Photo by Nathan Burrell. More on Flickr
As the second set of Keller Williams’ show at the Pageant began, it became clear that he was getting down to business. A one-man-show with no opener, this was truly “An evening with Keller Williams,” as the ticket stubs had advertised. Just a few minutes into this second set, Keller began the looping for which he’s famous – and the crowd got down. First laying down an acoustic guitar riff, he then picked up a pair of hollow tubes and laid down a reggaeton beat. Next came some hand percussion, followed by bass and an effect-laden electric guitar. All the while, his bare feet were pressing pedal after pedal, looping and layering with his every move. And to add even more variety to the mass of loops he created, Williams had a mixer propped up near his semi-circle of instruments, allowing him control of track levels as the songs went on. As this was the first time I had seen Keller Williams, I spent the first couple of songs simply trying to figure out how he was manipulating the countless loops he had going; how he was stopping Frankenstein from running wild.
It’s extremely hard to sum up Keller Williams; the closest I can come is by saying he’s the guy at the party with an acoustic guitar, playing funky hammer-ons and pull-offs that people can dance to, raise their drinks to, or nod their heads to during during a lull in conversation. Only this time, it’s his party, and the only cover he plays is the Dead’s “Celebrate Your Youth.” There was no requesting “Free Bird” this Saturday night as Williams went from slapping his acoustic guitar (creating bass and snare sounds), to dancing in circles between laying loops.
Saturday’s packed show was a good time, to be sure, for all who turned out to see the unsuspecting rockstar in his uniform of cargo pants and a loose t-shirt. Who cares if Keller used the word Tyrannosaurus in a song? Who cares if he did the Saturday Night Fever dance on stage? The crowd, a wide array of folks, was eating up his every move. And indeed, in a world of musicians that take themselves too seriously, it was refreshing to see a studied guitarist onstage playing feel-good songs. And hell, the guy does it all by himself. Highlights from the set were “Freshies,” “Shakedown Street,” and the aforementioned loop from “Breathe.”