The Last Revel dazzles at the Wilma
William Munoz
(Missoula Current) The Last Revel has survived a grueling tour of more than 200 shows that questioned a life of music on the road that many bands experience.
In 2019, The Last Revel gave up the idea of being a band, motivated by lead singer Lee Henke’s bout with depression. Then the Covid shutdown happened and forced each of the members to look internally for what music meant.
Were they done as a band? Was music even a part of their lives? All questions many musicians were asking at that time.
Based out of Minneapolis, they were able to come out of the pandemic with a renewed awareness of the importance music played in their lives and the deep friendship for each other. As the pandemic faded in 2021, they got back together in person and felt the urge to play together.
Fiddler Vinnie Donatelle related how, “The first step was all about just reconnecting — to hell with anyone else giving a damn about the music, the only important thing is playing some music together.”
This first step led to the three bandmates realizing just how important music was to each of them and it led to them recording a new album in 2021. What surprised them was how the fans had not abandoned them. In fact, the shows were selling out.
Banjoist Ryan Acker summed it up, saying, “It kind of took us off-guard. And it’s become this reciprocal, motivating thing now. People didn’t forget about us, and many more discovered our music over COVID than we had anticipated — the music we made is continuing to reach people.”
It is reaching people, along with the renewed deep appreciation of making music with true friends that has given The Last Revel a new energy in their latest album, “Gone for Good.”
“That initial response was so powerful,” Donatelle said. “But, on the other end of things, [the music] was never about any of us individually. It’s about the way that people connected to our music and just the way the music had a life of its own outside of us.”
The 10 songs on “Gone for Good” are strong bluegrass-inspired tracks with strong banjo and fiddle solos. The last song, “Porcelain,” is a melancholy song – the banjo and fiddle like heart beats and tears as Henke’s vocals cry out the words. It is a compelling song that brings the entire experience of the band from before the pandemic to after into a reality that has them in a good space today.
It is a song in a different key than most and perhaps that is why it is so poignant — The Last Revel are making music today with a different mindset and perspective. The Lower Pair opened the concert at the Wilma.