An hour past door time for last night’s J. Tillman show, and three dozen or so people still stood outside the UVA Chapel in the rain; many left for drinks on the Corner, and others went somewhere to stay dry or went home for good.
I left for a bit, but returned in time for the second half of Tillman’s superb set—plenty of cuts from Vacillando Territory Blues and Year in the Kingdom, a solo encore of "James Blues" that proved just how much weight Tillman carries in the Fleet Foxes, and folk songs that were softly nudged out of rhythm or summoned to the rafters with ecstatic washes of feedback.
Tillman may be a gorgeous singer and capable guitarist, but he composes songs like a drummer and, to some degree, performed as one, no matter what he held in his hand. He slapped bells, raked brushes across a vertical cymbal, matched handclaps to his drummer’s tom smacks. All the better to fill the chapel with the echo of his volleys. Photos below.
