New York – Wednesday night in the city that never sleeps was a mid-week spectacle. On deck to enchant urbanites was a live performance by Canada’s own, down-tempo singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, better known by his stage name Bahamas. Le Poisson Rouge was bursting at the seams with a crew of adoring attendees, to the point that maneuvering about the room felt like upstream migration.
Bahamas is a band that’s inarguably easy to love and one that’s steadily built a rock-solid reputation since its inception in 2009. Jurvanen’s songs are innately intimate, like an ornate and sentimental tableau that imprints a unique ID on each listener it reaches. His tracks are woven of poetry and offer unfiltered, tell-all landscapes of the heart.
So, to read a critique of this artist in action would be like absorbing a foreign novel translated to a native tongue. But seeing Jurvanen live invites a nameless and united understanding for the demonstrative weightiness of his work.
The night’s showcase was in support of Bahamas’ latest and third LP, Bahamas Is Afie, which came to light late last month via Brushfire Records. (Read our rave review HERE.) When last we heard from Bahamas it was 2012, when Jurvanen delighted fans with his sophomore effort, Barchords. But Bahamas’ debut record is arguably the triad’s pinnacle stronghold. 2009′s Pink Strat took its name from Jurvanen’s signature pink-hued guitar and, amazingly, that instrument made a cameo appearance during Wednesday night’s showing. Those in attendance who made the connection smiled outwardly and inwardly all at once.
Not one to be late to the party, Jurvanen kicked off the show right on time. At 9pm, he took the stage donned in a deeply chic chambray button up, and launched into an old favorite, “Never Again.” Next up was “I Got You,” followed directly by “Caught Me Thinking.” This the audience recognized at first chord strum, and the sudden uptick in tempo pitched bodies in motion.
“Manhattan, how you doing? How you gigging? How you hanging,” he queried the crowd. “It is so good to be back here, holy crow!”
The next song brought the room to a less harried state of mind. “I Can’t Take You With Me” is a requisite ballad for all those familiar with the pangs of separation. This is a calm, realists’ soliloquy, clearly born of route introspection and quiet acceptance.
“I tell you,” Jurvanen mused, “when I wrote that song I never thought a bar full of people in NYC would he hollering. I tell you, I was weeping!” But he added, with a smile about a mile wide, “You never know what life will bring. Watch out!”
Well warned, the audience was poised to receive what was the concert’s apex. Jurvanen delivered back-to-back renditions of “Stronger Than That,” a stand-apart song from his latest album. First came the slow, acoustic version. Immediately after, Bahamas played a variation more similar to the track’s recorded counterpart. The effect of experiencing the song in dual incarnations live felt like a visible nod to embracing flexibility, and the myriad of varied personalities inherent in all beings.
Not long after, and while the audience recovered, Bahamas left the stage. But Jurvanen returned to delight his fans with a healthy encore before exiting in earnest. So moved by the night’s showing, one among our party rushed to Jurvanen as he descended from the stage to shake his hand. Then, he gave Jurvanen the belt off his person, a Native American weave, as a token of thanks. Jurvanen gladly accepted the gift with a grin, and the sea of people spilled out into Manhattan’s grit-glittery streets.
For tour dates, go HERE. If not yet abundantly clear, catching this act live is highly advisable.
Liz Rowley
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