BJ Barham writes sad songs. Everybody knows that, and everybody writes about it.
I won’t be any different.
But before I do, let me remind you of an absolute truth: American Aquarium is one of the best rock bands operating in the world right now. BJ struts, dances, and tears around the stage like a Carolina hurricane, and every member of the band spins along with him when he brings the storm their way. Their sound is tight, but they play loosely and leave room for textured solos and space in every tune.
They came to Baltimore on a now-seasonably warm December evening, rolling into Soundstage glutted on too many tacos from Clavel (especially pedal steel player Neil Jones), and immediately blew down the damn walls. For the first three songs, BJ played his wine-red electric guitar, rippling across the stage to dance and thrash with Shane Boeker (guitar), Neil Jones, Alden Hedges (bass), Ryan Van Fleet (drums), and Rhett Huffman (keys). “Casualties”, “St. Mary’s”, and “Tough Folks” primed the audience to get moving, and then they brought us back down a little with a smooth transition into and between “Losing Side of Twenty Five” and “Wolves”.
The first heartcrusher of the night followed with “Six Years Come September,” a tune from their most recent album Lamentations (May, 2020, and ostensibly the album they’re touring right now). By my count, five out of twenty-three songs came from Lamentations on the night (“Long Haul”, which explodes live, “Me+Mine”, “The Luckier You Get”, and “Starts With You”), which resulted in a freewheeling set with the hits, deep cuts, and new songs.
For those of us who’ve seen American Aquarium and/or BJ Barham across the years, we’ve become accustomed to long and frequent stories; on this night in Baltimore, he told just two, and one of them is such a doozy that I will repeat nearly none of it here, as I don’t want to risk cheapening any readers’ experiences. Suffice it to say that it involved a giant snowglobe, delightful pettiness, a bridezilla, Tyler Childers, and a whole lotta “fuck you”. This set was more about balancing good old rock and roll with some shared sadness.
And as BJ sings so well on “Starts With You”, those sad songs have this perverse capacity to make us happier, to enjoy the world we inhabit a little bit more. He played a new sad song that might rival “Unfortunate Kind” in its emotional affectiveness – “Waking Up the Echoes” – sung to someone who chose to leave this world and is missed. In a time when so many of us are in crisis or just so goddamned tired, having BJ sing about staying alive struck a chord.
BJ previously posted “Waking Up the Echoes” on his Instagram (see below). I’ll copy what BJ wrote because I believe in its importance: “Don’t put off telling the people you love that you love them. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is open 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255. I love all of you beautiful motherfuckers.”
The band ended the night with rockers around “Echoes”, including the set-ending and world-ending “Burn.Flicker.Die” with Boeker and Jones shredding the place to kingdom come. The encore included longtime fan favorites “PBR Promenade” and “Katherine Belle”.
As always, BJ stood by the merch table and exit line to say hello and goodnight to anyone who wanted, shaking hands and looking us in the eye. BJ likes to call himself an asshole and petty – and maybe sometimes those things are true – but at his core, he’s as kind, gracious, and witty as a human can be. The band around him matched that, too, greeting and talking t0 everyone who stuck around.
American Aquarium affirmed my belief that they are the best rock band in America right now.
They just released a second volume of “Slappers, Bangers, & Certified Twangers” the day after the show. Make sure to grab the Strawberry Wine vinyl.
