The Yawpers live (Photo by Michael Passman)
Led by Nate Cook, Denver garage-punk band The Yawpers played it loud in their recent appearance at the Pearl Street Warehouse.
The band is on tour supporting their most recent album, last year’s critically acclaimed Human Question, and they got to the title track early in their set at Pearl Street Warehouse recently.
Between songs on March 8, Nate addressed the crowd, “I know it’s a lazy Sunday, but if you’d like to get up from your seats and join us at the front of the stage, it’d help us out.” The band then went into another song from the new album, “Child of Mercy.”
Finishing the song, Nate remarked that it “gets hot as fuck in here real quick.” Introducing “Reason to Believe,” he said that they were now “gonna play some hippie bullshit for ya.” Continuing with their latest material, The Yawpers played “Forgiveness Through Pain,” then went to their 2017 concept album Boy in a Well for “Armistice Day.”
Nate spoke at length to introduce “Carry Me.” During the recording of Human Question, he told the audience that he was separated from his now ex-wife. “Anyone who’s seen us before,” he said, “knows that I’m a fat, narcissistic asshole,” and he added that divorce is not good for someone like that.
To exorcise his demons, Nate wrote one last song about his marriage. Getting blackout drunk, he sent her the song — an act he later had no memory of. His ex-wife called from Paris (she’s French, and returned home after the separation), and the song ended up rekindling their marriage. She joined the band during their tour European tour. Every night on that tour, Nate said, he sang “Carry Me” to her. (He also added, humorously, that the disparity in looks between them is considerable.)
Putting down his guitar, Nate asked the crowd in front of the stage to form a “U,” where his ex-wife would’ve been. “Gonna sing to my fucking ghost wife,” he said.
Stream Human Question by The Yawpers on Spotify:
“Enough of that bullshit!” declared Nate after the song. “Here’s some rock’n’roll!” he cried, and the band launched into “Mon Dieu.” After the song, there was an instrumental break, and Nate briefly left the stage. When he returned, they played “Dancing on My Knees” and “Doing It Right” to finish the set.
Offstage, Nate took off his button-down, and when he returned, he was wearing a wifebeater. “We haven’t tried this one in a very long time he said,” and The Yawpers played “Earn Your Heaven” before hopping out the stage to meet the crowd.
This was the first time, at least in a while, when they’d been able to stick around after the show rather than hit the road right away.