Steady Downpour Couldn't Stop Dueling Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker Sets at 9:30 Club

It was a wet and cold Saturday night in Washington, DC, but even the miserable weather couldn’t dampen dueling sets at the 9:30 Club from two of David Lowery, PhD fronted bands; 80’s indie icons Camper Van Beethoven and 90’s alternative rockers Cracker.

Both bands have toured together multiple times over the years since the reformation of Camper Van Beethoven in 1999. Saturday night, I learned that there is a devoted throng of fans which has become known as “Cracker Crumbs”. It was evident that this following had a strong presence at the 9:30 Club with fans traveling from spots as far away as New York City. Throughout the club, people were greeting each other enthusiastically all night long.

*David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven – 930 Club – January 19, 2019*

Multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel hushed a cheerful and chatty crowd stating, “Shhh… This is our John Cage piece”. Immediately afterwards, they launched in to the 2012 single “Northern California Girls”. Camper Van Beethoven played a super-tight 12 song set with no encores. The set included the Status Quo cover of “Pictures of Matchstick Men”, as well as, “Good Guys & Bad Guys” off of 1986’s Camper Van Beethoven, and minor indie hit “Take the Skinheads Bowling” off of the 1985 debut record Telephone Free Landslide Victory. Then, after playing “Eye of Fatima (Part 1)” and “Eye of Fatima (Part 2)” off of 1988’s Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, vocalist David Lowery introduced the entire band and finished by playfully asking, “Do you know David Lowery?” The crowd responded with loud cheers.

*Jonathan Segel performing with Camper Van Beethoven at the 930 Club, January 19, 2019*

After the introductions, Lowery jokingly told the crowd “We’re going to play one more thing that’s got like 19 parts.” Then, they launched into the crowd pleasing “SP37957 Medley”, which included bits of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and “Dazed and Confused” interspersed with “Hava Nagila”. Finally, they ended the set with the band’s own “Too High For The Love-In”. Lowery and company took a quick break before Cracker took the stage for the second part of the night.

Camper Van Beethoven – SP37957 Medley performed at the 930 Club on January 19, 2019.
(Video Courtesy of Shantel Breen/These Subtle Sounds)

The differences between Lowery’s two bands becomes apparent during the second set. Cracker has a noticeably grittier, more hard rocking sound than Camper Van Beethoven. They opened with a Neil Young-styled rocker, “One Fine Day” off of 2002’s Forever (Cracker). The set was punctuated with the fiery guitar playing of Johnny Hickman and pedal steel of Matt “Pistol” Stoessel while buoyed by the rythym section of Bryan Howard on bass and Carlton Owens on drums.

The main set included 3 songs off of 1993’s Kerosene Hat including “Get Off This”, “Low” and “Take Me Down To The Infirmary”. They also performed the first 3 songs from the second disc of the 2014 album Berkeley to Bakersfield. This included “California Country Boy” which is sung by guitarist Johnny Hickman. Finally, they concluded the main set with two songs off of Cracker’s 1992 self-titled debut; an extra hard rocking version of the modern rock hit “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)”, before ending with “I See The Light”.

To end the night, Cracker played a two song encore which included “Someday”, and Kerosene Hat hidden track “Euro-Trash Girl”. After the show concluded, the crowd dispersed from the 930 Club into the pouring rain. However, no one was complaining. How could they after enjoying such a great night of music?

Cracker closing the night out at 930 Club with Euro Trash Girl
(Video Courtesy of Shantel Breen/These Subtle Sounds)

Enjoy some photos of Camper Van Beethoven with Cracker from the 930 Club show this past Saturday, January 19. (All photos copyright and courtesy of Shantel Breen/These Subtle Sounds)