Black Country New Road is a band (still) in recovery. Following the departure of their lead singer Isaac Woods in early 2022, BCNR makes their way to Minneapolis with an assortment of songs sung by a rotating cast of the band's remaining members. There was certainly a feeling of absence. Out of respect for Woods, the band has not played any of their old material that was made with him, so the band has been forced into creating an entire set of new material, and it's entirely up to these new songs to carry the performance. Their post-Woods recording, Live From Bush Hall, has served as their de facto newest main release album, so there wasn't a feeling of unease that one would perhaps expect going in -- most everyone of the 1000+ people in attendance has heard what the new BCNR has to offer, and has decided that they're worth seeing.

The show started off with a performance from NYC-based indie-pop and indie-rock artist Daneshevskaya, who provided a set of sweet but yearning indie songs of all sorts. Ranging from jangly smiths inspired tracks to keyboard-based ballads that feel as if a song off of Mort Garrison's Plantasia grew a vocal track and a few places in between. While never leaving the realm of "indie," there was impressive range in the details. Some songs felt like they could be ballads off of the velvet underground's Self titled release, others could be alternate universe Vacations tracks, and so on. There was always a distinct vibe and musical approach that the singer's voice lent to the set. Nothing felt out of place, all delivering on this warm, longing feeling that would be a theme throughout the night. The keyboardist in particular held it down extremely well. The tone and feeling put into some of the tracks more than justified why it was so loud in the mix. Leaving as fast as they came in, the curtains came to a close after only 28 minutes, for a tight but impactful set.

BCNR came out swinging with perhaps the energetic and familiar Up Song, demonstrating that they're still virtuosic musicians who know how to structure a song incredibly well and move a crowd. Despite this, this is the only time the crowd will dance. The tone for the entire rest of the show ranges from somber to bombastic in a way that feels like orchestral performance more than a rock show. The instrumentation and mix heavily lowers the importance of the guitar, leaving the woodwinds, accordion, and violin to pick up the slack. Something that lent the work with Woods a lot of its interest (at least to me) was the contrast between the more traditionally orchestral aspects of their music and prog-rock structure and sound provided by the guitars. This has mostly been lost in the new incarnation of BCNR, but what we have instead is certainly not anything to sneeze at. Now the contrast mostly comes from the very singer-songwriter type approaches to the vocals and the almost chamber-music nature of the instrumentation. The vocals are always well done, but lack the intensity that Woods was able to provide. In the quieter sections of some of the songs, the vocals will usually be delicate, and feel as if they are prancing on top of the instrumentation, rather than driving it. Appropriate for what they're going for perhaps, but during the huge ramps that many of their songs have, the energy in the vocals is missed. The feeling projected by the band goes far beyond any of their faults. The driving, thumping, orchestral parts hit incredibly strongly. They layer the instrumentation with impeccable skill to emphasize the emotion in the piece. There was more than one moment where a very grand, driving, monumental song ended and an uncomfortably long ovation from the crowd immediately followed.

BCNR is a band that is in the middle of a lot of changes, and it seems like they're still in the recuperation phase of their recovery. They've found a good place to be, no shock given how talented and hardworking they all are as musicians, but it seems like they haven't had a good opportunity to set down and develop a cohesive vision for their new work. This intermediary period is great in and of itself, but has the feeling that what they will be is still forming. It isn't clear what exactly that will come to be, but if this concert is an indication, they're on the right track.

Show review by Kelton OBrein.

Photos by Grace Williams.