Caught in the Carousel

Thomas Dybdahl (First Opener):
With his guitar, vintage suit and beautiful voice, Thomas Dybdahl seemed too good to be true. While the Jeff Buckley comparisons are hard to avoid, Dybdahl is fresh-faced and undamaged. His music is a testament to hopeful longing and that first kiss. His quirky and impromptu-feeling songs are about love found and lost and found again. Since he’s Norwegian, and has garnered some impressive awards in his home country, including a Spellemannprisen (Grammy equivalent), it’s fitting that he was the opener for Sondre Lerche. A performer who is young and not too cocky, Dybdahl is totally accessible (he was signing CDs after his set), and unique enough in the “guy with guitar singing pop songs” arena to earn your trust.

Willy Mason (Second Opener):
In the midst of talking and sipping my beer, a solitary figure walked onto the stage unannounced and began his melancholy and heartfelt dirge. Standing alone up there, he looked out at the audience with half closed eyes, and seemed to be channeling a faraway kindred folk spirit. His precision in culling the folk intensity was matched by the gravity of his words and the resonating timbre of his whiskey-soaked voice, which belie his twenty-three years. He didn’t smile once on stage—that’s simply not what his music is about. Mason was accompanied by a band (bass, drums, violin) after that first song, but the show and energy were all his.

Sondre Lerche With The Faces Down Band

Sondre Lerche (pronounced Son-dray Lair-keh) did not disappoint his fans and admirers on this breezy San Francisco Friday night at the historic Fillmore. A long way from his Bergen, Norway home, he keyed up the audience in what seemed to be the opening style for the night: he walked out alone, guitar with sparkly shoulder strap attached, and launched into an upbeat riff. While he played, other musicians wandered out until they were in sync performing a kind of loose pop jam. Lerche is wildly charismatic on stage, all confidence and boyish energy. He’s also extremely on point when it comes to live performances. Guitar roadie was stage right, at the ready to swap guitars with Lerche and there were very brief breaks between songs, no more than 30 seconds usually. Sondre appeared to honestly enjoy himself on stage, interacting with the audience and the Faces Down band, in what seemed like a natural extension of his personality rather than a forced performance persona. He’s not a rock star, but he’s got that something special that translates into complete audience devotion.

The set was carefully interspersed with tunes from 2007’s (US release) Phantom Punch, 2004’s Two Way Monologue and 2000’s impeccable Faces Down. Markedly though, each occurrence of songs from Faces Down provoked the most head bopping and audience singing. There were two points in the show where the psychedelic jam format of the band went on a little too long; perhaps it was the world-renown locale or the excitement emanating from the audience, but “Thing You Call Fate” and “Two Way Monologue” were less-served by the competing guitars and lunging drum rolls. Lerche and his band were in absolute top form during the final 20 minutes of the show. They indulged the audience with perfectly delivered versions of “Sleep On Needles” and “No One’s Gonna Come.” The audience was lovestruck during “Modern Nature,” participating on behalf of the sadly missing sweet vocals of Lillian Samdal.

Lerche has a patented happy formula that, despite my most cynical scrutiny, never fails to make me feel a little better than I did before I cranked it up. If you’re in the mood for a pure and heady joy serum, I highly recommend acquainting yourself with him and his music. Drink the punch. I promise that you’ll feel better.

—Vanessa Arce

Can we help you find something?