"Tonight The Sky" -- Mark Kozelek @ Highline Ballroom 6/13

Mark Kozelek remains an enigma in my book. For a songwriter who is as painstakingly confessional as they get, he sure is one hell of an insecure dude. On Friday night, I finally seized the rare opportunity to catch the man action, baggage and all. At what was billed an "intimate acoustic evening," I was amongst the privileged on hand to witness the brilliant Kozelek pour his heart out to a sold-out Highline Ballroom crowd. But before the man even played a note, there was already a little tension percolating. Mark apparently did not find a man in his line of vision particularly pleasing, so he offered a bribe of fifty dollars to switch with a more attractive woman in the first row. In what was easily the funniest moment of the night, the man accepted and Kozelek surprisingly paid up. I suppose this was the singer's way of breaking the ice with the faithful in attendance.

After meticulously making some last minute tuning changes, Kozelek finally got to work, kicking the night off with a pair of obscure Modest Mouse covers, "Trucker's Atlas" and "Tiny Cities." As complex these songs' arrangements typically are, Kozelek made it look easy -- further proving his guitar work (mostly finger picking) is as mighty as his pen. The first original song of the night was "Heron Blue," a sad tune off of his band Sun Kil Moon's critically-acclaimed new album, April. Kozelek, who's baritone voice can best be described as Eddie Vedder meets Nick Drake, was stunning on this one, proving his heart and soul are as present in his live shows as they are in his studio tracks. If only he just realized this. After finishing the song, Kozelek self-consciously asked if the audience was enjoying itself. If he wasn't convinced during the first few songs, this changed after the crowd applauded the opening strums to SKM favorite, "Gentle Moon." The serenity of "Moon" brilliantly contrasted the gloominess of some of the night's earlier selections. However, the highlight of the evening came when Kozelek played "Carry Me Ohio," a personal favorite off of Ghosts of The Great Highway. Judging the crowd's reception, I have a feeling I was in good company here. After a little bit of back and forth with his longtime supporting guitarist, Phil Carney, Kozelek brought out a guest named Emily to sing "Follow You, Follow Me," an old Red House Painters rarity. Despite some audio setbacks, the two duetted wonderfully on a song that was all too short. Kozelek continued to bust Phil's chops, and again questioned whether the crowd was enjoying itself. Despite Mark's hesitations, the show moved right along with a pair of Red House Painters standards, "Summer Dress" and "River". Kozelek became a little peeved when a camera-phone toting fan was furiously flashing away in the first row, causing the singer to unleash the fury in a rant that was all too awkward. Audio feedback plagued a gorgeous rendition of another new song, "Tonight In Bilbao," before Kozelek closed the set out with Sun Kil Moon standard, "Duk Koo Kim". I was a little disappointed with the lack of Red House Painters tunes included in the set (most namely "Have You Forgotten?"), but this was fine considering how well he mixed it up. He really spanned his prolific catalog on a night which undoubtedly pleased fans old and new.

Before the night came to a close, Kozelek played a two-song encore (sans Phil), that consisted of my favorite news songs from April -- "Lost Verses" and "Moorestown" (the latter of which is inspired by a town in New Jersey). And I gotta say, this is when Kozelek was at his best. The raw emotion his voice evoked in these lyrically soul-wrenching songs really proved he is a master of his art. The only complaint that I had was Kozelek's inability to realize this. Musically and lyrically it doesn't get much better than this, and maybe if he embraced his talent, Kozelek would be more of a household name.