Concert Review: Andy Shauf Intimate and All Alone

“Somewhere between drunkenness and chivalry – oh, my bad. One sec.” Andy Shauf interrupted himself and took a gulp of water, making sure to hold the bottle near the mic for all to hear. 

“Okay, sorry, here goes. Somewhere between . . . “ 

Shauf went on singing “Try Again,” a beautiful song from the 2020 album, The Neon Skyline, about being awkwardly trapped between feelings and reality, or drunkenness and chivalry. Andy Shauf is described by his website as “never exactly been held up as a confessional sort of songwriter, even underneath the carefully plotted narratives and conceptual storylines, he’s always been writing about himself.”  

Shauf is one of the rare artists that oozes and embodies the ideas that come slinking through his songs like a soft spoken and whimsical Tom Morello or Elliot Smith. Shauf uses his unique voice and wealth of musical knowledge— per his interview with The Seventh Hex, he was raised by Chrisitan musicians—to create a fictional world full of mismatched characters floating in lonely limbo through a background of neon-lit familiarity. 

According to SOCANmusic, Shauf records, writes, rewrites and rerecords all on his own. His compositions and characters and stories and passion can only reflect himself, but his settings and themes are articulated so well that so many relate. Shauf does tour with a band, which attendees at the Fox Theatre were all expecting, but when the lights dimmed and transitioned to a soft blue-red stage light, it was only Shauf that walked out, carrying a single acoustic guitar with a capo on the third fret. 

“Hi,” he said, and sat down on a stool center stage, cleared his throat, and started playing “Alexander All Alone” from his 2016 album, The Party. Indeed, like Alexander, Andy was all alone. There’s actually a good reason for this. Shauf asked between songs, “Uh, you guys have any questions?” to which someone yelled out, “Where’s your band?!” Shauf, eyes fixed on adjusting his capo, simply said, “Our bus broke down.” 

So there’s the reason, the tour bus broke down and he left his band on the side of the road and strove on alone to Boulder to give us a fantastic, personal set.

Included in the set was “Spanish on the Beach,” “Jaywalker,” and two incredible mystery songs from his new album which he announced the day—Wednesday, September 22—of the show. Yes, just hours before the show, Shauf released “Jaywalker” and let loose his new album Wilds which releases Friday, September 24. That means if you’re reading this, Wilds is out now, and you should go listen to Wilds and all of Shauf’s discography while you’re at it, because if you can’t tell, I think his music is amazing, and you should listen to every single bit of it. That also means that the crowd at the Fox Theatre that night, about 100-150 strong, were some of the first ears to be lucky enough to hear songs from Wilds, which was, dare I say it … wild.

WIlds was recorded alongside The Neon Skyline when Shauf went through a creative crisis, becoming disillusioned with the theme of The Neon Skyline. Wilds promises to be an inside look at Shauf’s creative process, giving us a deeper understanding of the man behind the mic. ANTI-, Shauf’s record label, describes the album as “A standalone chapter in Shauf’s own artistic narrative. . . truer to life as it’s experienced in the moment rather than via carefully edited words on a page or through the golden, unreliable haze of memory.”

For those who have been following Shauf a long time, and thus ultimately ending up at the Fox Theatre, the night was extremely special. Without a band or any help whatsoever, Shauf  created an experience which people simply loved. They already loved him, but when all 5 foot 6 inches of him left the stage, Shauf seemed to be the biggest person in Boulder.

I talked to Kolby and Jessy Dickens, a Generation X couple and devout fans of Shauf, this being their third time seeing him, but their first without the band. 

“I thought it was really special. It had a super Elliot Smith vibe. He’s such an underrated storyteller. I think he’s one of the best storytellers out there right now,” said Kolby Dickens. He went on to tell a story about how he saw Shauf play clarinet a few years ago when his wife Jessy cut Kolby off mid-thought to sharply chime in with some pent up passion of her own. 

“It’s crazy the dynamics he can create with just one instrument. It almost sounds like he has three guitar players. And can you name a voice like his? I can’t, I can’t name a single voice, it’s like butter!” said Jessy. Which, indeed, Andy seemed to fill the room with his rasping blissful butter voice and soft calculated strums. 

I asked Jaclyn Miller, a passionate music lover who operates her own music instagram account “bitchforkd” about Andy’s lack of a band. Before talking to me though, she bolted to the bar to get a quick pint of Coors Light to wash down a long night of sing-a-long sincerity. She returned, drink in hand, took a stiff sip, let out a refreshing “ahhh,” and told me her thoughts.

“He sounded just like he does on his recorded stuff. Acoustic, simple, I loved it. But, like, I loved that also his, or I hate that his band wasn’t here, and I didnt get that experience, but I feel we got kind of like a unique experience,” Miller said.

She added that she also loved the sneak peek into his new album, and like so many of us, she can’t wait to listen to it in full.  

Shauf brought together a beautiful bunch of people, but none of that would be possible without one of America’s most iconic venues, The Fox Theatre. Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident described the Fox to CU graduate and current Colorado Public Radio executive producer Corey H. Jones as “the biggest small venue in the country.” The Fox gives lesser-known artists a perfect launching pad, and has been pumping Boulder up with great indie music for nearly 30 years.  

It provided the perfect setting for Andy’s intimate showing, with the crowd nodding and imbibing along to a sonically and technically excellent performance from the Fox’s sound engineers. Benjamin George Miller, a twenty something recent college graduate, reveled for both Shauf  and the Fox under its very roof. 

“I’ve been to a lot a shows this summer, a couple of things at Red Rocks, but this has been one of the more intimate, one of the more cool f***ing things I have ever seen, especially like, emotional wise, it’s really really good,” Benjamin Miller said.

He then told me how he met King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard after a show at the Fox, and how the Fox has gifted him some of his favorite experiences. After that, his gaze shifted from the phone recorder to my eyeballs, as if he weren’t talking to me but to the people I represent, and addressed the entire student body. 

“Especially for students at CU, they gotta understand this is one of the best venues to be at, just because it’s got a lot of opportunity in terms of the different styles of music that’s available here. Really, really good place to see bands,” he said. 

Take his advice. The Fox may just be the best thing about this place besides the Flatirons, and for us students, we have the pinnacle of indoor performance in our neighborhood, so take advantage. A good amount of students did, as I talked to a few, some even bringing friends from other colleges.  

Miller’s girlfriend popped in and started to explain to me how Shauf’s soft spoken voice paired beautifully with his live performance, when the man himself appeared behind us. We whipped around, going “oh, there he is,” “look at him go,” at the sight of Shauf who awkwardly stepped two paces this way, two paces that way, head down, hands in pockets, waiting and loafing around until his tour manager tapped him on the shoulder and showed him to a place where, like so many characters in his music, he could disappear to the comfort of a closed, locked door. 

And just like that, he vanished. I talked to his tour manager and he told me they had to drive to Salt Lake City (again, without their tour bus) so off to Salt Lake, I suppose. 

Though a fleeting character himself, who painfully paints a picture of disconnection and tepid emotional distance, the one thing that everyone had to say about the show was “intimate.” 

Shauf reaches the part of the psyche that activates when your crush brushes your shoulder as they walk away, when an old friend ignorantly passes you by, when the one you love asks for your coat and nothing more, and Shauf gives those thoughts a hug. Everyone felt embraced that night, letting out loud whoops between songs, but staying trancicly silent during the performance.    

Andy Shauf is a generational singer-songwriter. The sheer power of his storytelling accompanied with raw musical talent across voice and every possible instrument allow Shauf to give listeners a unique insight to the part of the heart that thumps one clumsy step out of beat. Wilds is streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Youtube Music. Vinyl and CD formats release November 19. Andy Shauf continues his North American tour.