Dave Bazan – Live At Alex’s Bar

When numerous critics label an artist’s album as a “break up with God” record, it is hard not to notice.  Though the label may be a bit dramatic, David Bazan’s first solo album, Curse Your Branches, chronicles his life as a pastor’s son who shed his blind faith in God and continues to ask the hard questions.

Bazan is best known as lead singer of Pedro the Lion.  In its early days, the band’s albums sold at Christian book stores, and the group made rounds on the Christian festival circuit.  Though they always remained on the fringe of the industry, they developed a following of fans who appreciated Bazan’s honest, introspective, and positive lyrics.

The transition from Pedro the Lion to a solo project might not seem like a big deal.  After all, nothing has changed, on the surface.  Bazan is still touring with a band, and still sings lead vocals and writes the material.  However, with the name change is a sharp change in the direction of his lyrics.  Absent are fictional characters who  battle with alcoholism.  In their places are reflections on Bazan’s own life —  his personal struggle with drinking and the effect it had on his wife and children — and his honest opinion of the state of modern Christianity.  And he has no regrets.

His latest tour landed him at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, CA on March 8, and he played almost twenty songs for a sold out crowd.  The dive bar – which moonlights as the set of the vampire bar Fangtasia on HBO’s True Blood – was a perfect setting for the unassuming lead singer and his three band members.  They went straight to work, playing a mix of Pedro the Lion favorites and selections from both Curse Your Branches and Bazan’s 2007 EP, Fewer Moving Parts.  His third song of the night was a cover of the Bob Dylan classic, “The Man in Me.”  It was a perfect song to play, as storm clouds were indeed raging all around that night.

Soon after, Bazan began his first round of question and answer sessions.  The Q&A’s have been a staple since Pedro the Lion’s early years, and the crowd was happy to oblige his request.  The audience learned that Bazan’s favorite band is the Beatles, and he has a man crush on the late John Lennon, “though Paul McCartney is one of the greatest musicians of all time.” Bazan and the band were all treated to a few rounds of IPAs after one eager fan demanded to know what beer they preferred. Fans were saddened to hear that Headphones, Bazan’s project with former members of Fleet Foxes and Starflyer 59, is on an “indefinite hiatus.”

Though most interviews with the singer ultimately center on his spirituality, no questions about faith or religion were asked by the fans.  His sixth song of the night, however, was “When We Fall,” off Curse Your Branches. The song is about his upbringing as the son of an evangelical pastor.  Bazan sang that “with the threat of hell hanging over my head like a halo/ was made to believe in a couple of beautiful truths/That eventually had the effect of completely unraveling/The powerful curse put on me by you…” Bazan certainly is not the only person who has felt that way toward his parents, and definitely will not be the last.  But judging from the crowd of twenty-somethings nodding their heads while the band earnestly played, he is able to put into poignant words what many might not be able to express.

Bazan’s energy during the songs – filled with passion and much emotion – contrasted perfectly with his quiet, humble demeanor during the Q&A sessions.   Whether his lyrics are truly a sort of Dear John letter to the Most High remain to be seen.  But it was a privilege to be able to witness him wrestle with his demons with such vulnerability, as few others can.  David Bazan is the Everyman for the disaffected questioners of our generation.  And really, aren’t we all at some point?

by Veronica Ramirez