We Went There: Nels Cline at the Walker Art Center

As I walked to the bus after seeing Nels Cline’s variety show “River Mouth, Unseen Green” at the Walker Art Center’s McGuire Theatre, I wrestled with whether this was the best show I saw this year, or simply the most enjoyable.

Joined by an all-star cast of friends, family, colleagues, and his wife Yuka Honda (who was playing a totally separate set the next night that I was sad to not be able to attend), Cline stage managed and partook in two straight hours of a musical journey that tried to fully represent his wide musical scope.

When I saw in the program the set was an uninterrupted two hours, my first thought was there was no way I wasn’t going to be taking a break to grab a beer and stretch my legs, but I ended up not moving an inch, as there was no point where I felt comfortable missing what was coming next.

There were brief solo sets from many of the band, including Honda’s playful electronic set, vocalist Theo Bleckmann, My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova’s Twin Peaks-esqe solo guitar number and both drummers (Nel’s brother Alex and his Wilco bandmate Glen Kotche), along with a mind-melting guitar back and forth between Cline and Julian Lage following Lage’s own solo guitar adventure.

The group, in various iterations, also tackled a wide range of covers, from a stormy “Self-Referenced” by The Minutemen, a short-but-souful “Transition” by John Coltrane and “Hold that Line” by Tedeschi Trucks Band, which Cline dedicated to the city of Minneapolis for our resistance to the ICE attacks earlier this year. All the songs were a blend of amazingly talented musicians both lovingly covering but also expanding on songs in a way that was mesmerizing and fun for both band and audience.

There were also a few noisy collages throughout the night, each of which expanded found a way to blend technical with noise, with some playful moments pushing up against walls of chaotic noise. Like the whole night, it felt like an amalgamation of virtuoso and reckless abandon, which I think sums up Cline’s entire career. The show ended with a run through Cline’s songs “River Mouth (Parts One & Two)” which allowed the night to end with a distillation of his sound and vision via one of his own creations.

At a time when the worst people in the world are doing unimaginably dumb and bad things, music is often the balm I use to step away for a few minutes. On Thursday night, Cline curated two hours of joy, talent, sensitivity, anger and community in a way that is hard to put into words. It was a beautiful night curated by a one-of-one artist who hopefully understood the love we as a crowd felt for his music and this particular evening by the long and sustained standing ovation at the end. Was it the best show I saw this year? Maybe. But at an absolute minimum, it was a testament to the power of music to connect, expand, explore and comfort us.

josh keller

Writer / co-founder