It was a freezing 12 degrees outside in DC when Phosphorescent took the stage Wednesday night at 9:30 Club, but the sold-out crowd made for what felt like a cozy night in with friends.
Starting off with “The Quotidian Beasts” off of last year’s Muchacho, which led the charge for the eight-song section featuring the full backing band, the set drew heavily from Muchacho but still managed to feature a generous sampling of back catalog material.
The band then left the stage for a four-song break that featured Matthew Houck performing solo for what was arguably the stand-out section of the show. That’s not to say the band was poor in any way—far from it actually—but stripped down to its essence, you could really begin to appreciate the vocal delivery and the emotive performance. What was also notable was how silent the club became.
The audience’s attention was fully fixed on the stage with no clanging beer bottles or side chatter distracting from the performance. It was during these moments when it became clear just how strongly Houck was resonating with those in attendance. When he first sang out “I fix myself up to come and be with you” while sitting behind the keyboard from the song “Muchacho’s Tune,” the audience reacted audibly. In the quiet, those lyrics cut through the room and were easy for anyone who has ever screwed up in a relationship to relate to, which is to say, essentially everyone.
The set closed with a solo rendition of “Wolves” that featured some fun use of looping when Matthew sang harmonies with himself. After a short encore break, the band returned for two more songs and closed out the evening with a slightly extended version of “At Death, a Proclamation” from 2007’s Pride.
Earlier, Caveman started the evening off right with a solid set of material featuring songs from both of their major releases. Thankfully given a decent amount of time to perform and stretch their legs, they performed quite a few songs. One thing of note was the increased tempo of many of their songs from how they are on the albums, but in a live setting this isn’t a bad thing. It actually gives the songs a little more urgency and punch, which is an interesting contrast to the soundscapes on the albums. A great band in their own right, I imagine it won’t be too much longer before they start headlining at some of the larger clubs in the area.
I’ve been to a lot of shows at 9:30 over the years, and this one seemed to grab a hold of everyone in a way that was a bit different from any I’ve seen in quite some time. Maybe it had something to do with the huddled wintertime vibe in the club, but I think it speaks volumes to the strength of the material and to what a strong performer we have in Phosphorescent.
CAVEMAN
