I pulled up just as Yves Jarvis was through a quarter of his Taverne Tour set at Aux 33 Tours. The record store venue was the perfect setting for the weird, yet warm devotional acoustic R&B folk he played. It was interesting to see many passersby come into the store to look through the record bins and be stopped dead in their tracks after hearing Jarvis.
His technical guitar-playing skill was evident, perhaps something you don’t pay too much attention to when listening to his whacky experimental pop on the album, The Zug. But this performance was raw and intimate, feeling like we were all Jarvis’ friends listening to him play new songs in his family living room. All of his songs felt stripped back like he was still testing the waters on a few chords or vocal lines, but Jarvis is a terrific performer—cracking jokes throughout his set while looking at his thrown-together setlist on a small piece of paper. “I didn’t really plan this. This is actually my grocery list.” It’s a rarity to really see an artist like an open book as they are trying out new songs, especially in a low-key setting such as a record store. Good job Taverne Tour and Yves Jarvis.
`
