Kurt Vile

Take one look at the man and the band in front of you onstage: all that hair, all those electric guitars, there’s a plaid shirt or two…this is going to be some kind of noisy grunge nonsense, isn’t it? Well, in short, no. Kurt Vile doesn’t do noise. He’ll give you some dope psych/folk jams, though. Vile is perhaps the most unassuming man to ever take to the stage. He hides behind his hair as he and his band The Violators run through extended versions of tracks from Smoke Ring for My Halo, not saying very much and when he does, it’s all delivered rather nervously. What matters most, though, is not that Vile is lacking “bantz”; Vile’s languid solos are what matter, as he takes a track like ‘Jesus Fever’ and lets the running time extend and bend until you don’t recognise the song anymore thanks to his astonishing liquid playing. Even when he drops the electric and picks up an acoustic guitar, Vile manages to manipulate a song so that one minute he’s Dylan, the next he’s Springsteen – this kid is talented. It’s not all completely laid-back mind you; Vile and the Violators can rock out with the best of them and there’s almost a punk element to the glorious ‘Freeway’ and it shakes you right out of the cosmic reverie the preceding tracks had put you in. You won’t come away thinking you were in the presence of a star and showman, but a Kurt Vile set gives you what you need – cracking songs.

Philadephia’s Kurt Vile gets the ‘slacker’ term levied at him in a manner that’s frightfully unfair, if you ask me. Like fellow ‘slackers’ Beck and Mac Demarco, he’s built up a considerable fan base thanks to consistenyly touring the world on the back of a slew of excellent, inventive, melodically rich records that only continue to grow in elegance, the lazy sod. Honestly, if the three of them had never worn a plaid shirt, we’d most likely be calling them prolific. Kurt Vile’s shows can be split by in large in to two sections; one, a singular Kurt deftly finger picking his way through beauteous tunes like ‘Baby’s Arms’ and ‘Peeping Tomboy’, two, Vile backed by his powerhouse of a rock band The Violators to channel their inner Rolling Stones on songs that require a little more of a backbone (‘Shame Chamber’ or the near-epic ‘Goldtone’ being among the tunes benefitting most from their addition). Songs are mumbled and somewhat loose, sure, but that’s part of their charm – devoid of pretence or showiness, Kurt Vile makes the whole ‘being an international rock star’ thing look like the easiest job in the world. Maybe there is something about those shirts after all.

The setting was perfectly unassuming when Kurt Vile played a low-key SLC summer concert series set. I was expecting a tracklist chock-full of b'lieve I'm goin down songs and relative-hits, but was glad to hear a slew of Smoke Ring's deeper cuts and fluid, loose jams from Kurt's entire discography. By the end of the night, Kurt Vile's infectiously casual demeanor spread through the audience, and the festival-goers who stuck around were treated to a final, beautiful rendition of Goldtone and On Tour, two of my favorite tracks. Overall, the atmosphere Kurt Vile brought on tour was a caricature of the man himself, and exactly what I came to hear.

The show was great! Kurt's musical sincerity and quirky personality shined! I loved it. I only wish the crowd and venue could've done their part in creating an environment that respected his talent. Unfortunately, Marathon never brings in crowds that are 'present' or truly respect the performer/music. It's disheartening because Kurt showed up, performed a beautiful set, but Nashville let him down with their overly chatty tinder dates and disengaged crowd. Regardless, my friends and I got a lot out of it and our appreciation for Kurt Vile and artists like him continues to grow.

It was a great show.KV was presenting his last record "Bottle it in", released last week, and most of the songs was from this album. Not one of my favourite KV's albums but always better than the average rock albums.
Previously played Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore. It was just a 30 minuts concert but very intense and exciting.
The venue was full and the sound was awesome (Sala Apolo is my favourite club in Barcelona). Definitely a great night.

Mr. Vile seemed plagued by pedalboard and monitor problems at the start of the set; but things got better as the show rolled along. Setlist skewed towards slower acoustic numbers, with a predictable encore of "Pretty Pimpin". The Sadies definitely stole the show with their high-energy opening set, and the audience was reminded of this when Kurt Vile had them back onstage at the end of the show for a great closer.

Very disappointing. The 'Pretty Daze' album took a while to find it's following in London, but by summer this year, it was the soundtrack to every hip coffee joint in the city. But there's been a new record since then, and that formed the majority of the set. I don't think I was alone in being disappointed by this fact, since the crowd lost energy with each track played, and many began leaving before the end.

Great show from a seemingly very shy man, played mainly eyes to the ground, behind a curtain of hair.

The first few songs felt a little chaotic, but about a third of the way through the set the band settled in and Kurt starting whipping his guitar off his shoulders at the end of songs at breakneck speeds. Despite his reservedness, Kurt's enthusiasm for the music, venue and performance shone through.

I have seen at least 200 hundred shows and I have walked out on 3. Kurt Vile was one of them. There was no show. It was basically like watching the album being played on stage by a robot. No emotion. No showmanship. Nothing special. My husband, who loves live music as much as I do, was super disappointed as well. Total bummer.

I did not know him a week ago but was very exciting meeting him and his band.

It was an excellent show! He is an amazing guitarist and his last album is very great. Looking forward seeing him again with the Violators!

Very folk and rock!

I bought his last vinyle on the way home, Bottle It In.