Balmorhea

The evening of October 27th, which saw Balmorhea take the stage for the first time in a long-awaited Roman show, deserves to be recounted first and foremost to prove wrong anyone who might think their music is simply "niche", or who might want to dismiss it with a certain condescension rooted in the empty rhetoric of mannerism, or in the idea that it privileges emotion over intellect(ualism).

As it turns out, on an evening swept by the first chill announcing the approach of winter, a great many people chose to come and warm themselves with the timeless magic of the Texan band, favouring them over the equally strong draw of the concurrent show by the sacred monsters Neu! At least a hundred and fifty people (likely an underestimate) packed the Init a full half hour before the concert began, and the queue for tickets stretching outside the venue's gates was the first sign of the sharp instincts of the Roman venue's artistic direction, which, after two tours limited to small towns between Veneto and Romagna, finally managed to bring to the capital a band capable, in just three years – and as many splendid albums – of gathering a large and passionate following.

It's a few minutes to 11pm when the two original founders of Balmorhea, Michael Muller and Rob Lowe, joined by four other members of the ensemble, take the Init stage, filling it almost entirely with their scenic presence and an array of instruments including piano, drums, a string trio and a broad arsenal of acoustic and electric guitars and banjo, which Muller will rotate through frequently over the course of the show. A few moments to sort out the instrument settings, and it's already "Settler", an arcane, densely luminous opener that immediately conjures images of the deepest, most inhospitable Texas, an endless source of inspiration for guitar and string lines that intertwine in Latin-tinged flourishes, before culminating in a lively closing burst of handclapping.

From the very first track, it's clear that a fundamental part of the sextet's live approach relies on an impact that is noticeably more direct than the slower, more romantic feel perceivable in their studio work. It's the rhythm section in particular that stands out (even in terms of volume) above the guitar interplay, the occasional piano parts and the dancing, refined and never intrusive strings. Amid dry percussive cadences and gentle double-bass touches, echoes of a jazz ensemble emerge, and above all segmentations that reveal a conceptual kinship with the chamber-music leanings of post-rock, from the inevitable Rachel's to the less celebrated 33.3.

The heavier, more urgent side of the sound remains especially prominent in the first part of the show, but it never really lets up through most of a setlist that's deliberately centred on the most varied of the band's three official albums, "All Is Wild, All Is Silent" (of which five of the nine tracks will end up being played), and it's also borne out by the choice of "Clamor", the more forceful of the two tracks on the new single "Candor/Clamor", just released in an extremely limited 7" edition.

After the substantial opening triptych of "Setter"-"Coahuila"-"Bowsprit", the lights dim and the atmosphere turns hazier and more sinuous: Muller steps away from the rest of the band for a few minutes, just long enough for the performance of "Night Squall", whose real protagonist is Lowe's measured piano, as is also the case in the following "Steerage And The Lamp", which then balances the two ideal souls of Balmorhea's live sound – elegant and composed, but also vibrant and at times almost abrupt.

The shifting tones of the middle part of the set seem to melt away the apparent initial coldness of the musicians onstage, at first stiff and tongue-tied – almost distant, but actually deeply focused – and then increasingly chatty with an audience whose warmth they themselves admit to seeing as an "excellent result". After "Harm And Boon", the intricate "Truth" and an untitled closer, an encore is naturally in order for a couple of extra songs: the graceful ballad "Baleen Morning" (the only track pulled from "Rivers Arms"), whose shivers can only be a prelude to the farewell of "Remembrance", which seals things in the best possible way, leaving behind a deeply etched memory of what will surely be nothing more than a temporary goodbye to the Rome audience.

Photo: Salvo Scherma – Studio Koku

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