Show Review: Mutual Benefit with Al Riggs

Mutual Benefit at Local 506 on Feb. 4

For a Tuesday night, Local 506 was unusually packed. The night started out slowly with the quiet drones of Al Riggs. The band had no drummer, just Al and his guitarist. Two guitars, an acoustic and an electric, intertwined in a melodic fog that was accompanied by cutesy gestures like handclaps. The doodles on Al Rigg's guitars added a layer of quirkiness to his music that set an atmospheric mood of coziness already.

Next up, in the short lineup of the night, was the headliner Mutual Benefit. When I was just expecting a one-man band, six people walked out and began tuning their instruments, which included violins and two synths. The beginning of the first song started slow and calm and kept building with sound until it felt like something was about to break. And it did. Jordan Lee's humble and soft voice broke through all the sound and "Strong River," the opening track from Love's Crushing Diamond began.

Throughout the show,  Lee's onstage banter was quiet and awkward, with a twist of dark humor that kept everyone smiling. The six piece band did a remarkable job at maintaining a beautiful haze over the whole audience. All of the instrumentation ebbed and flowed in the most calm and airy way. I felt entranced by the delicate violin melodies winding themselves around the soft drums, glittery synths and slow guitars. And I honestly couldn't stop grinning the whole time.

Show Preview: Mutual Benefit with Al Riggs

Mutual Benefit is performing at Local 506 on Feb. 4
Image courtesy of Pitchfork

Tuesday nights are good nights for shows that make you want to cry, so it's perfect that Mutual Benefit is playing a show on February 4th with Al Riggs. These two bands will take you on an emotional ride much less like a rollercoaster and more like a slow drive at dusk.

Al Riggs opens with songs that are reminiscent of Yo La Tengo's shoegazey drones. A North Carolina native, Al Riggs is a self described songwriter between Greensboro and Raleigh. Mixing electric guitar with acoustic and a lot of reverb. Al Riggs goes into intense psychedelic jams while maintaining grip on reality with sincere lyrics. 

Next, the headliner, Mutual Benefit will probably make you feel a lot of things at once including nostalgia, happiness sadness and everything in between. Mutual Benefit is the one-man project of Jordan Lee, but its not always a one-man band, just depends on his surroundings. His most recent album Love's Crushing Diamond is a folky, watery pop gem with songs taken from years of collaborating with friends. This album was one of the first bandcamp releases to be named Best New Music on Pitchfork which is quite a feat for a band that's been transient over the last couple of years, with Jordan Lee finally residing in Brooklyn, NY. Mutual Benefit is an absolute auditory treat that will leave you speechless and probably in a better place in your life.

The doors open at 8:00 PM and the show is set to start at 9:00. Tickets are $8 in advance and $9 at the door, you can purchase tickets at Local506.com