I hate to be the dude who loses his buzz over a band once the fratties find it, but the girl with the non-stop WHOO-ing in my ear last night didn’t harden my resolve. Fine, sure—you’re stoked about the here-and-now Bon Iver playing to a packed crowd in the relatively intimate Nectar Lounge (clearly overselling the venue’s “maximum occupancy of 123” sign above the front door). You want Justin Vernon and his band to feel your love. But do you have to holler whenever the crowd goes pins-and-needles silent, or whenever a given song speeds up or slows down? Are you making noise because you’re afraid that the room might get so quiet, you’ll be forced to either pay attention or, worse, finally hear the wheels squeaking within your pea brain?

Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck (SXSW ‘08)

But enough of the girl who apparently attended her first concert that didn’t start before 11pm or involve lawn seating. Like I said in U&C, Bon Iver has been reaping praise as of late, though I found myself less enchanted by the trio after last night’s crowd-pleaser of a set. No, I don’t blame the influx of Chets and Ashleighs; rather, I blame opener Phosphorescent. I can’t disguise my affinity for Matthew Houck’s songwriting as of late, particularly on last year’s stunning Pride, and even though the guy’s voice was blown like a fuse at the Nectar, it’s hard not to succumb to lyrics like these: “I won’t be breathing like you breathe into the light of day / I’ll be in the yard still taking pictures in the dark / Of all our torn up praise.” If anything, his addled vocal chords, which still held up when he wasn’t going for high or hard notes, only helped his odes of vulnerability and romantic failure—not to mention stirring covers of Leonard Cohen and, holy be, The Dire Straits’ “So Far Away”? Sure enough, and just as he did at SXSW, Houck ended his set with the new album’s title track, layered with repeating vocals harmonizing against himself until the speakers couldn’t take it any longer.

Other than that, Phosphorescent’s arrangements were relatively simple; in spite of a talented band, particularly its piano player, the band’s songs are allegiant to the straight-and-powerful ways of Neil Young-era Americana. Wasn’t hard to figure out that the crowd was more interested in the vocal harmonies, minimalist structures and sing-alongs of Bon Iver—not to mention, well, the hit:

The performance made simplified, blue-eyed folk as entertaining as possible, whether in the form of overt sing-a-longs or surprising drumming arrangements, and Vernon’s voice was in fine form—ironic, I suppose, since he was the one with the blown voice back at SXSW. But the show didn’t mask the lack of substance in the songs themselves. I’m curious to see if Vernon’s writing has legs, but in the meantime, he’s soaking up the fandom—like in the video above, where a Phosphorescent member climbs atop some shoulders and bares his chest. Funny, sure, but the captive eyes of the crowd were pretty much doing the same thing.