“You’ve heard of artists and athletes who are so cool and powerful they’re described as “lights out.” And you’ve heard of “unplugged” concerts. Well, the all-time coolest Elliott Smith show in Nashville, which took place the night of May 9, 2000, was LITERALLY “lights out” and LITERALLY “unplugged.”
Here’s what happened: Elliott was touring with an L.A.-based stoner band called Whiskey Biscuit. At 8 or 9 p.m. that night, Wiskey Biscuit opened the show, performing their entire set perfectly normally, although their lead singer looked like he was going to nod off at any moment.
Then, just moments before Elliott Smith was to hit the stage, a mini-disaster struck. The entire venue (the now-defunct 328 Performance Hall) went absolutely PITCH BLACK…as in, absolutely no lights whatsoever. Then, as hundreds of us stood in utter darkness, we suddenly saw a candle being lighted on stage….then another…then another. In the next moment, the short, thin, fragile-looking silhouette—then body—of Elliott Smith could be seen, and he was suddenly talking to us.
“Everyone,” he said, “please move as close to the stage as you can, and I’ll sing as loud as I can for you.” We were about to see an Elliott Smith concert as Elliott might have presented it in your living room—with only his guitar, and without any amplification whatsoever. And the crowd didn’t mind in the least. As a matter of fact, it was as if the crowd enjoyed it MORE, because most of us were standing so close to Elliott, and because he was performing with such a gentle, generous spirit.
He went on to present everything from older classics like “Waltz #2” to new (then) songs such as “Everything Means Nothing to Me” … which resulted in the concert’s most touching moment, as dozens of girls spontaneously broke out singing the tune’s beautiful, ascending chorus.
The lights never came back on…and Elliott Smith never played Nashville again. (He died just three years later, at the age of 34.) It was, for me and many others I’m sure, far and away the most memorable and poignant concert we’ve ever witnessed.
May you rest in peace, Elliott.”
