Weather delay didn’t slow Dawes, Head and the Heart at Kettlehouse
William Munoz/Missoula Current
When it was announced that Dawes would open for Head and the Heart, I knew it would be special night.
Clearly, Head and the Heart from Seattle is a major influence in the indie folk rock music world. However, in this scene, LA based Dawes is also a major force, if not as well known.
Both bands have new albums which they are supporting on the current tour. The title track from the new Head and the Heart album, “Every Shade of Blue,” opens with a sense of what the pandemic has done to us:
"I've got a sad girl at home
She wants to hang up the phone
It's been a long year, the wrong year
To be left alone”
The band said about this song in an interview in Variance Magazine that "Every Shade of Blue conveys a spectrum of emotions and how we live with them. The closer we get the more shades we see. The more shades we see the more responsibility we hold. We all want to feel loved and protected. The question is will we be supported and seen by the ones we love in Every Shade of Blue.”
Dawes on the other hand released their latest album “Misadventures of Doomscroller” this past July. The first single off this album, “Someone Elses Cafe/Doomscroller Tries to Relax,” has a comfortable melody that immediately makes you want stay with it.
Halfway through it changes into a realization that somehow, we can make it through life no matter how difficult it might seem. Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes frontman, said about the song, “The first half of this song could be about tyrants. But it could also be about anyone who thinks that a little more control is gonna make everything ok.
"The second half is a response to that developing reality of the first half. The world might be a scary place sometimes but, to some degree, I want to believe I can decide how I respond to it.”
He was inspired by Frank Zappa and Herbie Hancock while writing for Dawes latest.
The final verses sums it up:
“So let's enjoy each other's company
On the brink of our despair
Does someone have a song to sing
Or a joke that they could share?”
The weather-delayed, sold-out concert was a treat of new and old music from both bands. Members of Head and the Heart joined Dawes for their last song, “All Your Favorite Bands” - a song that summed up the night.