The frontman of Destroyer, Dan Bejar, has said in numerous interviews that he is not much of a musician, or that he is not a musician at all. His insistence on purely functional guitar skills has led the alternative music press to focus on his lyrical ability.
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Destroyer with Sonoi
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 Entertainment
Art
The Empty Bottle
Chicago, IL
5/17/09
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This is an obvious smart choice – the songwriter is widely acknowledged (in independent music circles anyway) as one of the finest lyricists of the last decade, if not more. His poetic style mixes characters real and imaginary, serpentines through places in a boozy haste, stumbles through time, and borrows catch phrases from famous musicians, literature and even his own works.
Add a strikingly soft-needled, faux-British-accented vocal style, and a record of successful collaboration with top indie bands The New Pornographers and Swan Lake, and you’ve got one of the most coveted, yet most baffling personas in music today.
Though the Vancouverite has recorded eight albums spanning the genres of electro-folk, traditional rock ‘n’ roll, and self-described “European Blues” MIDI orchestral ballads, his intimate solo performance at The Empty Bottle showed that Bejar can lasso an audience in with the simplicity of an acoustic guitar and heartfelt voice.
Local outfit Sonoi provided a great warm-up via slow, wandering guitars and a psych-rock haze with plenty of reverb. The packed house was mellowed after a long set and ready for the main attraction in the cozy basement-like surroundings.
Seeing Bejar come onstage with beer bottles in both hands was a familiar sight to anyone following the artist; he is known to down a few during shows, even while performing and keeping time until his next entrance. After a brief tuning, a casual “Hey”, and a return greeting from the crowd, the show was off.
Bejar likes to start his albums with “fanfare”; this live session got the same treatment. “Helena” was kicked off with a crisp sounding of the name. Bejar’s voice was in tip-top shape, as he emotionally sang on: “So throw the old furniture in the fire, as the children go barbaric behind the wire, they’re just children…” Though fans are use to hearing the full band on releases, Bejar more than compensated for the lack of drums, lead guitar and bass by keeping his playing solid and simple. During the whole set, accents and tempo changes were present, and volume variation provided a terrific alternative sonic effect to the original versions of many key songs.
It didn’t take much to get the audience’s full attention; it was apparent from the first few chords that this show was not going to be dull. “Painter in Your Pocket” was played from mid-song following a strumming (and stunning) exit from “Helena”. The delicate but powerful piece elicited a proper “Ooh!” from everyone at just the right moment.
Though tangled plots and often self-reflective lyrics adorned many songs, Bejar did mix in a quirky wit. A prime example is “Beggars Might Ride”, the line goes: “For someone so beautifully scarred, I imagine it must be hard to stay away from a life of public relations…”
Other highlights were the haunting “Certain Things You Ought to Know”, “European Oils” featuring a sing-along to Bejar’s characteristic “na na na na do do da” musings, and Swan Lake’s “The Freedom”. New life was injected into the oldie “No Cease Fires! (Crimes against the State of Our Love, Baby)” and a galloping optimism was added with “Your Blood”.
Shout-outs for the nine-minute fan favorite “Rubies” were answered in good humor with “Do you know what chord that starts on?!” Instead the amazingly transparent “Don’t Become the Thing You Hated” rounded off the night, with an audience-demanded double-encore comprising a newly-penned song and tropical-tinged “Virgin with a Memory”.
Somewhere during that show, “Self Portrait with Thing (Tonight Is Not Your Night)” from 2002’s This Night was played. Judging by the satisfied nods and murmurs after the show, it was actually everyone’s night.
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