Within the first 30 minutes of a 90-minute set at the Central Presbyterian Church Saturday night, Vic Chesnutt had blown the power (second song), referenced Valtrex, accused someone of farting, and cursed in God’s house.
Irreverence has always been Chesnutt’s muse and, well, his generator-draining backing band might have had something to do with the power. Backed by five members of Canadian noise collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Thee Silver Mt. Zion, and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, who played seated the whole time, they worked up to their volcanic eruptions with purpose.
It took Chesnutt and friends a while to “warm up,” but once they settled into the dusty backseat of his songs, his sandpaper howl/reverent whisper began subtly matching their
pew-shaking loud/quiet/loud. Playing from new album At the Cut (“Coward,” “Granny,” “Philip Guston”) and 2007’s North Star Deserter (a wonderfully woozy “You Are Never Alone”), the night became part VH1 Storytellers, part salty late-night bar talk.
Outside, cold winds whipped down Eighth, but within the sanctuary’s dark, stained glass confines, Chesnutt’s simple tales of Southern gothic warmed hearts and, apparently, seats.
This article appears in December 4 • 2009.