All three acts at last night’s 40 Watt show were fresh from the Austin City Limits Music Festival, showed no signs of wear and weariness. Black Joe Lewis stormed the stage first.

Lewis’s James Brown-esque vocals were backed by the bluesy funk sounds of the Honey Bears – but Lewis isn’t your average soul revivalist (the closing number was entitled “Bitch, I Love You”). The set was energetic, the musicians kinetic, and the band made the most of their time in the opening slot.

Next up was Crooked Fingers, the current project of former Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann.

Their set featured some instrument swapping, but most interesting was the band’s attempt to elicit as many different sounds as possible from each instrument. No two songs sounded quite the same, and I personally was not ready for them to leave the stage when they did. Notably, all of the musicians cohesively displayed an awareness of dynamics that was truly refreshing. The band’s next album, Forfeit/Fortune, will be released on October 7th on Red Pig / Constant Artists, Inc.

Headliners Okkervil River took the stage to fans’ delight, opening with “Plus Ones” from The Stage Names, prequel to the just-released The Stand-Ins. They continued with a set that pleased the crowd, full of old songs and new, and lower key tunes (“A Stone”) balancing out the more intense numbers.

I was slightly disappointed that some of the raw vocal power from their recordings (like “Black”) did not translate to Will Sheff’s live delivery. There was also an noticably uneven distribution of enthusiasm. Drummer Travis Nelsen appeared to be having the time of his life in the background – leaping up from the kit during drumless sections of songs and pounding out his drum beats with more frenetic energy than anyone else on stage.

Lauren Gurgiolo (of The Dialtones), however, apparently missed high school drama class – you know, the one where you learn to overexaggerate all movements on stage? Aside from the never-fully-recovered fumble of the essential opening banjo part on “Long Coastlines,” Gurgiolo spent the entire set appearing as if she were trying her hardest to resist any rhythmic movement in time with the music she was playing.

(Note: “Long Coastlines” features some wonderful crooning by bassist Patrick Pestorius, who really should sing more often)

The quick, wordless exit by the band after “Unless It’s Kicks” and subsequent hurried setting up of equipment in their brief absence left no shred of mystery as to their reappearence, but the crowd cheered and applauded them back on stage anyway. The encore’s there songs were enjoyable and closing with “Okkervil River Song” seemed fitting, but the set-up of the encore itself was entirely too mechanical.

Overall, Okkervil River did a good job blending their new tunes in with fan favorites (“For Real”) and delivering a fairly energetic show. Last night’s performance left a little to be desired, but not too much.

Okkervil River Set List

Plus Ones
Pop Lie
The Latest Toughs
Starry Stairs
A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
John Allyn Smith Sails
A Stone
Blue Tulip
Black
Lost Coastlines
Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe
For Real
Unless It Kicks

Encore

Girl
Westfall
Okkervil River Song

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During the set, Sheff briefly addressed Okkervil River’s carbon neutral tour initiative. Previously, I had spoken with Nelsen about the band’s green efforts undertaken upon discovering that 80% of a concert’s carbon footprint is the result of fans driving to the show. Okkervil encouraged fans in Athens to bike to the concert if they could, or at least carpool if they were coming from farther away.

“We just started using a tour bus, which we feel completely guilty about,” Nelsen said. “But we have 10 people traveling together, and in some ways it’s less expensive than getting hotel rooms every night, but it’s a huge waste of fuel.”

“We go well out of our way to make sure our stuff gets recycled.”

Okkervil River encourages all of their fans to be environmentally-conscious as well. $2 eco-friendly stickers made of recycled material designed by Okkervil’s Scott Brackett are available for sale at every show on the tour, and all of the proceeds go to offsetting the carbon footprint. According to Okkervil, the purchase of one sticker offsets 300 pounds of C02 emissions.

“If everyone just did a little bit, it would be so much better than the way things are now,” Nelsen said. “If we can get anybody interested in what we’re doing, to help in any way, that’s a good thing. We’re just trying to make people think twice about what they’re doing.”