Thurston Moore & Michael Chapman // NAC, 02.02.2013

Chapman has been around since the ‘60’s, ostensibly a finger-picking folk guitarist, who was an influence on and friend of the late, great Jack Rose. I have to say I have only recently discovered Chapman. Tonight, he displayed great dexterity and complete mastery of the fretboard, making his guitar sing like a choir with his rapid finger-picking and somewhat unorthodox use of his wedding ring as a slide. “Another Story”, “Two Trains” and “In The Valley” were just awesome.

Moore has been a hero since I first heard the “Death Valley ’69” 12” and “Daydream Nation” LP. Tonight he failed to live up to my expectations, being woefully underprepared. Whereas Chapman was a warm, natural, entertaining raconteur with his between song banter, Moore was just awkward and his solo acoustic guitar was crying out for the backing of bass and drums. Notwithstanding this, the songs were good and a few more rehearsals could have made a big difference.

Finally, Chapman joined Moore for an improv piece. Whilst there were moments where it seemed this was going to go somewhere, I’m afraid it remained barely listenable and was best described as “free noise”.

Pavlis,