Wish You Were There With... Califone!

I guess one of the biggest, if not the biggest compliment you can give a live band is that they make you want to go home and write music. And that was just the type of inspiration being bandied about by Califone on Tuesday night at the Wexner Center.

They had a two guitar (both singing), two percussionist set-up. They played acoustic guitars and lots of other traditional instruments (i.e. banjos, violins, etc.), but they plugged them into so many different effects pedals that the mere site of the cord-drenched stage made you wish you owned stock in Monster cables. The obscene amount of percussive elements used by the band was totally impressive (mesmerizing), too; I’ve never seen a group incorporate so many bells and wood blocks and rare percussive pieces and do it so well.

Ultimately, their songs are all about mood. Parts of their show frankly made me want to curl up and go to sleep, but I don’t mean that in a negative way. The majority of their performance droned and loped and sprawled, sweeping over me like a much-welcomed, warm blanket.

However, my favorite parts of the show were the more rocking parts, when they pulled out their Tele’s and blasted the intimate space with fuzz and feedback and various electro-screeches. Perhaps it was the juxtaposition of these louder moments against the quieter ones that made them more appealing?

In the end, I really just wanted to run home and pick up my guitar and try to figure out how they made some of the sounds they made. And isn’t that what it’s all about?