David Wax Museum with Sleeping Jesus- Shank Hall, 7/21/16

photo by Will Piper

"My gosh are you ever a smiley crowd," exclaimed Suz Slezak part way through David Wax Mueseum's set.  And smiley and happy the crowd was during the intensely intimate, energetic set of music performed by David Wax, his wife, Suz Slezak and the rest of their band (consisting of a touring drummer, bass player and guitarist) at Shank Hall.  The hundred or so fans who all moved up by the stage for the set were treated to a joyful pageant of a performance.  Simply stated, in a world full of negatives, David Wax Museum provides an escape with music that is positive, happy and uplifting in an authentic way.   There are some bands that just make you say, "gosh it's great to be alive," and David Wax Museum is one of those kind of acts.

photo by Will Piper

The quintet masterfully blends together elements of traditional Mexican folk music with modern indie rock and country styles to create a unique potpouri of sound.  For their Shank Hall performance, David Wax Museum chose to forgo a setlist and play songs based on reading their crowd.  The songs performed showcased a pleasant retrospective of the band's career, with a balance between more poppy numbers and more Mexican infused pieces that, at times, had a "world music" flare. Highlights included "Yes Maria Yes," a tune that showcased David Wax on the jarana, a traditional guitar-like instrument from southern Mexico and Suz Slezak playing the quijada (donkey jaw bone), another traditional Mexican folk instrument used for percussion at parties and celebrations.  Other set highlights included "Harder Before it Gets Easier," a standout track off of their 2012 stellar release Knock Knock Get Up, about being a new parent, and their breakthrough single, "Born with a Broken Heart" off of 2011's Everything Is Saved album.

David Wax and me

Wax's latest release Guesthouse, which came out earlier this year is perhaps the band's most accessible and polished recording to date.  Tracks like "Every Time Katie," "Everything Changes," and the title track "Guesthouse" all translated well live.  In fact "Guesthouse" was a rousing set closer for the performance.  After an encore, the band came out and greeted fans.  Not only are David Wax Museum outstanding performers, they are genuinely humble people who appreciate their fans as much as the fans appreciate them.

Opening up for David Wax Museum was Sleeping Jesus, a jangly romantic indie rock outfit from Winona, Minnesota.  Their sweeping tunes paired well on a warm summer night and they did a great job of warming up the crowd with accessible tunes that benefited from a strong sense of vocal harmonies between the musicians.

photo by Will Piper