LOCAL SCENE:

The Major General Comes to E.L.

Review: Franz Nicolay plays an eclectic show at Mac's Bar

Ben Meissner

 He stood on stage with his accordion strapped to his chest and guitar and banjo beside him, looking out at the pool table, bar and smoke cloud.

Squinting into the crowd, the mustachioed multi-instrumentalist said, “When we were driving up, we didn’t expect much of a crowd. You have greatly surpassed our expectations.”

And, with a bottle of wine at his feet, Franz Nicolay played a set of songs mostly from his new CD, “Major General,” at Mac’s Bar Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Nicolay first made his mark on the music world in the turn of the century when he joined World/Inferno Friendship Society (or World/Inferno), a nine-piece punk cabaret band known for its cult-like following, in which he played keyboard and accordion.

“(Working with World/Inferno Friendship Society) was life, very literally life changing,” Nicolay told Spartan Edge.

At about the same time, Nicolay assembled Guignol, a klezmer foursome, and Anti-Social Music, a collection of New York composers and performers. He also began to play in the Hold Steady.

In 2007, Nicolay stepped out of World/Inferno Friendship Society. A few months later, he released his solo acoustic demo, “Black Rose Paladins.”

In the fall of 2008, Nicolay organized a group of musicians to support him on the electric versions of those songs on “Major General.”

“They’re all people I’ve known for a long time in various capacities,” Nicolay said.

Yula Be’eri, who played bass on “Major General,” was the bass player for World/Inferno. Brian Viglione, the drummer for Dresden Dolls and World/Inferno, provided percussion for the CD.

“Brian and Yula . . . are really creative musicians and excited musicians, the kind of musicians that, even if it’s not their project, don’t just show up and learn the song. They tell you the parts of your songs that they don’t think are good and suggest a better alternative.”

Jared Scott, from Demander, played guitar.

“(He) was the X-Factor,” Nicolay said. “I had never played with him before.”

Nicolay invited Scott on after Nicolay and Demander recorded a song together and the two connected well.

In promotion of “Major General,” Nicolay hit the road with his friend and merchandise handler, hitting the East Coast and Midwest.

Jumping from a sound-check on his accordion, he decided to start his show with a new, upbeat song. From there, he started playing songs that were on “Major General.”

He often switched instruments between songs. More than once, he tuned his guitar to a different tuning, even if he only used that tuning for one song.

Before he began a song, he gave the crowd the story of where the song originated, though he told them with such eloquence and poignancy that it left the audience questioning if it was true.

He introduced a new light blue suit that evening. He said he made a suit for the tour with a military theme, due to his CD name, but that it had become stinky over the tour, so he decided to wear this suit for the evening.

His music, influenced by many styles, lead to an eclectic mix at his show. “Dead Sailors,” a tango, could be followed by “Do We Not Live in Dreams,” a Southern folk song, which could be followed by “Jeff Penalty,” a punk-influenced critique of the Dead Kennedys.

Aside from the songs from his CD that he played, he also played a few others, including “Trains,” which he played with World/Inferno, and the finale of the evening, the Jimmy Durante song “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo.”

The crowd was warm, but polite, to Nicolay. Only at one point did the crowd and Nicolay have a miscommunication. Nicolay finished a song, but held his pose right in front of the microphone. The crowd seemed to think he wasn’t done and held back its claps. Without changing his pose, Nicolay said, “This is when you clap.”

Later, he said, “I’m about to show you what got more claps than anything at my show in Charlottesville.” He picked up his wine bottle and took a drink. The crowd clapped politely, but softly. Nicolay said, “You’re a smart crowd. I like that.”

After the show, Nicolay stuck around and conversed with the crowd for a while before hitting the road. His ride companion said they had to be in Chicago by 11 a.m. for the Hold Steady show that evening.

Videos by Ben Meissner

Questions? Comments? Contact Ben Meissner at meissn21@msu.edu.

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