Row AAA,
Seat 1 (front row of the pit, all the way over to the left)
Folks, it
doesn’t get any better than this. Their tour isn’t over, so planning a trip to
coincide with one of their upcoming dates wouldn’t be the worst idea in the
world. It would be tempting to characterize them as a largely undiscovered
treasure, but they did draw a nice crowd (although well short of capacity) to
Wolf Trap and sold out the 9:30 Club a couple of years ago.
Figuring out
a genre into which to fit the quartet isn’t an easy task. Their Allmusic.com
bio at one point describes it as a “bright, fresh, charming, and exploratory
version of jazzy pop/rock, full of hooks and plenty of R&B and soul
flavors, with a big dose of the Beatles and British Invasion bands.” The
instrumentation is certainly a little unusual, with percussionist Michael
Calabrese (who came up with an unbelievable drum solo midway through their
set), enthusiastic upright bassist Bridget Kearney, and Mike “McDuck” Olsen,
who alternates between guitar and trumpet (sometimes within the same song).
Vocals are the group’s trademark, however – Rachael Price (who’s recorded a
couple straight jazz albums) has a combination of chops and stage presence that
few can match today, and the others contribute harmonies on most of their material.
During their
100-minute set they got to almost all of the tracks from their recent Side Pony album, most notably “Godawful
Things” (which opened the show), the equally rousing “Hell Yeah”, and a poignant
rendition of “So Long” that they dedicated to Prince. Other highlights included
a great mid-set cover of “Lola” (for which they brought out opening act The
Lone Bellow), “Bad Self Portraits” (the title track from their previous CD),
and a magnificent you-had-to-be-there version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” to end the
evening. I have no problem giving the show a 10; had they squeezed in my
personal favorite “Use Me Up”, I guess I would have had to go to 10.5.
To get a
better idea of the group’s sound, check out any or all of the following:
The Lone
Bellow, also favorites in XpnWorld, fully deserved their one-hour opening slot.
More in a folk/Americana vein than LSD, and with more conventional
instrumentation, they also emphasized great vocals, whether on rockers like “Green
Eyes And A Heart Of Gold”, the classic “You Never Need Nobody”, or acoustic
single-mic ballads such as “Watch Over Us.”
