was obviously not on the original set list. As it turns out, it was one of my favorites - "Womans Realm" - from their last CD.

If I have one minor quibble, it's that B&S seemed to play a LOT of songs from their new CD "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" which I hadn't picked up yet. (I like to be marginally surprised by a group's new material when I go to a concert). As a result, there were only a handful of songs I readily recognized, but that was OK.

All in all, it's hard not to be impressed by such a diverse and talented group. When Belle and Sebastian unleash the soaring swing of a violin or the deep growl of a trumpet, it's a tribute to the tradition of music.