WORLD PARTY w/ GABRIEL KELLEY LIVE AT THE MAJESTIC THEATER JUNE 2, 2015-A SYNESTHESIA EXCLUSIVE

WORLD PARTY w/ GABRIEL KELLEY
MAJESTIC THEATER
JUNE 2, 2015

WORLD PARTY:
Karl Wallinger: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano
David Duffy:Violin, Mandolin, Backing Vocals
John Turnbull: Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals

It was a concert that I never thought that I would see. Now that I have, and at such an up close and personal proximity, I have to admit that I am still pinching myself with my extremely good fortune.

When I first saw the promotional advertisement, surprisingly posted within the Facebook news feed as I scrolled through while on a lunch break, I could not believe my eyes. The seminal British band World Party would be arriving in my fair city (possibly for the very first time) within a few short months on their latest concert tour and for a price so affordable that it was a complete no-brainer to snatch up a ticket the minute they went on sale. I voiced my amazed disbelief openly, to which my co-workers wondered precisely what I was so excited about. I repeated the information I had just read and was met by a series of bemused and confused gazes, that were eventually joined with the question, "Who are they?"

This is how it usually is with me. More often than not, some of my most treasured musical artists happen to be performers that have existed considerably under the radar, even though in my mind, they are sitting on top of the world and shouldn't it be quite obvious to everyone that their musical gifts should be more commonly known? World Party is indeed one of those artists as the band and the music has demonstrated its glory and formidable beauty and creativity from its inception, but at the same time, on this occasion I could understand the disconnect and ignorance. So, I called up a track that I thought would sound familiar, the 1990 single "Put The Message In The Box" from the band's second album "Goodbye Jumbo" (released April 24, 1990). As the song played, my co-workers listened and listened yet still dressed their faces with looks of the wholly unfamiliar. Finally, one person announced, "This sounds like The Beatles." And beyond that comment, no discernible recognition whatsoever. Maybe I couldn't blame them for their unawareness of World Party because truthfully, I have to admit that the band has not existed as the easiest one to keep up with over the years.

For the uninitiated, World Party is the musical vision of singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger, begun after his departure from his role as keyboardist in The Waterboys. Essentially a one-man band (with occasional assistance from a small group of collaborators), World Party's sound and mission arrived fully formed upon the debut album "Private Revolution" (released 1986), which contains the now classic track "Ship Of Fools," which does still receive considerable radio airplay.

Musically, World Party delivers a sonic palate that is lushly psychedelic as Wallinger openly wears his influences of Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince and undeniably, The Beatles upon his sleeves and he also possesses a certain "Jagger-esque" quality in his lead vocals, which are consistently augmented by his own Brian Wilson styled stacked harmony vocals.

Lyrically, Wallinger utilizes World Party to express his ecological and environmental concerns and passions, animal rights activism, savage political scorn, as well as his ever evolving and questioning philosophical musings concerning spirituality and religion--a course from belief to an avowed atheism and all in between that listeners have been able to chart over the course of World Party's 6 album discography. And boy, can the man write a timeless pop song like the very best, most notably "She's The One" from the fourth World Party album "Egyptology" (released 1997), a track that I believe that Paul McCartney himself would have wished that he'd written.

I have cherished and followed World Party ever since my high school years, when the first album was released, and while I may believe the band to exist as one of the finest British exports that I have ever had the pleasure to listen to, I do realize that those feelings may not hold the same devotion and loyalty from others for any number of reasons. The most obvious reason is that World Party, whether by choice or design, happens to not be a prolific band as many years pass between album releases, making it difficult to remain at the forefront of listeners' thoughts should a new release arrive.

And so, it would not be unrealistic to ponder just who would come see World Party perform live right now in 2015. Would people either remember or even know the legacy of this band in the first place before spending hard earned wages for a concert? Even so, I just figured that others would feel as I, and therefore, I was not going to take any chances. I bought the ticket the minute they went on sale and on the evening of Tuesday, June 2nd, I purposefully arrived early to the Majestic theater in case a lengthy line of adoring fans were waiting for the doors to open at 7:00 p.m.  

I arrived at the Majestic, on this very beautiful evening, at 6:45 p.m. surprised at the sight in front of the theater. Instead of the imagined lengthy line of World Party fans queuing up, I stepped to the Majestic to find...nobody waiting.

Huh? Could this be true? Did I arrive on the right night? I actually even checked the marquee to make sure that I hadn't gotten the date of the concert wrong. Looking upwards, I discovered that I was indeed at the theater on the correct night and yes indeed, I was the only one ready to be let inside. By 7:00 p.m., when the doors opened, just one more concert goer arrived and we ventured indoors.  

Walking into the Majestic theater was a most surreal experience for me as I had not set foot inside the building since the site once solely existed as a movie theater, the kind of which that screened weekly midnight showings of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975). It had been fifteen years since I had been inside, when I saw Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" (2000), in fact. It felt like walking inside of a half-remembered memory or dream as the Majestic sort of/sort of not looked like how I remembered it, due to the physical changes made to the location. 

The other surreal factor for me was the following: the concert was billed as an "intimate seated show." OK..but to see about five rows of fold out chairs on the dance floor made this evening's performance feel to be like somewhat of a campfire sing-a-long. Walking slowly down to the chairs, I just decided to go for it and claim a seat front row center, and why not for when else would I ever receive this chance again to witness a musical hero within less than a stone's throw from myself?

After a spell, one more concert patron arrived and then another and another but even so, there were still less than 10 people present. As I was making small talk with one gentleman, I was happily greeted by my beloved college friend and fellow WLHA student radio DJ Kelly Klaschus and her husband Brian. Quickly joining me in the front row, we alternately joked about the profound lack of audience members while also beginning to feel badly for Karl Wallinger, or at least,openly wondering what must it feel like to be an artist of his stature and longevity to perform for an audience that was so startlingly tiny.

We were soon to find out first hand.

The concert began promptly (with a rapid head count of somewhere between 20-30 people in attendance) with the opening act, a 40 minute set by folk singer Gabriel Kelley, whose songs possessed a fragile beauty that, to my ears, was reminiscent of Ryan Adams at his most hushed and aching. Between the songs, when Kelley addressed the audience, he displayed not only a dry yet biting wit, he provided us with an insight into himself which just may have also provided a possible bit of insight into Karl Wallinger as well. 

Kelley spoke of the time in his life when he was part of the country music industry as a professional songwriter. He also mentioned that he collaborated with Kings Of Leon for a spell. And to both of those experiences, he plainly exclaimed that he hated those times as everything felt to be a "factory," where honestly and truth in music was replaced by product. In order to simplify his life, he sold his home and reduced his belongings and abode to a '77 RV, in which he travels the country. From these tales, he weaved in his gratitude to World Party for inviting him along for the second time to tour alongside them as opening act. He expressed how the band members were truly the real deal and how their graciousness has sustained him. His gratitude was undoubtedly palpable to me, and hopefully to the remainder of the audience. 

By the time World Party took to the stage at nearly 9:00 p.m., I could barely believe my eyes that there was Karl Wallinger himself, directly in front of me, complete with beaming, impish smile and immediately displaying a quintessentially English verbal wit that nearly functioned as stand-up comedy as he and his two bandmates tuned up their instruments. Within moments, the concert opened with the driving "Waiting Such A Long Time," itself the opening song from the 5 disc/70 track "diary and music collection" entitled "Arkeology" (released April 10, 2012). From here, the band launched into "Put The Message In The Box" and the Bertrand Russell inspired evolutionary lament "Is It Like Today?" from the album "Bang!" (released April 26, 1993), two selections that I was just happily stunned he placed at the beginning of the show as I figured that those hits would be saved for later. 

And the hits just kept on arriving. World Party's nearly two hour concert leaned most heavily on songs from the albums "Goodbye Jumbo" and "Egyptology," deftly demonstrating not only Karl Wallinger's outstanding songcraft but also how beautifully he and the band were able to instantly set the tone and mood to deliver a richly enthusiastic performance that involved all of us within the audience. Each moment of musical recognition was met with unabashed applause and clearly audible singing along and drum tapping on knees and chairs (supplied by myself and another obviously excited gentleman near me). Song after song performed felt to be a musical gift as well as a vibrant reunion between myself and an old friend, and the sizable glee I felt was echoed by my seatmate Kelly, as we were both in disbelief that we were indeed seeing and hearing these songs performed so closely, perfectly and so engagingly.

What was most impressive to me about the evening was hearing all of these deeply familiar songs sound simultaneously anew while existing as classics. They were all here. "Vanity Fair," "Is It Too Late?," "When The Rainbow Comes," "Sunshine," the Dylan-eque rave-up "Who Are You?," "Way Down Now," "Sweet Soul Dream" and of course, "Ship Of Fools." By the time, Wallinger moved over to the piano and began a set which featured "Love Street," "God On My Side," the aforementioned "She's The One" plus even more, I was in musical heaven...and I want to believe that everyone else in the scant audience was as well.

What was most impressive to me, and especially as these songs as recordings are exercises in loving studio psychedelia, Wallinger and his bandmates completely stripped the tracks down to their barest essence, completely illustrating what astounding and therefore, timeless, pieces of songwriting the oeuvre of World Party actually is. An acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, electric guitar and vocals. No bass. No synthesizers. No drums and only a tambourine as percussion. Just the crispness and clarity of the performance with Karl Wallinger's vocals having not lost a single step over the years and supported blissfully by David Duffy and John Turnbull. At times, their gloriously harmonic vocals sounded like vintage Crosby, Stills and Nash fronted by George Harrison.  

If the size of the audience was remotely discouraging to Karl Wallinger, he never let on for a moment. This would either demonstrate how consummate of a performer he actually is or he truly did not mind a whit and was just happy to be on stage at all, performing for anyone at all. Of course, I'll never know for certain but I would love to believe that it was the latter. Wallinger was a gracious and inviting host throughout, smiling from beginning to end, offering one vibrant bon mot after another, effortlessly saving face after breaking a guitar string or hilariously requesting some water, both situations during which none other than Gabriel Kelley came to his aid. 

Once World Party sailed through the encore, which consisted of "Don't Bogart That Joint" plus the Everly Brothers styled rarity "Mystery Girl," and the band exited the stage for the night, with promises to return in a year's time with new material, the magic of the evening fully revealed itself to me. 

This was a not a night about hit singles, past glories and any perceived sense of legendary status. The performance of World Party was a celebration of great songs, and they were indeed performed heroically with no artifice, detachment or any sense of self-absorption. It was an evening of communication and inclusion, where the honesty and truth of the music itself was the star, thus making the intimacy of the night so paramount. It was a beautiful night without question and it showed me that World Party, regardless of who is aware of them in 2015 or whether they performed for an audience of 100,000 or just 1, they delivered the goods and then some without cynicism and completely with grace. World Party treated this night, and this tiny locale and audience, with reverence and joy. It was as if they were standing in the middle of Wembley Stadium and we were honored guests.

But no. The honor was all ours!

All photos by Scott Collins