Bill Callahan

Anyone ever seen Bill Callahan live? For those of you who have, you need no explanation as to what his presence and performance is like. For those who haven't, you should know, he's weird.
Not like bad weird, necessarily. For me, his music is like the kind of artsy, twisted, unique foreign film you watch and afterward can't really figure out if you enjoyed it or not. If anything, he's absolutely unique: there is no one like Bill Callahan.

He played at the Pilot Light. This place is equally artsy, twisted, and unique. It's the kind of place that could very easily be mislabeled as hipster. While it definitely attracts the hipster crowd, I never felt that "we're to cool for life" vibe. It's the kind of place that sells Schlitz in a can. I mean, it's crusty. It's also tiny. The bar has 5 stools and then there's benches around the perimeter of the already narrow and intimate space. It's the kind of place where you can be a wallflower (literally) AND be right up front; very laid back.

The opening act was a dude from Portland whose sound made Elliot Smith sound like a bubbly cheerleader. This guy was a solo act, playing drums and singing (though this may be a somewhat generous use of the verb). His lyrics were pained, painful, and filled with despair. In fact, at one point, he kept repeating "despair" over and over- playing with his "voice". This guy next to me saw me start to laugh and leaned in to share in the fun. He confided in me that he was glad someone else found this guy humorous. I told him: "it rains a lot in Portland...I mean, ALOT!!!"
That got him going. We laughed and chatted to keep ourselves entertained. Steve was from Milwaukee and in town on business. He drank Schlitz from a can.

The next act was an all women rock band called "The Lights". I teased Steve that they looked like a Spinal Tap version of Heart- they had these funny sequined shirts, big hair, and tights. Actually, they had a couple of numbers that were entertaining, not to mention their sound was a huge breath of fresh air compared to the suicidal smell still lingering in the air from Portland boy. Anyhow, we continued to make funny, sarcastic comments to each other. Then, Bill showed up.

Bill was fairly plain and unassuming in appearance- tall white dude, ostensibly in his mid-30's with salt and pepper gray hair, a white button up (with the top few left open), a pair of blue jeans with a slightly off-center leather belt. But his voice was unmistakable. His voice is this deep, penetrating baritone that, along with his deep and intense face, has this strangely stunning effect. I mean, it's not so much that you feel that you can't move. It's more like you are simply pulled into his presence; like he's put you into a trance and you had no choice. His sound is dark (though nothing like the spoon-gouging-out-eyeballs sound of the other dude) but it belies his obvious funny bone (which I really liked). One of the best lines was his twist on Amazing Grace:
"once i was kinda blind, now I can sorta see". Loved it.

Anyhow, I should say that the only reason I even knew/know about Bill is my friend Nikki's husband Chris whom I saw the show with. Chris, thanks for introducing me to Bill. It was kinda weird, by I sorta enjoyed it.