Ben Taylor Hat Trick & Menahan Street Band Album Release Party

Ben Taylor ended his three-night mini-tour last night with a mini-set at the Bowery Hotel. On each night, he'd taken the stage differently, with David Saw at Rockwood on Saturday, and solo at the Standard Hotel on Sunday, so it was only natural that he start this set accompanied by both Saw and his bassist-cum-cajon-player, Benajmin "Beatzy" Thomas. What wasn't expected was that he'd open with "Rocket to the Moon," which had only been played twice, its debut on Saturday. What that shows is that Ben Taylor stands behind his songwriting. The song's abrupt ending will likely be figured out at some point. It was evident early on that this wasn't a headlining show, the talkative crowd forcing Ben to adapt and abbreivate his stories between tunes. "This is a song about a girl who wouldn't give me the time of day. Yeah," he introduced "You Must've Fallen," which had previously been a longer, more detailed story involving pick-up lines and star signs. No matter, though, for that song, which is fairly self-explanatory. However, without its setup, "How Serious Can This Be" doesn't emotionally involve the listener as much if you don't know it's about his sister Sally's top secret spy organization called Spycraft, where she took Ben on as the only baby operative when he was only one.

John Forté was in attendance, his video camera replaced with a bottle of Peroni, and he graciously accepted his vocal duties on "Hungry" and "I'll Be Gone." This crowd probably wasn't going to listen long enough to learn how to participate in "Dirty." I realize that most people were there for Menahan Street Band, but I think the lighting in the room was a huge culprit for any inattentiveness. The stage was only dimly lit by a single chandelier, and because the stage was only a foot tall, it wasn't delineated enough from the rest of the space. Lights shout "Pay attention!" but Ben was only as illuminated as he would've been in a trendy Greenwich Village restaurant's restroom. While the show was not an essential concert by any means (All songs had been played at the two prior gigs.), it was interesting to follow a band for three nights. I'd only done that once before, for Phish's 2011 NYE run (I missed the 28th.), but those shows were all at MSG. Going to different venues and seeing how they coped with different set times and different audiences, it almost felt like being in the band. Well, at least the tour reporter.

The crowd swelled to the borders of the stage for Menahan Street Band, who billed this as their album release show. Their latest LP actually came out on October 30th, but I assume whatever they had planned was cancelled by Hurricane Sandy. After the first song, organist Mike Deller stepped up to the mic, glass of liquor in hand, drunkenly slurring, "We have a brand new album that we're celebrating tonight. That bitch is called The Crossing. It's pretty badass." He proceeded to introduce new tune "Keep Coming Back," but it didn't hold a candle to the following funky one-two punch of "The Wolf" and "The Contender" that got everybody dancing. Set-closer "Make the Road by Walking" was the only song that bested that energy level, but then the band left the stage without a word, leaving their instruments behind as though they would return for an encore. Unfortunately, I was informed by my friend who works there that it was over, and the rush that came with "Make the Road" was left to dissipate oddly down the stairs and out the door into the rainy night.

(Setlist help for Menahan is appreciated.)


BEN TAYLOR - 12.17.12 - BOWERY HOTEL (30 minutes)

SET -
Rocket to the Moon* / You Must've Fallen / Hungry (feat. John Forté) / I'll Be Gone (feat. John Forté) / A Good Day to Be Alive / Not Alone / How Serious Can This Be > Lo & Behold

MENAHAN STREET BAND - 12.17.12 - BOWERY HOTEL (39 minutes, 39 seconds)

SET -

Song 1* / Keep Coming Back / The Wolf / The Contender / Song 5* / Lights Out / Home Again! / Song 8* / Three Faces / Make the Road by Walking

Ben Taylor & Grace Weber Encore Performance at Standard Hotel

In the basement of the Standard Hotel in the East Village, there is a strange little nightclub.  Its walls are covered in André Saraiva stick figures.  A large sculpture of a gaping mouth hangs over a stage.  Tiny wooden stools surround white wooden tables.  It was in this room that Ben Taylor played the second stop on his three-night mini-tour of Manhattan.  To read a review of night one, click here.

Grace Weber opened for him again, which was a pleasant surprise.  Three things first:

1. She only appeared tall from my vantage point last night.
2. That phenomenal voice is hers. She didn't have the blue water bottle tonight.
3. I didn't know that she'd be opening tonight as well, or that I'd meet her at the show, so I'm mildly embarrassed about asking that she date me. However, the offer still stands.

Backed only by her keyboardist, Julian Pollack, Grace performed a short set of four originals.  Accidentally thwacking her guitar out of its stand at the beginning of "Everything to Me," she displayed that same adorable clumsiness, offset by her powerful voice.  Her final two numbers were my favorites from last night, and I found myself singing along this second time.  Before leaving the stage to sell CDs of her album and a Christmas EP, she suggested, "You can find me at GraceWeber.com, Facebook.com... Match.com."  (Setlist help is appreciated.)


Billed as a private show for fans, Ben had initially said he was only doing a 30-minute set, but thankfully, he played for almost an hour.  Hobbling onto the stage in his boot and Stevie Wonder t-shirt, Ben opened things up with the only song he'd play that hadn't been played last night, "Boyfriend."  The funny song about falling for a girl's boyfriend because he's so cool warmed up the crowd nicely for Ben to introduce David Saw, saying, "A lot of these songs I don't know how they go without him."  They played yesterday's opener, Paul McCartney's "Dear Boy," followed by "Worlds Are Made of Paper," minus the whole apples thing.  Ben told the same stories between songs, but he relayed them so naturally, it never felt forced.  He's a little like a stand-up comic telling the same jokes every night, who must add or subtract parts for time or the feeling in the room.  At one point, that feeling developed into a lot of easily-reverberated bar chatter, and Ben took action. "People who are talking right now, you can talk for the rest of the evening, but just not for this song because it's brand new, and I'm excited about it," he said before the "Rocket to the Moon" song.  Taylor attempted all three John Forté collabos, and they grooved along smoothly enough that if you didn't know that John usually sings those parts, you'd never suspect anything different.  "Jolly Holiday" was also reprised, although this time it was dedicated to Ben's buddy, Cary.

Tomorrow, Ben plays a few blocks down at the Bowery Hotel.  Grace won't be opening, but definitely keep an eye out for her.

GRACE WEBER - 12.16.12 - STANDARD HOTEL (18 minutes, 34 seconds)

SET -
Someone / Everything to Me / The Architect* / Hurt You*

BEN TAYLOR - 12.16.12 - STANDARD HOTEL (55 minutes, 35 seconds)

SET -

Boyfriend / Dear Boy / Worlds Are Made of Paper / How Serious Can This Be > Lo & Behold / Rocket to the Moon* / Dirty / Hungry / Wicked Way / I'll Be Gone / You Must've Fallen / Jolly Holiday / Turn on the Lights