A holiday welcome wagon
Matthew Ralph

With fond memories of a show seemingly a lifetime ago, I drove up to Princeton Seminary recently to attend an intimate show with The Welcome Wagon, a group I had heard next to nothing of in the several years since that magical event in a pool hall in Brooklyn.

Explaining who Welcome Wagon even was to a friend who came along with me to the show, I struggled to find a reference other than to that previous show. They have no records of their own (they've appeared on some compilations), don't play anywhere regularly that I know of, but once upon a time they were part of one of the best shows I had ever attended, I told him.

That show seems so long ago now that I can't even remember what year it was. But I do remember that it was a cold night and the back room of the Union Pool Hall with its exposed cinder blocks and cement floor was chilly. There were programs with words to sing along with the holiday songs and a lot of musicians playing, representing the family of Asthmatic Kitty Records before all of the success found its songwriting genius Sufjan Stevens. What I liked most about the evening, as I recall, was that it was a community of people coming together to sing songs and reflect on the holiday season at hand.

That was what I was expecting in part at the seminary on Dec. 8. And Rev. Vito and Monique Aiuto and their accompanying musicians certainly didn't disappoint.

Having attended so many rock shows in smelly dives, it's always refreshing to be in a setting where music can be appreciated and experienced with an element of reverence. It was also nice to have a program listing the order of songs and the lyrics for the one sing-a-long of the night, the hymn "Once in royal David's city" that filled the chapel with a warmth only a gathering of unrehearsed non-professional singers could.

Raw and minimal in their approach — acoustic guitar, grand piano, upright bass, banjo, electric guitar and glockenspiel were the weapons of choice — the group played a short set of 11 songs, which included what was my first experience with anyone attempting to cover a Danielson tune. While I commend them for giving a much deserved nod to one of the most overlooked and misunderstood songwriters of our time - they covered "Sold! To the Nice Rich Man" - it demonstrated how difficult it is to pull off. The "Half A Person" cover by The Smiths went a lot smoother.

Demonstrating the hospitality referenced in their name, Vito and Monique had a couple pie giveaways in between songs and a third giveaway of traditional Polish foods from their neighborhood in Brooklyn.

That homespun feel contributed to what I'd consider a show made perfect in all of its weaknesses and shortcomings. Surely, there were better rehearsed and more polished outfits I could have spent my Friday night going to see. But it's doubtful if they would have been as humble and warm as this one. At a time of year I find myself becoming more and more cynical, it's good to be brought back to earth with a simple and beautiful representation of the meaning of this crazy season.

Though the enthusiasm over the spotlight shielding Sufjan Stevens by some surrounding me in the hard pews did take away from this organic and laid back atmosphere, I was ultimately left with a renewed sense of spirit and awe for the ease and simplicity with which the message of truth and beauty can be portrayed, that even a popular Brit-pop song from the '80s can be arranged as sacred holiday music in a seminary chapel.

Hopefully, I won't have to wait so long to be welcomed into the fold of The Welcome Wagon again.

posted [12.25.06]

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