The first thing most Americans muttered to themselves upon first laying eyes on the Beatles was, “Oh my! Their hair is so LONG.” It was an obvious, easy and direct way to size up the group and judge its members. With Nashville-based Jars of Clay, the judgment cry is inevitably, “Oh my! They’re a Christian band!” As much as the term Christian rock may make some bristle, it bares examining that the same effect was felt by millions of crew-cut fathers watching their daughters gawk and swoon at the Mop Tops on Ed Sullivan. The point being, the music, became a secondary consideration filtered through biased belief systems.
So strip away the hard evidence and focus strictly on this evening’s presentation, and Jars of Clay is like countless other groups across the globe; it’s a band of young men making music. The only question that matters is, are they good at it? Friday’s performance at the Rosemont Theater provided ample answers for any skeptics in attendance (few were), and yet the proceedings were still steeped with contradiction.
Playing heavy on tracks from the group’s self titled debut album, the band sidestepped delving into the richness of its latest effort, “Much Afraid,” until the rousing conclusion of the show.
A top of the set offering of the latest single, “Crazy Times,” single-handedly proved the band has risen to the sophomore challenge by upping its own ante.
A mid-set acoustic section, however, offered mixed blessings. Though the perfectly timed stretch allowed the Jars members to open up and show their personalities, the result was stage conversation that went on just a tad too long. A stunning ode to the wonders of java (“Good Coffee, Strong Coffee”) was the rewarding pay off following a silly and overly long diatribe about playing in caffeine dens and guitarist Matthew Odmark’s imitation of a cappuccino machine. That was totally forgivable, but singer Dan Haseltine denouncement of pride one song later reeked of the self same deadly sin.
The crowning achievement of the evening was a brilliant take on the latest release’s “Tea And Sympathy,” in which the Jars answered the question “are they good at it” with a resounding “yes.” On the disc, the track is carried by beautifully arranged strings that summon the spirit of “I Am the Walrus.” In concert, Jars of Clay tackled the tune without the aid of a string quartet or canned symphonics, and ran the song dry. Not only did the tune hold up without all of the icing, but it rose to such heights it practically dwarfed the mega hit “Flood” which closed the set one song later.
As a band, Jars of Clay held its own despite some limitations. Haseltine’s voice proves just as wispy on stage as it does on disc, which didn’t lend itself to the over-big venue. In the end, he won the battle, as did guitarist Stephen Mason who turned a tentative solo on “Overjoyed” around by the show’s conclusion.
