The Books tour, their first ever, was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated of the year. Having only played live once before, Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong had to devise a live show out of their artistic blend of found sound samples and folky melodies, a sound they’d certainly never expected would become popular enough to demand a tour in the first place. How would they remake themselves for a live setting? Could they do it successfully? Those were the questions everyone in the packed bar wanted answered.

Before the Books made their debut, Califone front man Tim Rutilli took the stage for a solo set. Looking extremely small seated in his folding chair with nothing but his guitar and a myriad of sampling pedals, he mixed in a few Califone favorites like “Michigan Girls” with a bevy of brand new, potentially unfinished material, featuring song names such as “Piece of Cardboard #1-4” (so named, apparently, because he was reading music notes of some sort from large pieces of cardboard as he played). The songs were even more experimental and less structured than Califone’s music typically runs, making me wonder whether they were a sneak peak of new Califone music or a potential Tim Rutilli solo project.

Fifteen minutes later, Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong of the Books sauntered onto the elaborately arranged stage joined by violinist Anne Doerner and, eventually, by an additional bassist whose name I didn’t catch. Upon seeing the throngs of fans watching their every move, Nick and Paul appeared to take on a deer-in-headlights look, as if they had no idea that many people were interested in seeing them play. That sense of humility, shock and nervousness pervaded their set throughout the night, making for a very endearing performance. “They’re so cute!” I heard various audience members (male and female) squeal throughout the night every time Nick would flash his shy, uncomfortable, tight-lipped smile after each eruption of applause from the crowd.

The majority of songs came from their most recent release, Lost and Safe, an album that relies heavily on the vocals of Nick Zammuto, who also played guitar most of the night; his voice is pleasant and soothing and added a nice touch to the live performance. The real highlight of the show, however, was the unbelievable cello playing of Paul de Jong. His skill on the instrument was unreal, and as his playing grew more and more intense with each song, sweat began to drip from his brow and the veins in his forehead throbbed menacingly. It became quite clear to me that it was the cello that made Books songs so engaging, possibly even more so than the samples.

Not unexpectedly, the Books brought a video element to their live show; while often times I find video to be a bit pretentious, in this case, showing found video only made sense in tandem with their found sounds. During “Smells Like Content,” the fast-paced, unintelligible lyrics Nick drooled out were streamed on the screen, one syllable at a time, while amazing nature footage was shown in between. “Tokyo” featured shots of Japanese children in various activities, including one point when an entire orchestra of children on violins appeared to play in sync with the violins on the song. The high point of the show, however, came with “The Classy Penguin,” which Nick prefaced with, “and now it’s time to show you our own home videos.” And he wasn’t kidding; for the next five minutes of music the screen was filled with home movies of the Books and their touring band mates at various stages of their youth, from being fed and bathed by their mothers as adorable babies to footage of them on camping trips as pimply teenagers with braces. I found it really amazing for this band to open up to their lives to us in that way; it was beautiful and refreshing and I loved it!

The Books show would probably have been more appropriate in a small theater-style venue with seats arranged around the stage, where everyone in the audience could see the band and soak in the aural and visual textures with less distraction (e.g., people conversing loudly by the bar). Nevertheless, it was extremely fascinating to see how the Books could not only recreate, but enhance their unique vision of music on the live stage.