Beirut didn’t show for this, or more specifically Zach Condon didn’t, for reasons unbeknown to me. One can assume that some brand of misfortune became him, after Jeremy Barnes, once of Neutral Milk Hotel and leader of promoted-to-headliners A Hawk And A Hacksaw, urged a raising of glasses to toast the missing front-man’s health…my disappointment is irrelevant, and I wish him well indeed.
Barnes could be a one man band; donning the stage as he does, firstly, with an accordion. Secondly, two songs in, he puts on a hat that is lined around the rim with bells, and has a drumstick poking out of one side – used, naturally, to crash into a cymbal when necessary. Thirdly, he sporadically sits on his DIY drum kit at the back of the stage, using his feet (obviously) to bring two different drums into the sonic arena. An impressive individual indeed. He also has an amazing, almost handlebar moustache, so you can forgive me right now, post-gig, for believing him to be the best man in the world.
He is, however, not a one man band. He plays with Heather Trost, a stunning individual on the violin. Who the hawk is and who the hacksaw, I can only leave y’all to speculate, but she certainly provides an outline of serene beauty to the picture, providing as she does the often sad, sometimes-triumphant stringed accompaniment to Barnes finger, head and foot-work.
A Hawk And A Hacksaw play what I would call fantasy music. They transport you to another land, in this case Eastern Europe, the Balkans; it makes you want to get in a caravan, buy some leather boots, steal a horse and travel, with anyone who’s willing, to the nearest Romanian gypsy commune. Them, Beirut and to a degree, Gogol Bordello, are leading the charge for bringing accentuated faux gypsy-folk music to the masses; and they’re doing it brilliantly.
Naturally the desire to be a gypsy wears off, but the potency of the music is remarkable. Although the Hacksaw do paint pictures to momentarily and extravagantly lose yourself in, there is a distinctly sad edge to their music. Whereas Gogol Bordello battle diligently to keep the gypsy party pumping all night long, Barnes and Trost are a more soulful, wistful affair.
Vocals are rare in Hacksaw songs and when they do appear, they are very much a part, and not the main focus, of a song. Apart, that is, from one song - Portlandtown – almost certainly their most accessible song, and undoubtedly their most poignant. It is a cover of an old anti-war song and it’s heartbreaking. The lyrics are sung over a repetitive accordion riff and a slow tear-tinged violin – it is astonishingly powerful. The words are as follows:
“I was born in Portland Town, yes I was/I was married in Portland Town, yes I was/I had children one, two, three, yes I did/Jimmy and John and Frank make three, yes they did/Send my children off to war, yes they did/Killed my children one, two, three, yes they did/Murdered my children one, two three, yes they did/Ain’t gonna have no kids no more, no I’m not.”
Later the duo were joined on stage by present members of Beirut for some full band renditions of Hacksaw songs and one Beirut number. It rarely shows that the Hacksaw are only a two-piece, so the addition of a full drummer, an oboe and a guitar takes them to orchestral levels. Following this is a declaration that they were a “band of the people” and the second encore is played in and amongst their spell-bound public. The London Luminaire brims with adoration and love.
This scene that is developing from Albuquerque in New Mexico is clearly not just about bands, but also about community. One of their kind was down, and they all mucked in to help him out. This show was for Zach and it was almost certainly the best no show from a headliner, that I’ll ever witness.
