Great Lake Swimmers + Kate Maki - Brattle Theatre (Cambridge, MA; Apr. 18, 2009)

The Brattle Theatre often hosts sold-out shows, everything from Noam Chomsky to Buffy the Vampire sing-a-longs. Tonight the stage was set aside for the atmospheric, slightly slowcore, Great Lake Swimmers. The cool Cambridge air welcomed their woodsy spirit of Northern climes flannel and layered harmonies.

Along for the 6,500 mile tour (it was the answer to a pop quiz won by a man in the front row), the Great Lake Swimmers brought Sudbury, Ontario’s own Kate Maki. Her sparse, country-tinged songs softly welcomed the attentive audience into a night of fine Canadian singer songwriters. At points she borrowed drummer Greg Millson for slight percussion help, or as Maki said, “just to have someone up on stage.” While her initial shy demeanor might indicate otherwise, she offered a warm presence, comfortable with conversing with the audience. Good stuff all around.

The packed audience, perhaps lulled through a combination of comfortable seating and faulty air conditioning, sat contented and happy Great Lake Swimmers. Only a few shouted requests broke seamless transitions between each song. This was a reverential crowd, one that came to soak in the music, to partake in an event, as opposed to bystanding at a concert.

Singer and guitarist Tony Dekker offered a set list that blended music from the band’s older three albums, and then gradually introduced songs from Lost Channels, released last month. The contrast was stark. When touring in support of a new album, bands face the difficulty of capturing the studio sound live, an audience generally unfamiliar with the material, and their own hesitation with the music. Here, the problem seemed to be with slipping syllables.

In the new song “Concrete Heart,” the image of Toronto architecture serves for a broken relationship, and Dekker ends subsequent lines with “...subway system/...library system/...feel like a harbor/...feel like a fortress.” These double sounding words feel unfinished, suspended without resolution, and the pacing of the lines felt awkward. As a counterpoint, listen to ”Changing Colours,” a song from 2007’s Ongiara that fit nicely into the second half of the evening’s set. The chorus begins “And when the wind takes you, it takes me, too.” That pause before “too,” lets the note catch up to the lyric, creating a haunting feeling that matches the song’s topic of dying.

It might be my love for the older material that drives this analysis, but I missed something when listening to the songs off Lost Channels. Many of the songs, like “She Comes to Me in Dreams,” offer a stronger tone that loses Dekker’s voice in the process. Through the middle of the show, I felt the new album moves Great Lake Swimmers away from lush Red House Painters textures, into rocky-folk Rogue Wave territory. This is not a bad thing, but the band feels like it’s treading water when the vocals are overshadowed.

With genuine thanks, Dekker and band seemed grateful to be at the Brattle Theatre, and glad to be sharing their music. The humility of the band, modestly nodding to the audience, barely lifting their eyes, makes their music even more lovable. Still, I reminisce for more songs (like their latest single “Pulling on a Wire") that deliver solid songwriting with hushed instrumentation. There are many bands that carve the path from folk into rock, and I hope the Swimmers will weather the course.