Calexico/Hayden
Date: July 9, 2008 No New Regrets Wednesday marked the third time that I had seen Calexico perform at Bluesfest and the third time that I had seen Hayden perform this year alone. The familiarity did not lessen my enthusiasm, though, and this was probably my favourite night of the festival. It was a pleasant surprise to see Cuff the Duke join Hayden on the Blacksheep Stage as his backing band. I had seen them support the singer before but had not realized that they were going to be present this day. While they would go on to inject more musical muscle than Hayden has on his own, they also delivered a light touch, as demonstrated on the opener, "Home by Saturday." I remain a definite fan of Hayden's recent work; and a stretch covering his latest album, In Field & Town, via "Where and When," the title track, and "More Than Alive" only cemented my strong opinion of it. From there, the set offered a few proven songs, albeit without dipping too deep into the back catalogue. "The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees" clearly benefited from the aforementioned Cuff the Duke kick, while "Dynamite Walls" was downright fierce, to a degree that I hadn't heard before. Hayden truly seemed to enjoy his time on the sunny stage, at one point joking that he was "in a good mood, which happens once or twice a year." His festival song selection sometimes seemed to match that light environment and mood, as with the wry "Hollywood Ending," although "Trees Lounge" was probably more illustrative of a set that, even as it avoided Hayden's darkest work, was still somewhat shy of sunny. While Hayden was affable, as always, he had less banter than I have seen him deliver in other settings. He did have one great line, though, making a late set crack at main sponsor, Cisco, stating, "I love his music, especially that 'Thong Song.'" He joked that he might get the hook for that one, although it turned out that he was almost finished, anyway. While he had switched between acoustic and electric guitar, "Did I Wake Up Beside You?" saw him take his only turn on piano, while Wayne Petti and Dale Murray sounded excellent on guitar. My only complaint in the day was that Hayden finished with seemingly ample stage time remaining before the next act. However, I suppose that the ample lead-in time is part of the reason why the Blacksheep Stage sound tends to be excellent. Ending on the perennial favourite, "Carried Away" certainly mitigated any complaints, as did the fact that Hayden took the time to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Aside from the chance to say hi, I also appreciated having enough time to switch to the Roots Stage to see a band that I regard as past Bluesfest champions, Calexico. The six-piece outfit crafted a set that offered a deep look at their upcoming album, Carried to Dust, drew on 2003's masterful Feast of Wire for a full third of the selections, and scattered several of the group's remaining best songs over the night. Ultimately, this performance ranked as high as the band's '06 Bluesfest appearance, which I considered to be the best set of that festival. The band circled their full catalogue with the opening numbers, the instrumental "Scout" from their debut album and the spine-tingling "Roka" from their underrated last release, Garden Ruin, both of which sounded excellent. When I've seen Calexico in the past, I have always raved about the quality of both the sound and the musicians; and this night was no exception. While Calexico may have started as a collaboration between frontman Joey Burns and drummer John Convertino, the other permanent players have certainly shaped the band's evolution; and they shine on stage. Whether it was Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wenk stepping up on trumpets at the far end of the stage, Volker Zander laying down the upright bass in front of me, or Paul Niehaus smiling through his work on the pedal steel guitar, there was always interesting, inspired, and passionate playing to witness. The night was without a lull, as the band touched on some of my favourite songs from their repertoire, including "Across the Wire," "Quattro (World Drifts In)," the soaring horns of "Minas de Cobre (For Better Metal)," and one that I had not heard live before, "Black Heart." The consistently high mood was a testament to the new songs, which seem to showcase a return to the band's trademark style after the more straightforward arrangements of Garden Ruin. "Two Silver Trees" was a true standout, while Valenzuela's leading role on "Inspiración" was also a treat. Unlike the thunderstorm that intruded on their 2005 Bluesfest show, the worst that nature threw at Calexico during this performance was a strange, one-night wave of insects. A wayward bug flying into his mouth during "Corona" led Burns to remark afterward that he "used to be a vegetarian"; but that seemed to be the biggest snag in the concert. Burns also explained that the band recently had one of their songs beamed to the space station, leading him to note that the next song in the set, "Lost in Space," would have been inappropriate. The song that was chosen, though, was the set closer and probably the highlight of the concert, "Crystal Frontier," which came across with such force that it seemed to spill out, unrestrained, from the stage. A two-song encore, terminating with "Güero Canelo" maintained the excitement, leaving many in the crowd taking a deep breath after a fantastic ride. This night had what I considered the best band pairing of any night at Bluesfest; and both of my perennial favourites reminded me of why I am a fan, making for an unbeatable evening. Hayden and I after the show: 
Hayden setlist 
Calexico setlist 
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