One of the words Bill Callahan uses most often Resuscitate!, a live album recorded in March 2023, is “dreams”. We go in and out of 'First Bird'. They are places of transformation, danger, and indeed the ultimate reality for “Coyotes.” “Dream, baby, dream,” Callahan seems to say on “Natural Information,” a song about pushing his daughter down the road, now reinforced with the biggest lesson this wise daddy could ever teach her. It's been 11 years since Callahan released his 15th album, Dream River, a record intended to be the last thing the listener heard at night, gently lulling them to sleep. Since then, marriage, fatherhood and a new embrace of expansive thinking have taken the 58-year-old songwriter to a whole other metaphysical level. I often think of beautiful coincidences like an eclipse—two celestial bodies line up for a second and you're lucky enough to catch them—and Callahan has become an astrologer for those moments in his writing, especially as he observes the habits of his young family; His melodies, too, have become more open, transcendent, touching something beyond.
That night at Chicago's Thalia Hall, Callahan and his band reached a kind of dreamlike state that sounded generative and otherworldly. “The date was in the middle of the tour,” Callahan writes in the liner notes, “so I knew we'd be as hot as we'd get. Not too green, not too brown.” (He also notes that he's only trying to work with venues, like Thalia Hall, outside of Live Nation/Ticketmaster, and maybe the freedom will come in.) On the opening song “First Bird” alone, Callahan, guitarist Matt Kinsey, tenor Saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi and drummer Jim White travel more than most bands ever do in an entire set. It begins to sound like a mysterious night on the plains, full of scattered life forms, bass, flashes of woodwinds. As Callahan grows more fervent, the instruments vibrate with anticipation, then come crashing in and out of sync with their leader's hydraulic, deeply felt phrasing. It culminates with Callahan saying “Tall! Tall! Tall!” as if we were that honorary early bird. After six minutes, humming guitar leads into a full-band climax. Even though parts of this ensemble have been playing together for a long time – and every White-centric team has magic on their side – the telepathy between them is amazing.
I saw Callahan in London at the start of this run in November 2022, and as a veteran fan, it was probably my least favorite show I've seen. The setlist stuck largely to his post-pandemic records, much like this night in Chicago, with few exceptions. love YTI⅃AƎЯ and Gold disc as much as the next fun loving person, but why give up your sweet Smog guys! The playing was so dazzling—the “Coyotes” version. Resuscitate! runs nearly 13 minutes, and many others run at around seven minutes—that I failed to feel indulgence standing in the way of old classics.
