I Found Religion in a Bar With Trevor Hall
November 13, 2014 | Blog, Music,
By: Anna Edwards
Trevor Hall – a modern day Bob Marley to some – is a humble white man with dreadlocks to his knees. On Oct. 18 at Off Broadway in STL, he glided onto the stage, commanding the attention of the mangled and distinctive crowd. To set the scene: standing in front of me was a woman breastfeeding, a child with a blue mohawk, and a rowdy, annoying group of teenagers. Behind me? A sixty-year-old woman and her first-time, hopefully never again high teenager with her friends. This potluck of people; a man with dreads cooing to me, and the attractive bassist (who I hope still has my dollar bill that may or may not have my number written in lipstick on it) made for one helluva concert.
Off Broadway is a small venue in Downtown St. Louis, and it perfectly suited Hall’s “Small is Beautiful” tour. His opening act included a beat-boxing, reggae-belching, rain dancing free spirit named Tubby Love. Next was Cas Haley, a husky boxcar body with the personality of an innocent child. Cas and Tubby not only played separately, but also together, during which the sound was like listening to a vinyl record for the first time–spiritual and moving. The women swayed to the honey-sweet voice of Cas, the men’s heads bounced like basketballs off the backboard that was Tubby’s beats.
Trevor Hall, an extremely spiritual person, turned his music into wine for his audience. As he strummed, hummed and thrummed, the bodies in the crowd swayed like a pendulum in unison. He incorporated a bass, guitar, as well as a strange array of drums and beads which produced sounds like those in nature. Incorporating music in from his newest album, Chapter of the Forest, as well as his older albums, Hall played a set full of stories, sweet lullabies, and feet-stomping chants. Slinking down the steps one by one, Hall and his brigade gathered around in a circle in the center floor, challenging the crowd to remain silent. As Hall began to sing “Chapter of the Forest,” Tubby and Cas sang the harmony. One side of the audience sang Trevor’s part, the other side sang Tubby and Cas’ part. I found religion in the middle of a bar. I just hope he could read my lipstick.
Anna is a sophomore English major & avid dog lover. She might be the only girl with a playlist titled, “girls RULE boys DROOL,” and admits that it’s on constant repeat. She was once handed the microphone at an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s concert; but in a sick twist of fate, instead of hearing Alex Ebert ask her to “sing us a lyric,” she heard, “tell us a first.” Needless to say, she was cheated from her five minutes of fame. In all seriousness, she’s just tryin’ to play that funky music white [girl], play that funky music right.