A.A. Bondy live!

A.A. Bondy
Beat Kitchen, Chicago
Thursday, February 14, 2008

In his previous life, A.A. Bondy was Scott Bondy, frontman for Verbena, dirty sexy Southern grunge darlings from Birmingham, Alabama who burned hot fast then fizzled before they had a chance to warm up to more than a small but staunchly devoted following. The band’s implosion precipitated his own, and Bondy went into self-exile, hiding out in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, denouncing music and shedding himself of Scott, the snarky, drug-addled rock star.

A couple of years later, songs started to form in his head, so he picked up a guitar and found on the other side of the long road was A.A. (his real name Auguste Arthur). His first solo record, American Hearts (Superphonic; re-releasing April 15th on Fat Possum), was recorded in a month at Bondy’s red barn.

Touring alone for the first time, Bondy was clearly a different man onstage. While Verbena’s songs seemed to come from the groin, A.A.’s, a mixture of folk and delta blues, float from the soul like tormented ghosts. With nothing more than drowsy, lemon-and-honey vocals, acoustic guitar, and a set of harmonicas, the beauty and pain of songs like “How Will You Meet Your End,” “Killed Myself When I Was Young,” and “Of The Sea” came across just as powerfully as when embellished with additional instrumentation on the record. Some sweet picking skills had been hidden behind the punch and scream of his Verbena days.

Chatting with his audience is also something new for Bondy. “I’ve been seeing eagles, and it’s really messing with my mind,” he said, a few songs into his set. Being Valentine’s night, Bondy couldn’t resist quips about love, especially before the new song “Oh The Vampyre.” “I wrote this song for the child I haven’t had yet,” he said before the dichotomous “Vice Rag,” a paean to the drugs he once loved.

A couple of covers added to the mood of the evening, choosing Tom Waits’ “Hang Down Your Head” and an old folk song so old he wasn’t sure who wrote it.

Reincarnation isn’t always successful for musicians, but there’s no doubt Bondy was ready for a step up the ladder.

— Penelope Biver

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly