Moby elevated everyone who was lucky enough to be in attendance at his concert at the Fine Line this past Thursday night, with an uplifting, spiritual performance that showed not only how wonderful his songs truly are when stripped of their glossy production, but also how varied and eclectic his catalog genuinely is. Performing with a seven piece band, featuring opener Kelli Scarr on keyboards and vocals, as well as violinist Claudia Chopek and singer Inyang Bassey, Moby really revamped most of his songs in the live setting, giving them a more soulful, organic sound while still maintaining the effervescent spirit of the original. The nearly two and a half hour show, which became much more of an intimate affair after switching from the shuttered Myth to the Fine Line (the smallest venue on Moby’s U.S. tour), was a stirring, smashing success, thanks to an affable frontman with an impressive array of hits in his expansive catalog.

Coming on stage to the sounds of “A Seated Night” from his excellent new record Wait For Me, Moby and the band eased into the show with the gorgeous instrumental “Shot In The Back Of The Head,” which is also from the new record. Moby joked about how they were playing a show, and not 10 feet from the stage there was a huge neon sign advertising “Beer Here,” which led him to question how civilized his surroundings were (the sign was quickly turned off). Moby then ceded center stage to Scarr, who took lead vocals on the soaring “Wait For Me,” with Bassey also lending her powerful voice to the chorus. It immediately set a pensive, restorative mood that the rest of the show would follow, with Moby’s often mournful, somber songs taking on a much more ebullient quality during the performance.

Moby took over vocals for the slow building “Mistake,” which built to a tempestuous finish, while Bassey sang on the bluesy Play B-side “Flower,” which was a soulful, early set highlight that Moby introduced as a “slow, dirty song.” He introduced the propulsive “Bodyrock” by saying that sometimes the best songs are a bit mindless and purely pleasurable, and that “Bodyrock” was one of those type of songs, and it really set the large crowd off, with those up front dancing in time to the thunderous beat. Moby then went on to say that the first time he ever played Minneapolis was in 1992 on a bill with the Prodigy—when “Go” was a big hit—and he took to the bongos to ignite that explosive blast from the past. It also showcased Moby’s musical history as well, that he’s worn a bunch of different coats over his many years in the music business, and at one time he was just a “geeky club kid.”

He showed how far he has come, musically, with the haunting, infectious “Pale Horses,” that again featured Scarr’s gorgeous vocals. Moby then went behind the keyboards to give us his “favorite song that we play,” the tender, hushed tones of “The Great Escape” from 2002’s 18. It was a subtle, brief respite from the more dance-driven tracks played throughout the set. Things picked right back up again with “the most accidental hit in pop culture history,” the sci-fi based (according to Moby) “South Side,” which, while not having Gwen Stefani’s vocals to invigorate the song, was still quite an energizing track to hear live. “JLTF” was absolutely stunning, with Moby on keyboards and Scarr’s hypnotic vocals really guiding the new song heavenwards. With a good majority of the new record getting played throughout the set, it showcased just how good an album Wait For Me is, with those songs often overshadowing Moby’s more familiar hits.

“Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” was a slowed down, Gospel-like version that again featured Bassey’s deep, sonorous vocals. And “We Are All Made Of Stars” not only reminded me how good of a single that song originally was, but also gave Moby the chance to indulge in his fantasy of “wearing an all-white suit and being in Chic, circa 1976″ by playing 45 seconds of Chic-ed out guitar at the start of the dynamic song. Moby then told us how, when he was eight years old he would come to Minnesota all the time during the summer, for his Grandpa grew up in Thief River Falls and his Grandma went to Carleton, and how his dream, at that point in his life, was to catch a sturgeon-despite his fierce vegan stances today. He then went on to dedicate a truly wonderful version of “Porcelain” to the people of Minnesota, because “in my heart of hearts, I’ve always thought of myself as a Minnesotan.” It was something I didn’t know about Moby, and his warm sentiment about my home only added to the lush, gorgeous rendition of “Porcelain” that was played. After his wistful thoughts about Minnesota, Moby’s mind must have been thinking of home, because before the next song was played, he introduced it by saying, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in New York, and this song is the best song ever written about New York” before playing an upbeat cover of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side” that was jaunty and featured a boisterous crowd singalong during the chorus.

The new track “Walk With Me” was coincidentally played next in the set, and worked well next to the gospel side of Reed’s song, with Bassey bringing the entire audience to church with her soaring, passionate vocals. The rest of the band just tried to get out of her way as she owned the stage and the crowd through the power of her heartfelt delivery. Moby joked a bit about how much he loves his wah wah pedal, and how everything he played on it sounded like a soundtrack to a ’70s porn film, which he proved by riffing a bit on his guitar, which indeed sounded like a score to a porn scene. That led directly into an impassioned version of the Play hit “Natural Blues” that featured a scorching guitar solo from Moby as well as Bassey’s doleful vocals. And Moby closed out the main set by saying “this is just an over the top dance song” before the club erupted as the band played a massive, electric version of Hotel’s “Raining Again.”

The encore started out somberly, as Moby was joined by Scarr and Chopek on a passionate, stark take on “In This World.” They continued as a three piece again for the next track, which featured a surprise move by Moby, who claimed he never played keyboards before on the next song (only guitar), before the haunting “When It’s Cold.” The move worked, as it had an added eeriness and depth that really resonated well with the crowd. The rest of the band came out to join them for a raucous version of “Extreme Ways” that again got the crowd dancing, and featured Moby bemoaning the pay of teachers versus professional athletes before the song, also claiming that one of his regrets in life was not studying Latin at St. Johns (but then he would’ve probably ended up as an underpaid teacher). A 15-minute version of “Honey” was next, and was a wild exploration of sound and scope, with Moby intertwining the guitar riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” into the mix, as well as the band diverting into a storming cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” (featuring Bassey on vocals) before returning back to “Honey” and closing it down strongly.

After thanking the crowd for the hundredth time, Moby dedicated an incendiary version of “Feeling So Real,” from ’95s Everything Is Wrong, to anyone who has ever stayed out until 7:00 a.m. at an all night rave or dance party like he did when he was younger. It really set the place off, and certainly put an exclamation point on a night filled with wildly energetic, deeply moving, impassioned songs that are a testament to both Moby as a songwriter and as a performer, as well as the great set of musicians playing with him that evening. I was actually surprised with how much I truly enjoyed this show, and it certainly lifted my spirits for days afterwords, as I’m sure it did for many others in attendance as well. It was solid proof that no matter what style or sound Moby finds himself working in, he imbues it with plenty of heart and soul, and that comes through vividly during his dynamic live set.

[Review by Erik Thompson, videos by Chris DeLine]

Setlist:
A Seated Night
Shot In The Back Of The Head
Wait For Me
Mistake
Flower
Bodyrock
Go
Pale Horses
The Great Escape
South Side
In My Heart
JLTF
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
We Are All Made Of Stars
Porcelain
Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed cover)
Walk With Me
Natural Blues
Raining Again
In This World (encore)
When It’s Cold (encore)
Extreme Ways (encore)
Honey/War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover) (encore)
Feeling So Real (encore)

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Also: Moby “Wait For Me” Review