Musician and producer Jonathan Wilson moved to California’s Laurel Canyon in 2005, and soon friends like Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes began to stop by his place to hang out and play some loose, fun music. Soon Robinson and Wilson were leading what have become legendary Wednesday night jams at Wilson’s home with some of yesterday’s finest musicians- Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead and members of Van Morrison’s, Bruce Springsteen’s, and Tom Petty’s bands, and some of today’s best- David Rawlings, Gary Louris, members of Wilco, and several relatively unknown local bands who are starting to gain some well deserved national recognition. One of these bands is the L.A. based Dawes, who brought their brand of California rock and roll to Hoboken’s famous old club Maxwell’s.
Wilson produced Dawes debut album North Hills, and the album is a Laurel Canyon masterpiece that rivals the best works of the first Laurel Canyon golden age, the late 1960’s. Since releasing the album the band has been on the road constantly, and clearly the heavy touring and jam sessions at Wilson’s place are paying off. As good as North Hills is (and trust me, it is GREAT, best album of 2009 for me no question), Dawes are simply much better live. Whereas some songs on North Hills are laid back country rock, as a live band, Dawes has a much more aggressive, louder rock and roll sound. Frontman Taylor Goldsmith stomps around the stage like a crazed Neil Young while howling passionate vocals and playing searing guitar solos. The thumping rhythm section of Griffin Goldsmith and Wylie Gelber recalls Levon Helm & Rick Danko of The Band, and keyboardist Alex Casnoff added some nice solos and fills in addition to his beautiful harmony voice.
Dawes fabulous vocal harmonies have led to many comparisons to Crosby, Stills & Nash who are obviously a huge influence on them. Lots of bands get tagged with that comparison and while many are not worthy of it, Dawes share Crosby, Stills & Nash’s talent for combining tender, gorgeous vocal harmonies with energetic rock and roll. The harmonies are spine tingling, but Dawes are more than just pretty voices. They can really play their instruments, and the show’s high point was when Taylor Goldsmith let go with a vicious guitar solo on “Peace In The Valley” while his bandmates pound away behind him, with some especially rocking interplay between Taylor and his younger brother drummer Griffin Goldsmith as they traded off snappy fills. “Peace In The Valley” was the show’s musical highlight, with a jam that could only be described as “holy,” but Taylor threw in fiery guitar solos on every song. On North Hills, Goldsmith’s playing reminds me of the great Robbie Robertson of The Band, with great but restrained guitar playing. But live, his solos are stretched out and more manic, more like Stephen Stills and Neil Young with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
However, perhaps what was most impressive about Dawes’ concert was not the incredible music but how the sold out crowd at Maxwell’s reacted to that music. “Peace In The Valley,” “That Western Skyline,” and especially “When My Time Comes” have turned into anthems and had every person in the room, even those who were hearing Dawes for the first time, joyfully singing along. Even new songs generated singalongs on the choruses as fans learned the words on the spot. Taylor Goldsmith’s honest and poignant lyrics struck a chord with the enthusiastic audience who refused to let the band end the show without an encore. Even though the venue initially refused to let Dawes play more because they had played past their end time, they reluctantly relented after hearing the furious uproar of applause and Dawes returned to play the rockin’ “When You Call My Name” to send the crowd out ecstatic. Passionate, soulful voice combined with gorgeous vocal harmonies, brilliant, tight musicianship, and great live energy… Dawes have all the tools of a great rock and roll band, and despite how young they are, it’s clear that their time is now and they are destined to be playing venues far larger than Maxwell’s in the very near future.
