CasparLive: Brendan Benson

What's eating Brendan Benson?

There are certain names that buzz around for a while, and all of a sudden they pop up. But, are they here to stay? We all remember how Jack White made his entry on the world stage of music. A remarkable figure, with an equally interesting drum girl, who was his sister, mysterious ex-wife, or were they just lovers? They had a monster hit with the song Seven Nation Army, and since then, whatever Jack does, is in the lime lights of the music media and fans.
But, what about his buddy Brendan Benson? They joined up in the band called The Raconteurs, made two records and had one hit song with Steady, as She Goes. This is what gave Benson a small claim to fame, but he had been around for a much longer time. I mean, he made his solo debut back in 1996, though his second album Lapalca from 2002 was the first to attract some more serious attention. Anyway, back in about 2006 or 2007, I saw a live show by The Raconteurs, and I remember being surprised by the amount of pop, and sound songwriting. This is probably because I wasn't too familiar with their music, and still associated Jack White with riff-based rock songs. I thought it must have been Benson's influence that made Raconteurs more then a rock band. So, I stored the name Brendan Benson, that kept on popping up every now and then. One such occasion was Benson's great contribution for the Graham Nash tribute album 'Be Yourself'.

So, with Caspar's interests in songwriting poprockers in mind, I was happy to see that his show was announced last year at the Paradiso venue in Amsterdam. Benson had just released his fifth solo album called What Kind of World, and it sounded really good. For some reason though, the whole tour was cancelled. The statement he gave for this unfortunate fate was that he was suffering from health problems, and it seemed pretty serious. Luckily, one year after he was back at the Paradiso, and of course Caspar went out to see him play.
You might have thought that with the Raconteur's story in mind, and Jack White's stature selling out any mid-level stage in Amsterdam, Benson would be programmed on the big stage of Paradiso, but he wasn't. Also, the smaller stage wasn't sold out by far. Personally, I'd say there is something wrong with this picture. At the beginning of the show, you could see this guy knows what he is doing, and that he is used to play bigger stages. His vocals are clear, nothing over the top, good lines, melodies, band's okay, and he makes good contact to the crowd. It makes you wonder: shouldn't this guy play bigger stages, be better known? I got his second album as a gift from a friend of mine, and it is great. So, what's eating Brendan Benson?

About halfway the show, something attracted my attention. He apparently got lost in his words, forgot some lines, looked a little lost here and there. When he got back to play the encore, he excused himself for forgetting lines, stating it was the alcohol that was causing it. As some people in the crowd responded by giggling, Benson went a bit further and said that he was serious and that it wasn't funny at all. When I thought about it, it made me kind of sad, because I cannot think of it differently then by concluding that drugs was winning over yet another talent. I remembered a Dutch comedian saying that drugs might do you good to twist your mind every now and then, use it for inspiration, but do not let that state of mind be your 'natural' one. Now, Caspar is not holier then the pope, and certainly doesn't like to lift his finger to anyone. Any time in the past and in the future talents will be broken in the bud because of certain unhealthy substances. At the same time, these same substances give us incredible pieces of art, in many forms. I guess from an artist's point of view, you should be sure about what your natural state of mind is, and don't think a purple haze could be just that.