Despite the fact that Elsinore plays approximately eight shows a week in the Champaign-Urbana area, before last week I had been absent at all of them. That’s right – over the past three years I have inexplicably managed to avoid seeing the locally acclaimed four-piece live in action (aside from unintentionally catching part of a Ryan Groff solo set while eating in the Courtyard Café between classes last semester).

Although I’d like to attribute my streak of no-shows (pun intended!) to their status as a folk act – which, I’m ashamed to admit, did scare me off a little – I have no real excuse for missing out on one of the best bands C-U has to offer. But, thanks to the Champaign Park District’s summer concert series, I can now walk around town with my head held high – having finally seen the re-christened (notice how the once lowercase “e” is now all grown up) and re-formatted (their Myspace now labels them: Rock/Indie) group perform a free Sunday evening show at Hessel Park.

Seated on a blanket in front of a makeshift platform situated between a new baseball field, playground equipment, a picnic shelter and countless trees (which mercifully helped block out the slowly-setting sun that at times forced me to squint in order to even see the stage), the irony in the choice of setting was not lost on me: here, in the middle of what could be labeled Americana personified, I was watching a band that previously created music in that genre transition toward a newer, more universal sound. But I digress.

On the topic of the music itself, Elsinore – perhaps a little hesitant to delve immediately into brand new material – opened with a Van Morrison classic and several older songs that had been reworked to better conform to the indie rock mold. While these songs, such as “The Long Run” and “Cannonballs,” were certainly good in their own right, lingering traces of their past origins were still heavily apparent and I wasn’t yet convinced that the band could succeed in its decision to embrace the indie rock formula.

That is, until the second half of the set began.

(Incidentally, because of the family-oriented nature of the show, throughout their hour-and-a-half set Elsinore seemed particularly intent on making sure the show appealed to ears of all ages – apologizing for being too loud and choosing to have lead singer Ryan Groff perform four songs by himself. However, adding to the aforementioned ironic overtones, although these solo moments were intended to ease the crowd into the show (and bring down the volume midway through), Groff’s tendency to use the full capacity of his voice during choice moments in “Your Song” and “Hallelujah” certainly pierced, rather than soothed, the eardrums of most in attendance.)

Anchored by a phenomenal cover of The Postal Service’s “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” (on which the group wisely decided to keep the electronic overtones of the original to a minimum, instead choosing to infuse the sped-up cover with a thumping drum back beat), Elsinore proceeded to showcase its new material. Beginning with the faster, more upbeat Antonymity and running through Chemicals (the backstory of which Groff loves to relate) and The General (the title track of the quartet’s soon-to-be-released EP), I finally was converted to the idea that the Elsinore is not just a folk wolf hiding in indie sheep clothing. Wow, that’s a terrible metaphor – I think I’ll stick to puns.

For the fourteenth and final song of the night (well for this show at least; Elsinore also performed at a benefit show held at The Highdive later in the evening), the group launched into “Landlocked” their harmony-filled epic, if slightly nonsensical, ode to living in Illinois. As the last keyboard flourish dissipated into the air, I couldn’t help but think:

If Ben Gibbard revealed that D.C. sleeps alone, then Elsinore proves the Midwest might seem isolated but is always willing to break out of its boundaries.

Set List

—Ryan Groff solo—
Sparrows (Andrew Bird)
Your Song (Elton John)
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

—full band—
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)
Wooden Houses
The Long Run
Cannonballs
Lions

—Ryan Groff solo—
Sunken Treasure (Wilco)

—full band—
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (The Postal Service)
Antonymity
Chemicals
The General
Landlocked