My Top 3
Since we haven’t been playing lately, I’ve been catching a lot of other shows – mainly at Club Dada since I feel most comfortable there and the sound is impeccable.
– My Top 3 Dada Shows-
Airline – July 8th
Since their drummer Micah left the band, Robby has moved to bass and Chris has moved to drums. The result is a much cleaner, clearer presentation. No competing parts anymore – now you can hear everyone perfectly. Not to take anything away from the previous incarnation mind you, but I was really impressed with the amount of energy on stage with this modified lineup. Bluntly – Chris is a helluva drummer and his style matches every twist within a song spot on. Lead Guitarist Will was able to shine as the single strummer. Robby’s new tunes are more defined as well. I kept saying ‘Yes’ during the entire set, then whipped them with praise afterwards. Easily their best show.
Future Soul Soundclash (Clay Pendergrass) – June 29th-30th
After surviving some less than stellar performances (early show with Travis Hopper not included of course – he was great), Clay’s band finally made their way on stage around 1am on Friday. Luckily I had paced myself that night and was still wide awake. Combining pre-recorded loops and beats with live jazz improvisation, Future Soul absolutely floored me. I was hanging at the bar, wowed, when the overworked yet cheerful soundman Chris came up to me shaking his head. “You can’t sit here and listen, you need to move to the sweet spot”. I moved to the very center of the mix and my mind just reeled for the next hour.
The guys could do anything they wanted with such strong chops. I can’t adequately describe the sound, it reminded me of some of the better mixes you’d hear at Buddha Bar in Paris. Tapes merging with beats merging with percussion while confident rhodes lines spilled over Clay’s effortless bass hooks. The tenor sax player used some wild wammy fx that would have made David Lynch proud. All the while Clay had this sly grin on his face, extremely satisfied with what was taking place. I felt privileged to be there. Clay gave me their cd, which sounds a bit different but has been in my car player ever since that night.
PorterDavis– June 22nd
Another nice surprise after hearing some Dave Matthews inspired vocalists. Sorry to be rude, but I really don’t care for that singing style. Anyway 3 piece – Austin/Boston PorterDavis setup with percussion, harmonica and guitar. Everyone was extremely competent – the percussionist had studied abroad with top Jazz drummers, the harmonica player had won world-wide harp competitions. Of course, mastery of your instrument won’t get you very far if you don’t back it up with true emotion or well-written material. PorterDavis delivered all three.
I felt like a time traveler as the rootsy blues washed over me. Sometimes quiet, sometimes wildly abandoned, the band took half-century old stylings and brought them exquisitely packaged with modern lyrics. This band was made for playing live.
Mike the percussionist played all sorts of things in tandem – ankle bells, a Cooperman Hadjira, a Popercussion “Big Bass” Cajon, shakers, you name it. Bobcat mic’d them so well a traditional drum kit would have been overkill. The wildly textured rhythms were amazing. Simon the harp player just wailed and wailed all night – not in a showy way though. And guitarist/singer Dan has written a very memorable body of work. I was already singing several of the tunes before purchasing a couple of ‘bootlegged’ live performance cds.
Cindy of The Fine Line – 