Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard
October 26th, 2009
at Lincoln Hall

By Marcie Garcia

The Lincoln Hall stage presented an unlikely duo Monday night. Moonlighting from their regular and fame-making gigs, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and Jay Fararr of Son Volt, displayed their musical diversity as a brand new band, in a brand new venue, reflecting on old words, that aren’t forgotten. Though the pair seemed at ease playing their collaborative and melancholy-laced songs, it was only their third live show together in a musical effort to bring to life the words of their mutual literary influence, Jack Kerouac.

“Today's our band's one-week anniversary,” said Farrar, while welcoming the Lincoln Hall audience in Chicago Monday night that was included in just a handful of exclusive performances. “I forgot to get you something,” Gibbard joked.

The mood wasn’t so light, but when you’re telling Kerouac’s story, it wouldn’t seem right if it were. Performing original tracks off their album One Fast Move Or I’m Gone ( F-Stop/Atlantic Records), with lyrics based on Kerouac’s landmark 1962 novel, Big Sur, Fararr is responsible for writing much of the record, though 90 percent of the words were actually taken from Kerouac’s very own unraveling pages.


Trailer for "One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur"

It was an accidental partnership that landed Fararr and Gibbard on the same stage after first meeting in 2007 while recording music for the Kerouac documentary film that was released Oct. 20, a day before the 40th anniversary of Kerouac’s death, (of the same title) and in which both appear, along with Patti Smith, Tom Waits, and many more of Kerouac’s contemporaries. The effort blossomed into a full-length, and Fararr and Gibbard decided to take the music to the road, a fitting approach considering their fallen hero was full of restlessness for standing still - the road was Kerouac’s comfort, and vice.

As Fararr and Gibbard, accompanied by Nick Harmer (Death Cab), Jon Wurster (Superchunk), and Mark Spencer (Son Volt), started the set with “California Zephyr”, Gibbard’s soft and articulate vocals were supported by Fararr’s softly strummed guitar, and unencumbered keyboards and light percussions, lending Gibbard the spotlight and quickly captivating the attention of the audience as he sang: “Now I’m transcontinental 3000 miles from my home/I’m on the California Zephyr, watching America roll by.”

Though the tempo clearly reflected Kerouac’s darkest days within the landmark book which marked the author’s mental breakdown during his stay in a Bixby Canyon cabin, Gibbard lends a sense of optimism in his vocals with lively indulgence such as in “These Roads Don’t Move” a twangy Americana number that gives a slight hint of Kerouac’s very own hopefulness, as Gibbard sings “Something good will come of all things, yet.” You can also feel Gibbard’s connection to Kerouac’s lost-highway wanderlust, as a touring musician, within the title track, “One Fast Move or I’m Gone.”

But you can’t help but feel Fararr’s saddened vocals as his beautifully weighted-melancholy melodies, are effective and at times, heart-wrenching, as offered in “San Francisco” : We all agree it’s too big to keep up with/That we’re surrounded by life – that we’ll never understand it/The great magical city of the Gandharvas of San Francisco”.

The audience at last, was given a reason to get moving, as “Breathe our Iodine, an almost psychedelic Nords takeover, showcased multi-instrumentalist Mark Spencer, who also took impressive turns on the steel pedal and electric guitar. By the band’s encore, it was clear that the music had resonated with its listeners. The band obliged thoroughly with renditions of Bob Dylan's “Absolutely Sweet Marie,” then "Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)" by Tom Waits.

But as a sole fan complained that he couldn’t hear Gibbard well enough, Gibbard quickly replied, "You can't hear me even though you're next to the speaker? You've got to hear the words. They're Jack's words."

The sentiment was clear.