At 8:00 PM Central Time with ne'ery a local opening band in sight, the lights dimmed and "The Star-Spangled Banner" began to play at The Basement East in Nashville this past Friday.
While a stock-like recording of the song played, a wavering American flag projected on the screen behind the stage, with botched lyrical subtitles lining across, much to the chagrin of the audience familiar with such antics.
After a voice in the sky did a bit about the headliner -- Tim Heidecker -- not coming out unless there was thunderous applause because he's shy, The Very Good Band took to their rightful quadrants and began to play. Heidecker eventually stepped out onto the dark stage, making a delivering a squeaky little "Hi guys" before cutting the bit and kicking it into high gear.
He soon cranked into his bouncy and bubbly track, "Well's Running Dry," which is the opening song off of his latest album, Slipping Away (naturally the name of the tour, too). He and the band soon steered it into a good ol' Ringo Beatles' cover in 'Don't Pass Me By."
Tim Heidecker & The Very Good Band // Photo by Felix Blanco
At one point several songs in, noise and interference began to transmit through the monitors, and Heidecker asked the sound guy what was going on as he looked around befuddled. It soon became clear it was all part of the act. Before long, the floating head of the late Herman Cain appeared on the projector behind him. "Ladies and gentleman it looks like it's the ghost of Herman Cain," Heidecker said.
"I think we can get rid of it, we just have to play this song. It's sort of a prayer or benediction to Herman Cain. You guys remember Herman Cain? Ran for president? Actually interesting enough, he recently passed away from Covid, that was kinda neat," he said with a latent laugh along with the audience.
Heidecker compared standup comedy to playing music, and how you have to wait longer to gauge where the audience is when playing music. "With comedy, you know where you are second by second. With music, you have to wait for the song to be over to figure out if anybody liked it. I always have this nightmare -- I wake up every night screaming -- where I play a song and there's no reaction. People are just staring at me. I think it would be fun to capture that feeling." He then asked the audience not to applaud or make any noise after they played the final bit of the previous song, and his requested nightmare became reality.
Tim Heidecker & Bald Man With Glasses // Photo by Felix Blanco
DJ Doug Pound was sandwiched between the two sets, and delivered his frantic and frenetic blend of DJ comedy. His bread and butter was playing snippets of hit songs and splicing them with either other lyrics entirely, or just swapping out one key word. (for example swapping Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" with "I Will Always Love Covid 19") He delivered a fun ADHD-centric zaniness, and had a funny back and forth with Heidecker about what he did in Nashville at the end, botching names like the Grand Ol Opry and talking in depth about his trolley tour experience.
Of course the theme of the night was love, what with it being Valentine's Day. Another memorable moment included one "Tanner," who was beckoned on stage by Heidecker. Tanner then brought out a woman who he would soon get down on one knee in front of and pop *the* question to mass applause. Even though there was no audible "yes," they hugged and laughed and it was all lovey dovey, and eventually she did lean into the mic with a confirmed "yes." Once off the stage, Heidecker had to break the cuteness overload. "I don't know who the fuck those people are."
Tanner Proposes // Photo by Felix Blanco
Heidecker and the band rifled through a versatile set that included mellower acoustic numbers like "Trippin' (Slippin')", raucous rock n' roll jams in "Hot Piss", (which they closed with) and even a solo Heidecker piano ballad in the Tim and Eric banger, "Spaghetti Again." They also played a new one called "Why Am I Like This?" which was a fun high speed zinger that he prompted the crowd to sing along to.
With a mix of vintage Heidecker comedy and just damn good songs with a stellar if not "very good" band, it was a smitten crowd at The Basement East. The smiles and laughs ran amok, and Heidecker delivered to his fans. Aside from his known comedic chops, he can sing pretty damn good too.
Tim Heidecker and The Very Good Band's Slipping Away tour continues in Tampa, Florida tonight, as it begins to wind down with a few more south/southwestern dates.
Tim Heidecker // Photo by Felix Blanco
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