Concert review: Ormonde at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton (September 4)

by Andy Odom of My Denton Music

Ormonde is here thanks to pure luck. Denton artist Robert Gomez and Seattle's Anna-Lynn Williams met months ago in Denton when they were asked separately to appear on another project. They met again later in Seattle during Gomez's last tour and, after a few shows supporting each other, discussed working together. The talks culminated earlier this year when the duo rented a house and wrote an album in the nascent artist's haven of Marfa, Texas. Williams has been in Denton recently to complete work on the record with Robert Gomez, and a show at Dan's Silverleaf was scheduled on Saturday, September 5, to commemorate the occasion.

Seeing as how the album isn't even complete, one might have expected the performance to be a little ... raw. In fact, while Gomez and Williams are joined on the album by keyboardist Jesse Chandler and Midlake's McKenzie Smith, none of them had performed live together as Ormonde until rehearsals took place late the same week. The anxiety, or perhaps insecurity, among the band was palpable. Furrowed brows, long glances to one another for cues, and shared smiles after missed notes were all seen, but, knowing the history behind this set, were easily forgiven.

The set started with just the duo, but after the first song, Chandler and Smith joined them. Ormonde performed almost every song off their not-yet-completed album and represented a true marriage of styles, 50% Robert Gomez and 50% Lotte Kestner (Anna-Lynn Williams' solo moniker; more on that later). The performance offered moments ranging from pure pop to intimate folk, and many outlying aspects of each artist -- Gomez's subtle Latin influence or Williams' use of effects, for example -- were reigned in by the other to begin to create something unique unto itself.

Before they would present their new project to the sparsely populated Silverleaf, both artists each played a solo set with Gomez going first. There's little new that could be said about a Robert Gomez set at this point. Any Dentonite (Dentonian?) who has seen him in the past year knows to expect immaculately orchestrated chamber pop, mostly culled from his recent release, Pine Sticks and Phosphorus. On this night the ensemble was down to just three players, including Gomez, and were slightly less immaculate than usual. However, the music was no less affecting.

Next was Lotte Kestner. After years of being in the band Trespassers William, this was the first ever solo performance for Anna-Lynn. While she expressed her anxiety, the performance showed none. Her voice was clear and sounded like a mix of Aimee Mann and Patty Griffin, even when she used loops and effects to create choir-like vocals. Williams mostly performed songs from the debut Lotte Kestner album, China Mountain, which were slow, pretty, and quiet. So quiet, in fact, that one could hear creaking doors or ice filling a glass at the bar. Surprisingly, this didn't detract from her performance, but added to the intimacy of the moment, like pops on your favorite vinyl record.

It seemed like most of Denton was taking the night off on September 5. After the free week at Rubber Gloves and the Oso Closo CD release show, perhaps the town is taking a break. Among the quiet streets, however, there was still good reason to be out. And there's yet another local music project to be excited about.