Devendra Banhart at Mill City Nights

I attended Devendra Banhart's concert in Minneapolis over a month ago (May 30th) at Mill City Nights, but it has taken me this long to decide what to say about it. First off, Devendra Banhart is one of my major musical crushes- such a talented, unique artist who can both dance and play the mambo solo on stage like no other artist I've seen. His music is played in my home more often than other long time favorites over the years because it will fit any of my moods--there is never a time that is NOT a good time to play Devendra Banhart. Seriously. I first fell in love with him to this song in 2007, and promptly purchased and listened non-stop to the album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon:

In 2007, I had missed his concert at First Avenue by some pesky scheduling oversight at work on my part, an error I have often regretted. I had hoped that seeing him perform at Mill City Nights would right my wrong, however it only amplified my regret of missing him six years ago.

The night itself was lovely. I was out with my favorite concert companion and friend, CL. We don't get to see each other often enough, so that in itself made for a fabulous night. Mill City Nights is not a late night Cinemax show, as the name may suggest, but rather a place to see a band in the Warehose district of Minneapolis. The quality of the venue, however, is not far from what the name may lead you to believe. It is a fairly new venue in town with a not so hot history (formerly and briefly known as The Brick, see The Brick Sucks for more venue history). I did not care where he was playing, I would have gone to see him at the Elks Lodge (hmmm... scratch that... I would LOVE to see him at the Elks Lodge). However, venue matters. In this case, not a single patron could hear his microphone, the whole time. People shouted feedback from the audience, a man in front of me left to go talk to the sound people during the middle of the set, people were complaining in the bathroom... it was bad. The rest of the band sounded phonemenal, but you could NOT hear the lead singer. The speakers in the basement (near the bathrooms) were playing his mic only, however.  From the basement speakers, he sounded just like I knew he would. Clear, articulate, passionate, sexy. But, who wants to hang out in the basement and watch him play on the tv?! Had the sound system been operated by someone other than middle school boy who likes speakers, I probably would be saying: they played so many songs from their other albums! The Happy Birthday encore for Devendra's birthday was super sweet! The band rocked! Devendra's lyrics sound so poetic and amazing in his voice that I could hear...

After a few weeks had passed I was beginning to question my assessment of the show, becoming even more uncertain how to post about it. Then I watched this video today (a song from his most recent album, Mala) performed on Saturday night:

There he was, singing audibly while his band plucked away as normal. I realized that my memory of the show was correct. Mill City Nights failed the band. Two days after the concert, I had written them a carefully worded and thoughtful email about my experience. I have not recieved a response from them. They are NOT a venue I will just go to to check out new music.

The long and the short of the night was this is a band TOTALLY worth checking out (at a different venue). I am sad for Devendra Banhart, however, because the crowd was young, and I am guessing there were a lot of people there because of his recent airtime on The Current for his latest album Mala. Had Mill City Nights had their s#*t together, all those new fans would have become groupies. Now, they probably just enjoyed their night and are on to their next show. Bummer. But don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure everyone there appreciated the way he shakes his hips.