Even before Pete Yorn stepped on stage Saturday night, the PromoWest crowd was atwitter. Female fans hung on their male companions, who were only too happy to bask in the artist’s reflected glow.
When Yorn – the world’s most unlikely sex symbol – stepped on stage, an electric current ran through the audience. Reduced to a lanky silhouette by a backlight, Yorn was all hair, elbows and jutting guitar, looking somehow alone in a room of two thousand people.
Although critically applauded throughout his young career for subtle lyrics and precision musicianship, Yorn’s greatest attribute is his smoky vocals, which successfully blend melancholy with melody. His voice was captivating Saturday, drawing the audience into his mopey disposition without depressing the mood.
Yorn is often compared to fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen. Like Springsteen, Yorn simply does not write bad songs. Despite a relatively minute catalogue that consists of two albums and a handful of b-sides and covers, he turned out an impressive 20-song show that rarely faltered and never failed.
Yorn does not have a full-time band, preferring to record solo by playing individual instruments separately and mixing the tapes – a practice that reveals him as a truly talented musician, but presents logistical complications on touring.
However, the concert band played excellent renditions of even Yorn’s most challenging songs, infusing the same attention to detail and precision that is the hallmark of his studio albums.
One of the largest criticisms of Yorn’s new album, “Day I Forgot,” is its relative similarity to his first and more critically lauded “Musicforthemorningafter.” In concert this “failing” actually has a much more positive application. Because the albums work almost as one, transitions between songs from different records were seamless, lending cohesion to the show.
Audience reaction to both opening bands – Rooney and Grandaddy – were warm but impatient. Through his fervent fan base, Yorn has developed a reputation as an excellent live performer, which Saturday’s audience was anxious to experience.
Yorn didn’t disappoint. Highlights were many, including “Black,” an underrated rocker that is reminiscent of Joy Division – dark and British. Yorn scored energetic audience reaction with hits such as “For Nancy (‘cos it already is)” and “Life On a Chain,” from 2001’s “Musicforthemorningafter,” as well as newer songs like “Burrito” – possibly the best song ever written about a 7-Eleven.
The highlight of the show came at the finale of the extended encore with “Murray,” generally regarded as Yorn’s most accomplished song. Chugging guitars and an audience sing-along brought a melancholy nonsense to the show’s end that the audience carried out into the night.
