The event last night was absolutely beautiful.
So happy we were able to make it out to Stannard and then onto Lyndonville.
The ride there was a tad tough with the rain and fog, but we made it safely with no problems with directions which was a plus.
It was a damn pleasant experience to roll up to the church, and thru the fog see home made lanterns (made by Graham I believe) with candles lighting the entryway.
The mist fit the evening perfectly.
I guess I didnt really know what to expect in regards to where they were actually holding the event venue wise.
A church is a church I told myself.
The Stannard Church is Flat out amazing.
Regardless.
The lighting, all by candle, truly made the night that much more special.
Candles surrounding the room, in every window, across the front of the raised platform area performance space, and even in the chandelier.
The whole night sort of rolled into a Highlight reel in my head.
Johanna Kunin accompanied by Jeremy Hadley on guitar/bass was lovely.
We walked in a few songs into their set, and it was just so relaxed and inviting.
I just leaned against the pew in front of me and took it all in.
It was nice to see that Dean Wells was in fact a real person, left handed even, and more than capable of nailing some of the songs I’ve come to love in the last few weeks.
(crap! need to rotate this when I wake up)
Including 61 Sideburns & Sleepcure Theory Advancer
Dean was slightly nervous but it was incredibly genuine.
He thanked the folks for coming, clapping, and sorta joked his way thru between songs.
Someone retrieved his coffee for him mid set, and he repeatedly picked up his note pad to see what he wanted to play next.
With all of his songs being so short, he tried to group them together as appear on his albums, so there were 3 or so songs played back to back.
It was nice, and the buzz in the room was amazing.
You couldnt have asked for a better sounding venue for any of the bands .
I can’t recall ever hearing a better sounding set than the performance Horse Feathers put on for us.
We had caught them the night before at the Monkey, and it was a fine fine show.
This blew that performance out of the water.
Casey Dienel and the Flapjacks stopping thru was a treat.
They started their set while I was outside admiring the exterior of the church, and getting mistaken for a member of Horse Feathers.
Which was interesting since it was another member of the band that mistook me.
I heard the faint sound of a ukelele and proceded to watch a song from the outside steps of the church
from my view, the entryway was sort of framing Casey, completley lit up and flickering from the candles at her feet.
I hadn’t noticed at first, but what I thought was a podium on the right of the stage was actually the Church Organ.
Christopher from the Flapjacks, got up and played that for the first time during their set which added a hell of alot to their overall sound.
Casey stayed with her Ukulele for the majority of the set, with Christopher switching between banjo/organ, Max on his violin, and Matt on drums/ percussion. Trying to track down some photos of this set since mine pretty much all came out black.
The nice thing was that no one made a peep during anyones set.
The crowd was made up of a mix of folks local folks, bands, and friends of the band, yet all shared the common thread that they truly wanted to be there for that show.
As far as that crowd went.
A few folks made the trek out from Burlington which was very nice to see.
Brian over at False45th made the trip from Montpelier.
He has some great photos of the church, the bands, and even 3 videos of the debut performance of The Capstan Shafts here
Plus, with the addition of Horse Feathers and Casey Dienel and The Flapjacks, the crowd instantly grew by 8 or so.
A party of 4 even made the trek out from NYC!
Turns out it was a few folks from the band Get Him Eat Him
They played in Burlington back in June and The Capstan Shafts were suppose to play, but didn’t.
Apparently they are huge fans.
Their singer Matt LeMay gave a positive review over at Pitchfork which definitely helped to garner the attention that Dean and his tunes have accumulated to far.
You can hear their version of the Dean Wells penned tune More Lovely Than Likely here
In one of the videos Brian shot, you can hear/ see Dean asking the Get Him Eat Him folk if they want to sing, since they apparently know it already.
The reason I initially planned to make the trip was honestly to catch The Capstan Shafts, but it turned slowly into so much more.
The overall performances by J. Kunin & Jeremy, The Capstan Shafts, Horse Feathers, & Casey Dienel & Co made for an evening I will never forget and probably couldn’t replicate.
Once the show was over and cleaned up, a ginormous caravan of around 7 cars/ and 25 folks rolled into Lyndonville for an evening of sleep.
A fine ending.
Once we woke, the fog and rain had cleared and we were treated to the foliage of the Vermont fall.
Something I regretfully rarely get to see since I rarely venture too far out from Burlington these days.
Update:
heres an interview with J. Kunin that helps to let in on just how beatiful the event was.
*
Separate to the events at Stannard.
Horse Feathers and Casey Dienel and The Flapjacks headed from Lyndonville up to Montreal for the last Bleating Heart Show
This show was presented by Said The Gramaphone.
What was similar between the Stannard show and worth mentioning I suppose, was that they had the chance to play in a Church for the second night in a row.
You can find a video for both Horse Feathers and Casey and Co. here.
Though the chapel is a bit larger than the Stannard Church, it sounds just as good as it did here in VT.
ANGIOPLASTY MEDIA 
One Comment
nice review, nick!