For anyone who wanted to wind down the week with a chill Thursday night, the Sinclair would have been the place to be. Rows of chairs lined the floor of the venue, Emily Elbert sang some jazzy songs as her bandmates grooving and bobbing along. You could almost hear an invisible saxophone jamming with them; they would have completed the pure and soulful sound Elbert’s group produced.
After a smooth transition a lá Norah Jones songs, Tall Heights stepped on stage. Standing with his cello strapped to him (thanks to a custom cello belt) the strong tones of Paul Wright’s playing was met with Tim Harrington’s guitar strumming as their harmonizing voices interweaved.
While the crowd was certainly supportive of the Boston-bred duo, it was hard not to draw comparisons to another band I saw earlier this year, who had no ties to this city; Typhoon, the 11-man band who performed their first show in Boston at Brighton Music Hall this year, had an audience that was much more enthusiastic and interactive. Regardless, the once-buskers at Faneuil Hall made their affection for their city quite clear, whether it was bringing local Boston artist Ryan Montbleau on stage to join them for a song, or during their friendly banter – “We don’t have to fake it tonight.”
On “Eastern Standard Time” Harrington handed Wright a pick, and he struck the cello’s strings as if it was just as natural as the bow (which, by the end of the night, had broken hairs, flying from the fervent cello-playing.) A cello player myself, it was gratifying to see a cellist hold a central role on stage.
Though they certainly had enough material to fill the night, Tall Heights littered their set with brilliant covers, including The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” REM’s “Losing My Religion,” and Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” If newcomers to the band’s material couldn’t connect with these hit favorites, then their own music’s themes probably hit close to home: prefacing Field of Snow, a song about the economic downturn with “either you’re losing your job tomorrow, or you don’t have one already… if it’s the latter, I just wanna say, welcome.” Yes, it sure seemed like Tall Heights had just come home to play a gig for a big group of friends.
We spoke with Wright after the show, and he told us that one of the main decisions for playing cello standing up (not an easy task, I assure you) was to maintain a certain level of energy – sitting down just didn’t convey the right kind of feel. But in the case of the Sinclair show, where the audience’s chairs asserted the laid-back feel of a casual gathering of friends, the venue somewhat hindered the audience’s ability to meet the band’s energy.
Regardless, the show was an obvious crowd-pleaser, and the hordes of fans that stayed to talk to the band afterwards was an indication of their loyal fan base.