“What a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all round the sun. What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone from me. Soft and sweet, let me hold it close and keep it here with me.”
The title track from Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” permeated The Jefferson Theater in downtown Charlottesville Tuesday night, as the elusive indie band gave off a feeling of idyllic peace.
Singer and songwriter Jeff Mangum stood on the far right of the stage just out of the spotlight. His flat-top military hat and long hair cast a shadow over his face. Keeping his identity almost hidden, he strummed on his acoustic guitar and recited the song’s cryptic, yet wildly enchanting lyrics.
“And one day we will die, and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea. But for now, we are young; let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see.”
After re-forming in 2013 following a nearly 15 year hiatus, Neutral Milk Hotel announced that in spring of 2015 they would hold their last tour for the foreseeable future. The band chose Charlottesville as the second stop on their farewell tour. Eager fans jumped at the opportunity to witness the spectacle causing the show to sell out within mere minutes of going on sale.
The crowd knew this was one of Neutral Milk’s last performances. Following long bursts of enthusiastic cheering at the end of each song, the entire venue became dead silent, as every fan in the building clung to the music. The audience only spoke to thank Mangum for performing in their city.
Not to be outdone by Mangum’s captivating presence, every other member of the band displayed an incredible musical ability, each playing multiple instruments at such a high level that it is hard to identify their expertise by a single instrument, save drummer Jeremy Barnes.
Julian Koster regularly alternated between playing bass, strumming a banjo with a bow, jumping in circles while playing accordion, and turning an unsharpened saw into a musical instrument, strumming it with his bow while bending it to make a desired pitch. He even took a saw solo on the aforementioned “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” complementing perfectly the song’s dreamlike melodies.
Scott Spillane and Jeremy Thal expertly formed a two-person brass section, playing, between the two of them, two trombones, two trumpets, a euphonium and a flugelhorn, while also occasionally playing bass, acoustic guitar, keyboard and electric bagpipes. Even Barnes played keyboard and accordion on various songs.
This wide array of instruments allowed the band to perform a variety of unique songs. Even single songs, such as “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1,” had band members constantly alternating between their respective instruments — Koster would dismount his bass guitar mid-song, begin playing on his banjo, and then quickly transition to his saw.
Combining expertly crafted folk lyrics with diverse sounds, the second show of Neutral Milk Hotel’s farewell tour created a dream-like, flawless concert experience, leaving every member of the Charlottesville crowd in awe.
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