Jeff Mangum is one of those artists that people like to call a ‘musician’s musician.’ It’s like what some say about The Velvet Underground: not a lot of people get him, and he isn’t that well known, but the people that do like him tend to be musicians themselves (or music critics). Last night’s show was a perfect example. I saw most of Burlington’s music scene there. In fact, I think all the nightclubs in town went dark in observance of this special event. And what better venue to see the man play than a church? It was the perfect setting: Jeff in silhouette against dim red backlighting, a few funky lamps on the side, sitting on a chair surrounded by four acoustic guitars. Judging by the way the crowd hung on his every word, it was a religious experience for most in attendance. The epiphany for me was the moment I had anticipated for weeks: when he played “The King of Carrot Flowers Parts 1, 2 and 3” and the whole room joined in, singing “I love you Jesus Christ / Jesus Christ I love you, yes I do.”
Like everyone else there, I was just in awe of the sound that this man made with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and his voice. His guitar playing is so smooth and fluid; beautiful is really the best way to describe it. His strong nasally voice contrasts nicely with the guitar, and when he goes full-throated into the upper registers it never fails to give me chills. The set was comprised almost entirely of songs from the two Neutral Milk Hotel records (everything you’d want to hear), plus a Daniel Johnston cover and the B side “Engine”.
I thought he would be eccentric and shy onstage, because he’s led a pretty reclusive existence since releasing those two brilliant records in the late nineties. But he actually seemed pretty normal and talked quite a bit between songs, saying how much he liked Vermont and repeatedly urging the crowd to sing along. The only hitch came about four songs in when a breaker tripped and the PA gave out. Mangum made the most of the situation and got down on the floor with his guitar and sang “Two-Headed Boy Part 2”, encouraging everyone to gather round and help him sing. Thankfully they got the PA working again after that song, and he returned to the stage for the remainder of the show.
