14 years. That’s how long it’s been since Jeff Mangum played a show in Chicago. If you think that’s a long time, there are other major cities where it’s been longer. See, in 1998, after a year’s worth of touring in support of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Mangum put his Neutral Milk Hotel project on hiatus. As we’ve learned from so many other bands, that typically translates to a break up with plans to never return. He was good on his word too, vanishing into the world of the mundane everyday, but still keeping his legend alive with periodic guest appearances on friends’ records or shows. There was the 2001 show in New Zealand where Mangum performed 13 songs under the name World of Wild Beards Incorporated as a favor to his friend Chris Knox. There were also the special appearances at several of the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour dates in 2008, in which Mangum perfomed the NMH b-side “Engine” and nothing more. But it wasn’t until 2010 that rumors began to circulate about a potential return to the stage. In May of that year he performed 5 songs at a benefit concert in Manhattan which attracted a flurry of attention for all the reasons you’d expect. The trail went cold once again for a few months until December, when a small crowd of about 100 witnessed Mangum perform 10 songs in a Brooklyn loft.
The start of 2011 appeared to also be the true start of Mangum’s return to the spotlight too, for just about a year ago it was announced he’d be performing at the ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror Festival in New Jersey that fall. Mangum then announced a handful of East Coast dates to create a pseudo-tour surrounding that festival appearance. The Neutral Milk Hotel website got a shiny new upgrade, a box set was announced that included every single song ever recorded by the band including a bunch of unreleased material, and there was the promise of more tour dates. All of it led to one conclusion: Jeff Mangum is back, and for real this time. It may have taken him a few months of sporadic East Coast dates, but he’s finally made his way back to the Midwest, and with that comes the two nights in Chicago this past Monday and Tuesday. Held at the 900 capacity Athenaeum Theatre, tickets for both shows sold out in a mere couple minutes. I was one of the lucky few to snag a ticket to both nights, which is why I’m pleased to offer this retrospective of both shows.
Opening both nights was the trio of Andrew Reiger, Laura Carter and Scott Spilane, more recently known as members of Elf Power and The Gerbils. Spilane was also a member of Neutral Milk Hotel back in the day, and that played a role in Mangum’s set that I will get to in a little bit. But the three of them shared the stage and assisted in playing one another’s songs in addition to a handful of covers. It was kitschy, it was sparse, it was fun and quite a bit weird too. Most of the crowd sat there and patiently listened, less with enthusiasm and more with a shoulder shrug. I wonder if they sold any merch after the show that wasn’t NMH-related. Personally, I think Reiger, Carter and Spilane are all very talented people, and while I enjoy the occasional Elf Power song, I’ve largely settled on the idea that it’s not quite my cup of tea. It’s all part of the Elephant 6 family anyways, a collective of bands and artists I admire for their creativity and true spirit of independence but have difficulty actually liking. In both hour-long opening sets, the constant switching between instruments and vocalists made for a solid amount of variety, and covers of songs made famous by Randy Newman and Frank Sinatra brought at least a small degree of familiarity to those left in the dark. Did they have to go for a full hour, pretty much equal to the amount of time Jeff Mangum spent on stage in his set? Probably not, but at least it could be considered an attempt to give you your money’s worth.
So the stage was set for Jeff Mangum’s big return. Four different guitars surrounded a lone chair at the center of the stage, when out walked the man, the myth and the legend himself. Wearing his traditional plaid shirt and conductor’s cap, it’s basically his uniform for performing, but that’s not to say he treats it like any real job. The guy that came out on stage for both those shows wasn’t a recluse or a hermit or even somebody that’s a touch off mentally. He was downright jovial, smiling, and entertaining as if no time had passed since the last time he came through town. Of course it had, and on the first night he was asked where he’d been. “Living with the love of my life,” was his reply, and that seemed to satisfy as a round of applause followed it. We all do crazy things for love sometimes, including giving up a very lucrative career as a musician. Throughout both shows Mangum encouraged people to both shout questions at him between songs and also to sing along at the top of their lungs. He did this early on in the first show and much later in the second, and the difference in crowd behavior was noticeable. We’re so polite in the Midwest that nobody is going to speak up unless told to. The questions on the first night were a bit more insightful and larger in number, asking everything from if we’d get any new music (“I really like these older songs, don’t you?”) to which song is his favorite to play live (“Oh Comely”). As for the singing along, there was less of it on the second night but both crowds appeared to be a little apprehensive to try and belt it to the rafters. Both nights I thought I was the only one in my section singing and that the other side of the room was doing a far better job. That may have been the acoustics messing with me. I think the real reason why so many were hesitant to sing was out of pure reverence for the songs. They are in many ways sacred melodies, and we paid to hear them sung by Mangum, not a collection of Mangum devotees.
Between song banter and crowd interaction aside, Jeff Mangum’s performance was nothing short of excellent. The guy has clearly not lost a single step, and in the last decade and a half probably gained a few as well. Having heard a number of official and unofficial Neutral Milk Hotel bootleg recordings from the late 90s, it would appear that Mangum has better control over his voice than before. He wasn’t off-key for a single moment in either of the two Chicago shows, and given some of the pitch-shifting vocal acrobatics required on many songs that was impressive. His ability to hold a single note for an extended period was put to the test as well, and that’s something he passed with flying colors. Speaking purely from a melody standpoint, there was a certain ramshackle charm to strumming these songs out on solely an acoustic guitar. The songs lost none of their emotional power just because there wasn’t a full band to stand behind them. When some of the songs needed a bit more punctuation, Scott Spilane and Laura Carter and other guests would show up out of the wings and add a trumpet here, a flugelhorn there or even a cello as was the case with “Naomi”. Everything coalesced at the end of the regular set when everyone came out to do the instrumental “The Fool”. That’s the sort of song you need a full band for, and it gave his friends the chance for one last curtain call.
The set lists for both nights were almost identical in terms of songs performed, but different in how they were ordered. “Little Birds” was the only song unique to the first night, while “A Baby for Pree” had the distinction of being a second night exclusive. My favorite of the two shows was the first one, and that’s not just because I was hearing so many of the same songs for the second time on the second night. Starting the second night set with “Oh Comely” felt like a crucial mistake to me, as its fragile 8 minutes are better explored once the audience has had a chance to become better acclimated with how the evening is going to go. Put a different way, I consider the song to be the most important in the Neutral Milk Hotel catalogue, and to lead with it feels like playing your trump card too early. The slow and measured “Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2” felt like a far smoother introduction on the first night, quickly transitioning into the energy of “Holland, 1945” and “Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone”. Generally speaking, the flow of songs felt more organic and balanced in the first set versus the second. Either way though, the night always concluded the exact same way – with a massive audience sing-along of perhaps the most famous Neutral Milk Hotel song, “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”. After an hour and some change, it left the room in a blissful high, smiles on their faces and a standing ovation. Mangum would give one final wave and stroll off stage in the same leisurely fashion he strolled on. Just like that he was gone. I’m grateful to have at least known after that first night I’d be seeing him again 24 hours later. Once the second night was done though, the crowd of 900 all collectively felt the loss. Cross another “must see” artist off the bucket list, but with the implicit suggestion that it might never happen again, at least not in Chicago. Some people counted their lucky stars they got to spend a single evening hearing classic Neutral Milk Hotel songs being performed by the man that wrote and composed them. I feel eternally grateful to have doubled that, and hope sharing with you either brought back fond memories or helped bring you closer to something you weren’t able to experience yourself. There’s no telling exactly what Jeff Mangum is going to do next. Beyond touring this spring I’m not even sure he knows.
Night 1: 2/6/12
Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2
Holland, 1945
Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone
Song Against Sex
Little Birds
King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 & 3
Ghost
Naomi
April 8th
Oh Comely
Two-Headed Boy
The Fool
**ENCORE**
Engine
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Night 2: 2/7/12
Oh Comely
King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 & 3
A Baby for Pree
Engine
Holland, 1945
Ghost
Song Against Sex
Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2
Naomi
April 8th
Two-Headed Boy
The Fool
**ENCORE**
Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
