Woven Hand at Benders Tavern

On Good Friday, the g-phrase and I attended what was probably the best concert that I will see this year.

Benders Tavern is a bar and small concert venue that sits in the building formerly occupied by the Goth bar, Onyx. Where it used to be dark and gloomy, with its TVs showing a mix of stylish and campy cult films, Benders is a brighter space with more buoyant colors. It was the first time I had been in the bar since before it had changed ownership, and the experience was a little disconcerting.

The part that made it so strange wasn't the new style, though, it was that some of the clientele didn't seem to have changed all that much. Pierced and tattooed people still attended, wearing their uniforms of black PVC and leather, carefully cultivating their ironic detachment and sartorial separatism. At least one of the concertgoers was a former Onyx employee who wore a familiar starter Al Jourgenson Goth cowboy getup. I was surprised to see them at the comparatively happy Benders and even more surprised to see them attending a Christian rock concert.

But that's precisely what was happening. The scene was the people--the tiny shot girl with the pink, wool bunny ear cap and an unsettling, vampiric smile; the cocktail waitress with the exaggerated, cat's eye granny glasses; the cocktail waitress with what looked to be tatts covering her entire torso and arms. Scattered throughout was a smattering of people like me: jeans and sweaters type people who looked more out of place than the guy with plugs in his earlobes.

Again, let me stress, that they had all come for a Christian concert on Good Friday. That isn't to say that many recognized the timing or even that they were Christians themselves, but the music of David Eugene Edwards, both in 16 Horsepower and, as tonight, in Woven Hand is a powerful experience. It's never anything less than Christian, although it would be safe to say that the largest portion of the fan base would be unlikely to identify themselves with the fire and brimstone Nazarene religion on display.

Edwards makes music that has its roots in a dark, country vision. It's rumbling sounds, odd and ancient instruments, and unforgettable tunes coupled to a voice reminiscent of a more controlled, more versatile Jeffrey Lee Pierce. My first exposure to him was from a song called "Heel on the Shovel" from 16 Horsepower's release, Sackcloth 'n' Ashes. The opening is a pure country guitar building to that unsteady vocal on the first pair of lines: "I'm diggin' you a shallow grave / and to the sun your face I'll raise..."

I was hooked.

Edwards has only grown better. Woven Hand, without the backing of his 16 Horsepower band mates, is a more pure expression of his musical vision, although the overall sound doesn't stray far from that path. Until this Friday night, though, I had only heard the CDs--and the concert experience is something entirely different.

Woven Hand, the band, is impressive. The drums are tight and explosive, the bass line is a deep, rumbling that resonates in your stomach, and Edwards' guitar (and banjo and, I believe, balalaika, although I didn't get a good look at the instrument) play is brilliant. Songs that seem quiet and introspective on a CD become urgent and nearly overwhelming in concert. The music--admittedly loud music--is entrancing in its rhythms and hooks, the lyrics a darker testament in a smoke-filled room.

Article Author: Zombyboy

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