Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls light up the Rady Shell

The Power of Two demonstrated its effectiveness this Thursday when Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls put on a concert at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park as part of their collaborative US tour. Amos Lee is touring his most recent record, “Transmissions,” while the Indigo Girls are touring their 2020 album, “Look Long,” as well as capitalizing on the surge in interest brought by their 1989 hit single “Closer to Fine,” which was heavily featured in the popular film, “Barbie.”

The show didn’t feature any opening acts, and both acts have been rotating which one plays first at each show. This performance opened with the Indigo Girls, who performed promptly on time, opening with “Least Complicated,” from their 1994 album “Swamp Ophelia.” The band only played two songs from “Look Long” despite having to postpone the original tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CHECK OUT “LOOK LONG” BY THE INDIGO GIRLS BY CLICKING BELOW

While a celebration of “Look Long” would have been welcomed with open hearts,  its absence was unable to detract from an outstanding tracklist supported by incredible performances. Accompanied by mandolins, banjos, accordions, and a fiddle, the band produced an exceptionally warm sound, that gave the homey impression of a living room concert. The sound was so warm in fact, an opening band could be quickly deemed unnecessary because of how warmed up and stoked the crowd was when the duo entered the stage. 

The band played a very efficient 75-minute set, rarely pausing to speak in between songs except to thank the audience and their bandmates. The highlight of the performance was the clarity of the vocally-driven mix and the feeling of familiarity between the band and the audience. Despite a nearly 40-year career, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers' voices have only refined with age; their harmonies and coordination provided a timbre of unmatched nostalgia and clarity.  

When the duo finally took a moment to speak with the audience, it was received with the kind of familiarity that comes with a fan base that’s been coming to their shows since 1985. The banter was filled with shouts of, “Still killin’ it!” and, “Can’t wait for ‘Galileo!’” to which Ray replied, “We’ll get there in four songs! Just so you know, in case you have to get out of here haha!”

The duo closed their set by bringing out Amos Lee to help sing, “Closer to Fine,” which brought the entire audience to their feet and a subsequent standing ovation. The band thanked everyone for coming, as well as the organization HeadCount, who they invited to the show to help register attendees to vote. Very on-brand for the politically powerful duo. 

We spoke to two attendees, Bill and Roberta who came from Alberta, Canada to attend the upcoming TwitchCon at the San Diego Convention Center.  The duo bought tickets at the door on a whim and were blown away by their impromptu concert. “I balled like a baby,” Roberta said. “The acoustics were super good and the energy was spot on.” Bill said, “I saw them in Edmonton in 1999. I didn’t recognize a single song, but they were great! Well worth every penny.”

After a 30-minute intermission, Amos Lee took the stage, opening with his new single, “Built To Fall.” Accompanied by an outstanding live band, Amos can boast of having an incredible sound and tone, as well as a brilliant live mix. Their tone was warm yet bright, and their musical chemistry was undeniable, creating a wide sound that gave Amos’ resonant voice rolling hills of sound to float upon.

Particular shout-outs go to his guitarist who proved her chops from the get-go with a string of raucous solos, and his bassist who in addition to being a fine musician was an eloquent singer, performing an octave-hopping duet with Amos. Amos himself sang with an exceptionally nice voice and also had wonderful banter with the audience. The group peaked when they broke into the chorus of “Zombie” by the Cranberries, as well as an interpolated rendition of the last half of “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks.   

Unfortunately, Amos Lee’s performance was dogged by one major component: the songwriting. When he and his band played other songs, the crowd woke up to their outstanding renditions, but it was the execution of original material that left us wanting more. Amos’ songwriting is reminiscent of other singer/songwriters like Jason Mraz or Patrick Bruel, but it was sorely lacking in personality, remarkable lyricism, or remarkable variety.

Many of the musical components were akin to the highest levels of contemporary Christian worship music, especially the prolonged instrumental passages. While these passages were lush and textured, they lacked any interesting time signature or melodic shapes that are well executed by bands like American Football and ultimately felt stagnant.

The worst offense came from his new single “Built To Fall,” which sounds suspiciously similar to Adrianne Lenker’s 2020 single, “anything” particularly in the way the piano mimicked Lenker’s guitar, and how Amos’ vocals mirrored Lenker’s distinctive tonal inflection and melodic composition. 

What saved the songwriting faux pas from feeling egregious was the performance of “Carry You On,” a song he wrote for a girl he knew named Zoey, who recently passed from cancer. The story and the performance felt raw, genuine, and authentic, and while it retained many of the elements similar to worship music, it felt appropriate and respectfully executed on this song.

Overall, both performers put on a mature and refined show that was pleasing for die-hard fans and accessible to the unfamiliar. Their tour continues through September and Amos Lee will wrap up with a joint performance in Chicago with the Chicago Philharmonic.