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Biography
Born May 31, 1983, Devendra Barnhart grew up in Caracas, Venezuela until the age of 14 when he, his mother, and step father moved to Los Angeles, California, U.S. With a proclivity towards the creative, Banhart won a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute, and began experimenting under the watchful eye of poet and professor Bill Berskon. It wasn’t long however before Barnhart began skipping classes to busk on the streets, and started recording demos of his songs. The singer’s debut performance came singing Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” at a gay wedding in San Fransisco, after which Banhart travelled to Paris and opened for the likes of Sonic Youth.
By 2000 however the musician was back in San Francisco and his demo “The Charles C. Leary”, caught to attention of the Young God Records owner and Swans member, Michael Gira. Compiled from various Banhart recordings, 2002’s “Oh Me Oh My” was issued on Young God Records and earned glowing reviews from the musical press. A year later the EP “Black Babies” arrived, followed by his first cohesive full-length “Rejoicing in the Hands” in April 2004. The album has been considered Banhart’s finest work for its enchanting and seamlessly authentic appeal, and received rave reviews from critics. Its companion album “Niño Rojo” arrived later in the year, with fan and critic enthusiasm on par with its predecessor.
Following the pair of releases, and a contribution to Anthony and the Johnsons’ album “I Am a Bird Now”, Banhart signed to the revered independent label XL to release “Cripple Crow” in September 2005. The album marked the first to experiment with sonic soundscapes, and represents Banhart’s most adventurous collection of songs to date. Two years later XL issued “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon”, which was recorded at Banhart’s home studio, and reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200. In 2008, in a collaboration entitled Megapuss, with Gregory Rogove and Fabrizio Moretti of the Strokes and Little Joy, Banhart released the album “Surfing”. A year later in 2009, having moved to Warner Bros., the singer-songwriter released “What Will We Be” to positive reviews followed in 2012 with “Mala”.
Live reviews
I didn't know exactly what to expect going into this show. He came on stage with a full band. I love most of his earlier stuff and some of his newer stuff. His style is allover the place so he has some tracks I just can't really get into.
I was in a bad mood when I showed up, so that may have effected how I felt about the show.
I enjoyed his presence. It was very entertaining. He was very engaged with the crowd, very eccentric, strange mannerisms, all that. He had a pretty good intro. However! I was hoping to be mesmerized by his god-like guitar skills and vocals. There were only a couple moments, adding up to probably a minute or to over the course of the hour and half he was on stage. He took requests, which was really cool since he could probably have played a different song for each person in the venue. A lot of the songs he played were only partial. I thought he was saving sea horse for the encore, maybe, but he ended up playing a middle section of it towards the end.
I'd never heard show-goers beg for an encore so long and for so hard. Even myself, cheering louder than ever before. There was a chance that his encore performance could pull it all together. I know he planned on playing until 11, and we had 20 minutes to go. Devendra came back out to play one track which I didn't recognize, very catchy / funky, though. We were begging for the encore longer than the song lasted, and then he abruptly left the stage. It was surreal.
I waited a long time for him to play in Houston (I missed his last show). I never bought tickets so fast when a show was announced in my life, but I probably won't be going to his next show. I guess my expectations were unreasonably high. I don't know.
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Devendra Banhart, wayward psych-folk hero, poet and singer songwriter, fan of the great Latin American troubadours. His music is nothing if not eclectic, perhaps even defying categorisation completely. I’m at his show promoting his eighth record ‘Mala’, a slightly twisted affair that carries a dark streak through its incredibly broad span of genres. And not only is this genre-hopping a feature of his music, he also regularly switches between songs in English and Spanish, stopping in between to make sometimes awkward, even slightly nervous observations, which are actually endearing and are part of his unique offbeat charm. As are his decidedly strange dance moves, which veer from standing completely still on one leg for as long as he can to flapping and flailing around. It’s actually quite compelling. The band leave him to do a chunk of the second set solo, and he takes requests from the crowd, going through some of his back catalogue (‘Little Yellow Spider’ and ‘Body Breaks’ take on a fragile, almost naive quality without the rest of the band). For all his offbeat kookiness, there is actually something quite loveable about him, as his dedicated following proves. They certainly know to just sit back and take it in, rather than try to figure out what Devendra Banhart is actually about!
philsomervell
Devendra Banhart is a musician and visual artist who has been active on the circuit from the early 2000s following the release of debut LP 'The Charles C. Leary'. He has gained a curious reputation due to both the complexity of his musicianship and the intrigue of his live performance. He sways between ornate renditions of 'Golden Girls' supported by his accompanying band who expertly recreate the psych folk sounds to sitting solo beneath a spotlight with his guitar and singing near acapella on the likes of 'Carmensita'.
The audience remains engaged throughout due to the unpredictability of his setlist. He demonstrates real skill with his guitar as he once again takes centre stage to jam out the warbling psych tones of 'Santa Maria da Feira'. Although Devendra is known for his contribution to the world of visual media, his own live show is sparsely decorated as he allows the music to really command all attention.
The audience does not seem to find the lack of visual interruptions as Banhart and his band effortlessly create an atmosphere of psychedelica with their instruments and have successfully transported the revellers into their world by the final distorted notes of 'Never Seen Such Good Things'.
sean-ward
The show was pretty bad. Bad sound, too crowded. Devendra was talking and you couldn't understand a word. that's a shame as I saw an amazing show by him many years ago in Israel and he's one of my favorite musicians ever.
shimon-koifman
