Quick Wit and High Kicks: Theo Katzman at Sonic Lunch

REVIEW MUSIC

“I can do my comedy thing up here, and I’m not afraid to do it,” joked guitarist, singer-songwriter, and Vulfpeck drummer Theo Katzman to a packed Sonic Lunch crowd on Thursday, June 29, at Liberty Plaza. “I have a safety net of 300 people to catch me if I fall”

Katzman’s songs are filled with this kind of honesty and humorous self-reflection, which is what makes them instantly relatable. His poetic and catchy sound blends elements of classic rock, soft rock, pop, and R&B, and his lyrics often revolve around the difficult and rewarding aspects of romantic love.

Sonic Lunch is celebrating its 10th year this summer, and Katzman has played the festival nine times. Hailing from Long Island, University of Michigan grad Katzman made sure to mention how Ann Arbor is like a second home to him. He said he had “grown up” musically and otherwise at U-M, and he also spoke fondly of his years teaching at the Ann Arbor Music Center.

Katzman's Vulfpeck bandmate Joe Dart (electric bass) along with Julian Allen (drums) and Jacob Jeffries (keyboard) provided backup vocals and tight accompaniment to create a clean, soulful rock sound to accompany the frontman's courageous falsettos and cutting guitar solos.

Out of the 14 songs Katzman played, 11 are from his latest album, Heartbreak Hits. The setlist was punctuated by his confident and energetic comments to the crowd. Katzman was constantly self-aware of his performance, once remarking that his dramatic rock-n-roll kicks were causing him pain before laughing and revealing his age for context. The 31-year-old Katzman’s cheeky and quick-thinking personality really came through during moments like these, such as whenever he (quite successfully) encouraged the crowd to sing along. On “My Heart Is Dead" he even managed to orchestrate an impromptu choral harmony by dividing the crowd into three sections and having them sing before the band joined in.

Both “Pop Song” and “Crappy Love Song” are about Katzman’s relationship to music, both as a creator struggling to make it and as a listener getting bored of the same old tropes. His lyrics reveal both anxiety and passion over what it means to be an artist in a highly political, turbulent, and career-focused age, as on "Pop Song": “Please, politicians, preachers / Pray, give us wisdom, teach us right from wrong / I’m too busy trying to write a pop song."

In addition to playing songs from his latest album, Katzman showed off his influences with a rendition of “I’m So Tired” by The Beatles and finishing the concert with Fleetwood Mac’s “Say You Love Me.” On the final number, almost every member of the crowd above a certain age could be seen singing along with loving familiarity.

Concert Set List:
Love Is a Beautiful Thing
Pop Song
Hard Work
Break Up Together
Crappy Love Song
My Heart Is Dead
Good to Be Alone (with guest singer May Erlewine)
Lost and Found
I’m So Tired (The Beatles)
My 1-Bedroom
[Unknown]
Plain Jane Heroin
As the Romans Do
Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac)


Oscar Calinescu is a desk clerk with the Ann Arbor District Library. He holds a bachelor's in anthropology from U-M and his interests include grammar and getting lost in the beat.