Afie Jurvanen is Bahamas (as he so helpfully explains on his third studio album Bahamas is Afie). Afie Jurvanen is also a wiggler. Who knew? It was an unexpected delight on Thursday at Lincoln Hall to see the man wiggle in his popping pink piped Nike shoes, looking like he was physically coaxing and shaking the sounds loose from his guitar.
The night started out with David McMillin (of the Chicago band Fort Frances) who got the sold out crowd into the singer songwriter frame of mind. The folk singer creates gorgeous, slow tempo tracks ranging from an alt country sound to almost ballad-esque. Reaching a particularly low-key point on one of his piano based tracks (McMillin switched between guitar and keyboard) he joked (appreciatively) to the silent and enraptured group, “This is the most down tempo song of the night – in the rolling landscape of the set list we’re really in the valley down here.” Moving back to guitar and pulling on a harmonica (always a good choice) he led the crowd into a peak to end off his set.
It was a smooth segue from there to Bahamas. Afie Jurvanen took the stage in his red plaid shirt and aforementioned Nikes. Backed by drums, guitar and a female vocalist, he made his way through most of his 2014 album Bahamas is Afie including “Caught Me Thinking,” “Waves,” and “Stronger than That.” Bahamas’ albums are so low key I was unsure how they would come across in the live setting, but given the level of excitement from the crowd and the good natured banter and dance moves of Jurvanen, the set was downright engrossing. Jurvanen’s signature look on stage is in his undulating movement that extends into his guitar playing – especially on those lovely long drawn out slide notes he coaxes from his guitar – you could tell he was feeling the music, as was the crowd.