I’ve been a fan of Destroyer (Dan Bejar) for years. Intimacy has always been what drew me to his music, from the conversational tone of the lyrics to the way his recordings always seem to sonically put you in the same room as him.
To use the word intimacy in the case of Destroyer’s Feb. 6 concert would be an understatement. The sheer feeling of the audience’s huddled-in, attentive listening was incredible. St. Albans church held less than 100 listeners, with the pews packed and some sitting on the carpeted floor in front of the stage.
Bejar stood a foot or two above the audience with just his guitar in hand, backed by Christmas lights and crucifixes, the overtly ornate church complementing the humble nature of his performance.
His set consisted of a mix of songs off his recent Five Spanish Songs EP, stripped-down versions of songs from his near-perfect 2011 album Kaputt, as well as songs from his early career, dating back to 1996.
Bejar’s performance itself was almost unsettling to experience with other people around. He sings with an emotional weariness that evokes a higher-registered Leonard Cohen, and every member of the audience was completely possessed by the sincerity.
You could tell everybody in the room was having an incredibly personal experience through the songs, only daring to break their gaze and sip from their plastic cups of wine when Bejar took a break to tune his guitar.
In terms of the songs themselves, long-time fans of Bejar would appreciate the sampling of his various eras of material. Although I enjoy everything Bejar has made, I found the acoustic delivery of Kaputt cut “Downtown” to be an improvement over the original, and the highlight of the evening.
Bejar played a new song, and knowing that he has been performing in a stripped-down acoustic setting may hint at a different direction for his next release.
His previous full-length expanded his distinctive writing style and voice into a world inhabited by the remnants of disco and smooth jazz. His recent EP was a return to his more folk-indebted roots, and it will be interesting to see if he blends these styles.
At one point in the concert, Bejar mysteriously remarked “Here’s an old one. I think we’re going to see a return to old things,” and as his concert proved, this would definitely be a welcome return.
